I really enjoy books of short stories like this one where they all connect together. This one was a little hard for me to follow though through the stories and the back and forth in between of this unknown writer and her struggles.

This book continues the theme of “what a weird book.” I actually have no real idea what was going on in this book. The main character/occasional narrator/ maybe author of some of the stories we read in this book starts a long-time love affair with the devil and doesn’t sell her soul but maybe helps the devil find his? Are you confused reading that description? I’m confused writing it. This book is really well written and I would almost say beautifully written. The character work by Lima is great and I would have loved to get to know these characters in a more conventional book. This probably falls into the category of “it’s not you, it’s me” book again. Similar to Medina’s Sisters of the Lost Nation, I’ll definitely try another book by Lima in the future, but this one definitely wasn’t for me. On a weirdness scale of 1 to Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina, this one is tied with Nick Medina.

“Craft - Stories I Wrote for the Devil” by Ananda Lima - 4.5 stars (Pub Date: Out Now!) is one of my favorite short story collections in a while and not only has a great voice and specific style of writing that I love, but it has an underlying narrative thread that ties the stories about stories together, and makes me think that having a critic and friend like the Devil, might be what I am missing in my literary dreams.

Good Things: Everything about this collection is good. Particularly the idea that the devil is just a gentleman with a job, and he does it to the best of his ability, but like any of us with jobs he is more than his work and requires inspiration, entertainment, and friendship. I’ve added this collection to my “buy-list” as I want to trace the stories again.

Opportunities: I can think of nothing I’d want more in this book, then to read it in paper copy. I struggle with story collections on my e-reader because the length of a story and the page arrangements are necessary for my personal self-pacing. But that’s nothing to do with the author or the stories so, Bravo!

Final Thoughts: I’ll be recommending this to my book club, and my friends. “Craft” is a craft I might be able to achieve someday, unlike the magic I dream of being able to make but then words evoke their own magic that I might be able to master myself. Perhaps I’ll try writing my own story for the devil.

I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read of this story by netgalley and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Books (who has been putting out some incredible books this last year!). The opinions in this review are expressly those of ButIDigressBookClub and are intended for use by my followers and friends when choosing their next book. #butidigress #butidigressbookclub #craft #storiesiwroteforthedevil #anandalima #brazil #thedevil #netgalleyreviewer #arc #arcs

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Review Shared on Goodreads - www.goodreads.com/leah_cyphert_butidigressbookclub
Publishing Review 7/13/2024

I read loved this literary horror short story collection from Chicago author Ananda Lima. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in Kelly Link, Karen Russell, or literary fiction with speculative elements. My favorite story was about a Brazilian woman who can't stop eating small Americans from a vending machine, though I also liked the experimental writers' workshop notes. A very interesting collection loosely tied around an author's interactions with the devil (a charming storyteller, only slightly evil).

I'm not sure why, but I really struggled with this one. I have tried and tried again to pick it back up in order to finish it and I just cannot connect to it on any level.

I tend to read short stories when I need a mental break after a long novel or a low rated read. I like how the short stories all interconnect. I'm not going to lie this collection has been in the back of my mind just on how strange it was. I have never read anything like it.

It's a good representation about the immigrant experience in a time where Immigration is a hot issue in our country. Although some parts didn't always make the most sense, others will stay with you for some time.

The concept was good but I found it hard to follow so I had to actually quit reading it because of the disjointed writing and different pov. Good for people who like to see different pov.

Craft is essentially a collection of stories written in the POV of a woman who once slept with the devil. To be honest, the stories were slightly hard to follow. This felt kind of all over the place and it would definitely work for people who prefer “thoughts not plots”. I really enjoyed the beginning and the way the devil dressed up as Trump (or it seemed like Trump) and the way he introduced future music and themes to her. The beginning was really gripping and enticing, but the rest of the book didn’t work for me and I had to DNF unfortunately.

Thank you NetGalley & Tor for this book and audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the advanced copy of Craft by Ananda Lima in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 / 5

This collection of interconnected short stories features some truly brilliant and gorgeous prose, but the execution felt a bit lacking for me. I understand what Lima was trying to accomplish, but there are a few stories that seem disjointed from the overall narrative. It almost seems as though the synopsis of the book doesn’t quite match what’s inside. That being said, I’m sure these stories will stick with me for some time, since it was truly unlike anything I’ve read in the past.

Themes of identity, immigration, and oppression are examined within the short stories, interspersed with alternate chapters focusing on an unnamed narrator and their relationship with the Devil. The interludes featuring the Devil are very thought-provoking and showcase some of the strongest writing in the book, creating a sympathetic character of depth and nuance.

Standout stories for me included Antropófaga and Hasselblad, both featuring bold prose and vivid imagery. I appreciate the meta concepts of the book and it was super cool to read a more literary-driven horror novel.

I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for something a bit more surreal and philosophical in the vein of speculative fiction.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing a review copy.

I loved this book. It is primarily a collection of short stories, woven together in the most wonderful ways, and interspersed with the "writer" character's real life, and her encounters with satan through her life. The book was incredibly imaginative, and I absolutely could not put it down. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Conversations Between Friends: Stephanie Trott and Ananda Lima
Published in CRAFT Literary (June 2024)
https://www.craftliterary.com/2024/06/03/conversations-between-friends-stephanie-trott-ananda-lima/

I liked the concept far more than the execution, unfortunately.

The writing is gorgeous. The concept is breathtaking. Several of the stories were really, really good. And some were just, meh. This is a novella to savor and languish in, and damn it to hell I was just not in a savoring mood.

I received an ARC for an honest review

In a genre-bending debut, Ananda Lima marks herself as an author I need to watch. This was a fascinating work: part collection of short stories, interspersed with a longer story about a writer who had once slept with the Devil, and spends the book working and reworking her stories. There are alternate endings for stories, feedback from a writing workshop - and of course, some lovely short stories.

This is strange, proving speculative fiction. It’s being kind of marketed as horror but I don’t think it is. It’s eerie and a little bit spooky, but it’s not horror. Regardless, Lima is a talent. A solid first book.

I wanted so badly to like these stories more than I did, but I think there is something about them that just didn't work for me. There were some stories that worked more than others, but I wouldn't say there were any that I loved, and I felt this more and more as the book progressed.

I found that I enjoyed the interludes the most, especially the scene where the author was receiving feedback in the writing class. I almost wish that the the entire book had been a linear narrative with these interludes because I wanted to learn more about the devil and the author themselves. I think it was enough about them to be intriguing but not enough to be satisfying in the story arc.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted eARC!

I don't have the physical book in front of me so I don't know who it was, but I have to start by just kissing the person who designed this cover so noisily on the cheek like an overly familiar auntie. I love this cover SO MUCH.

Whew, glad I got that out of the way. Now iIcan just scream like a tea kettle about how incredible this book is. I'm not even sure where to start. The prose is so easy, as in Lima makes it look easy, it's the reading equivalent of sinking into a hot tub. And even better, it's not actually a light read—Craft presents stories within stories, each with elements of magical realism, each connected by Brazilian immigrant experiences: those of "the writer," a recurring character of the frame narrative, and those of the characters she writes. The outermost layers of this onion of stories also feature frequent encounters with the Devil—flirtatious, world-weary, magical, tender. exactly the best kind of Devil, imo, and his mild interventions delighted me every time.

Also, the section that was just feedback the writer received from peers in a writing workshop, about a story we only get to know through that feedback, made me laugh harder than I have in ages. Brought me right back to every creative writing class I took in college. Just so, so keenly observed. Fantastic!

I’ve been trying to include more short story collections into my reading and when I saw the title of Lima’s book, I knew this was one I needed.

I absolutely loved the way these stories meshed together. They’re each very unique, but you can feel Lima’s talented voice shining through all of them. I loved the way they examined the horrors and fears of real life. It was very clear that Lima included her own experiences and emotions in these stories, which made my connection to them stronger.

Craft is a collection that I would label more in the subtle horror category. There’s nothing gory or in your face about these stories, but there’s a quiet unease woven throughout.

If I had to pick just one story from the collection it would be Antropófaga. I loved the concept, the characters, and the execution of this one so much.

I went into this novel expecting it to be a run of the mill collection of short stories with a creative twist, but I was pleasantly surprised at how rich and deep it actually ended up being.

One thing I liked about this book was its frequent conversations around immigration and what it means to be an immigrant in the United States. It goes without saying that the US has a terrible perspective regarding immigrants and these stories laid so many cards on the table that demanded the reader closely look at the immigrant experience.

I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy short stories.

This is a wonderfully crafted book that I recommend everyone read. I can't see this book ever disappearing from the public eye.

This was a different way to present a short story collection! Usually, I read the first story in a collection, put the book down, and then never pick it up again, but the connect of the writer to the Devil and how it threads throughout the different alternative chapters really kept me going.

And the stories themselves were quite different. Some were gruesome (like eating tiny people), others were intriguing (like your mother seeing a ghost of yourself from the future while you're still alive), and others were downright weird (a story of just critiques of a story and you infer what the story is about through the critiques). Then there were stories about immigration, being alone in a big city, the events surrounding 2016 election, 2020 pandemic, and the current events in Brazil.

While some of the stories flopped for me, the overall feeling you get from this book is that you're reading a writer's journal. The vignettes between stories pulled you into the writer's world while the stories in their weird presentations were the stories she was working on. While struggling with what's happening around her in real life, she's puzzling together stories that span across time and space and share the lives of humans in vastly different parts of her life.

I do wish there was more inclusion of the Devil character throughout the vignettes. It seemed like he was a figure removed a bit from her life, but somehow a constant presence for her. It would have been interesting to see a bit more of that throughout the book.

Overall, a great read with some great stories from an author I haven't read before! Excited to read what comes next. Thanks to Tor Books for the gifted copy.

I really enjoyed how this story was written. It was lyrical and thought provoking in a fun way. Each story was different, yet had a similar theme and feel to it which made it come together very nicely.