Did not finish. Apologies. Not for me. I tried staying with a few stories but could not get myself to read the others.

Wildly creative short stories by Andrea Kriz, who writes with humor and heart. A rather breezy read.

Hating Yourself as a Self Defense Mechanism is a thought-provoking and introspective collection that dives into the complexities of self-perception and emotional defense. Kriz skillfully weaves together themes of identity, fear, and coping mechanisms in a way that feels both personal and universal. The writing is sharp and at times unsettling, making readers confront uncomfortable truths about themselves. While the tone can feel a bit heavy throughout, the insights and emotional depth make it a compelling read for those who enjoy reflective and psychological exploration. A must-read for fans of introspective fiction.

One of the best anthologies I've come across. The short stories were incredibly imaginative, and the titles alone were absolute perfection. Each one pulled me in and kept me hooked. An absolute must-read for fans of creative storytelling!

Thank you Interstellar Flight Press and NetGalley for the eARC

#LearningtoHateYourselfasaSelfDefenseMechanism #NetGalley.

These are some absolutely fascinating, well written short stories that aim straight for the heart and for a certain level of discomfort in the reader, which I always admire. Definitely interested in more from Ms. Kriz in the future.

Thank you Netgalley and interstellar flight press for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

It's a collection of short stories namely
* Learning to Hate Yourself as a Self-Defense Mechanism
* Communist Computer Rap God
* There Are No Hot Topics on Whukai
* Miss DELETE Myself
* AIs Who Make Ais Make the Best Ais!
* The Ones Who Got Away from Time and Loss
* Rebuttal to Reviewer’s Comments on Edits for “Demonstration of a Novel Draconification Protocol in a Human Subject"
* I Want to Dream of a Brief Future
* And That’s Why I Gave Up on Magic
* Resistance in a Drop of DNA
* The Last Caricature of Jean Moulin
* The Leviathan and the Fury


When I started the book I thought this reads weird but I'm all for weird stuff, my favorite author is Neil Gaiman so hell yes but this was the most uninteresting book I have come across in a very long time. I in general like short stories collection, I rather prefer them Coz they offer a punch sometimes even 500 pages book can't. This sadly fell so dull to me. I don't even know what to say so to convey how bored I was.


Nope not for me. I had to push myself to finish this. I wish I could rate it more but no... This is what it deserves. I'm not gonna pick any book by this author in future for sure. I'm not hating on the book or the author, it's just that the writing style did not work for me.

short story collection exploring unexpected, fantastical futures and how we cope in them.

Your friend creates an award-winning VR game—based on your friendship. An AI starts a YouTube channel at the expense of its creator. A fanfic writer plagiarizing the lives of the marginalized gets her comeuppance. Time travel meets magic in a world blown into pieces by war. Dragons modify DNA and undergo peer review. In Andrea Kriz’s debut short story collection, technology and genres wildly blend in stories that will challenge how you see our future.

My thanks to Interstellar Flight Press and NetGalley for providing me an ARC to read and review this title.
While the cover is eye-catching and the title is bold, I found myself continuously wanting more from these stories. Over and over again I was pulled in by an engaging premise, only to be let down by the execution. The ideas Kriz explores feel bigger than their ability to present them. I think, had this been given a bit more time in the oven with a few more skills mastered, then the storytelling would be on par with the scope of what is being conveyed.
I wanted to love it, I see so much potential in the discussions these stories want to have, but they ultimately fell flat for me.

Learning to Hate Yourself as a Self-Defense Mechanism by Andrea Kriz

An interesting collection of sci-fi and speculative fiction short stories looking on humans and technology. I overall enjoyed the collection, but some stories could have used some more fleshing out of the world building.

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“Learning to Hate Yourself as a Self-Defense Mechanism,” - very interesting look at relationships and creative inspiration

“Communist Computer Rap God,” - probably my least favorite of the collection, the humor simply didn't resonate with me

“There Are No Hot Topics on Whukai,” - Extremely interesting worldbuilding, and fun for anyone who's ever read bizarre author's notes on fan fiction

“Miss DELETE Myself,” - the ending of this one was a bit abrupt to me, but the world building and streaming was a really interesting idea

“AIs Who Make Ais Make the Best Ais!” - weirdly optimistic

“The Ones Who Got Away from Time and Loss,” - I love a story that deals with time travel regulations

“Rebuttal to Reviewer’s Comments on Edits for “Demonstration of a Novel Draconification Protocol in a Human Subject”,” - extremely funny

“I Want to Dream of a Brief Future,” - Probably the best standalone short story in the collection in terms of the characters and world-building

“And That’s Why I Gave Up on Magic,” - could have used a bit more world building as it was a tad confusing

“Resistance in a Drop of DNA,” “The Last Caricature of Jean Moulin,” and “The Leviathan and the Fury.” - these three seem to fit together jus enough to read them in the same universe, but not enough to get a clear picture as to how. Interesting nonetheless.

Thank you to NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, how I loved this book. This collection of short stories are sci-fi and speculative with a sprinkle of fantasy and horror, just how I like them.

With the current prominence of AI and virtual reality, Kriz imagines what this will look like in the near future (in often frightening, but realistic ways). She also explores the ego and obsession with streaming and social media on platforms like YouTube and Twitch.

If I had to pick a favorite, I think “Miss DELETE Myself” resonated with me the most. What happens when the ambition to be known and recognized overcomes everything else? What happens when parasocial relationships are pushed to the limit? I really recognized the sadness of our society in this story and think it will speak to a lot of people.

I wish this book could have been longer! Absolutely brilliant collection and I’m excited to see more from this author.

4.5 out of 5 stars / 9 out of 10

This is a temporary review, I shall update it with a full one once I have posted it on my Instagram.

This was a good read! Like all collections, some stories were much more impactful than others, and sometimes the connecting thread is a bit flimsy, but overall the theme of connection and isolation in a technological society shone through. There's some very interesting concepts, and while it's good that some weren't expanded on, others could have used a bit more explaining.

I might pick this up physically when released and give it another try, which might bump the review up to four. I have a feeling that rereading would improve this one, as a few stories leave you piecing together a lot of the details. Gave me How high we go in the dark vibes (very positive).

"'are you happy?' 'I want to be,' he admitted. Maybe that was the first step"

most of the stories had no world building, no intrigue, just nothing going for them besides two people talking about something hard to care about at all. I really liked There Are No Hot Topics on Whukai and Miss DELETE Myself, but everything else felt like a random scene idea. Not reading this is a self-defense mechanism

The title and the beautiful cover art hooked me and I’m so glad I gave this book a whirl! While there were some stories I enjoyed more than others, all of them were objectively good: well-written, with good hooks, and something unique to say.

On balance, I preferred the first half where the focus was on humans and their relationship with (sometimes poorly behaved!) technology (even if I’m not Incredibly Online™️ enough to get some of the references!). Some of of the redactions in Rebuttal to Reviewers’ Comments on Edits for “Demonstration of a Novel Draconification Protocol in a Human Subject” made me laugh out loud and I found this story to be delightfully absurd with the balance of academic writing and self-aware humour. Across all the works, I loved how Kriz incorporated tech, science, history, social commentary, and literary fiction together.

At times, this reminded me of How High We Go In The Dark but it’s also uniquely its own. This is definitely one to read and re-read. I’m so keen to see what Kriz pens next!

I’m deeply appreciative of Interstellar Flight Press for making this available on NetGalley.

I found Kriz's exploration of self-loathing and its psychological roots both challenging and eye-opening, making me reflect deeply on my own experiences and coping mechanisms as a woman of Chinese heritage.

This took me way too long to review but… there’s a reason many anthologies have mixed ratings. Some stories hit, others did not. Overall, as a whole, it became a meh composition

I'm not a huge short stories fan, but these were engaging and modern. I'll recommend this at my library.

Thank you, Net Gallery, for an advanced copy of this book. This was a collection of short stories, some unsettling some endearing. For some reason the stories about AI were endearing and the one about people not so much. I would definitely recommend.

The name of this book caught my eye and it was a no-brainer. I had this sudden need to read this book, I needed to know what it was about.
I’m not a reader who enjoys short story formats, however, this one caught me by surprise by how different it was from my own expectations. The book is divided into multiple short stories that captivated me in many different ways, however, the style might not have suited me. The stories felt witty but self-deprecating like two very opposite emotions that constantly clashed with each other.
There’s something so smart about the writing, the ability to feel several emotions in the same book is not something that many authors manage to translate to paper however Andrea Kriz does manage to pull the reader and make them experience the world through her writing. I do think that’s truly amazing
I think it was a bit too edgy for my taste, but I recommend a witty futuristic approach to the sci-fi genre if you love it.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review and opinions.

Unfortunately, I was unable to download the file prior to it being archived and have no gotten a chance to read it. I hope to read it in the future.

This book immediately catched my eye when I saw ghe cover, and with its title, I couldn’t resist reading it, and am quite happy to have done so.

Learning to hate yourself as a self-defense mechanism is a short story collection with speculative fiction in focus.

Covering a wide range with interesting plots from virtu-game developers to time-traveling painters to suicide streamers, the collection connects the reader with the characters with an enthralling writing style.

Here are some of my favorites;
“Miss DELETE Myself,” about a suicide streamer, accepted inte a team where they actually does it for real and has come up with a way to survive.

“I Want to Dream of a Brief Future,” This one’s about a boy that hasn't got a magical ability yet. When he gets stuck in a time loop where he and the girl he loves dies every time, he finds out what his ability is, with an unpredictable plot twist.

“And That’s Why I Gave Up on Magic,” What would you do if your best friend that is a one percent bleeder and much more talented than you at schoolwork and magic gets drafted?

“Resistance in a Drop of DNA,” A member of the resistance starts learning about molecular biology from a professor and gets a reason to live.

“The Last Caricature of Jean Moulin,” This is my favorite. "Some art exists because it only exists for a moment and only exists for one or two people's eyes. Some art exists because it never existed at all. Just the possibility. They're afraid of us, people like us, the kind of people who can build time machines because we can erase them. They can erase the past, but only we can erase the future. Because they're going to die. Because they don't understand what time is. That's what time is. The possibility-that something exists like the last caricature of Jean Moulin."

I absolutely loved how much I got to know about the characters in so few pages per story. It was captivating, impossible to put down, intelligent and smart, fun and queer, unexpected, twisty, interesting. Everything you seek for in a book, and more.

With its unique structure and characters, learning to hate yourself as a self-defense mechanism is perfect for fans of this is how you lose the time war and a perfect representation of speculative fiction