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A review by sevireads
Song of the Mango and Other New Myths by Vida Cruz
5.0
Thank you to BookSirens for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Song of the Mango and Other New Myths was an absolute pleasure to experience, from start to finish. Each short story is so vivid, the prose flows so smoothly that you feel fully immersed in a world of fantasy and whimsy.
It gets off to a very strong start with the titular story, Song of the Mango, and draws you in completely step by step. It was a brilliant choice to have the first three stories be so different to one another - a myth, a letter, and a newspaper article - the variety means that the reader is never bored. Granted, not all article-style stories worked equally well - for example, In the Shadow of the Typhoon, Humans and Mahiwaga Cooperate for Survival felt a bit disjointed, like many little ideas that weren't fully explored in separate short stories, the overall impression the short story collection leaves is overwhelmingly positive - commendably, it is more than the sum of its parts.
Having such a strong line-up of stories means that it's especially hard to pick a favorite - almost all of these stories found a special place in my heart, from Chosen Mother, a tale told from the perspective of the mother of a Chosen One, to Call of the Rimefolk, a love letter to the wildlife conservation efforts.
The inclusion of content warnings was great too, I was only left wishing for an addendum with a little more information of the mythological creatures mentioned in the story. Unfortunately, in most cases Wikipedia is severely lacking in information on them, and while there are some sources on the internet overall, an addendum would make for an even more immersive experience.
Song of the Mango and Other New Myths was an absolute pleasure to experience, from start to finish. Each short story is so vivid, the prose flows so smoothly that you feel fully immersed in a world of fantasy and whimsy.
It gets off to a very strong start with the titular story, Song of the Mango, and draws you in completely step by step. It was a brilliant choice to have the first three stories be so different to one another - a myth, a letter, and a newspaper article - the variety means that the reader is never bored. Granted, not all article-style stories worked equally well - for example, In the Shadow of the Typhoon, Humans and Mahiwaga Cooperate for Survival felt a bit disjointed, like many little ideas that weren't fully explored in separate short stories, the overall impression the short story collection leaves is overwhelmingly positive - commendably, it is more than the sum of its parts.
Having such a strong line-up of stories means that it's especially hard to pick a favorite - almost all of these stories found a special place in my heart, from Chosen Mother, a tale told from the perspective of the mother of a Chosen One, to Call of the Rimefolk, a love letter to the wildlife conservation efforts.
The inclusion of content warnings was great too, I was only left wishing for an addendum with a little more information of the mythological creatures mentioned in the story. Unfortunately, in most cases Wikipedia is severely lacking in information on them, and while there are some sources on the internet overall, an addendum would make for an even more immersive experience.