Ada Hoffman’s collection of short stories and poems is divided into four sections thematically: Dusk, Midnight, The Small Hours, and Dawn—because, the author says, they were exploring ‘underworlds’: “How we descend into them, how we try to find or comfort each other within them, and how we eventually find our way back out.” (Yay for story notes from the author!) There’s wonderful variety here, and so much honesty and human connection. And in most of these stories, there’s strong disability rep, especially for autism.

My favourite stories. *Transitional Chords* is a spooky story about the power of music, with a very cool, very grim ending (ikr). *Back Room* is also excellent, about a child with hypersensitivity to sensory stimulation who gets lost in a store. It’s sad, but lovely. The unsettling *Harmony Amid the Stars* is set on a spaceship, and all the crew are slowly going mad because the stars are speaking to them. Wonderful. *As Hollow as a Heart* imagines a kind of Stockholm Syndrome situation, to my mind. *A Spell To Retrieve Your Lover From the Bottom of The Sea* is soo sad on the grief of trying to rescue a loved one from themselves. So’s *The Herdsman of the Dead*, a very similar idea. *Fairest of All* is about abuse in relationships, set in fairytaleland. It’s vividly imagined, and I loved it, although it’s a pretty hard read. (It also has a polycule.) *Five Songs and a River* is about doomed love, and also finding yourself.

There are two stories about avenging angels of gods, from the *Outside* trilogy; *Melting like Metal*, and *Minor Heresies*. The angels are wildly, incredibly cool and scary, as angels should be. And the ‘failed’ angel in *Minor Heresies* still manages to be really cool. Although the author says religion is “complicated” for them, the exploration of it in these two stories is fascinating. And religion pops up elsewhere in the collection, like in *The Scrape of Tooth and Bone*, which is about spiritism (well, Spiritualism) and archeology and fossils, and in the poems *Prayer: A Cautionary Tale*, and *The Raising of Lazarus*. (The author explains in the story notes at the back that they had thought of using Easter as the theme of the collection, so it’s a strong throughline.)

Other poetry: I liked and laughed at *Married Men*, because it’s so relatable: *They make these dipsh_ts in a factory in Milwaukee/Carve ‘em out of fancy-grade tin, draw the eyes/just so, round and mournful or cunning or merry. … You can collect the damn things*. Brilliant.

No one is as interesting as someone who’s faced their demons/is grappling with them and uses that battle for art. I don’t mean to be trite at all, but Hoffman is honest about their struggles as driving their work, and it’s beautiful, and powerful, and resonant. This is an excellent collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Apex Book Company for access to a DRC.

An absolutely gorgeous collection of poetry and short stories that focus on gender, not fitting in a given space, and riffs on fairy tales, and also plays with form for fun while she’s at it. I’m definitely interested in reading more from her, and while it took a while to read, it was always a joy to read when I opened it up.

Wow. Simply phenomenal.

I'm familiar with Hoffman's work, having read one of her earlier novels. I did not realize that she has such a range of talents, including some incredible poetry in this collection (most of which was probably too smart for me!). This collection of short stories, novellas, and poems are centered around the theme of death, descent into an underworld, and resurrection. I had some favorites, including a strange fairy tale featuring a polyamorous otter, a strange story about a piano accompanist, a rusalka tale, and finally my fav favorite, a co-authored story titled "I Sing Against the Silent Sun."

This collection reminds me that I need to go back and read all of the Ada Hoffman that I can find!

Ada Hoffman can't do anything wrong in my book and this an intriguing and fascinating anthology of short stories and poems.
It could be a good way to get to know her or a must read if you love her
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Oof, this is a difficult collection for me to rate because I had such a range of reactions. I think Hoffmann's imagination and writing talent are on full display throughout, but there is a huge variety in the tone and feeling of the stories and poems that are included. I did get a sense of how the stories had been arranged into sections, although perhaps unfortunately this put most of my least favorite pieces toward the beginning. The first section in particular was quite dark and often quite experimental, which tended to go over my head. As the book progressed, I found myself enjoying more and more of both the stories and poems. I really adored "I Sing Against the Silent Sun" (co-written with Merc Fenn Wolfmoor), and would also include "Research Lab Electricity Usage Timesheet Reporting" and "The Scrape of Teeth and Bone" among my favorites.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.