inquisitrix's reviews
54 reviews

Autonomy by Victoria Hetherington

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Like most of the best stories about artificial intelligence, Autonomy is really about what it means to be a person. Like many of the best science fiction novels with literary leanings, it uses a future setting and circumstances to explore the human condition in the time of its writing, extrapolating possibility from how we live now. And reading it now, during a global pandemic--something that features prominently during the novel's later sections--Hetherington's extrapolations feel eerily probable. 

While in places I found the story occasionally lost its propulsive thread, getting bogged down in the minutiae of complicated relationships between its complex array of characters, it nevertheless held my interest through its evocative writing and believable situations. I have a weakness for slice-of-life stories set in extreme circumstances, and Hetherington's gentle hand when describing even the darkest moments in the book--which really gets quite dark--creates that certain feeling of coziness even in the face of disaster. That dissonance between emotional affect and apocalyptic impact creates a tension that results in a mostly-riveting read.

This is an unexpectedly quiet, interior story, and one that bears careful--and possibly repeated--reading. I would recommend it to anyone who likes stories that take place in the dreamworld that lies between genres, and anyone who fears the future and needs a breath of hope that some spark of human kindness can prevail.

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review. 

The Land of Short Sentences by Stine Pilgaard

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Land of Short Sentences is a truly charming book. Stine Pilgaard explores loneliness, isolation, personal and interpersonal shortcomings, small-town life, friendship, parenthood, and love with a light touch and a wealth of warmth and humour. Despite their many flaws, her characters--particularly the anxiously garrulous narrator--cannot help coming off as sympathetic and relatable. This might just be a perfect book to read in an era when most of us have learned far more than we ever wanted to about being unusually lonely and isolated and worrying that no one understands us. Pilgaard, through both the novel's narrative and the advice column her narrator writes for a local newspaper, reminds us both that no one understands anyone and that nevertheless we may sometimes find ourselves perfectly understood. I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a little bit of comfort and a good laugh. 

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

Field Notes from a Nightmare: An Anthology of Ecological Horror by Alex Ebenstein, Tim Hoelscher, Alexis DuBon, Eric Raglin, Tom Jolly, Gordon B. White, Matthew Pritt, S.L. Harris, Alex Woodroe, Eddie Generous, Gwen C. Katz, Nikki R. Leigh, J.R. McConvey, Joe Koch, KC Grifant, Sara Tantlinger, Carter Lappin, Tim Lebbon, Jonathan Louis Duckworth, A.K. Dennis

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

 When I asked indie horror publisher Dreadstone Press for a review copy of their debut title, Field Notes from a Nightmare, I thought I had some idea of what I was in for. I’d read prior work by several of the collected authors, so I knew to prepare myself to be unsettled. Half a story in, I discovered that I was not anywhere near braced for the impact of this devastating anthology. 

Field Notes from a Nightmare’s 18 stories of ecological horror compose a symphony of tragedy and terror. There is little more frightening on scales either local or global than climate catastrophe and environmental degradation. These stories showcase the sheer innumerability of ways in which our environment could—and, if we do not change our ways, probably will—go wrong. Equally frightening is their focus on the manners in which we humans, faced with environmental collapse, could (and do) go wrong. There are so many possibilities, so few of them bearable. 

As in any short story collection, particularly a multiply-authored anthology, some of these stories worked better for me than others (though I found none of them bad or bland and all of them scary). The collection is bookended by what, for me, were two of its highest notes, beginning with the atmospheric menace of Sara Tantlinger’s “As Humans Burn Beneath Us” and ending with Tom Jolly’s gripping survival epic “When the Rains Come.” Other standout stories included Gordon B. White’s truly disturbing “Dandelion Six”, Joanna Koch’s upsetting (and wonderfully titled) “We Have Always Lived in the Soil”, Jonathan Louis Duckworth’s note-perfect Thoreau pastiche “Considering a Pond in Massachusetts”, and Alex Woodroe’s horrifyingly funny academic satire “The Huitlacoche is Doing Fine”. And also: if you, like me, like to read while you cook, I implore you not to read Tim Hoelscher’s “The MeatTM” while you cook meat. I promise that you will regret it and the regret will linger. 

This collection’s indelible creepiness is enhanced through interior illustrations by cover artist David Bowman, whose shadowy ink drawings—a little reminiscent of shadow master Mervyn Peake, though Bowman’s style is ultimately his own—highlight memorable details from the texts. The illustrations’ tone is well matched to the stories and helps sustain a sense of overall coherence. 

Field Notes from a Nightmare is an unforgettable book. Though the disturbing nature of its themes result in an emotionally and intellectually challenging experience, the overall quality of its stories’ writing and editor Alex Ebenstein’s well-considered sequencing of stories result in a propulsive, even compulsive, read. I would recommend this anthology to anyone looking for high-quality modern horror, particularly readers who turn to horror for help in processing pressing and distressing issues such as climate change. 

& This is How To Stay Alive by Shingai Njeri Kagunda

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 

 The first thing I must say about & This is How to Stay Alive is that Kagunda’s prose is absolutely stunning. Her deliberate, decolonial choice to write in the English spoken in her Kenyan communities and not the English defaulted to in North American publishing—the choice, that is, to write for a home audience before any other readers—results in syntax and sentence structures that glow with the poetry of love, empathy, art that carries the familiar into the transcendent. (As a reader who does not hail from or have any experience of the country or communities centred in Kagunda’s writing, I want to be careful to avoid imposing too much of my uninformed opinion on this work—and yet, for all the author’s admirably evident care to centre specific communities, there is also much here that feels universal, or else that she describes so tangibly as to offer at least some small, clear view to readers from outside.) Kagunda’s artistic skill is evident in every turn of phrase, and on the basis of language alone her novella is a joy to read. 

Perhaps “joy” is an imperfect word to use in describing a novella that reckons with intergenerational trauma, the suicide of a queer youth, and the grief of those left behind, and yet this story is so beautiful I cannot think of a more appropriate word. Perhaps it is only that, for all it grapples with death and loss, this is a story about life, a story for the living. The love its characters feel for one another, and the love the author showers on both her characters and the communities for whom her story is most intended, are so pervasive in the text that it was impossible not to feel something of joy even while experiencing the grief that also pervades each part of the book. This is a novella that, much to its credit, resists any attempt to oversimplify and flatten its themes in trying to straightforwardly describe what it is about. 

Another particularly striking feature of & This is How to Stay Alive is its inclusion of time as a point of view. The depth and complexity added to the storytelling by using time as a character is, at least in my personal experience as a reader, something truly unique. 

The brevity of the novella format seems perfectly suited to this story. A short book is easily reread; & This is How to Stay Alive strikes me as the kind of story that continues to reveal itself over time and to share new facets of itself on each new reading. A perfect match between form and content is most certainly among Shingai Njeri Kagunda’s many accomplishments here, and I am looking forward to the next time I am ready to take this gorgeous little book down from the shelf. 

 

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester

challenging dark tense medium-paced

5.0

Such a Pretty Smile is such a spectacular novel. Kristi DeMeester pulls no punches in her virtuosic evisceration of the patriarchal structures that teach girls and women to hide our pain, fear, and emotions behind the veneer of biddable prettiness we're expected to maintain for the comfort and pleasure of boys and men--or else risk being diagnosed, dosed, and discarded. This is is not a comfortable or obedient book, and I expect many of its readers will know the rage it evokes all too well. 

I would say that Such a Pretty Smile is not an easy read, except that DeMeester's prose is so gripping the pages simply evaporate. The pacing, dialogue, and timing of each crucial revelation constitute a bravura performance that showcases the potential of contemporary horror realized to its fullest extent. I read very few books that I can honestly say possess no flaws; this is one of the few. It does exactly what it sets out to do, and it does so in a truly unforgettable manner.

I'd recommend this book for every "good girl" in the world who has spent her life being angry on the inside while doing her best to appear calm and content on the outside for the sake of safety and getting by. DeMeester's storytelling reminds us that there's more to aspire to in life than being good, and that reminder is truly cathartic.

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

The Second Shooter by Nick Mamatas

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

4.0

The Second Shooter is a fast-paced and darkly funny novel that carries readers along like a storm surge, twisting and turning around ever-changing plot points and perspectives. It's a great send-up of America's contemporary culture of conspiracy theorists and the media figures who engage with and encourage them for the sake of the show, as well as a biting critique of everyone who benefits from public tragedies. I found it both entertaining and eerily believable.

The main drawback of this novel, for me, was that I had some difficulty finding the main character engaging. Everything that happened to and around him, and everyone he encountered, was much, much more engaging, which saved the book and ultimately resulted in a satisfying reading experience. I think it might have been a five-star read had there been just a bit more to Mike Karras, though perhaps his essential lack of, well, pretty much everything was important to the plot. At any rate, though his characterization was a flaw for me, I still enjoyed the book quite a bit.

I'd recommend The Second Shooter to anyone looking for a slightly paranormal thriller that's short enough for a fast reader to blaze through in an afternoon. Fans of the X-Files, Neal Stephenson, and William Gibson alike should find plenty of thematic satisfaction here, but Mamatas's take on familiar themes of omnipresent surveillance and vast conspiracy is individual enough to offer most readers something new to think about. 

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review. 

The Autumnal: The Complete Series by Daniel Kraus

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

The Autumnal is such a perfectly eerie read for an autumn release. This is a comic best read while sitting outdoors, wrapped in a blanket to ward off the chill in the air, with a mug of something hot near at hand--but not too near, so you don't spill it when a leaf skitters by and, because you're reading The Autumnal, that leaf scares you.

This is a comic for people who like when things get dark, for people who believe that small town life just can't be as rosy as it looks, for people who are ready to see their worst imaginings come to pass. The lovely, spooky art supports and enhances the script exactly as it should, evoking just the right shudders in just the right places. There were just a few places where I felt the writing stretched my willing suspension of disbelief to the point of breaking, but the pervasive creepiness helped me keep reading and enjoy most of the story anyway. 

If you like horror comics, autumn leaves, and/or familial tragedy, this is a comic for you!

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

There's something delightfully quirky about a noirish cyberpunk thriller about the shady side of major-league baseball. Quirkiness and cheekiness seem to be Lincoln Michel's stock in trade, and he pull them off tidily in his debut novel. 

While I would have liked more character development--I never felt like I really got much insight into any of the characters, even and almost especially the narrator--I quite enjoyed this title. It's as much of a romp as something featuring a fair bit of dystopian-future gross body horror and sewer content can be, and, because it doesn't read like it's taking itself particularly seriously, I found it easy to hang on for the ride and have fun. I'm not at all into baseball, but I found the baseball content to be some of the most engaging parts of the book, perhaps because the narrator sometimes reveals a little more of himself to readers when thinking about the game. 

This is a quick, fun read well suited to an autumn release. Michel wears his mashup of influences on his sleeve; while this doesn't make for the most original worldbuilding in history, it does result in a world that will feel familiar, immersive, and easily entertaining to fans of works like Transmetropolitan, George Saunders, and  many assorted grim and gritty cyberpunk/biopunk/neo-noir mysteries and thrillers.

I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

When Things Get Dark by Ellen Datlow

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

It's hard to imagine a more certain success than an Ellen Datlow horror anthology. That might be a high expectation, but When Things Get Dark fully lives up to it. 

There isn't a single filler story in this book. While I think some are more successful than others at conveying a sense of tribute to and inspiration by Shirley Jackson, all of them are killer stories in their own right. Particular highlights for me included Richard Kadrey's gleefully nasty little domestic murder, Cassandra Khaw's gruesome remote village revenge, Laird Barron's horrifyingly murky collage of memory and family mystery, and Kelly Link's majestically eerie fable of graduate school, housesitting, and the beyond. That isn't to say that any of the others left me cold, though; this might be the most consistently excellent anthology I've read in years.

I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone interested in a trying a sampler of many of the finest, most interesting writers in contemporary horror (I mean, on top of the authors whose stories were personal favourites, a book that also contains Carmen Maria Machado, Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay, Gemma Files, and all the rest is just an amazing snapshot of a phenomenal era for terrifying and truly excellent horror writing), as well as to those who are already fans of any of the authors in the book (or of Datlow herself). 

I received a free e-ARC of this title from Titan Books via NetGalley in exchange for my review.

The Deer Kings by Wendy N. Wagner

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

 I read The Deer Kings in a creaky old country house that stands beside a forest which I am fairly convinced is haunted and which is most certainly overrun with deer who frequently come quite close to the house. Thanks to the particular ways in which this novel is terrifying, I too am now haunted, and I will never look at a deer the same way again. 

The Deer Kings is a pitch-perfect take on the innate horror of run-down towns and the run-down people who infest them. It reads like both an homage to classic small-town horror stories and an update that transforms the tired old misogynistic and queerphobic tropes common to such classic works into something new, fresh, and rather more sympathetic to the mores of 21st-century readers. Wagner’s subtle prose is fluid and unobtrusive in a way ideally suited to the novel, supporting and displaying the vivid characters and fast-moving plot without distracting through the over-the-top language one sometimes finds in books of this type. Using just the right amount of description to reveal without ever dumping, Wagner builds an ever-more-tangible atmosphere of dread from the book’s first pages through its inevitably horrific conclusion. 

I would say that The Deer Kings is not a book for the faint of heart—it is very, very scary—but then again I am a total coward when it comes to horror and I absolutely loved it. Perhaps the easily frightened might best enjoy this one with the lights on, a hot drink near at hand, and a trustworthy person or animal close enough for comfort. 

I received a free digital advance copy of this novel from the author in exchange for my review.