Disembark: Stories

by Jen Currin

Award–winning author Jen Currin presents remarkable and sometimes magical new stories of queer friendship and love, against the backdrop of city life. The stories in Disembark feature queer characters navigating new worlds, new circumstances, and new methods of relating to the people around them. With resonant, surprising imagery and clear, lyrical prose, Currin masterfully weaves vibrant narratives showcasing queer relationships―be they platonic, romantic, or somewhere in between. A banshee shacks up with a lesbian couple in a rocky relationship, a lonely teen is gifted a knife by his mother’s boyfriend, a queer woman finds herself heartbroken when her best friend fails her at a crucial moment, and a young alcoholic hashes things out with their mother in the afterlife. With fantastical flourishes and gritty realism, the profound and eloquent stories in Disembark provide a glimpse into the unexpected, offering insight into the ways we relate in this world and in worlds beyond.

Genres: Short Stories, Queer, LGBT

264 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2024

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these stories! Full review soon!
Thank you to the publisher for my copy!

[savi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disembark is a queer short story collection that has dynamic characters and phenomenal writing. Spanning across each story, change is resonant in characters’ lives as they encounter shifting relationships, new worlds, and ways of being.

I was charmed by this book and Currin’s ability to showcase such complexity and emotion in queer lives and relationships, whether platonic, romantic, or familial.

Thank you to NetGalley and House of Anansi Press for the ARC!

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg I really liked this. Collection with a mix of queer fantastical and realistic stories. Really liked the writing and I prefered the realistic stuff but that’s my opinion towards all writing so i’m not surprised. Very good at having one connect to the characters in the middle of their lives and in such a short time span!

thank you to netgalley and house of anasi press!

[Dayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I have a very complicated relationship with short stories because sometimes the stories as a whole sound incredibly interesting to me, but then I’ll either fall completely into the stories individually, or be left kind of bored and disappointed.

Thankfully, DISEMBARK was a great read—yes, it took me a while, but that’s mainly due to my attention span issues. The stories themselves were pretty interesting and this author’s writing style has a very strong pull. Once I’d start a story, I was immediately engrossed and before I knew it, the 20 or so pages would be gone and the story would be over.

I especially liked some of the later stories, like SISTERS—which was eerie and held my attention nonstop. Or even the story that inspired the title of the collection had me hooked because it reminded me of how fragile life is and even though the mother/daughter relationship in that story is wholly different from my mom and I’s relationship, I still felt that inevitable pull of time and what could come next. Made me almost want to cry.

I’m grateful I got to read this one!

Happy reading!

[Natalie D.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

~Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review~
A reflective collection of 12 short stories - some grounded in reality, some not so much - about the queer human experience. I really enjoyed Currin's easy-to-read, yet profound writing style, as well as the ease in which the reader is plopped into each character's lives. While I wish we were given some context of the where/when of each story (it's kindof jarring to read one story that takes place in Portland in the 2000s and the next that takes place in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic), I was captivated by each story. My favorite, by far, are "Banshee" and "Disembark" - I look forward to checking out more of Currin's works in the future!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

|| DISEMBARK ||
#gifted @houseofanansi
#shortstorymonth
✍🏻
A wonderful collection of stories about queer characters navigating new worlds. These stories ranged from real to the fantastical and I ate it up! With lyrical prose, Currin an award winning author gives us these dynamic characters who who are maneuvering new places, circumstances, relationships and friendships. The fantastic cover caught my eye but once I read the book description I knew I needed to read this. I loved how unexpected these stories were. An insightful and compelling look at queer human experiences filled with emotion and imagination. Highly reccomend!


For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

|| DISEMBARK ||
#gifted @houseofanansi
#shortstorymonth
✍🏻
A wonderful collection of stories about queer characters navigating new worlds. These stories ranged from real to the fantastical and I ate it up! With lyrical prose, Currin an award winning author gives us these dynamic characters who who are maneuvering new places, circumstances, relationships and friendships. The fantastic cover caught my eye but once I read the book description I knew I needed to read this. I loved how unexpected these stories were. An insightful and compelling look at queer human experiences filled with emotion and imagination. Highly reccomend!


For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love the stories. too bad none of them had endings. maybe that’s the point, but i didn’t care for it one bit.

[Elizabeth JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely stunning and diverse collection of short stories. I love reading local authors, Jen, you hit this out of the park, this was incredible!

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really enjoyed reading about queer characters where their queerness was not the center of the story. following queerness in regular conversation, conflict, fantasy, etc., was a true joy for me