Something's Not Right

(Crossposting from my storygraph).

This is a really interesting collections of short stories that will guide you through a strange and fascinating world. Some of the stories are set in the same universe and finding where they are interconnected made me feel a lot more invested than I would have been without. Especially the early stories tend to be very short (they get longer as you get further into the collection), and I would advise you to not let that put you off the book. It is worth it, even though some of the stories made me desperately wish there was more (especially Don’t feel guilty, which had a really cool concept, but was too short for me to enjoy in all its terror).

As it always is with short story collections I did not like all of the stories in here, some due to premise or because they were from a genre I did not really enjoy, but I liked a lot of them. The stories span from fairytales with a twist, romances with gods or AI and urban magic to gothic horror, so even if there are some genres or tropes here you normally don't enjoy, there's more than enough other interesting stories here to definitely make this a worthwhile read for many. I think if you like stories exploring fantastical worlds and supernatural characters, there will be a few gems in here for you.
(Warning for slight spoilers for some of the short stories)

My personal favorites are “the turning of claribella holte”, which is one of the short stories that I think really showcases the beauty of the writing, “my parents are spies” a short story about a young person going through some changes as they grow older and having to come to terms with the knowledge that their parents won’t accept them, “blood-drenched brothers”, a fairytale horror about loss due to other’s prejudice, “edie” a Hansel and Gretel-based revenge story, “theoretical robotics and the dynamics of love” a story about an AI experiencing something new, “koschei” about a girl who can see other people’s deaths meeting someone whose death she can’t see, “the magic number” about a trans woman nervous about telling her date she’s trans, “the hands and the mouth” a short story about escaping an oppressive regime when the way you speak can out you as somebody who needs to be hunted down, “soliloquy” following a being from an underground society befriending a human and learning to understand art and “six hours under” about a chance meeting that might just save a life.

I adored the way queerness played a role in these stories, sometimes a source of anxiety for a person worried about facing queerphobia, other times just part of the story that was being told. I also like that real life aspects of oppression where reflected in these stories somewhat. Besides the supernatural aspect of the stories another thing that connects these stories is love and connection, which plays a role in pretty much every single one of the stories. There’s a wide variety of connections from friends to lovers to family and even sometimes strangers and I really enjoyed how important community was in many of the stories. The characters also always feel different, which made them unique and interesting.

All in all, this is a really good short story collection and I can definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys vignettes and short stories that guide you through a strange world and allow you to meet a variety of different characters. If you know and enjoy the podcast Monstrous Agonies, or enjoyed reading Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children Series you will probably enjoy this book as well.