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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such an enjoyable and fun collection, particularly as someone who works in the history field! I knew that it was a collection of queer stories but I’d forgotten that the blurb mentions the historical themes too so to discover that historical tie-in continuing through each story was a delight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Pregnancy
Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Self harm, Transphobia, Abortion, Abandonment
Minor: Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
medium-paced
3.5 stars.
I only recently realized that I barely read any short story collections last year, and Manywhere was a collection I'd been considering for several months. The stories here are quiet in a way I love: there wasn't always an obvious climax, nor was this something needed, and they have a taste of the South without the author saturating their characters and setting in it so thoroughly. Subtle is a word I'd use to describe this collection; so is reflective, because Thomas does a phenomenal job of writing white characters who are marginalized due to being queer but who also benefit from white privilege, and they put these in conversation with one another. This was one of the few times I've read short fiction focusing on less-than-likable main characters and wasn't completely turned off. That being said, I found the structuring a bit odd: the stronger stories (for me) tended to fall more in the middle, while the opening and closing stories were ones that I don't foresee myself remembering details of. Favorites included "Alta's Place," "The Bump," and "That Drowned Place."
I only recently realized that I barely read any short story collections last year, and Manywhere was a collection I'd been considering for several months. The stories here are quiet in a way I love: there wasn't always an obvious climax, nor was this something needed, and they have a taste of the South without the author saturating their characters and setting in it so thoroughly. Subtle is a word I'd use to describe this collection; so is reflective, because Thomas does a phenomenal job of writing white characters who are marginalized due to being queer but who also benefit from white privilege, and they put these in conversation with one another. This was one of the few times I've read short fiction focusing on less-than-likable main characters and wasn't completely turned off. That being said, I found the structuring a bit odd: the stronger stories (for me) tended to fall more in the middle, while the opening and closing stories were ones that I don't foresee myself remembering details of. Favorites included "Alta's Place," "The Bump," and "That Drowned Place."
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Well-written with familiar realizations reached in the most unfamiliar of ways. The central conceit for many of these stories is modern characters engaging with uncentered Southern history on their own terms and through their own lenses. Most often through a genderqueer lens. I think the strongest theme running through these stories is obsession, though I didn’t often find myself obsessed along with the characters, moreso viewing their obsession from a comfortable distance, which I found to be a detractor from the collection.
I think I most enjoyed the stories that didn’t deal with archives or historical documents, like “Surrogate,” “Bump,” and “Transit” (though most of the descriptions of anorexia in this one are noted as coming from sources in the 1800s). The one “historically based” story that really caught my attention was “The Expectation of Cooper Hill,” as not only did the main character’s obsession with their great great grandmother make sense to me, but the slow development of their realization of her antagonistic role in her own story was exceptionally delivered, as was their relationship with their own grandmother.
I think I most enjoyed the stories that didn’t deal with archives or historical documents, like “Surrogate,” “Bump,” and “Transit” (though most of the descriptions of anorexia in this one are noted as coming from sources in the 1800s). The one “historically based” story that really caught my attention was “The Expectation of Cooper Hill,” as not only did the main character’s obsession with their great great grandmother make sense to me, but the slow development of their realization of her antagonistic role in her own story was exceptionally delivered, as was their relationship with their own grandmother.
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
fast-paced