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vylotte's review
2.0
Another of the PKD nominees, this one is a collection of short stories set in the near(ish) future. Not really any sort of future I want to see though. It's a grungy, bleak, tainted place filled with beaten down people discarded by society.
Well written, yes, some of it is quite good. A few of those images will stick with me for a while. I do like to think that humans will always love, always fight to survive. I'd just rather not see them doing it with their heads down, hunched over, getting kicked.
Well written, yes, some of it is quite good. A few of those images will stick with me for a while. I do like to think that humans will always love, always fight to survive. I'd just rather not see them doing it with their heads down, hunched over, getting kicked.
elliotriley's review
4.0
Objectively this is probably a 5 star book. Abbey Mei Otis is very talented. But I found this pretty difficult to get through.
speculativebecky's review
4.0
Alien Virus Love Disaster is a debut short story collection by Abbey Mei Otis, which thrilled and confused me. In the first couple stories I was reminded of a couple of my favorite short story collections of the year, Friday Black and Sabrina & Corina. I relished Otis’ creativity in crafting otherworldly stories and was reminded of Adjei-Brenyah in that satirical brilliance that makes you laugh so hard until you’re on the verge of collapsing in anguish. I was reminded of Fajardo-Anstine in the searing humanness of the characters and their resilient depth. I was riding high on this collection but it began to fray around the edges and I found myself unable to keep up as the narratives again and again dissolved into fragmented dream sequences - both literally dream sequences and inexplicable descents into absurdity.
My favorite stories were the titular Alien Virus Love Disaster, which explores the effects of government experiments with alien technology on the surrounding community after exposure begins to cause their bodies to swell with red lumps; Moonkids, about a group of young adults living on Earth after being separated from their Lunarian parents after failing to pass the exams required to continue living on the Moon; and Blood, Blood, about a pair of friends who earn money fighting for the entertainment of aliens, while struggling to adjust to the alien impact on their world.
Even the stories I liked less had such intriguing imaginative premises that I’m still contemplating, I just wish they were less baffling. If you’re intrigued by any of this, I definitely would still recommend you check out this collection and then come unpack it with me!
My favorite stories were the titular Alien Virus Love Disaster, which explores the effects of government experiments with alien technology on the surrounding community after exposure begins to cause their bodies to swell with red lumps; Moonkids, about a group of young adults living on Earth after being separated from their Lunarian parents after failing to pass the exams required to continue living on the Moon; and Blood, Blood, about a pair of friends who earn money fighting for the entertainment of aliens, while struggling to adjust to the alien impact on their world.
Even the stories I liked less had such intriguing imaginative premises that I’m still contemplating, I just wish they were less baffling. If you’re intrigued by any of this, I definitely would still recommend you check out this collection and then come unpack it with me!
wdnsday's review
3.0
At times, this book strikes precisely the right chord. The depictions of grief are particularly poignant. But the rest of it is like Welcome to Night Vale without any of the warmth or charm or heart. I really wanted to like this more.
amcorbin's review
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
shannonjones's review
5.0
This book is just so bizarre and transporting and delicious that once you read it you'll pester all your friends into reading it because you've got to have someone to spill your guts with over these stories. This collection is speculative fiction at its best: the elements that make the stories fantastical also make them seem more reflective of the real world than our own muddied reality. Where typical sci-fi follows the star captain into space, Otis turns her lens on the fry cook flipping his burgers, the underbelly of future/alternate society in all its gritty glory. An alien exposure story somehow ends up more about income inequality than extra terrestrials. If you ask the elite moon colony's malformed rejects the meaning of life, what will they tell you? This is all a long way of saying that this is a must-read of 2018, with the added bonus of supporting a small press and being able to smugly say "Oh yeah, I've been following her for years," when Abbey Mei Otis inevitably blows up in the literary world.
hollowspine's review
4.0
Loved these short stories, reminded me a bit of George Saunders's book CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. My favorite was the eponymous story, "Alien Virus Love Disaster" which was so captivating, and really the perfect glue for this amazing collection of human stories, mired in the gross details of survival. I also really liked the story, "Teachers" because I can imagine that world so easily, despite the horror of it, it also seems entirely too plausible.
The brutality of the world Otis writes about sometimes feels like only a step away from the brutality of reality, especially when it comes to real estate, standardized exams and voyeurism.
Otis' writing is wonderfully descriptive, in a way that makes you cringe at times, but also gives a sense of the reality of her characters lives. I also liked the final two stories a lot, If you lived here, you'd be evicted by now, and Ultimate housekeeping megathrill 4. People already play games where their lives are perfect (see farming/sim games or anyone's social media ever) while neglecting their reality.
Just a really great collection, concept, writing, flow, all very very well done.
The brutality of the world Otis writes about sometimes feels like only a step away from the brutality of reality, especially when it comes to real estate, standardized exams and voyeurism.
Otis' writing is wonderfully descriptive, in a way that makes you cringe at times, but also gives a sense of the reality of her characters lives. I also liked the final two stories a lot, If you lived here, you'd be evicted by now, and Ultimate housekeeping megathrill 4. People already play games where their lives are perfect (see farming/sim games or anyone's social media ever) while neglecting their reality.
Just a really great collection, concept, writing, flow, all very very well done.
tundragirl's review
4.0
These stories reminded me so much of Kelly Link, but with a more overtly SF slant, and it turns out that they were published by Kelly Link's Small Beer Press. I really enjoyed this collection.
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