A review by octavia_cade
Sharp & Sugar Tooth by Catherynne M. Valente, Octavia Cade, Sabrina Vourvoulias, Betsy Aoki, H. Pueyo, Erin Horakova, Anahita Eftekhari, Caroline M. Yoachim, Jasmyne J. Harris, Alyssa Wong, D.A. Xiaolin Spires, Rem Wigmore, Chikodili Emelumadu, Kathleen Alcalá, Penny Stirling, Rachael Sterling, A.R. Henle, Joyce Chng, Katharine Duckett, Crystal Lynn Hilbert, Amelia Gorman, Kathryn McMahon, Damien Angelica Walters

5.0

I am clearly utterly biased, as I'm the one who picked the stories that ended up in this anthology, but I love them all to bits. Consumption is such an interesting theme, especially when it's tied into issues of sex and gender, and the stories in here have all approached the issue of women and food and horror in a variety of creepy, compelling ways. I love that while some of the stories in here depict women as victims, as consumable objects, others subvert that expectation by making women predatory consumers themselves. I love that some of these stories navigate and survive horror by relying on friendship and family and shared experiences and sticking together. I love that so many of them have a bone-deep streak of kindness that turns monstrosity into something generous and wonderful. And I love that they're about choosing to act, and choosing not to act, because so often objects of consumption aren't expected to have a choice.