*** Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press, Rare Machines for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ***

Suite as Sugar is a stunning debut from author, Dr. Camille Hernández-Ramdwar. Throughout the collection, these short-stories are smart, self-aware, relevant, and funny at times (thinking of "The Death of Caribana" where the narrator is sitting in a Zoom meeting of well-meaning (?) event organizers and transcribing both what the other attendees are saying and her own internal monologue in response). The stories explore a number of topics from the unending cycle of poverty, to gentrification, many different varieties of trauma(s), familial memory, and more. The author has her Ph.D. in Sociology and to me that came through in the stories, as they are clever, thoughtful, and deliberate. Each one made me pause and think. As a reader, I really enjoyed the reading experience, as each story was so unique in its format and narration experience (e.g. one story is from the perspective of a dog), and while the stories were at times hit or miss, the hits were really spectacular ('The Biggest Fête' was beautiful; I re-read it several times through). The stories and the voice throughout were very much their own, but were at times reminiscent of Danielle Evans and Maurice Carlos Ruffin, and I would recommend to fans of either author.

i’m sad to say this one wasn’t for me. i don’t usually go for short stories because i tend to feel somewhat detached from the narrative due to their brief length, and that was exactly what happened here — i barely felt any sort of connection to these characters, and the topics were often just too much for me. in fact, i think i would have benefitted from knowing a bunch of the content warnings for what is depicted here, because i feel like i wouldn’t have picked it up at all if i had known what was coming. still, hernández-ramdwar is an undeniably skilled writer, and i liked some aspects to certain stories. but yes, it was sort of a disappointment on the whole.

4.5 I only knocked off the half point because I struggled with some of the slang and would have loved a glossary of terms.

Otherwise I really enjoyed thus collection of short stories. Camille Hernandez-Ramdhwar is (so the blurb says) multi-racial, multi-lingual, multicultural and trans-national. It certainly comes across in her writing. As does the thin line between corporeal and incorporeal worlds.

The stories move from Cuba to Canada to Trinidad giving the reader a flavour not only of the cultures and experiences had by the writers characters but also of historical changes in the countries. The prose is often quite poetic and lyrical. Not too much though. I'm not a huge fan of poetic prose.

My favourite was most definitely the title story "Suite as Sugar" which weaves several stories with one binding issue - sugar - in all its forms, guises and treachery.

Thoroughly enjoyed this collection. Its certainly like nothing I've ever read before.

I found this book very mixed - some of the stories, such as the dog's tale, almost brought me to tears, others, I found difficult to engage with.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Some of these stories were wonderful, well written and engrossing, heartfelt and maddening. But I didn't feel as though the strengths of the few made up for the weaknesses of the rest.

Such a wonderful collection of short stories. As with all other short story collections, there were some I preferred but if I had to look at this anthology as a whole, I would give it a 4/5 stars. The writing had this fluidity to it that made it so lyrical and beautiful and after I went over the collection after reading it I realized I had annotated various lines on almost every page. Very excited to purchase it when it comes out.

A collection of short stories that are confronting and challenging from the themes and the language to the characters of each story. Not sugar coated as the title might imply. These stories are not easy to read, I’m not sure if it’s because the writer is presenting an unheard voice - the stories are diverse as they are often raw. This is quite a remarkable collection when considering what Hernandez-Ramdwar conveys through each short story. I didn’t enjoy this in that it left me feeling warm and fuzzy, but I enjoyed it as it stirrso many other emotions and not necessarily positive ones. Anger, disgust, shock, sadness, disbelief…despair at the harsh reality of these stories and sometimes humour, although a dark one. And on reflection, also excitement for a new voice writing ‘…in honour of the ancestors who persevered despite the odds, and for those who continue to suffer injustices in our present world.’

𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚒𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛:

Camille Hernández-Ramdwar is a multi-racial, multicultural, multilingual, and transnational writer and scholar. The veil between the corporeal and the incorporeal is very thin in her work, which explores the search for belonging; the collective violences of neo-colonialism, poverty, racism, sexism, and other injustices; and the important interrelationship between matter and spirit. She divides her time between Toronto and Trinidad and Tobago.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚘 #𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 @dundurnpress 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚎𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠. 𝟹.𝟻 -𝟺 ⭐️

Okay, first let me start with the positives- I enjoyed Hernández-Ramdwar's writing style and there were odd moments in these stories which really captured my imagination. Also, I always love to read about cultures I haven't been exposed to, especially from the voices within them, to give me new perspectives on my place in a multi-cultural society. This book definitely has a strong identity, and gives you the chance to see situations through a fresh pair of eyes.

However, I felt a lot of the stories were underdeveloped and one-note, and ultimately just left me feeling depressed. This isn't to say I wanted the stories to be happier, I just wanted deeper characters which I could feel some empathy for. I struggled to connect to a lot of the stories, and found myself wanting to like them more than I actually did.

"You could try punching back, attacking, pushing, shoving, impaling -- but all you would get was a bounce back of puffy, bland ineffectualness, a feigned smile, skin teeth, apologies, denials."

An obvious thank you to Dundurn Press for allowing me to pre-read this book, and truly what an amazing book it was. Typically, I do not read short story collections, but I was beyond impressed with this title and the careful writing of Hernández-Ramdwar.

Firstly, the variation between different story lines was interesting and well paced. While some of the stories had more uses of informal slang, some of them were very intently written with a different kind of prose, which I found to be a refreshing switch from story to story. Each story was concluded with a different feeling at the end; some of them feeling like something more could've been done, others feeling like the story concluded the best way it could, and all of them ending with an impact left on me, as a reader. Hernández-Ramdwar used some of the most interesting different storylines I've seen, with unique settings to give some real insight into different people within altering communities.

Heavy themes weighting throughout, such as that of feminism and the importance of the uplifting of communities of color, Hernández-Ramdwar brings in some decisive commentary into the lives of many different individuals that made for a selection of fascinating stories to be able to read about. I felt an attachment to each character, each storyline, and was the most impressed with the way she constructed her final story; the red ribbon on a series of imperfect lives.

This is a collection I would absolutely recommend to readers who want to find themselves constantly on the edge of their seat with an array of perspectives, lives, communities, and ideals to watch the perspective of. Once again, pure respect and investment into Hernández-Ramdwar's prose, and I am interested to see what they have to write in the future.

As with most short story collections, some will stand out more than others. I really enjoyed the lyricism of the writing and the variety of settings, from the Caribbean to Canada, are written in such depth that I felt transported to each time and place. Though replete with rich themes like colonialism, anarchy and the class divide, I found it hard to connect with the characters or their stories.

I was drawn to this short story collection by Camille Hernandez-Ramdwar because of the title and the Canadian and Caribbean settings. It was my first short story collection!

What I liked:
- The writing was beautiful. and poetic at times. There were many quotes I would want to highlight in this book.
- The settings. The stories took place in many different places but Camille's ability to describe them in such detail showed her dedication to research before writing these stories.

What I didn't like:
- I didn't feel any connection to the characters in these stories and I often had a hard time finding a point or purpose to the story.
- The stories were full of honest, open experiences. They were intense and sometimes too much (for me). Even though they touched on important topics, the way they were written just didn't have a powerful effect on me.

Overall, I was a bit let down by the stories in this book. 2.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5092515732

I love short stories, and this collection sounded promising. Some, admittedly, are thought-provoking, but some are just a bit weird. One is told from the perspective of a dog being mistreated - yes, okay, it's an interesting premise, but it doesn't really work, in my opinion. I enjoyed the way the writer manages to incorporate the places she lives - Trinidad and Tobago, in the Caribbean, and Canada. For me, the Canadian ones were more engaging, mainly because I find patois/local dialects different to read and they don't appeal to me. Having said this, Hernandez-Ramdwar is representing her life and I totally understand why she writes as she does.

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley.

This was a difficult read for me because I had to consistently make a conscious effort to be in the right mindset to be able to give it my full attention. At times it felt like a chore but at times it was very insightful (how often do we think about how people in the homeless encampment feel?). I felt like I could connect with the story better sometimes because I could envision the areas of Toronto referenced (being a resident of Toronto), but other times the narrators’ thoughts were full of slippery slopes that just took me out of the book (Yes, fire in your neighborhood, even if it’s a small one under a bridge is a cause of concern. Being concerned about it doesn’t mean you don’t care about the homeless). I understand some of the reviews because the us vs them theme was too strong in this book and I usually enjoy reading stories with a more nuanced approach to things. However, I understand that a nuanced approach in stories like these would not have been very powerful.

This short story collection is so wonderful. Some of the stories contain magical realism which was fun, and of course every story represents in its own way about living life as an other, and how that influences decisions. Very insightful and smart collection.

I read the first story and had to DNF. I did not enjoy it at all and didn’t feel compelled to read the rest like I normally am for short story collections.

i really wanted to love this anthology, and while i appreciated the perspectives it offered and the language it employed, i just couldn't get into it no matter how hard i tried

Oh. I had to stop reading after the rants and realized this isn’t something I’m interested in. Thank you for allowing me to read it.

After reading the first rant-filled short story advocating anarchy, I realized that this short story collection is not for me. Thanks for the ARC.

I received a free copy of this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I began this book on October 14th and reached 31% of the total Kindle edition. It is a collection of short stories in which I reached the beginning of "How to Build a Saddis". I stopped reading as I did not find the content past the first entry engaging or interesting enough to remain invested in. The homophobia from the MC in "Obfuscation" took me out of the story and ended my enthusiasm for finishing the book.

This book might be for someone but its not for me.

An incredible collection of short stories from a powerful female voice. Camille explores racism, modern colonialism, poverty, crime, violent toxicity and generational trauma.
It speaks of the incredible survival instincts of those who suffer injustice in the world. Set in Toronto, Barbados and Trinidad, these stories explore heavy themes but they do it with humour, not shying away from the hard subjects but doing it in a way that is easy to read and that flows naturally, theses stories are little vignettes of magic. Highly recommend!