A captivating collection that truly showcases the author's talent. The stories are imaginative and thought-provoking, taking readers on unique journeys through various themes and genres.

Cade's writing style drew me in from the start, with its vivid descriptions and engaging prose. What stood out to me the most was the way Cade delved into complex emotions and human experiences, making each story feel real and relatable. The characters left a lasting impact on me, and I found myself pondering their journeys long after finishing the book.

While some stories left me wanting more development or closure, the collection as a whole was powerful and imaginative. It sparked my imagination and left me contemplating the underlying messages hidden within each tale.
Thank you NETGALLEY for allowing me to read this!

This book took me a long time to get into. The start reads like a manifesto or mission statement for a militant group wanting climate change. I had to stop reading and take a break from the book several times, not for the horror or shock factor, it was just so ...weird. I did enjoy researching some of the creatures that are talked about in the stories but overall, it left me feeling empty after finishing it. It started with such a bang and then slowly fizzled out.

Compilations of short stories are a fairly new area to me, they aren't something that I normally pick up because I tend to get distracted if the subject matter jumps around too much. I did not find that to be the case with this volume. I really like how each story tied in together and evolved into an over-arcing theme and plot as I progressed further into the book.
What originally drew my attention to this novel was first the stunning cover and then the description of it being an ode to environmentalism in a sci-fi/horror format. I will say that the collection of stories were a bit different than I was anticipating perhaps a bit more metaphorically realistic and stark than I was originally prepared for. Not that this was at all a bad thing! I enjoy when Books defy my expectations.
All of the stories focused on human impact on the would around us, how that world is then forced to adapt and how those adaptations then impact us and our humanity. All of the stories were written in such a poetically lyrical, highly visual way, which I really loved. Personally, I did struggle with the first two stories as they did seem to come across a bit preachy to me. I've always been very interested in environmentalism and the importance of conservation, but the first two stories seemed very heavy handed. However all of the following stories were marvelous. My favorites were: You Are My Sunshine, Inside the Body of Relatives, and Metamorphosis. I appreciated the message of hope, innovation, and adaptation that was given towards how our working relationship with the environment could potentially evolve to be more symbiotic in the future and while its a shame that it may take catastrophic disaster for our current populace to come to that epiphany, it doesn't have to be the end. I imagine it can also be said that the author means for these stories to be a warning against staying on our current course, and while I do support that, I also fall into the cynical category of knowing it is very possible that we as a species have already set ourselves on a path of loss. I want to believe that there is positive change in our future, as these stories suggest. Overall this was truly a delightful, heart - aching read that gave me so much to reflect on. As soon as I am able, I plan on purchasing copies to share with friends.

I want to thank NetGalley, Stelliform Press, and Octavia Cade for providing me with an advanced digital copy of the volume in exchange for my honest feedback.

This anthology of short stories presents a captivating exploration of the impact of climate change on our world. While at times the message may seem heavy handed, the narrative remains consistently engaging. I would highly recommend this book for acquisition by my library. The writing is of exceptional quality, and although some stories resonated with me more than others, overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Thank you Octavia Cade, Stelliform Press, and Net Galley for the DRC.

A wonderful collection of short stories that id come to again and again when I get a hankering for a good little story, thank you netgalley.

My very 1st ARC read and I am thrilled that it was this!! I was immediately drawn in by the cover, isn’t it so pretty?? (My favorite part is that it ties into one of the stories🤌🏼)

In this there are many stories that cover climate change and the state of the planet. In each story we are given new characters and a new scenario that is taking place. If you are a black mirror fan like I am, you will really enjoy this! It has very similar dark but interesting elements that left me wanting more from so many stories!!

The writing is beautiful and has the power to make you think deeply for days after you finish it. If you wanted to be transported and challenged all at once this book is for you.

Whatever I was expecting this book to be, it was not this.

You are my sunshine and other stories is a frightening collection of poetic descriptions of the world today, as well as stories of how much worse it will get if we do nothing to stop climate change.

With every page and every story I grew more and more horrified. I finished this in one sitting.

I found this book incredibly difficult to get through.
After the first short story, I thought maybe it would be easier since there were multiple stories and there would be a fresh start with each new story. But, each new story was just as painful.
At the conclusion of the first two stories I was incredibly confused and struggling to piece together the words I had read, and to comprehend how they were cohesive.
The third story, and seemingly the namesake of the book, was weird, at best. There were some parts that had great potential. The idea of there being a sickness or plague, "Grief", that overtakes people in the science field was intriguing. But seemed to fall short. It was referenced but really only at surface level.
The story moved, but didn't really cover much ground.

It would be just not my cup of tea, but overall the writing felt lackluster and missing cohesiveness to move each story forward individually.

This is a poignant collection of short stories focusing on climate change/collapse and stewardship. There were several stories I loved all on their own (Tranquility, Come Water, Be One of Us, You’re Not the Only One), but they are so much more powerful together. There are subtle nods between them, which added depth to my reading experience.

“We were less human once. We burnt and boiled and choked, we let ourselves change the world instead of realizing that the world was inside us.”

Some story lines are familiar to the world we live in, but there’s plenty of speculation here, too. I particularly loved the ideas of mothering a new planet, rivers as people, and cities as reefs.

The collection starts out on the darker side—this is where it gets the horror classifier, I think—but it evolves to explore not only grief, dread, and pain, but also hope, resilience, and beauty. Octavia Cade’s writing is poetic and dark and gorgeous—I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Stelliform Press for sending me this book as an ARC. All opinions are my own.

I thought the allegories and comparisons made in this book were top notch. As an animal lover and a climate change activist, the opening of the book really spoke to me. It almost gave me this strange sense that I myself can be willfully ignorant of the true scale of climate change / disaster. I really loved the writing style and the words chosen to describe and compare things. Later on in the book I also enjoyed reading about people like Mary. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be given something to think about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Octavia Cade for the ARC!

I think this book has a lot of depth and if you read these stories at face value they just seem a little strange. But once you start to look deeper, they’re very intense stories. I felt like my heart was ripped out and put back into me several times while reading this.
It was beautiful

This was an enlightening and very poignant read. These stories focus on the reality of what our environment has come to along with what the author foresees as a future for humanity given the devastating climate change. A rather enjoyable set of stories that provokes a lot of emotion. These stories are meant to make you feel something and they certainly do. There’s a fine line between political narratives and poetic narratives and these shorts really balanced lovely between that line.

It starts off with a couple of deeper stories that really set the seen for grief and loss before a more transformative narrative beginning with 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘺 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 that shows humanity’s hope after devastation. The writing is lyrical, evocative, and raw, and it provides the basis of some beautifully haunting stories that touched on some darker thoughts and involved technology along with some science fiction in humanity’s will to persevere. I really went into this blind but was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this collection of stories.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, oh, wow. There is so much to say about this book. I want to preface that I found the writing style to be just breathtaking. It was interesting how the author often has the narrator to talk to the reader- makes it more personal. This book outlines the harm and impact of climate change- looking at its extremities and different impacts that it could have on society. So many of these stories are just odd: the arm, the connection to ghosts, the talking with the house over "loneliness," the obsession with a salt marsh: it's giving OCD and trauma. However, I find the interlaced metaphors to be impactful. Although, I had to reread many sections to ensure that I fully got what I was supposed to put of it. I find it interesting how some of the short stories connect as the foundation for the next. Thematically, they all center around similar topics, but the author provides small nods in the next story from the previous one. Ultimately, I found the last chapter to be an amazing way to tie everything together: "we built for diversity, and for strength.

I believe that is is a great read. I also learned that I am not a shore story kind of gal, which may be why my rating is the way it is, but the book is still worth the read. Just prepare to cringe at times.

Some random thoughts I had during reading:

-tell me why my heart was hurting for the fish and the eels???
-the river as a person: I mean, what a concept! ...oof you've been read capitalism and corporate America

Trigger Warnings: Grief, Animal Abuse, Body Dismemberment, Suicide, Blood, Mental Illness, Climate Crisis

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This really sounded like it was going to be a good book but unfortunately it disappointed me a bit. I’m not sure why but it was hard to follow for me. I see there are many good reviews on this book, so obviously it’s a me problem. Haha. If you enjoy short stories… give it a chance. Just because it wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean it can’t be a great read to you! #YouAreMySunshineandOtherStories #NetGalley

I recommend this book to anyone that likes a highly visual, unusually abstract lense in which to view the world and the mistakes of man. Very emotional at times but still beautiful through the chaos.

You Are My Sunshine and Other Stories is a fascinating collection, which I very much enjoyed. Cade manages to strike a nice balance between poetic/literary and story driven, making each short story a pleasure to read, while hitting the mark with the environmental message it is trying to convey. I didn’t love the 2 opening stories as much as the rest, however they do effectively set the stage for what is to come in a very impactful way.

Really enjoyed this. I'm writing a full review that will appear in Locus Magazine in the coming months!

"Some people learn to live with things that keep hurting them, but I've spent the past year trying for that and it's not working. All the little cuts, all the little bleeding places. You can only walk on them for so long"

Like many good forms of environmental literature, Cade's writing says as much about our collapsing environment as it does about humanity itself. Short story collections with a political lean always run the risk of becoming preachy, sanctimonious with their sentimentality as they beat their point to a pulp. The first two stories struggle with this - they want to make a point, to make you FEEL the point, and it comes across a bit heavy-handed. You Are My Sunshine, the third story, is where this collection starts to hit it's stride. Cade immerses us in the possibilities for a future - one ravaged by climate change but also one where we still exist, despite what our deepest climate anxiety may tell us will happen.

Cade lays out the narrative of a post-climate collapse world filled with Grief and loss but also filled with hope through stories of how we can find our way back to a better stewardship of our planet. I just hope that perhaps we can do some of these things before it collapses and not just after.

You Are My Sunshine and Other Stories illustrates a gentle balance between the stark reality of world events and poetic narration. While this was not my usual genre, I was pleasantly surprised.