A review by magenta_menace
Stag Dance: A Novel & Stories by Torrey Peters

5.0

thanks to netgalley and random house for a free arc of this title! wow, am i blown away by this. i've been following torrey peters since before the topside press era, and it's remarkable to see how her craft has grown since then. i'd already read "infect your friends and loved ones" and "the masker" as stand-alones before but it was so enlightening to read them again. the eponymous novel here was unlike anything i've read in a very long time. peters dances around the protagonist's revelation in such a sparse, beautiful way that had me hooked from the start. however, my favorite part of this collection of stories was "the chaser," which was so poignant, tender, and heartbreaking. my first five star review of 2025 and well-deserved at that.