Enjoyed this short story collection. It is a book about self, cruelty, sympathy and identity, My favorites might be the mail order bride who comes to USA for a new life and the story where a girl has a French doppelganger (this one was slightly tedious to read but the idea was very intriguing). Also I love the way Elaine Hsieh Chou writes!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This is my first book from Elaine Hsieh Chou, but Disorientation has been high on my TBR! It’s also my first time reading a short story collection, which I’ve come to realize I really enjoy!

All the stories truly did push boundaries, like the description of the book says, going to places I’d never expect. The stories were absurd yet also relatable, sometimes making me reflect and compare these sci-fi like stories relate to real life. In all honesty, I think these stories are kind of like artsy, indie films where I need a YouTube breakdown and analysis to fully understand the message. These honestly would make great films!

I don’t read a lot of short story collections but I loved this one. Every story left me wanting more which I think is the highest praise you can give a short story.

Disorientation instantly became one of my all-time favourite books and whenever I read Elaine’s writing, waves of different emotions wash over me. In some moments, I feel as if she’s in my head, putting into words all of the thoughts I’ve ever had about what it means to experience this world as an Asian woman. At other times, I feel intense unease when her writing calls me out or makes me cringe at characters I see my younger self in, or my current self. But it’s in a way I don’t shy away from because it feels like hearing from a big sister who knows I have to make my own mistakes like she’s done before me.

The writing in these stories feels very intentional, thought-provoking, and nuanced. Elaine is doing some of the best, most relatable writing I’ve ever read on fetishization, internalized racism, and the often clumsy journey of embracing your Asian culture. I wish I’d had her books to read when I was 25 and agreeing to a second date with a white guy who had Japanese doorway curtains (don’t worry, he’s long gone) but I’m glad I have them now.

I was really excited to read this new collection of short stories from Elaine Hsieh Chou, as I *loved* her book, Disorientation. While this collection fell a little below Disorientation for me, I still found the stories incredibly thought-provoking. Carrot Legs, Mail Order Bride, and Happy Endings are the three that will definitely remain in my head for a long time. They explore aspects of family and belonging, racialization and fetishes, dehumanization, and revenge. I honestly think that all three of these could be full-length novels - and I kept picturing Happy Endings as a movie in my head.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy!

All in all, I liked this. Much more than Disorientation.

Carrot Legs 3.5/5
I thought this covered some interesting ground. I liked the imagery in it, and the location felt tangible. The ending definitely went over my head.

Mail Order Love 3/5
This was alright, I feel like it was missing something. But was still a good read.

You Put a Rabbit on Me 4/5
Ok I really enjoyed this one. Poor lil Hippolyte. It had the right levels of anticipation and I wasn’t disappointed by the ending.

Featured Background 2/5
Idk I found this one kinda boring. It was missing something. Also for a minute I was like wait…Athena?? Is that you??? Only to realise Yellowface’s Athena is Athena Liu not Athena Wu.

Happy Endings 3/5
I enjoyed the ending, but getting there was a bit blehhh for me.

The Dollhouse 3.5/5
The beginning was a bit of a drag because I was constantly having to check that I was tracking the metaphor correctly, but as it went on it made more sense. Kinda sad actually. A good story.

Casualties of Art 2.5/5
Of all the stories here the is the one I think least deserved to be novella length. Aggressively fine. A disappointing choice to end on this imo.

Thank you @netgallary and @penguinpress for this wicked set of short stories e-arc by one of my favourite satirical authors @elainehsiehchou.

This is a collection of short dark viseral stories with themes of colonisation, coming home, finding both parts of yourself, and growing up as children of traumatised parents.. some of them stories are speculative fiction.

Brilliant stories
- Mail order bride
- Featured backgrounds
- Happy endings

Some stories made me groan with frustration at the audacity of the colonizers, and the many repeated attempts of the global majority to educate, empathise and assimilate. There is a lot of nauce and pain on the pages; this has taken me a few weeks to really take in and process.

i loved the exploration of desires and human wants. Each story carried it's own color and were really intriguing to read, almost all of the stories flew by and made me want to read a whole novel about that story.

I will always take it as a good sign when a book leaves me wanting more. Each of these stories could have turned into full-fledged books.

What I love most about these stories is that feeling of being human - running away from something, hiding from your past, being afraid to confront your own personal issues. Chou writes cleverly and demands that you do a little bit of introspective work.

A solid collection! Thank you Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the opportunity to read in advance.

I’m a big fan of Elaine Hsieh Chou’s debut novel, Disorientation, and I’m so happy she delivered again with a short story collection here. Where Are You Really From is full of interrogations of race, gender, class, and all of it delivered with her sharp and darkly funny writing.

My favorite stories are “Carrot Legs,” “Mail Order Love,” “Featured Background” and “Casualties of Art: A Novella.”

Chou’s characters aren’t meant to be likeable, but they feel so real, whether they’re a kid like in “Carrot Legs” or an elderly man confronting his estranged daughter for the first time in “Featured Background.” There’s not really subtlety in what she’s trying to convey, whether that’s commentary about the treatment of both white and Asian women by Asian men, the treatment of Asian sex workers who are “layovers” for white men, or the anxiety and tragedy of growing up and away from childhood and its innocence. However, that’s one of the things I like most about her writing and what makes it feel genuine.

I also really liked the pacing of these stories. Most short story collections can either drag or go too fast for my tastes, but Where Are You Really From is a perfect mix of introspective, slower narratives and faster ones. I was consistently interested in where the story would take me and I was rarely disappointed. Each one feels complete in its own right.

Overall, Chou has solidified herself as an auto-buy author for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This review has been scheduled to be posted on Goodreads and my blog on August 5, 2025.