Reviews

Tender by Sofia Samatar

amandackim's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

bookscatsandjazz's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

ielerol's review against another edition

4.0

Sofia Samatar's writing changes the way my thoughts sound. For a little while after I finish reading one of her stories, the rhythm and lyricism stay with me. I remember something from my past, and try to connect it to a larger narrative. I pay a little more attention to the world around me, and think of how it might be described in one of Samatar's stories. They make me want to write.

Part of the reason why, I think, is because this collection is very self-conscious about the act of storytelling. There are epistolary stories, journal entries, one story is written as margin notes in a collection of folklore, one is a high school student's writing assignment. Some are retellings or riffs on fairy tales, some are characters telling stories of their past to each other. The language is clever and playful. The book is divided into two sections, Tender Bodies and Tender Landscapes. But in the title story, "tender" is a noun, one who tends. Besides storytelling, there are repeated themes of being monstrous, or out of place, outcast. The bodies and landscapes are tender because they're wounded.

I've already read a handful of the stories when they were originally published. I was happy to reread them. A few of the stories were too elliptical for me, I think I'd need to reread them a few times before I really understand them. But even those I liked enough to finish.

elefelanterosa's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lightfoxing's review against another edition

4.0

As with any collection of short stories, the majority of these are good, a couple are lacklustre, and a few are spectacular. Samatar draws out, with tenderness, the aches and injuries and wounds of humanity and humans, these being two different things that intersect. Fantastic stories, often science fiction or fantasy with fairy tale elements, that express different pains in exquisite ways, always with a delicate prose and unique voice. I really enjoyed these, and look forward to reading more buy her.

grey_reads's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

3.5

_hex_libris's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

__apf__'s review against another edition

4.0

In Tender, Samatar's wild imagination stretches wide, from retold Irish folklore to far-future space pioneers. I liked each of the stories individually: they are weird, captivating, and memorable. Samatar writes fierce prose with poignant humanity. She plays with story structure and favors unreliable narrators, adding interest to the short story format.

My favorite stories are "The Red Thread," "Tender," and "Selkie Stories Are for Losers." The first two are speculative science fiction at its most appealing; the third is a charming combination of Irish folklore with a modern American coming-of-age story.

However, the stories didn't strengthen each other as a collection. Although all of her writing is loosely connected by style (vivid) and format (experimental), the plots and themes don't build on each other in a way that unites the collection into a whole.

hilaryreadsbooks's review against another edition

4.0

There are layers to Sofia Samatar’s TENDER, layers so deep I feel that I need so much more time to spend with every story, every sentence, to even begin to understand their depth (or perhaps, I could spend all the time in the world and excavate only the surface). There are twists and turns; a story may begin a certain way but does not end anywhere near where you may have it imagined it to go. 

Plainly said, Samatar’s imagination is wild and weird and beautifully tender. 

A “research” paper on a mysterious animal turns into an emotional site of grief and regret. A tender of radioactive material reflects on purpose, choice, and the poisoning of her relationship and the earth. A narrator contending with loss and love tries to change the trajectory of selkie stories. A mother makes immense sacrifices to keep her daughter, her Honey Bear, grounded in this world. And so many of these stories are stories that I did not feel like I had the knowledge yet to fully excavate (the list of works at the end these stories are in conversation with, most of which I have not read, speaks volumes), but even so, I couldn’t help but still be drawn into these magnificent (at times, almost fairytale-like) worlds that Samatar has created for us. One character says, “[t]here are places that once you step in, you can’t get out.” I felt that with TENDER. 

allison_r's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0