Debbie Urbanski does a fantastic job in writing this collection of stories, it had that feel that I was looking for and thought it was fantastic to use different types of stories. The concept was wonderfully done and was engaged with each way the stories were told. I enjoyed how good Debbie Urbanski wrote this and left me wanting to read more.

Did not like this, so I will not give it too much of my time on my review.

All the stories felt repetitive ad nauseam. Didn’t feel like a story, felt like a collection of words on a page. Quite boring and unenaging. another half-done, contemporary collection of stories to check off the list.

3.75 This collection of stories has a lot of sentences that we feel like highlighting. Some are sad but relatable but very like human condition. Has a good balance of slice of life sci-fiifi. I have always wished for a portal since I was a young girl. I found them in books, this one is a great example.

"I am changing into something else! Something that cannot have sex..."
Asexual representation.

I wasn’t able to finish reading this book, despite pushing myself. I made it to around the 80% mark before it all became too much.

The stories themselves, taken individually, are okay. A few of the early ones would slide quite nicely into famous lit mags. I loved Urbanski’s novel, After World, and it was also intense—but not in the raw, personal, and repetitive way of this collection. I could handle the same story told over and over, but like the song says, there are fifty ways to leave your lover. I wanted her to just go already. And then I felt like a heel for thinking that when she got to the suicidal ideation. It’s not a book for the casual reader, is what I’m saying. It's a book about trauma and the misery of trying to cope with marital rape and asexuality and unwanted motherhood. It's about being trapped.

At first, I thought maybe the portals themselves were emblematic of negative space. The things missing from the protagonists’ lives. Things like communication and boundaries and consent. Or maybe they were symbols of vaginas--slices shining and desired and full of potential. But, then we reached the motherhood stories, and as an autistic mother of an autistic son, I felt unfathomably depressed and alarmed. This is a horror collection, and that's not what was marketed or blurbed when I chose this title (although I see it as a tag, now, and I wonder if I missed that or it was added after feedback).


By the time the author appears to break the fourth wall, I’d had enough, but I kept going because I truly do love Urbanski’s work and wanted to trust where she was headed. And then the character neglected and abandoned another little boy, and I was done with it. I’m not sure what Urbanski was trying to tell us in these tales, but it feels like a cry for help, not a short story collection for the general public. And if that's not at all what's happening--if this is truly all fictionalized and imagined, and I've misinterpreted it--then be forewarned at how dark and despairing the subject matter will be.

I'd recommend Urbanski's novel, After World, instead of this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this advance copy.

I absolutely adored this book of short stories. And the author notes at the end was a cherry on top!

#netgalley

Welp, that's probably the most misleading description/cover/title I've ever come across. The short stories aren't terrible when each one is viewed on its own in a vacuum. The problem isn't that they're terribly written or have offensive themes or something. The problem is that they're all the same and aren't what the marketing for this book promised me at all. This book should not be called Portalmania. It should be called Rapingasexualsmania. Which is not a book I wanted to read at all.

There are almost no portals here. The portals that are here are all the same exact metaphor for how some bored, boring lady hates her life or whatever. And she always hates her life because she's asexual and her husband is raping her. And that's it. That's the whole anthology. Over and over and over again. I read it, because I got the ARC and felt dutybound to do so, but I wanted to quit about a third of the way through and spent most of my reading time mentally muttering "IhateitIhateitIhateit."

And sure, I feel a bit bad for complaining because clearly the author is going through some shit and also cares enough about her reviews that one of the short stories is her complaining about her reviews. But man, this was a terrible reading experience.

This is my first time reading Debbie Urbanski and I found her writing captivating. The subject matter of the first 5 stories varied greatly, although all centering around the ideas of escape and polarization. I found the second half of the collection a bit more tedious as we began circling the drain of one major theme, but I think that was also kind of the point. The dread and ennui of some characters lives bled through the pages and left me with a sense of doom - and I loved it. The Dirty Yellow Golden House actually broke my heart, though and I will be thinking about those characters for a long time. I will definitely be seeking out more Debbie Urbanski in the future and highly recommend this collection of short stories for anyone who loves speculative fiction, asexual protagonists, lawfully evil witches, and deep space.

“I have always considered familiarity to be the most stable form of love.”

I had mixed feelings about this story collection, but I was grateful that an early copy was offered to me. First of all, I LOVE the cover. I'm glad to see such heavy Asexual representation in general, and the author is very vocal about the fact that she is a self-insert in her own work and writes about her personal feelings and experience even though it's technically Fiction.

Other positives: The writing itself was good. I liked the strange theme of portals and wanting to run away to other worlds/not belonging in this one, and the way that this theme linked the stories together. That was a cool idea. I liked the piece about the witch, though it seemed unnecessarily punishing towards the protagonist, and I also liked the one about the service that will replace you with an AI version of yourself to keep your spouse happy. I think that there is some beautiful use of metaphor throughout the whole thing.

Overall, though, these stories became repetitive quickly. Most of them were very long, overstayed their welcome, and contained huge, unbroken paragraphs. Even though many of them are related either through characters or topics, I felt like I was reading the same one over and over. Many of the endings sadly didn’t work for me, either. They were either too abrupt, difficult to understand or simply lacked impact. I think they went over my head most of the time. (Author Debbie Urbanski herself even comments on this at a couple of points, talking back to her critics in a way that seemed a bit aggressive. The general attitude came across as, "If you're questioning what I wrote, maybe you were just uncomfortable." The reality is that I understood the core situation pretty well. I'm kind of afraid to criticize anything in my review, but I always want to be honest.) Urbanski plays a role in several of her stories and breaks the fourth wall, speaking directly to you, the reader. This was interesting from the standpoint that it gave me insight into her personal experience with Asexuality, but it made things a bit too meta and interrupted the immersion as well.

I admittedly skimmed quickly through one story because it was a thinly veiled metaphor, (if veiled at all), for our current political situation and I just wasn’t in the mood. It felt like reading the news, which I don't want to do, either. Yes, I realize it’s a privilege to try to ignore reality right now even for a moment, but why do you think I’m constantly reading books? Realism is going to slip in every once in a while, but this was too much. (I noticed that another reviewer skipped this story for the same reasons.)

Honestly, even though there was a lot in here that I could relate to on a very personal level, there was just as much that I think I didn't get. *That was probably my fault, not the author's.*

These stories are bleak, frustrating and not an enjoyable experience. They are designed that way. All the men are insufferable. (There's an entire story about marital rape.) Urbanski is writing from a real, painful place, and pretty much all of these protagonists are unhappy.

“I always knew it was wrong to call me desireless. Sometimes people have desires so strong that they can affect the shape of reality.”

Thank you to Netgalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Biggest TW: Sexual violence, harm to children, domestic abuse, *Marital rape, Self-harm

I randomly stumbled across this book one day and was drawn in by both the cover and the description. It was definitely a unique reading experience and not like anything I’ve personally read before. I liked that the stories touched on various important topics, such as asexuality, motherhood, being transgender, politics, etc. while maintaining a sense of nuance that really makes you think about what you’re reading. I found myself dissecting the stories a lot even after I finished them. One that particularly stood out to me was LK-35-C - it was definitely one of the best and most thought-provoking stories I’ve ever read. I don’t usually buy physical copies of books after I read them digitally but I will definitely be buying this one when it comes out.

I am not usually a fan of short stories, but this book changed my mind. I laughed, I cried, I was angry…the whole spectrum of emotions. To me, great books make you feel things, and Portalmania did just that. I felt seen. Writing was fantastic, each story was memorable, and I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Phewwwwww boy.

Portalmania is a short story collection where every story "rhymes" with the ones that come before and after. It feels like each story in some aspect shows the same family, just in different worlds and within different situations. The characters are never exactly the same, but by and large there is an asexual wife, a husband who really does like his now asexual wife, and some kids. That seems kind of demeaning to these character who are so much more that those descriptions, but you'll have to read the collection to see those other sides.

The stories almost always showcase a character who feels as though they don't belong on this planet. That life through a portal or in the stars was where they are meant to be and how these large emotions that are inherently distancing affect all the people around them, especially their family.

All in all a really good collection, that feels more cohesive than most which I think only enhances it.

A series of short stories that include the themes of portals and asexual protagonists. So not go on expecting a light-hearted romp, these stories contend with heavier themes and I found several to be thought-provoking and ones I'll likely continue to mull over later.

If you enjoy speculative fiction with challenging/hard to read topics, give this a try

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This book was published on 5/13/25.

Debbie Urbanski’s Portalmania is a bold, unsettling, and thought-provoking collection of speculative fiction stories that explore themes of identity, escape, gender roles, and the unsettling nature of human relationships.

The central theme—portals as both literal and metaphorical pathways—creates a fascinating throughline across the stories. Some function as escapes, others as ominous warnings, and a few as reflections on societal and personal struggles. The stories range from eerie sci-fi narratives to deeply emotional explorations of marriage, asexuality, and coercion. LK-32-C stood out as a beautifully nuanced depiction of neurodivergence, while The Dirty Golden Yellow House had a gripping and almost surreal quality that lingered in my mind.

Urbanski’s prose is sharp and fearless, often breaking the fourth wall or presenting perspectives that challenge the reader’s expectations. While some stories felt repetitive in theme, the collection as a whole is undeniably compelling. The mix of dark humor, discomforting realities, and speculative elements makes for an absorbing read.

Final Thoughts: If you enjoy speculative fiction that isn’t afraid to ask difficult questions and make you a little uncomfortable, Portalmania is worth the read. Fans of Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone will likely appreciate its eerie, thought-provoking nature.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the central conceit of this collection: so many of us are looking for escapes, or at the very least something different. I thought it worked especially well in LK-32-C, my favorite story (really a novella) in the collection, since the central character is most likely on the autism spectrum. I also really appreciated the asexual representation, as it both showed the expectations considered “normal” and what was considered “withholding” regarding the asexual partner. It was a thought-provoking and moving collection that made me want to read more by this author. I did feel like some themes felt repetitive vs. progressive, but it does seem like that was the author’s preference, which is obviously up to her.

Debbie Urbanski is a fantastic writer. I loved most of these stories and the way her characters reflected real, complicated people and sometimes broke the fourth wall. Would recommend and thank you for the ARC!

Thank you to the publisher for reaching out and suggesting I read this ARC. What a unique and strange collection of stories. Each story has its own version of a portal but the first story is the one that stuck with me the most. These stories are dark, interesting and at times reflective.

This was really weird but in a really fun way! I love weird books and short stories that just end up making me go "what the hell?" This was exactly that. This may not be for everyone but its definitely for me.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

First off, I loved the 60's campy cover.

This was a mixed bag for me, which I find often the case with short story collections. Several of the stories I really enjoyed (the LK-32-C series and The Dirty Golden Yellow House come to mind). The book was raw, in-your-face and honest, and sometimes hard to read. Genre-wise, these were all over the map, ostensibly tied together through the appearance of portals to other worlds. I liked the idea, but it wasn't always successful. There was an ongoing sexual theme throughout, regarding asexuality and sexual coercion/rape in marriages and relationships. Some of this was painful to digest, but necessary to some of the stories.

Overall, this was an interesting read. Would I read more from the author? Yes.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. In this book, portals appear in different locations, such as closets and schools, vents hold surprises, women’s bodies transform, the Earth breaks apart due to political divisions – portals become more than an escape, but also endings and desertion. The stories in this book run the gamut of the human experience, and asks bold questions in the process.

While not a personal fan of stories (they generally do not just work for me in particular), I appreciate the value of this author’s writing and thought it was a wonderful mix of different genres that were distinctive in their roles and settings, yet blended seamlessly. The book has some uncomfortable themes and points, but that is life and the experience of so many, and what allows us to grow our own selves as we question our own perceptions and beliefs. Books that can make you do this? Top notch.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. At first, I was a bit confused but I kept reading and was quickly sucked in. Also the cover is stunning!!