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kllyholt's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
rollforlibrarian's review
4.0
Solid collection of stories featuring protagonists with disabilities and chronic illnesses, the stories by Seanan McGuire and Janet Edwards were my standouts, but the overall standard was really high. There were a couple that weren't my particular cup of tea, but I'm sure they have no shortage of fans.
sweets_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
josie_reads_books's review
5.0
I love love love this book. I keep telling people I know about it just to try and get them to read it. Not every story will be to everyone's tastes, but to me the diversity in the stories is what makes this book so amazing. Some of these stories hit me in a very personal place, as someone who is disabled and lives with chronic illness and pain. I'm sure the ones that didn't hit me as hard will have that effect on someone else with different experiences to me. I loved that these stories shone a very honest light on the difficulties that disabled people face, but also were so imaginative in the ways that those difficulties would change in an apocalypse. It was honestly so refreshing and I already can't wait to read the sequel.
pumpkinblossom's review
Belongs to my housemate & they moved out; might finish someday
leavingsealevel's review
3.0
Cool premise, I greatly appreciated the dig at Lord of the Flies (possibly my least favorite book on the face of the earth), and a wide array of different approaches to the theme. Surprisingly Australian. Of course I liked some stories/authors far more than others, which makes the rating a challenge. Recommend!
valodniece's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
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
4.5
A fascinating collection of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic stories centering disabled or chronically ill protagonists. Some stories were stronger than others. While I loved most of them, the one that stays close to my heart the most is the first, "And the Rest of Us Wait" - because the protagonist of this story is Latvian, and rare is the opportunity to see a Latvian character, especially when written by a non-Latvian. I also liked this story because it was a tie-in to the author's novel On the Edge of Gone, which is also a favourite of mine for its autistic protagonist.
xeni's review
5.0
Overall opinion: I'm usually not a fan of short story collections. This one started out quite strong, however, so I let my apprehension fade and started to settle in to enjoy them. But then I reached some of the middle stories and was extra disappointed by how much I disliked them.
I realize that short story collections don't have to satisfy my every desire, but I wish I could find a collection that at least asked for a minimum of writing ability or complexity or interesting facets. Maybe I am too picky (I am too picky).
But what I thought this anthology did well is the wide variety of disabled characters, ranging from more physical to more mental / biological differences. The authors don't try to shoehorn disability into one neat box. There's no "bad" depictions in here, where the disabled character is automatically the villain (and only the villain). There's no characters where their disability is window dressing and actually-they're-totally-normal-aside-from-this-one-weird-quirk. And while often characters are put into situations that are beyond them, where they appear helpless or unable to continue, in fact they are never helpless and often push themselves to achieve more.
And that is not to say that these are all "inspirational tales of subhumans overcoming their deficienes." Far from it. I like how very human these characters feel. For the most part these protagonists have wide and rich lives and just happen to also have a disability and need to survive in some kind of post apocalypse world, just like their non-disabled counterparts. The stories I liked less actually had a more one-dimensional approach to all characters, including the disabled ones. I wanted more from the stories (less simple plots, more depth in characters) and more from an author that seek to write stories featuring people of all ability ranges.
Overall, I did enjoy this collection. It made me think about my own life differently, my own approach to ability and disability. I always thought that in an apocalypse / post-apocalypse I would be one of the first people to die. It does give me a good feeling to read so many tales with such a wide range of characters. I think I'll read the sequel to this anthology, even if I'm not a big fan of short story collections.
----
Reviews for individual stories:
1. And the Rest of Us Wait - 4/5
I liked the original book by Corinne Duyvis quite a lot, so this short story was a wonderful addition to the book. It's the same events (asteroid hitting earth and destroying most of the habitable land) but this time seen from a disabled refugee from Latvia who is also a pop singer.
2. To Take Into the Air My Quiet Breath - 3/5
This story was a bit odd. It left me feeling empty and unsure. These 3 sisters are trying to survive (2 with CF) in a post apocalyptic world. One of them lies and all of a sudden they're all stranded and somehow the main character thinks it's a good thing? To me this story was bleak and the tone did not match the events at all.
3. Something in the Rain by Seanan McGuire - 5/5
This is my favorite story so far. An autistic teen is left at the end of the world with her cat. She finds ways to survive, including regularly raiding the local Target using her analytical skills and a trusty almanac to survive. I normally find myself dissatisfied by McGuires stories, but this one was perfect.
4. Did We Break the End of the World? - 4.5/5
I loved this story as well. It's told from the perspective of a deaf teen who has teamed up with a violence-prone mute teen. They make a great team, however, as they're trapped in a post-apocalyptic city and spend their days foraging for high-value items. There seems to be a larger conspiracy at play that is only hinted at. I wish there was more to this story.
5. In the Sky with Diamonds - 2.5/5
This was a bit odd. A spaceship battle between diamond-obsessed aliens and a young woman with cerebral palsy fighting over a cut diamond is not what I thought I would be reading. But the story is also written simply with a basic conclusion for such a complex problem.
6. Two Somebodies Go Hunting 0.5/5
I did not like this. Too much focus on hunting and getting stranded and no real explanation for the world building. I also did not find the characters at all interesting or believable.
7. Given Sufficient Desperation - 3/5
Another story that ends with a simple "and then the aliens just turned around and left". I desire more complexity in my stories, including short stories. It can be done (see: earlier stories of this anthology). This one was even interesting! Aliens come and destroy the earth as humans know it, then aliens enslave humans (on a strictly voluntary basis but it's the only way you have access to food, shelter, etc) and have them label nouns with their minds. It's tedious soul-draining work and thus rebellion groups spring up. I really desired more from such an interesting premise.
8. Selected Afterimages of the Fading - 4.5/5
This was a very unique story. I really liked the premise: if you stop paying attention to something it'll fade out of existence. Stop paying attention to the screws in your table? It'll collapse. Stop noticing the room around you? You're no longer in a room, just a blurry space. To add another dimension, the main character has body dysmorphia where he can't see his body the way it is. There are a lot of weird physics happening. It doesn't make a lot of sense. But in the span of this short story it is enough.
9. Five Thousand Squares - 3.5/5
I have parents who keep thinking the world is ending and they need to stockpile for it. In this story they're not entirely wrong; two women with early-onset-arthritis try to prepare for a world that is no longer safe. The climate catastrophe has already sunk most of the coastlines, so this is less a tenuous one-day-something-might-happen, but rather higher odds. The mother here is prepared with her solar-powered floating giant ball and a stockpile of goods at her friends house. It's a bit of a simple story, mostly about surviving the imminent impact of a tidal wave. I wish there was more about after the fact too.
10. Portobello Blind - 5/5
I don't know why but these stories of girls left all alone at the end of the world and not really but kind of missing their parent but still doing what they can to survive are my favorite. This one features a blind girl stuck on a peninsula on a research station. She manages to catch fish and eat seaweed to survive. Though aside from a plague we're never really told what's going on, which disappointed me.
11. Tea Party - 4.5/5
I like this bunch of weirdos left over after the world ended. They've somehow managed to survive in their rural psych hospital and mostly go out into the world to find more medicines. There is a moment when we're confronted with an "earthquake" but also it's somehow a monster that's in the ground and eats anything that moves? I wish there had been more information about it, but I can see why our protagonists wouldn't know it.
12. Giant - 4/5
This one was really interesting. We get two perspectives: an old man who has lost his whole family, going to the space station his wife left for 20 years ago, and the daughter her finds there, the only person still alive. She has gigantism, exacerbated by the low gravity she grew up in. Reading her perspective was my favorite. Imaging myself 4 meters tall and that being normal. Trying to make the father you never met treat you like an adult and having your own plans to put through all makes sense. Even though the story was simple its themes were not.
13. Spider-Silk, Strong as Steel - 4/5
Wow was this creepy. I hate giant intelligent spiders. It's bad enough when they're the small ones. But this story was great! (I mean, aside from the spiders). Highly recommend it if you're not arachnophobic.
14. No Shit - 4/5
This story really leans into the comedy of death and plagues and the end. But when at the end, why not start a radio show to get all the survivors together. I like how this one explored some of the danger of isolated, individual humans, but ultimately showed more of their positive side.
15. I Will Remember You - 4/5
This was a melancholy end. Aliens coming down and killing most humans off and for what? What is the selection criteria for surviving or for dying? This one skirts around the idea of eugenics without actually wrestling with it. But somehow it was so well written and focused on how even if you're born without all of your limbs you're still valuable.
I realize that short story collections don't have to satisfy my every desire, but I wish I could find a collection that at least asked for a minimum of writing ability or complexity or interesting facets. Maybe I am too picky (I am too picky).
But what I thought this anthology did well is the wide variety of disabled characters, ranging from more physical to more mental / biological differences. The authors don't try to shoehorn disability into one neat box. There's no "bad" depictions in here, where the disabled character is automatically the villain (and only the villain). There's no characters where their disability is window dressing and actually-they're-totally-normal-aside-from-this-one-weird-quirk. And while often characters are put into situations that are beyond them, where they appear helpless or unable to continue, in fact they are never helpless and often push themselves to achieve more.
And that is not to say that these are all "inspirational tales of subhumans overcoming their deficienes." Far from it. I like how very human these characters feel. For the most part these protagonists have wide and rich lives and just happen to also have a disability and need to survive in some kind of post apocalypse world, just like their non-disabled counterparts. The stories I liked less actually had a more one-dimensional approach to all characters, including the disabled ones. I wanted more from the stories (less simple plots, more depth in characters) and more from an author that seek to write stories featuring people of all ability ranges.
Overall, I did enjoy this collection. It made me think about my own life differently, my own approach to ability and disability. I always thought that in an apocalypse / post-apocalypse I would be one of the first people to die. It does give me a good feeling to read so many tales with such a wide range of characters. I think I'll read the sequel to this anthology, even if I'm not a big fan of short story collections.
----
Reviews for individual stories:
1. And the Rest of Us Wait - 4/5
I liked the original book by Corinne Duyvis quite a lot, so this short story was a wonderful addition to the book. It's the same events (asteroid hitting earth and destroying most of the habitable land) but this time seen from a disabled refugee from Latvia who is also a pop singer.
2. To Take Into the Air My Quiet Breath - 3/5
This story was a bit odd. It left me feeling empty and unsure. These 3 sisters are trying to survive (2 with CF) in a post apocalyptic world. One of them lies and all of a sudden they're all stranded and somehow the main character thinks it's a good thing? To me this story was bleak and the tone did not match the events at all.
3. Something in the Rain by Seanan McGuire - 5/5
This is my favorite story so far. An autistic teen is left at the end of the world with her cat. She finds ways to survive, including regularly raiding the local Target using her analytical skills and a trusty almanac to survive. I normally find myself dissatisfied by McGuires stories, but this one was perfect.
4. Did We Break the End of the World? - 4.5/5
I loved this story as well. It's told from the perspective of a deaf teen who has teamed up with a violence-prone mute teen. They make a great team, however, as they're trapped in a post-apocalyptic city and spend their days foraging for high-value items. There seems to be a larger conspiracy at play that is only hinted at. I wish there was more to this story.
5. In the Sky with Diamonds - 2.5/5
This was a bit odd. A spaceship battle between diamond-obsessed aliens and a young woman with cerebral palsy fighting over a cut diamond is not what I thought I would be reading. But the story is also written simply with a basic conclusion for such a complex problem.
6. Two Somebodies Go Hunting 0.5/5
I did not like this. Too much focus on hunting and getting stranded and no real explanation for the world building. I also did not find the characters at all interesting or believable.
7. Given Sufficient Desperation - 3/5
Another story that ends with a simple "and then the aliens just turned around and left". I desire more complexity in my stories, including short stories. It can be done (see: earlier stories of this anthology). This one was even interesting! Aliens come and destroy the earth as humans know it, then aliens enslave humans (on a strictly voluntary basis but it's the only way you have access to food, shelter, etc) and have them label nouns with their minds. It's tedious soul-draining work and thus rebellion groups spring up. I really desired more from such an interesting premise.
8. Selected Afterimages of the Fading - 4.5/5
This was a very unique story. I really liked the premise: if you stop paying attention to something it'll fade out of existence. Stop paying attention to the screws in your table? It'll collapse. Stop noticing the room around you? You're no longer in a room, just a blurry space. To add another dimension, the main character has body dysmorphia where he can't see his body the way it is. There are a lot of weird physics happening. It doesn't make a lot of sense. But in the span of this short story it is enough.
9. Five Thousand Squares - 3.5/5
I have parents who keep thinking the world is ending and they need to stockpile for it. In this story they're not entirely wrong; two women with early-onset-arthritis try to prepare for a world that is no longer safe. The climate catastrophe has already sunk most of the coastlines, so this is less a tenuous one-day-something-might-happen, but rather higher odds. The mother here is prepared with her solar-powered floating giant ball and a stockpile of goods at her friends house. It's a bit of a simple story, mostly about surviving the imminent impact of a tidal wave. I wish there was more about after the fact too.
10. Portobello Blind - 5/5
I don't know why but these stories of girls left all alone at the end of the world and not really but kind of missing their parent but still doing what they can to survive are my favorite. This one features a blind girl stuck on a peninsula on a research station. She manages to catch fish and eat seaweed to survive. Though aside from a plague we're never really told what's going on, which disappointed me.
11. Tea Party - 4.5/5
I like this bunch of weirdos left over after the world ended. They've somehow managed to survive in their rural psych hospital and mostly go out into the world to find more medicines. There is a moment when we're confronted with an "earthquake" but also it's somehow a monster that's in the ground and eats anything that moves? I wish there had been more information about it, but I can see why our protagonists wouldn't know it.
12. Giant - 4/5
This one was really interesting. We get two perspectives: an old man who has lost his whole family, going to the space station his wife left for 20 years ago, and the daughter her finds there, the only person still alive. She has gigantism, exacerbated by the low gravity she grew up in. Reading her perspective was my favorite. Imaging myself 4 meters tall and that being normal. Trying to make the father you never met treat you like an adult and having your own plans to put through all makes sense. Even though the story was simple its themes were not.
13. Spider-Silk, Strong as Steel - 4/5
Wow was this creepy. I hate giant intelligent spiders. It's bad enough when they're the small ones. But this story was great! (I mean, aside from the spiders). Highly recommend it if you're not arachnophobic.
14. No Shit - 4/5
This story really leans into the comedy of death and plagues and the end. But when at the end, why not start a radio show to get all the survivors together. I like how this one explored some of the danger of isolated, individual humans, but ultimately showed more of their positive side.
15. I Will Remember You - 4/5
This was a melancholy end. Aliens coming down and killing most humans off and for what? What is the selection criteria for surviving or for dying? This one skirts around the idea of eugenics without actually wrestling with it. But somehow it was so well written and focused on how even if you're born without all of your limbs you're still valuable.