divineauthor 's review for:

Januaries: Stories of Love, Magic & Betrayal by Olivie Blake

3.75

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“I think most people are better at it than me.”
“Better at what?”
“All of it,” I said. But what I meant was existing.
—page 373, in “A Year In January”

par for the course of my experience reading olivie blake, JANUARIES is a microcosm of her writing as a whole which means: there are really fucking good stories, fun ones, mediocre ones, and boring ones. 

i adored “The Wish Bridge,” “Sucker for Pain,” “The Animation Games,” and “To Make a Man.” i just have fun with fucked up or weird power dynamics, and, of course, love and devotion. her experimental ones like “Monsterlove” was quite interesting from a craft perspective, but some of the other stories—especially in the autumn section—fell flat for me. it’s probably a combination of the piece itself and the audiobook narrators (not a fan of a couple of them). anyway, love n light, guys!