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lbelow's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't read all of these stories due to content warnings (left by the author in front of relevant stories, which was so fantastic!). However, the stories I did read were next-level imaginative. So weird and interesting with characters who had complex motivations and pasts. I've read the author's novels, but I think I might like her short fiction even better!
need_more_meta's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
vortacist's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
andib's review against another edition
5.0
One thing I have learned about Charlie Jane Anders' books and stories is that you can't predict what you will get from one to the next, with the exceptions of incredible creativity/imagination and a clear passion for her stories and characters. These are the common threads uniting an otherwise very much assorted set of stories. My favorites come at the beginning and end: "As Good As New," "The Bookstore at the End of America," and "The Visitmothers," all of which had a warm, lovely center. But I also loved "The Time Travel Club" and "Clover," the latter of which is a companion to her Nebula-winning novel All the Birds in the Sky.
The rest of the stories run a gamut from the elegaic and literary to the dark and dangerous to the quirky, bold, and weird. The most powerful story here is "Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue," a futuristic horror story in which trans people's genders are forcibly eradicated. The story is a gut-punch and stays with you. I have read it and will read it only once.
This one gets shelved along with my other anthologies by masters of the genre, and I'm sure I'll be returning to its pages again and again.
The rest of the stories run a gamut from the elegaic and literary to the dark and dangerous to the quirky, bold, and weird. The most powerful story here is "Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue," a futuristic horror story in which trans people's genders are forcibly eradicated. The story is a gut-punch and stays with you. I have read it and will read it only once.
This one gets shelved along with my other anthologies by masters of the genre, and I'm sure I'll be returning to its pages again and again.
haileybartolomeu's review against another edition
3.0
Half of the stories were incredible, but I found the other half to be kind of a slog to get through
jane23's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
asunnybooknook's review against another edition
4.0
The good ones were incredibly good, the mid ones were incredibly mid
librarypatronus's review against another edition
4.0
Thanks to Netgalley and Tor/Forge for the ARC of this in exchange for my honest review.
This was such a well done collection of short stories, that vary greatly in type of science-fiction and fantasy. There was time travel and aliens and post apocalyptic settings, diversity of characters, all with different feelings being evoked. The ones I struggled with were based on the author’s other works, which I haven’t read yet. My favorites were the last two which kind of felt a little more hopeful than the other stories. I’m definitely planning to go back and read more of the author’s books!
This was such a well done collection of short stories, that vary greatly in type of science-fiction and fantasy. There was time travel and aliens and post apocalyptic settings, diversity of characters, all with different feelings being evoked. The ones I struggled with were based on the author’s other works, which I haven’t read yet. My favorites were the last two which kind of felt a little more hopeful than the other stories. I’m definitely planning to go back and read more of the author’s books!
lilibetbombshell's review against another edition
4.0
What I love about short story collections is that you get smaller, more condensed, more tightly edited stories that have to get across what they have to say or whatever message they want to convey in a much smaller amount of pages than a book would, and often it seems to me that a short story can seem much more satisfying in many ways to a book when you are looking for something to make you think. (Novellas do much the same thing, sometimes.)
Charlie Jane Anders is no stranger to science fiction, no stranger to short stories, and certainly no stranger to combining both. As such, it’s unsurprising that this collection is outstanding. I’ve long admired her work, and I think the manner in which she approaches science fiction (especially when it comes to gender, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexuality) is truly the perfect combination of something omnipresent and futuristic. We’re told science fiction has led to a lot of what has become science fact, and with her musings on everything from how robots might have gender and sexual orientations once they have sentience to how MMORPGs run by people whose brains work differently could be used to possibly solve global issues speak to questions scientists have only began to touch on, which makes these stories even more interesting to read.
There are a few stories that verge closer to horror or fantasy in here, including one laugh-out-loud funny TV vampire drama parody that had me snickering like crazy, but mostly this collection stuck to the science fiction path.
It was a well-rounded collection, with only one story I had to skip because Anders admitted that if you hadn’t read another title of hers you wouldn’t get it (probably). As always, her skills as a writer grow, and they’ll continue to grow. I look forward to it.
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan-Tor/Forge for granting me access to this title for the purposes of reading and reviewing.
Charlie Jane Anders is no stranger to science fiction, no stranger to short stories, and certainly no stranger to combining both. As such, it’s unsurprising that this collection is outstanding. I’ve long admired her work, and I think the manner in which she approaches science fiction (especially when it comes to gender, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexuality) is truly the perfect combination of something omnipresent and futuristic. We’re told science fiction has led to a lot of what has become science fact, and with her musings on everything from how robots might have gender and sexual orientations once they have sentience to how MMORPGs run by people whose brains work differently could be used to possibly solve global issues speak to questions scientists have only began to touch on, which makes these stories even more interesting to read.
There are a few stories that verge closer to horror or fantasy in here, including one laugh-out-loud funny TV vampire drama parody that had me snickering like crazy, but mostly this collection stuck to the science fiction path.
It was a well-rounded collection, with only one story I had to skip because Anders admitted that if you hadn’t read another title of hers you wouldn’t get it (probably). As always, her skills as a writer grow, and they’ll continue to grow. I look forward to it.
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan-Tor/Forge for granting me access to this title for the purposes of reading and reviewing.
leftylauren's review against another edition
3.0
I'd already heard the first story on this anthology, "As Good As New", in an episode of Levar Burton Reads and it's one of my favorites.
Other favorites:
"Rat Catcher's Yellows" (really liked this one)
"Six Months, Three Days"
"Power Couple"
"Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue"
"The Bookstore at the end of America"
Other favorites:
"Rat Catcher's Yellows" (really liked this one)
"Six Months, Three Days"
"Power Couple"
"Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue"
"The Bookstore at the end of America"