This was a powerful, witty, and enjoyable collection. Bassett has a unique voice and I enjoyed getting to see each character and how they all tie into the themes of feminism, power, and society. It was a good read and I really enjoyed Bassett's writing style

Clever and cunning? I enjoyed the format of these catchy short stories. I fell into them and devoured them quickly. I’m

A varied collection of fifteen short stories. While not every essay resonated with me, I appreciated the writing style and especially enjoyed “Bulk Trash Is For Lovers” and “More Restrictive Than Supportive”. I would recommend this to readers looking for stories of women grappling with or ruminating on societal expectations and whether to heed them.

Thank you to University of Nebraska Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This is a well-written and enjoyable collection of fifteen short stories. In terms of themes, I would say they cover issues of feminism to great effect, exploring how women handle society's expectations and try to get or hold onto various forms of power even in unbalanced situations. The characters ring true to life, and the prose is sophisticated. I will look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in this review are 100% my own.

These stories ended up blowing me away. After a slow start, each story became more curious and inventive than the last and at least two felt like they could be the premise for a full blown Hollywood blockbuster. Expected, sometimes brilliant, often strange but well worth reading. The only part that I struggled with a bit was the haphazard feeling structure (or lack there of) because the early stories were fairly normal and I was expecting a consistent narrator but they shifted quite a bit. The digital ARC also lacked some formatting to make story beginning/end clear. That aside, these are well worth reading and I'd love to read more from Janelle.

GO GET THIS ARC, it's hilarious and so so so good and weird and I love it!
Janelle Bassett is genius. My 90's baby heart is just so happy after reading these stories. More than once, my husband came outside to check on me because he heard me laughing so hard he didn't think it could have possibly been from a book. How is such a feisty, tell it like it is, badass collection of stories able leave you so lighthearted?

As someone who usually gets too wrapped up in humor to notice nuances in characters' emotions, I appreciate the balance these stories bring. Emotion doesn't take away from the humor, and vice versa. I truly cannot recommend this enough. The stories are so strange I'm having a hard time talking about them without giving too much away... Just read this, please. Seriously. It's friggin good.

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Janelle Bassett and publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!}

This short story collection left me wanting more. Even though I think this author has talent, the stories were too short and felt underwhelming. Also, the text was muddled and difficult to navigate. You can't just click on the story you want; you have to read this book in chronological order which was frustrating. Decent collection, but I've read stronger short story collections this year.

This collection of short stories was lovely. Divided into sections like "internal riots," "external riots," and "laugh riots," each story was poignant, timely, and a joy to read.

A surprising, unusual collection of short stories. I enjoyed almost all of them, but unfortunately the ARC was missing some formatting, including titles for most of the stories (in some cases there wasn't even a space between stories), so I can't easily tell you which were my favorites. I'd have to do a combination of re-reading while mapping the stories with the titles and I'm not particularly motivated to do that. Some of the stories are more or less normal, while others are quite unusual. It's a reading adventure in a good way.

Bassett is a St. Louis writer, which I didn't realize until I stumbled across a story set in Missouri - a very nice surprise.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I'm not the biggest fan of short stories, but the ones in this book are so captivating, I wanted more. The way Janelle Bassett curated and layered these stories was beautiful and I can't wait to read more of her work.