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A review by christine_queenofbooks
So We Can Glow: Stories by Leesa Cross-Smith
4.0
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a free e-arc for review. (I switched back and forth between that and an audio copy from my local library.)
So We Can Glow is a lyrical collection of short stories, a few of which play with form. Some of the stories are quite short, others a bit longer, but I couldn't help feeling that each just gives you a taste. I wouldn't call any of them satisfying - Cross-Smith reels you in, then drops you back on into the water, over and over again.
My favorite aspect of these were that some of the (42!) stories were linked (i.e. featuring the same characters you'd already met). That helped me to get my bearings a bit. Often, though, I struggled to connect with this (very good!) collection. Frequently it felt like, just when I'd get into a story, it'd be time for a new one! And then I wouldn't have the easiest time getting into the following story, because my brain/heart wouldn't be done with the previous one.
I'd recommend this collection to anyone who's a fan of metaphors in particular or Sally Rooney's books in general. I also had a much more enjoyable reading experience when I blew through half of it in a day - I know short stories can often be read in isolation, but I think this one works best if you read it in big chunks.
(One caveat: The publisher blurb says that the stories "drench readers in nostalgia for summer nights and sultry days" and I think that's true. I read this collection while staying at home during the coronavirus outbreak. It's possible I'd have loved it, had I not felt so separated from summer nights as they used to be.)
Content warnings: cutting, death of a teenager, prostitution, cigarette smoking, reference to man who gambled and was killed in prison, reference to brother who hanged himself (and grief), miscarriage/grieving over that, unintentional pregnancy, reference to abuse and assault, cheating
So We Can Glow is a lyrical collection of short stories, a few of which play with form. Some of the stories are quite short, others a bit longer, but I couldn't help feeling that each just gives you a taste. I wouldn't call any of them satisfying - Cross-Smith reels you in, then drops you back on into the water, over and over again.
My favorite aspect of these were that some of the (42!) stories were linked (i.e. featuring the same characters you'd already met). That helped me to get my bearings a bit. Often, though, I struggled to connect with this (very good!) collection. Frequently it felt like, just when I'd get into a story, it'd be time for a new one! And then I wouldn't have the easiest time getting into the following story, because my brain/heart wouldn't be done with the previous one.
I'd recommend this collection to anyone who's a fan of metaphors in particular or Sally Rooney's books in general. I also had a much more enjoyable reading experience when I blew through half of it in a day - I know short stories can often be read in isolation, but I think this one works best if you read it in big chunks.
(One caveat: The publisher blurb says that the stories "drench readers in nostalgia for summer nights and sultry days" and I think that's true. I read this collection while staying at home during the coronavirus outbreak. It's possible I'd have loved it, had I not felt so separated from summer nights as they used to be.)
Content warnings: cutting, death of a teenager, prostitution, cigarette smoking, reference to man who gambled and was killed in prison, reference to brother who hanged himself (and grief), miscarriage/grieving over that, unintentional pregnancy, reference to abuse and assault, cheating