Fascinating, eerie, unexpectedly gripping set of short stories. I especially loved the one that was so clearly inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe and her "young man" Juan Hamilton.

Mystery Lights by Lena Valencia to my understanding was supposed to be a feminist short story collection and either I don’t understand feminism or the stories aren’t what they were described to be. Example is feminism a young girl living in New York in a bedbug infested room with no regard for her roommates, who really is doing nothing with her life and lives off of her parent’s or maybe feminism is getting pregnant for a man 20 years older that happens to be your mom‘s employers boyfriend or maybe the viewpoint of the painter who wants to pay for her boarding school to get her out of town or whatever she wants as long as she leaves and the painter can have Mike. The premise of a lot of these stories had great starts but found the ending was just wherever the author thought to end a story because it wasn’t like a mic drop a big bang or any situation where you put the book down and are like wow that was a good story. They just ended and went on to the next story. Because I liked the oracle about the painter and the young girl so much I’m giving this three stars I always pick a favorite story in a collection and that one was mine at least for this book it was I do think the writing was good but most characters weren’t the most ethical let alone likable and I totally get what she was putting down but I DK I just think the storys could’ve been better or maybe it was all the hype about it being feminist that was a letdown but if you were looking for short stories about people living their lives you may enjoy this one.#TinHouse, #NetGalley, #LenaValencia, #MysteryLights,

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read MYSTERY LIGHTS early in exchange for an honest review.

MYSTERY LIGHTS is a breathtaking short story collection diving deeply into human nature through the lens of women. Each protagonist the reader meets goes through a life altering situation: accidental teen pregnancy, sexual harassment, missing daughters, a grieving widow, a woman hoping to please her husband. Each traumatic event is explained through a surrealistic lens to cope with it, but you can never quite be certain of reality. At the end of each story you are grasping for that same longing, the desire to chase after something that is already gone. You can feel the characters’ craving for a place to belong, and yearn for the chance to correct their mistakes, take back their regrets. The ache to search for something more than what their life has given them. Relatable, and at times disturbing, MYSTERY LIGHTS will leave you questioning everything while hoping for nothing but the best for the women written on these pages.

Many thanks to Tin House and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.

Anything weird and southwestern is right up my alley, and this collection definitely ticked a lot of those boxes (think Georgia O'Keeffe, UFOs, and undiscovered cave systems). As with most short story collections, some were hits and some were misses with my favorite being "The White Place," but I felt the majority of the stories worked up to a climax or commentary that was never really actualized. Also, imagine my annoyance when one of the stories was set in New York City.

First of all, this is one of the most beautiful covers of this year. I've been looking forward to reading this because I love weird little horror stories especially with a feminist focus. And overall, I enjoyed my reading experience. The writing was very impressive and it makes me excited for this author's future work. I was so surprised every time I started a new story because I would get really invested right away. Every story was visual and cinematic and I loved that every story had so much character to it. However, every single story made me feel the exact same way - I enjoyed it until the very end. It just felt like the stories had so much build up and then they would end in the most uninteresting way. Which would then take away from the story itself because it felt like the themes were never given the space they deserved. Also, I would mostly describe these stories as dark fiction rather than horror. I still really recommend this collection, I just wanted a little bit more from it. I would give it 3.5 stars.

I picked this arc up because I love a good short story collection, but I found that I felt nothing except boredom while reading this. While the writing was fine, the plots of the stories fell flat. While I love the no plot vibes in full-length books, the lack of real plot in these stories left me unsatisfied and completely indifferent.

Mystery Lights is a tight short story collection that will definitely appeal to that demographic of readers who live for the disconcerting, the anxious, and the weird (me!).

The collection was very even. Not one story stood out as better or worse than the rest. I liked that they all felt connected—sometimes literally, but all times atmospherically—which always helps a short story collection feel cohesive and intentional.

That said, most of the stories tried to integrate real human experiences and emotions within these supernatural or dark situations, but it felt like neither side was fleshed out quite satisfactorily. For example, there’s a story about mutant radioactive underground human monsters, while also being about the tense relationship between two young sisters, but the story ends up not saying much about either in the end. I think a little more depth, or stronger conclusions, would have helped immensely.

(To calculate into rating: negative one million stars for hating on The Haunting of Hill House, the greatest novel of all time, out of nowhere.)

This collection is haunting without being disturbing, which makes it easy to recommend.

Thank You Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Lena Valencia where I was granted access to the audio, narrated by Jess Nahikian. I enjoy tandem reading, and this is the most ideal way to absorb a book so it is always nice when the narrator has a nice voice that you can hear and understand. This book started out with a bang that you questioned what you just read but also enjoyed it in some weird way. It was a great collection of short stories that stay with you. My favorites were Dogs, You Can Never Be too Sure, Trogloxene, The Reclamation, and Reaper Ranch. In fact, I think I will never forget how I felt reading dogs and when I finished it. My heart was racing so hard. Loved it! Release 8/6/24

Thank you to Tin House Books and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC. I genuinely enjoyed the separate, slightly interconnected stories of this book. I think it was pretty thought provoking and I liked the element of real life horror in each story. Between both the supernatural element and the human experiences, I felt like the author captured the mood of the Southwest. I do wish certain stories were longer and that we got a little more explanation on some stories. I will definitely be thinking of this one for some time.

A well-written collection of strange short stories that take place in the southwestern desert-- where the mundane meets the fantastic.
Some of the stories are stronger than others, as expected, though all are from the perspective of women, and involve a variety of "women's issues/friendships," often with supernatural/celestial elements woven in.

A promising debut, but I hoped some stories would end with more of a bang than a fizzle after promising setups.

Recommended for fans of The Twilight Zone.

It's been a while since I read a collection of short stories but I was immediately intrigued by the summary Lena Valencia's Mystery Lights. With any collections, there are inherently stories that are weaker than others, but overall, I enjoyed all of them.

They all felt like a love letter to the Southwest, highlighting the beauty, awe, and fear that exists. Personally, the stories later in the collection were the stronger ones for me, but I did enjoy most of them.

While I understand these are all short stories, I did wish for *more* in some of the stories—not even just length but a little more depth, a little more something.

I think the most appropriate rating is a 3.5 for me, but I did round up.

I think my overall lukewarm feelings on this short story collection stem more from my personal taste with short fiction - in that I like my short fiction strange and unusual, with a touch of the weird and supernatural - than anything in particular with the craft of any of these stories. because the writing itself is simplicity at its finest, where every word has a place and no extra trimmings are needed. and on paper, "stories about women and girls at the crossroads of mundane daily life and existential dread as they navigate dangers both supernatural and existential" should be enough to compel me, but I think some of the strangeness that I was promised was not delivered on, which ultimately lends to many of the stories not quite reaching the emotional catharsis or climax that I expected.

in the end, the stories that lean into the territory of being more strange and weird, and bordering more closely to the edge where urban myth becomes reality rather than just remaining firmly in "just another tall tale", were much stronger narratives to me.

the standouts of this collection are trogloxene (you lose your younger sister to the caves, but she comes back Different) and clean hunters (you are staying in a haunted inn on a honeymoon with your husband who you met because you both are into spirit hunting). honorable mentions go out to reaper ranch (you are in a senior home, coping with loss and the death that surrounds you), the reclamation (you are on a leadership business retreat that starts slowly feeling more like a cult) and bright lights, big deal (you are living in nyc, broke and trying to make it big and doing it in the worst way possible).

Lena Valencia has written a short story collection that explores what it is to be human. All stories are set in the desert of the Southwest, all of the women and girls try to navigate both the supernatural and the existential.

The prose is liquid, like poetry. It's flows across the page, like the water that the desert is missing. Everything leaves a trace, everything haunts you afterwards.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! THANK YOU SO MUCH TIN HOUSE BOOKS AND NETGALLEY, OMG!

I love a good short story collection, and this one sure did scratch my ever-insatiable itch for short stories, and I'm here for it. Again, I'm so thankful to Lena Valencia, Netgalley, and Tin House Books for granting me advanced digital access to this one before it hits shelves on August 6, 2024.

Set in deserts across the continental US, we've been treated to stories of burnt-out health guru cultists joining together in the desert for a deadly retreat, a UFO-loving teen and her desire to keep her child out of wedlock even though it's against her boss's wishes, two ghost hunters spending their honeymoon in a haunted motel, and an elderly woman whose seeing ghosts, but not the ones she's dying to see.

With themes of the supernatural, unhinged chaos, and existential crises, Mystery Lights has everything readers need to keep the mystery going.

my favorite stories from the collection: trogloxene and you can never be too sure. the reclamation as an honorable mention, although i feel like it could have done something even more insidious with the cult.

i appreciate what valencia wanted to do—”stories about women and girls at the crossroads of mundane daily life and existential dread” is exactly what this collection is about. it is slow, introspective, and uneventful.

i appreciate the variety of perspectives, from each crossroads of life. whereas trogloxene was about a 10 year old girl still grappling with ugly feelings, reaper ranch is from the viewpoint of a woman who’s at the end of her life. and of course everything in between—women at the beginning of their careers, in the middle, at the end. women without careers.

but the variety of scenarios don’t compensate for the little variance in voice between the women. each of their stories have the same melancholy feeling that makes this collection feel very one note. this is the reason i enjoyed trogloxene so much, where max’s frustration and dread feels more palpable than other protagonists. and it makes sense for a girl of her age, the anxieties of a neglected child made real and horrifying.

but stylistically, pat in the reclamation was so similar from emily in clean hunters, while ruth in dogs reminded me of wendy in mystery lights. it just didn’t seem like the variety of personal anxieties (as opposed to social ones) were that different. and maybe that was the point, that women everywhere have similar experiences, but by the sixth story, i wanted something more creative, especially when the supernatural element is at play.

some of the “women’s issues” (i use this term lightly) tackled by the stories include: sexual assault, abortion, hate crime, abuse of power. in particular, you can never be too sure is a phenomenal depiction of campus whisper networks. and the narration made it even better—the way that the first person narration by lily undermines chelsea’s stories throughout is brilliant.

the worst of these stories is the white place, posturing radical pro-choice in a world where there is none for women. but its ending felt silly, like a cop out, in comparison to the very real problems it posed, and the choice of characters (including an unnamed painter) and switching perspectives made it difficult to digest.

another small thing i liked was the range of “mothers” in the collection—there were mothers incredibly preoccupied with their daughters, mothers who have strained relationships with their daughters, some of them who just want their daughter to be safe from harm. while ordinary, the feelings from these characters made up a huge portion of the atmosphere in their respective stories, just in the context of living as a woman.

there were some great moments in the collection. a solid debut, with good ideas that could have been further elevated. thank you to net galley and tin house for the arc!

I really enjoyed this short story collection overall! Lena Valencia has a beautiful way of writing that flows well and is easy to read. All of the stories in this collection are from the POV of women from all different age ranges. Common themes include grief, mother/daughter relationships, female friendships, celestial bodies, and self-realization.

Imaginative stories written in beautifully straightforward language (I want to say "plain language," but that's not quite it, I think what I mean is an "economy of prose" where every word is exactly what it should be, nothing more, nothing less.) Eerie vignettes in the American Southwest, stories with sinister intent, with menacing undercurrents --it's not outright horror, but it flirts with it, it skirts the edges.

From aliens and ghosts to horrifying stalkers, the short stories in this book are all set around the stark Southwestern desert. Following different women as they stumble their way through terrifying scenarios, each story is unique in its own way, yet some are reminiscent of a movie plot we’ve all seen or heard about.

I especially enjoyed the nonchalant creep factor throughout. At times, it didn’t feel as if I were reading anything that would give me goosebumps. But that’s where the surprise is lurking.

Overall, it is very well written. Some stories were more forgettable than others, but the writing was beautifully and artfully done.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mystery Lights is everything I want from a collection of short stories. Imaginative stories written in beautifully straightforward language (I want to say "plain language," but that's not quite it, I think what I mean is an "economy of prose" where every word is exactly what it should be, nothing more, nothing less.) Eerie vignettes in the American Southwest, stories with sinister intent, with menacing undercurrents --it's not outright horror, but it flirts with it, it skirts the edges. A young girl gets separated from her family during a cave tour and doesn't come back quite herself; a woman attends an influencer retreat along with other zealous obsessives deep in the desert; another woman is chased through the desert by wild dogs, only to wind up in a creepy stranger's car. These stories are haunting and uncomfortable, but only just--which is to say that they are definitely both those things, but they are handled so skillfully they almost seem like passing conversation, no big deal. These situations are not tied up with a neat bow, it's almost as if we get a glimpse into these character's lives for a moment, perhaps an afternoon or a series of weeks, just enough to become immersed in their strange, uneasy or distressing situations, and then the curtains are closed in our faces, as if the author is saying "well now, that's all you get." Well done. I think that's just as it should be.

Lena Valencia’s Mystery Lights is a compelling collection of short stories that navigate the rocky terrain of human emotion and experience. With prose that is both sharp and clever, Valencia’s debut is a bingeable read.

Mystery Lights questions what it means to be a woman in contemporary society, balancing righteous anger with a sinister edge. “Reaper Ranch” is a notable example that fully realizes horror elements, capturing the grief and fear of an elderly widow with devastating precision.
Valencia’s narrative skill is evident in her ability to pull each story through a complete, if brief, journey. The collection delves into universal themes such as love, grief, and alienation, exploring the strengths and vulnerabilities of women with a keen eye for realism. Full of surprising turns, the stories showcase the incredible power of short fiction to speak profound truths.

Mystery Lights invites readers into a surreal landscape where reality blurs with the unknown. Each passage is a deft exploration of the human psyche, wrapped in prose that is as beautiful as it is dark. For those who appreciate short fiction with teeth, “Mystery Lights” is an essential addition to their library.

Who I’d Recommend This For: If you’d watch a combination of Gilmore Girls and Twilight Zone, Mystery Lights is for you!
Thank you kindly to Tin House and NetGalley for the ARC.

I found this collection of short stories to be quite captivating, reminiscent of Twilight Zone. The writing is incredibly descriptive, especially when it delves into the mundane and transforms it into something gory, scary and suspenseful. Overall, it was a truly enjoyable read.