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abbie_'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
3.5
Another short story buddy read with Nadia! I had high hopes for this one, but I think I might have been thinking about How High We Go in the Dark instead, as although this is a solid collection, it didn’t blow me away or anything!
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The main thing I appreciated with Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone (not the title, too long to type out 💀) is how Nagamatsu decided on a theme and stuck to it like glue, but without it becoming stale or repetitive. All of the stories deal with death, loss, grieving, but with sci-fi/folklore twists. I thought most of the stories were fresh and innovative, and only a couple of them left me feeling unsatisfied either because I didn’t ‘get it’ or I wanted more. There were some teeny tiny stories interspersed with the longer ones which were very sad - mostly dealing with child loss in some way.
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My favourite story by far was Headwater LLC, which focused on humans exploiting kappas (google them, creepy fuckers but they still don’t deserve that). It’s a simple enough concept, but provides a great critique of environmental degradation and exploitation for human gain and corporate greed. I’ve never seen Shape of Water but it gave me those sorts of vibes!
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Other standouts were The Inn of the Dead’s Orientation for Being a Japanese Ghost, which was funny and original, and Girl Zero which was super sad and also sinister. A grieving father goes to extreme lengths to bring his daughter back, invoking the help of demons.
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Looking forward to reading How High We Go in the Dark even more now, as if it’s meant to be better than the collection then I’m in for a treat!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Grief
nadia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
3.75
A fun collection...with regards to the ideas, rather than the main subject matter and themes, which were heavy! I found most of the concepts in this book super interesting. But, for even my favourites, a lot of them felt like they were missing a little something for me come the ending, especially with the emotional impact. I did really appreciate that there was a clear, consistent theme, approached by the author in a variety of creative ways and I loved the use of mixed media throughout the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Death, Child death, and Infertility
kyuriiiiiii's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Death
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