Where the Wild Ladies are is an intriguing book of short stories. Each relatively short story is based on traditional Japanese ghost stories and folklore. My favorite was "A Fox's Life" because while the main character chose a traditional marriage path for stability, she was still a fearless, adventurous spirit who can transform into something beautiful. This is an odd collection of tales, but entertaining and well translated.

Advanced copy provided courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Where the Wild Ladies are has to be the most unique collection of ghost stories I've ever read. The ghosts are sometimes pushy, sometimes annoying, often exasperating, usually surprising, and occasionally fed up with people. Some of the dead are way happier as ghosts than they were when alive. Almost all of the stories have a surprise including one where you think the ghost sleeps and patrols with her cat...but it turns out to be something entirely different.

Another surprise is that after reading a few stories, you start to realize they're interconnected, so read from the beginning to the end since characters in stories reappear in others.

If you're tired of scary stories where you can predict everything that is about to happen, try Where the Wild Ladies Are. You don't know what frightening is until you're confronted with two lady salespeople ghosts who refuse to leave your house until you buy a peony lantern (that you really don't want) from them.

The author, Aoko Matsuda explains, at the end of the book, the ancient Japanese ghost stories these were based on. Her stories, though, are updated. These ghosts are not putting up with the crap ghosts of the past endured.

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read and review a digital ARC of Where the Wild Ladies Are.

I really loved this book I actually chose it because of its modern take on Japanese folklore and tales. I knew some of them not to many so it was more enjoyable to see which stories that were chosen the modern take and interwoven tales and also the powerful positions women were put in. Sassy attitudes and cultural respect of the ages and time period that many people would not know?
I could visualize the character/ creature/ ghosts/ immediately plays and other forms of writing. I love how it gives you the originally story and what style it was written in. Very helpful.

This Arc was given to me by Netgalley I’m exchange for an honest review.

Publish date October 20/ 2020

I just could not get into this book. Maybe if I knew the myths better I would have more. It had some nice stories and definitely many ghosts. If that is your hint you may still really like it!

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Aoko Matsuda for providing me with an ARC of the title Where The Wild Ladies Are!

This was such a wonderful short story collection. I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about Japanese folktales, but I was not disappointed at all. I loved that I was able to take small bites of this whenever I had the time, or devour as much as I wanted to. The inclusion of feminism and queerness were perfect additions to this unique title. I feel so lucky to have been able to read this!

Thank you again to those named above for the chance to read and review this ARC!

For starters, I know almost nothing about Japanese folk tales. I wasn’t certain what to expect from this short story collection, but all the rave reviews made me curious. It was a pleasure to read this book!

The short stories are just the right length to read over a coffee break. I read the book in small doses, one or two each evening for a few days. That way I got the full impact of each story as an individual work of art.

Yet taken as a whole book, there’s an interesting structure to the collection, too. The characters are linked through a strange company run by the even-stranger Mr Tei, though it’s not always apparent how the individual stories relate until later stories. Matsuda’s inventiveness is astounding, especially when I compared her stories to the original tales. (Those are included at the end of the book.)

Certain aspects of the stories are unique to Japanese culture: the myths, for example, aren’t ones that I was familiar with. But Matsuda’s insights into humans in general and women’s societal roles in particular are universal. A lot of her observations hit home for me as a female. Her characters show how subtly and unconsciously societal ideas worm their way into our minds and shape our sense of self-worth.

If all of this sounds like feminist theory, it is. But don’t worry: Matsuda’s stories are anything but dry academic theory. They are lively, witty, and odd in the best possible way.

Babysitting ghosts. Pushy saleswomen ghosts. Guilt-tripping ghosts. Fox ghosts . . . The list goes on. The characters–the live humans, not the dead ones!–benefit from the sometimes counter-intuitive motivation of the ghosts. Whether it’s pushy sales tactics or guilt trips, the human protagonists need these ghosts to push them into action or to protect them.

Occasionally the stories don’t come to the conclusions or resolutions that I expected. As a novel reader, I like all story threads tied, all loose ends snipped, and the story washed, pressed, and neatly hung up in the closet. But short stories–and folk tales in particular–tend to be more unruly than that. And Matsuda’s stories do resolve in the ways most fitting for their characters. There’s a sense of life beyond this story.

One favorite thing . . .
The first story might be my favorite. A pushy guilt-tripping dead aunt returns to scold her niece for her devotion to hair removal. Plucking, waxing, electrolysis, you name it, the niece believes that hairlessness increases her romantically desirability. And yet it hasn’t. The aunt’s witty, sarcastic, and unnervingly honest opinions and the niece’s response (and the ultimate outcome of the story) made me laugh and look at my own razor in a different way.

Overall, do I recommend this book? Absolutely. It was a delight. Anyone who enjoys folk tale retellings, inventive and offbeat stories, or feminist stories will enjoy this.

I received a complimentary copy of this book, thanks to Soft Skull Press and Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.

(This review will appear on my blog on October 19, 2020.)

I enjoyed this book but, the translations at times, were difficult to follow. I decied to just go with it and I found some of the stories to be laugh out loud funny.
"Everyday before bed, I transform in order to assess how my hair is coming along."
The Author has revised Japanese folk tales to be told from a feminist perspective. What a concept?
I enjoyed the premise, and found the tales to be engaging and entertaining.
Thank you Netgalley and Soft Skull Press for the opportunity to review this book.

An absolute delight of a short story collection.

The stories of Where the Wild Ladies Are are filled with all sorts of fantastical things: ghosts, frog guardians, and hauntings aplenty. And yet no matter how seemingly discordant these things may be, they come together beautifully in Matsuda's hands.

Each of these stories comprises a small part of a bigger picture, and the more you read the collection, the more insight you gain into the threads connecting one to the other, the ways in which themes or characters or myths reverberate throughout their narratives.

And what narratives they are. Matsuda's stories are playful yet tender, invested in moments of personal importance to their characters. The plots of these stories may be far-flung--what with all the ghosts and various other fantastical goings-on--but Matsuda always maintains her focus on a compassionate and sympathetic treatment of her characters. Oh, and the writing is just delightful: like a bubble, almost as if it conjures something out of nothing. It's simple but affecting, clean and precise.

Where the Wild Ladies Are is a breath of fresh air. I cannot recommend this one highly enough, especially if you love Japanese fiction and/or short story collections.

I'm in love! What a fantastic collection of short stories. Based on traditional Japanese ghost stories, this book is a feminist, queer reimagining which gives the ghosts a second chance at life and love. It's so lovely, kind, and uplifting. Most of the stories are loosely connected to each other through a mysterious company which employs both the living and the dead. You also can flip to the end of the book to read short summaries of the original tales. If you are looking for something both life-affirming and unique, look no further.