This was an uneven collection. I really liked the first story, especially the very straightforward writing style, but I didn’t like the second. There were a few other I enjoyed, but only the first story stood out.

SJ Sindu's short story collection keeps your attention throughout and wanting more when you've finished.

this collection of short stories was a bit of a mixed bag for me personally, with some really good stories and some that missed the mark.

let’s start with the good: “Patriot’s Day,” the second story in the collection, was very well written and deliciously complex, handling two very different major characters and their interconnections with skill and style. “Miracle Boy,” which closes the collection, was also very good and very thoughtful, and Sindu does a wonderful job of writing a trickier POV (the narrator is a child).

on the other hand, I was not compelled by the opener, “Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc,” which felt like it had interesting things to explore but that it didn’t give them enough time or space to develop; instead of the four-ish major themes it tried to balance, two would have been perfect, and there were a number of fascinating possible combinations of those themes. the title story, “The Goth House Experiment,” also seemed underdeveloped; I could see where it was trying to go, but it didn’t quite make it there.

so: the good was definitely good, but I didn’t love everything in the collection. If you’re intrigued by the description, I’d say it’s worth picking up; especially with short stories, different readers connect very differently to stories! (I think, for example, that I might have appreciated “Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc” more if I was more “online,” and understood TikTok a little better.) I’ll certainly look out for more work by Sindu in the future, though; I’d like to read more of her work!

thanks so much to Soho Press and Netgalley for the review copy!

I loved Blue Skinned Gods, I'm on the fence about this anthology as some stories are well done and other fell flat
3.5 upped to 4
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is a dynamic short story collection that follows a wide range of characters. I really enjoyed spending time with these stories. They were unsettling at times, but full of emotion. SJ Sindu has a talent for writing really difficult stories that other authors are afraid to write. I always learn something about myself when I encounter their work. I will always read anything SJ Sindu writes and grateful to have read this one!

This book was wonderful. Each story was compelling and I was always a bit sad when they ended and it was time to move on to the next one. (And yet, also excited to see what was up next!) "Dark Academia and The Lesbian Masterdoc" is probably the story that stands out to me the most as its tale of social media addiction is so dark and poignant. I absolutely recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Press for the ARC.

I was expecting something completely different. I never read something from this author before, and this anthology collection is.... weird to say the least.

I requested this book because of the title which is also the name of one of the stories in the collection, however The Goth House Experiment has nothing of gothic? Its just a weird dude who is ""haunted"" and I'm using air quotes because it doesn't even feel like a haunting, of the ghost of Oscar Wilde, and it just doesn't make any sense???

One of the other stories is called Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc. I was cautious at first to get my hopes up, because I am currently writing about dark academia the literary genre, for my master thesis, and I know how much people mistake what dark academia is, and sometimes they are simply talking about the aesthetic and not the genre. In this case it is the latter, however the commentary isn't even on DA specifically, but rather a much more Black Mirror approach that just left me a bit... Underwhelmed? I mean it was interesting at first, but then things took a turn and just ended on a very weird note. I did however find out that the Lesbian Masterdoc is in fact something real and not made up.

Overall I would say that I didn't really enjoy the stories in the collection at all. I would not recommend them.

The Goth House Experiment is a whimsical collection of short stories. This book had everything I look for in anthologies — it took me across a spectrum of emotions, it had morally ambiguous characters and moments that made me think hard. Even the shortest story of the lot "I Like ot Imagine Daisy from Mrs. Dallloway as an Indian Woman" was hard-hitting.

My favourite stories were "Miracle Boy" and "Dark Acacdemia and The Lesbian Masterdoc."
"Miracle Boy" reminded me a bit of young Kalki from Blue-Skinned Gods. The story uses magical realism to depict a town's reaction to a boy growing wings (the last line was just perfect).
"Dark Academia and The Lesbian Masterdoc" was an unexpected happy surprise altogether. It delves into a millennial's new social media fame and subsequent addiction while she grapples with other facets of her life.

Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for the ARC.

5 stars

_Blue Skinned Gods_ was a gripping read for me, not only while the experience was happening but in hindsight. I think of that book often and have been looking forward to more from Sindu. Even with the incoming high expectations, I was NOT PREPARED for what I got in this collection; it is fantastic.

Each of these stories is compelling in its own right, and I had to really divorce myself from thinking about how I wanted to teach them to better enjoy them for myself. To be clear, the mark of a good read for me often is that I instantly start thinking about how I'll teach it. But I also wanted to dig into these for my own enjoyment, and that was made pretty easy from the jump with "Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc." Are you an English professor? Are you a millennial? Are you trying to stay away from social media because you just KNOW that's part of what's replaced the deeper pontificating you used to see in the ol' days of the 2010s, even? Well? Check, check, and check, and I laughed - and felt horrified - for every second of this particular read. Sindu really cracked open the focus group notes of a whole segment of us and then showed our darkest selves right back to us. All I can think about while I write this is how I can't wait to read that one again.

But this collection isn't centered on a one hit wonder. There's some fantastic pandemic time capsuling happening, some extraordinary character development, a kind of magical realism prequel to a particular 'very old man' many of us know and worry for, a lot of queer expression (ghosts included), and even a brief interlude from a favorite classic character: a dash of the Modern to balance the post-.

I had been saving this collection for a day when I felt like I needed a reward, and Sindu - again - did not let me down. I thoroughly enjoyed these pieces, and after I give myself a little more time with them, I'll look forward to sharing them with students, too: the greatest compliment of all.