A review by laurynreads
Awayland by Ramona Ausubel

4.0

I’m begrudgingly giving this book four stars. Obvi I didn’t love all the stories equally, especially the ones in the last section, but that happens in short story collections. Something that really bothered me was the author’s use of “foreign” or insistence on showcasing how unsafe characters felt in other countries, while at the same time exoticizing the people and place they’re in. It felt like an endorsed viewpoint, not a shortcoming, in my opinion, and it really took me out of stories. That being said, there are still some stunning stories in here that I really really enjoyed and Ausubel’s brand of weird aligns with mine—I could just do without all the othering.