was first introduced to tananarive due's work via her short story the lake, featured in ellen datlow's Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror. it was definitely one of the stories that stuck with me the most in that collection and i've been wanting to read more of her work since - and HOO BOY SHE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT. her works here range from southern gothic-style horror to mid-apocalyptic speculative fiction that calls to mind the greats like Octavia Butler. while i found that the gracetown stories were the ones that had the biggest impact for me, i thoroughly enjoyed every genre featured here and am definitely going to be thinking about this collection for a LONG time. also wanted to add that i strongly recommend the audiobook version! the narrators do an absolutely fantastic job of embodying the characters and really making the emotional punches land.
individual ratings:
the wishing pool - 5/5 haint in the window - 5/5 incident at bear creek lodge - 4/5 thursday-night shift - 3/5 last stop on route 9 - 4.5/5 suppertime - 3/5 rumpus room - 5/5 (my favorite from the collection) migration - 5/5 caretaker - 4.5/5 one day only - 5/5 attachment disorder - 3/5 ghost ship - 4/5 shopping day - 3/5 the biographer - 3.5/5...more
read this entirely in one sitting while getting a decently painful tattoo and listening to just the strangest metallic robot industrial music i'd everread this entirely in one sitting while getting a decently painful tattoo and listening to just the strangest metallic robot industrial music i'd ever heard, and honestly i'd be hard pressed to think of a better setting to read this collection in? this was just a really impeccable display of butler's mastery of language, plot, and setting, particularly in the sci-fi genre; while each story comes in at only around 25-35 pages, each one manages to develop an incredibly engrossing and complete story and world. they hook you instantly and keep you reading to the end, and i found that every one had a satisfying and well-developed conclusion that keeps you thinking about the story days later. this collection really reminded me that oh yeah, short stories can be absolutely incredible and sometimes i do really love sci-fi. just absolutely perfect, everyone should read this - and if you don't read it all, at least check out amnesty, my favorite in the collection and an absolute stunner that imagines a futuristic earth where humans and alien beings called communities are beginning to learn how to coexist after a troubled and violent series of first meetings.
individual ratings: bloodchild - 5/5 the evening and the morning and the night - 4/5 near of kin - 3.5/5 speech sounds - 4/5 crossover - 3/5 positive obsession - 4/5 furor scribendi - 4/5 amnesty - 5/5 the book of martha - 5/5...more
CHRIST this was incredible. complex and smart and so gorgeously written - every part of this story is so well done and weaves together seamlessly to cCHRIST this was incredible. complex and smart and so gorgeously written - every part of this story is so well done and weaves together seamlessly to create a heartbreakingly BRUTAL story. i personally love when authors jump into a plot with the attitude of 'shit is bad and it's going to get worse' and that is executed to perfection here. jemisin creates no false expectations - the world has ended for the last time, after all - but still expertly makes you care for these characters and hope for them to be happy despite the pit in your stomach because you KNOW shit is going to go bad. and oh boy, does shit go bad! much like with He Who Drowned the World, i read the last third of this book in a horrified frenzy because i wanted to know what happened but also OH GOD THEY TURNED THAT MAN INTO A PILE OF GOO. honestly i spent the whole book in mounting horror - i love how jemisin just drops you into this world and explains nothing so as you figure out the worldbuilding and plot you also start to realize the degree to which everything is fucked.
(and no i totally did not see that first huge twist coming. or the second for that matter)
10/10, incredible, can't wait for the rest of the series to fuck me up ...more
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