The writing in the short stories that comprise A Manual for How to Love Us is lovely. Stories themselves are of varying quality, with Anywhere and Nest standing out.

As a 25-year-old book enthusiast who relishes diving into new literary worlds, I found "A Manual for How to Love Us: Stories" by Erin Slaughter to be a uniquely compelling read. This collection of stories is stunningly fierce, blending the lines between reality and fantasy, and between the living and the spectral. Slaughter's narrative is enchanting, drawing readers into worlds that are both dark and whimsical, making it a perfect choice for fans of magical realism and strong female characters​​.

Each story in the collection is voiced distinctly from a female perspective, exploring the myriad dangers, vulnerabilities, and strengths of living in a female body. Slaughter's talent shines in her ability to create delightfully tangled worlds, coupled with her flexible and innovative storytelling style. This aspect added a layer of depth and enjoyment to the reading experience​​.

However, a pervasive theme of suffering across the narratives imparts a certain monotony to the collection. Despite this, Slaughter's lyrical writing and storytelling skills are evident and provide a rich, immersive experience for those willing to engage with the book's darker elements​​.

In summary, "A Manual for How to Love Us" is an absorbing journey through a spectrum of emotions and experiences, narrated with a poignant and imaginative voice. It's a book that lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned, making it a memorable addition to any reader's collection.

Beautiful writing and darkly imaginative stories with thoughtful meditations on grief, death, love, and longing.

A Manual for How to Love Us is a tender portrait of women trying their best to survive, love, and find genuine meaning in the aftermath of loss. Each story provides a realistic, fantasy or violent look at how women may handle grief.
I appreciate how the stories give women permission to be themselves. There is no right or wrong wday to hanle big emotions.
The book's blurb touts the stories as interconnected, but they each seemed to stand alone in my perspective. I was also surprised at the profanity and sexual content that were present to varying degrees in most of the stories.
Favorite quotes:
"A body can be a room and a room is a place to hide. Sometimes a person can burrow into their own body, stay safe there, but sometimes another person can split a body open, carve a raw path, burrow into what isn’t theirs."
"Maybe all boys wanted was a girl they could fold up and fit in their pocket, to carry around discreetly as they went about their lives and take them out only when they were bored or horny or needed entertainment to help burn up a few hours."
"We were all, everybody, trying to drown ourselves in other people, and at the same time, wanting to hold the truest piece of ourselves hostage, where nobody could get to it."
"Sometimes you have to incinerate what sings within you so other parts of you can survive. I took my cinder and scraped those old fires into a new kind of light."

A MANUAL FOR HOW TO LOVE US is a candid group of stories. Slaughter created quite a unique collection in which she showcases all the facets of what being a woman can mean. However, where this book shines is with the eloquence of the writing.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Perennial for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This consisted of interlinked stories about women, relationships and loss and grief. The stories were told mainly in first and third person and were bizarre and outlandish. The most memorable was the one where a women is hired to be a gazer of others' sex acts. Yet overall the stories are well written but I found that they speak to me and I found my interest waning. They were difficult for me to finish but I made it. Can't say I would recommend this collection.

The title and premise were so intriguing in this one, but unfortunately the execution didn't match my expectations. This happens often with story collections, but I found myself skimming through or DNFing some in A Manual for How to Love Us.

Did not finish. The book was quite difficult to get into, so I did not make it very far despite numerous attempts to restart my reading.

This short story collection has many weird and/or disturbing stories. A couple really messed with my head. I would like a different manual for how to love me please.

If you want to be disturbed and sad, you may really like these stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.

This collection of short stories is interesting and definitely will be resonate for some people. The writing style just wasn't for me. It felt overly wrought in places and I would have appreciated a bit more bluntness in regards to the characters emotions and experiences.

After reading the first story of this collection, I went out and bought a hard copy. Sadly, that ended up being my favorite by far. This collection is exquisitely written, but the freshness and intrigue fizzles out with nearly every story. Still, I enjoyed my time reading it — it sated my thirst for gorgeous words.

I could not finish enough of this book to be able to leave a comprehensive review, but I hope it finds its audience and I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

This is a collection that I've been highly anticipating for some time and I was not disappointed at all. I love Erin Slaughter's poetry and these stories read as if they're written by a poet. Beautifully crafted stories that are dark and haunting. I enjoyed every single story in this collection, which doesn't happen very often with short story collections so I was thrilled! I am recommending this to all of my friends.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. While the premise was interesting I didn’t connect with the characters or the story in a meaningful manner. Some books just aren’t for us, and that’s alright.

parts of this were promising, but the writing style didn't work for me — it felt overly poetic to the point of being hard to follow, and it felt like characters, plot, and purpose were put by the wayside in favor of surface-level beauty and dramatic moments. i wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that this author's poetry is excellent, but i wasn't a fan of this book.

I am in love with this. It also reminded me of how much I tend to prefer fiction stories written by a poet. The prose was gorgeous, and I saved so many lines to write after pieces. Every story was tinged with a kind of grief that was so real but portrayed with surrealism. As someone who is always shooting for this balance in their own writing, it spoke to me on an extremely intimate level. There wasn’t a single story I didn’t enjoy. Thank you Harper Perennial and Net Galley for the reviewer copy.

First NetGalley ARC that I simply marked as DNF. High literary and clunky language made the storyline difficult to enjoy and follow. Cover if beautiful though.

Fester appears more than once in these stories and it captures an important theme of the collection. (See also 'feral'). We are all walking wounded (from grief, loneliness, rejection, otherness) and those wounds fester. Healing (through connection, escape, surrender) is possible, but is often flawed, sometimes transitory, and occasionally transcendent. Slaughter is a poet, and her writing reflects that. I often paused to re-read a particularly beautiful sentence. But she knows how to spin a tale, too. I enjoyed these stories of heartbreak, loss and the search for redemption. And I rarely knew where they were talking me. Stylistically, the title story is a standout. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Gorgeous writing that leans messy. Fans of contemporary Korean women writers in translation would enjoy the stories contained within Slaughter's collection. There's a lot to admire from stories that center women in these ways, and I believe many should be reading these kinds of works more. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it.

I'm a slut for short story collections, especially when they center around themes specific to the experience of being a woman. Not every story hit the mark but overall the writing was exquisite and I found myself hungry for the next story each time.