thistle_and_verse's reviews
299 reviews

Erzulie and Anasi get into a story-telling contest that endangers Latoya and Maggie. Loved the interactions between Erzulie and Anansi and how that influenced the story, loved the suspense. Favorite issue so far.

I got this book for myself (a virtual copy) because I have a soft spot for fairies. Although I'm much older than the target audience, I thought it was a cute read and that my younger self would have enjoyed it (I would compare the length and difficulty to something like Charlotte's Web). I would have especially related to the bookish protagonist Pepa. There's magic and a battle and redemption, a lot of compelling story elements with some small twists to keep your attention. The artwork was beautiful and a highlight for me, especially the cotton fairy. I associate fairies with colorful flowers, so I thought that was a creative turn, and I think she's getting her own book, so I want to look out for that. It's a mix of black and white sketches and fully colored drawings.

A gripping and puzzling short story. I thought the method of necromancy in this book was inventive.

I'd describe most of the stories are satirical social commentary. About half of them were on police brutality. I think these would've been more impactful to me a few years ago. They generally illustrate the bleakness of the current situation, and I think the focus of the stories was showing how living in those conditions twists people. Characters don't really transcend their conditions except in death, and I'm in a place now where I'd like to see hints of a way to survive and transcend, even if that way is still difficult and bleak. Of the stories about police brutality, I think I enjoyed "The Finkelstein 5" the most. I was surprised at how engrossed I became in the stories about working in retail. Adjei-Brenyah has a gift for stretching the mundane and making it fantastical. My favorite stories were "Through the Light" and "Friday Black." "Through the Light" is an apocalyptic sci fi story that was grisly and captivating and asked searching questions about forgiveness and growth.

I only read Ytasha Womack's short. I'd heard her discussing her motivation for writing it and some of the guiding principles of her work and was intrigued. I ended up liking the concept more than the execution. It was a poem, which isn't really my thing.

"Bloodchild" is quintessential Butler. I would definitely recommend this to people wanting to get a feel for Butler's work and if they wanted to read one of her novels. "The Evening and the Morning and the Night" was also very gristly and good. I was meh on the stories in more realistic settings. They were well written, but they didn't showcase the reasons I read Butler. I don't think "Speech Sounds" has aged well. I've read a good amount of Butler's novels and considered her to be insightful, so it was disheartening to me to read something that felt very dehumanizing of people who are nonverbal or who have mental disabilities with little pushback from any of the characters or narrator within the story. Her essays are great, and it's nice that we get a little explanation from Butler after each story. It's nice to hear from the author herself about her process and inspirations.