What do you think?
Rate this book
Small Scale Sinners: Stories
A scintillating debut story collection examining a fundamental question: What does it mean to be good?
In twelve kaleidoscopic stories, Mahreen Sohail shifts our perspective on this question from moment to moment. Two girls observe a group of child soldiers and one reflects: “My sister and I were only small scale sinners.” A chorus of sixth graders unravels a school year they spend obsessed with their twin classmates. A girl cuts off her beautiful long hair for her boyfriend’s dying mother, but he immediately wishes she hadn’t. Alternate, parallel lives are considered. With startling observations and economy of language, Sohail dives ever deeper into the question, asking how—in the midst of grief or betrayal, against a backdrop of war, or even just workaday suffering—being good matters. Small Scale Sinners announces the arrival of an extraordinary talent.
In twelve kaleidoscopic stories, Mahreen Sohail shifts our perspective on this question from moment to moment. Two girls observe a group of child soldiers and one reflects: “My sister and I were only small scale sinners.” A chorus of sixth graders unravels a school year they spend obsessed with their twin classmates. A girl cuts off her beautiful long hair for her boyfriend’s dying mother, but he immediately wishes she hadn’t. Alternate, parallel lives are considered. With startling observations and economy of language, Sohail dives ever deeper into the question, asking how—in the midst of grief or betrayal, against a backdrop of war, or even just workaday suffering—being good matters. Small Scale Sinners announces the arrival of an extraordinary talent.
144 pages, Paperback
Published September 16, 2025
21 people are currently reading
489 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
January 20, 2026
A fantastic collection of stories about the lives of Pakistani girls and women.
Often living in the shadow of another person—an elderly parent, a sick parent, a strict parent, a sister, a husband—these women rebel in acts that vary in their severity. Some sins are small, but the consequences are harsh—a teenage girl sneaks out with a boy and is thrown out of her home, a girl leaves her sister behind to attend college in America and her sister soon gets in a serious accident. Other sins are large, unforgivable, but they go unpunished—two sisters kidnap a young girl and hand her over to become a child soldier, school girls stab a school official and pass the blame off on two orphan girls.
In other stories, the women imagine the ways in which their lives would be different if they weren’t duty bound to their aging or sick parents. On the flip side, we see the pain and challenge of forging a path of your own, of leaving behind everything and everyone who have shaped you.
Sohail plays with form throughout the collection, making each story feel fresh while still maintaining thematic cohesion throughout. Cutting out all that is extraneous, her writing is clear and direct.
I thought this was great and I hope to see others give it a go! I will certainly keep an eye out for future releases from Sohail.
Often living in the shadow of another person—an elderly parent, a sick parent, a strict parent, a sister, a husband—these women rebel in acts that vary in their severity. Some sins are small, but the consequences are harsh—a teenage girl sneaks out with a boy and is thrown out of her home, a girl leaves her sister behind to attend college in America and her sister soon gets in a serious accident. Other sins are large, unforgivable, but they go unpunished—two sisters kidnap a young girl and hand her over to become a child soldier, school girls stab a school official and pass the blame off on two orphan girls.
In other stories, the women imagine the ways in which their lives would be different if they weren’t duty bound to their aging or sick parents. On the flip side, we see the pain and challenge of forging a path of your own, of leaving behind everything and everyone who have shaped you.
Sohail plays with form throughout the collection, making each story feel fresh while still maintaining thematic cohesion throughout. Cutting out all that is extraneous, her writing is clear and direct.
I thought this was great and I hope to see others give it a go! I will certainly keep an eye out for future releases from Sohail.
January 10, 2026
This collection of short stories had me in a viselike grip from the very first story and it did not release me until I finished the entire collection.
Mahreen’s power of expression is unique: it feels effortless and yet so flawless. At no point did I feel like I was reading a story that had been cut and snip to fit into my plate or suit my palate. It felt raw yet finished.
The story “Hair” caught me by surprise… I flipped the page and I went from smiling softly while I appreciating the story to suddenly staring at the words weeping silently. No book has moved me to spontaneously burst into tears for as long as I can remember, so this certainly left an impression.
Girlhood, motherhood, sisterhood. I will revisit these stories every time I feel that those concepts or relationships are too complex for me to digest.
Mahreen’s power of expression is unique: it feels effortless and yet so flawless. At no point did I feel like I was reading a story that had been cut and snip to fit into my plate or suit my palate. It felt raw yet finished.
The story “Hair” caught me by surprise… I flipped the page and I went from smiling softly while I appreciating the story to suddenly staring at the words weeping silently. No book has moved me to spontaneously burst into tears for as long as I can remember, so this certainly left an impression.
Girlhood, motherhood, sisterhood. I will revisit these stories every time I feel that those concepts or relationships are too complex for me to digest.
Read
April 4, 2026Longlisted for the 2026 RofC US/Canada Prize
Finalist for the 2026 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
*
Tomorrow, I will fly back to where I live, and over the course of our lives, the endings will arrive for us again and again, and each time, demand to be welcomed with open arms. Nobody has taught me that living a life that is entirely your own is also an act of mourning. (49)
[4+ stars. such amazing, powerful, & haunting stories.]
2026 RofC US/Canada Prize
personal rankings; shortlisted books are numbered
1. The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje (tr. David McKay)
2. The Endless Week, Laura Vázquez (tr. Alex Niemi)
3. Little Lazarus, Michael Bible
4. Hothouse Bloom, Austyn Wohlers
—On Earth As It Is Beneath, Ana Paula Maia (tr. Padma Viswanathan)
—Small Scale Sinners, Mahreen Sohail
—Little World, Josephine Rowe
—Iris & the Dead, Miranda Schreiber
5. Dreaming of Dead People, Rosalind Belben
—Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation, Sarah Yahm
[10/10 & completed!]
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (Finalists Only)
1. The White Hot, Quiara Alegría Hudes
2. Small Scale Sinners, Mahreen Sohail
3. The Sisters, Jonas Hassen Khemiri
4. Dominion, Addie E. Citchens
5. Heart the Lover, Lily King
[5/5 & completed!]>
Finalist for the 2026 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
*
Tomorrow, I will fly back to where I live, and over the course of our lives, the endings will arrive for us again and again, and each time, demand to be welcomed with open arms. Nobody has taught me that living a life that is entirely your own is also an act of mourning. (49)
[4+ stars. such amazing, powerful, & haunting stories.]
2026 RofC US/Canada Prize
personal rankings; shortlisted books are numbered
1. The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje (tr. David McKay)
2. The Endless Week, Laura Vázquez (tr. Alex Niemi)
3. Little Lazarus, Michael Bible
4. Hothouse Bloom, Austyn Wohlers
—On Earth As It Is Beneath, Ana Paula Maia (tr. Padma Viswanathan)
—Small Scale Sinners, Mahreen Sohail
—Little World, Josephine Rowe
—Iris & the Dead, Miranda Schreiber
5. Dreaming of Dead People, Rosalind Belben
—Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation, Sarah Yahm
[10/10 & completed!]
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (Finalists Only)
1. The White Hot, Quiara Alegría Hudes
2. Small Scale Sinners, Mahreen Sohail
3. The Sisters, Jonas Hassen Khemiri
4. Dominion, Addie E. Citchens
5. Heart the Lover, Lily King
[5/5 & completed!]>
February 11, 2026
I read this for the 2026 Republic of Consiousness Prize for Canada & the US.
My main concerns with this collection are the same one that I had with both The Sorrows of Others by Ada Zhang and God’s Children are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu:
- The stories are poorly edited (grammar errors like ambiguous pronoun references and punctuation errors) leading to one of my biggest pain points, taking me out of my reading bubble. If I’m being completely honest, the error in the title almost kept me from picking this one up.
- What was the central conflict in each of these stories? This is what I call the, “So what?” issue. This wasn’t an issue in all of the stories, but several left me thinking, “So what?” What is this story conveying? Some felt incredibly obvious to the point where I didn’t have to flex any brain muscles and others didn’t include anything. Which leads to my next point…
- What am I meant to take away from each of the individual stories, and how does each contribute to the overarching theme of the collection? I don’t know. I actually don’t know how they all together contribute to the question (according to Goodreads) “What does it mean to be good?” Not all of these stories align with this question so why bother making that the framing device?
- Where is the craft in storytelling? I found most of these stories forgettable, which is always a big tell for me whether or not I’m enjoying a short story collection because the stories stay with me in a way that I can describe…In fact, I can’t forget them! I love that! For many of the stories in “Small Scale Sinners” the person I was buddy reading with couldn’t even remember the basic plots or characters in most of the stories—not a good sign.
- Short stories are often used to communicate powerful messages and commentary whether it be political, economic, or social. I found that many of these stories lacked that messaging, and when you have the freedom to share these ideas, please do it. Too often, these felt flat.
- Many of the stories lacked certain vital short story elements like a decision, climax, or goal. “The Dog” lacked many of the aforementioned elements and was one of the weaker stories. I felt like some of these stories were lists without reason and stories without any climax.
Aside from my major complaints, I’m just extremely disappointed. I’m looking for stories that use literary elements and devices to evoke something in the reader. I honestly feel that the best literature, regardless of form, evokes emotion, makes us think and question, creates visceral reactions, but I only experienced that once in this collection. The format and style at times was repetitive and the writing style wasn’t lyrical or unique. I just think that a Republic of Consciousness longlisted collection needs to do more. I can happily say this, out of the three collections that I’ve read for this prize, Small Scale Sinners was my favourite. And quite frankly, I would read a novel that Mahreen Sohail publishes but not another short story collection
[Ebook, Everand]
My main concerns with this collection are the same one that I had with both The Sorrows of Others by Ada Zhang and God’s Children are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu:
- The stories are poorly edited (grammar errors like ambiguous pronoun references and punctuation errors) leading to one of my biggest pain points, taking me out of my reading bubble. If I’m being completely honest, the error in the title almost kept me from picking this one up.
- What was the central conflict in each of these stories? This is what I call the, “So what?” issue. This wasn’t an issue in all of the stories, but several left me thinking, “So what?” What is this story conveying? Some felt incredibly obvious to the point where I didn’t have to flex any brain muscles and others didn’t include anything. Which leads to my next point…
- What am I meant to take away from each of the individual stories, and how does each contribute to the overarching theme of the collection? I don’t know. I actually don’t know how they all together contribute to the question (according to Goodreads) “What does it mean to be good?” Not all of these stories align with this question so why bother making that the framing device?
- Where is the craft in storytelling? I found most of these stories forgettable, which is always a big tell for me whether or not I’m enjoying a short story collection because the stories stay with me in a way that I can describe…In fact, I can’t forget them! I love that! For many of the stories in “Small Scale Sinners” the person I was buddy reading with couldn’t even remember the basic plots or characters in most of the stories—not a good sign.
- Short stories are often used to communicate powerful messages and commentary whether it be political, economic, or social. I found that many of these stories lacked that messaging, and when you have the freedom to share these ideas, please do it. Too often, these felt flat.
- Many of the stories lacked certain vital short story elements like a decision, climax, or goal. “The Dog” lacked many of the aforementioned elements and was one of the weaker stories. I felt like some of these stories were lists without reason and stories without any climax.
Aside from my major complaints, I’m just extremely disappointed. I’m looking for stories that use literary elements and devices to evoke something in the reader. I honestly feel that the best literature, regardless of form, evokes emotion, makes us think and question, creates visceral reactions, but I only experienced that once in this collection. The format and style at times was repetitive and the writing style wasn’t lyrical or unique. I just think that a Republic of Consciousness longlisted collection needs to do more. I can happily say this, out of the three collections that I’ve read for this prize, Small Scale Sinners was my favourite. And quite frankly, I would read a novel that Mahreen Sohail publishes but not another short story collection
[Ebook, Everand]
January 17, 2026
Original and surreal
February 8, 2026
A rare short story collection where I thoroughly enjoyed each and every story - each was captivating, with loose themes tying the entire collection together nicely. The writing feels very human, it's stripped of extraneous details that make it relatable to whatever the readers personal experiences are, but with enough bits of culture to keep it enriched and grounded.
March 23, 2026
woag short stories that enter and haunt you…
April 3, 2026
wooow!! very sad but very well written!! lots to unpack & some stories hit harder than others
January 16, 2026
So spectacular! Everything I could ever want from a short story collection
October 29, 2025
Rating: 6.5/10
Collection of Pakistan and Pakistan American stories with themes of motherhood and sisterhood. Honestly not bad just felt like a mediocre read at times because the words felt flat.
Collection of Pakistan and Pakistan American stories with themes of motherhood and sisterhood. Honestly not bad just felt like a mediocre read at times because the words felt flat.
March 31, 2026
Excellent collection. Stand outs: "Our School Year" (schoolgirls stab the headmistress to death), "Hair" (a girl cuts off her long hair for her boyfriend's mom, realizes she doesn't desire conventionality), "Sisters" (moving and sad, one sister stays, marries, has a baby, does the 'right' things, goes blind and divorces, the other sister leaves, their relationship, told in an interesting form "Sadia as Patient, Sadia as Sister" etc before each paragraph), "Basic Training" (horrifying premise, people kidnap children and force them to become hard by killing small animals in 'service to the nation'), "The Newlyweds" (sweet story about a couple with a goat that they love, coming to love each other through mutual disgust at the cruelty of other married women & their children), "The Man Who Flew" (a squatter lives next to a young woman, he watches her masturbate, she is chastised by the neighbor woman, she goes over to the squatter one night and they try to 'fly' together by parachuting down the building with sheets, the man almost cries because "I did it," "I finally did something" 96), "Najwa" (a girl remembers her friend be humiliated and punished and exiled from her house for flirting with a boy over text), "The Park" (supernatural-y, a mother and a daughter entice men to come have sex with them then they turn mutant and kill the man/make him disappear).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2026
These twelve stories are linked by the relationship between mothers and daughters. They mostly follow bold young women testing the limits of their surroundings and of their own lives. Friends, men, marriage, children, tradition, and a touch of religion naturally weave their way through these narratives. The girls are all sinners, often in small, ambiguous ways – though at times their transgressions are anything but minor. One story explores the importance of hair for a woman, and even more so for the men who look at her. Another tells of closely intertwined sisters struggling to claim the right to live their own lives. There is also an almost magical tale of revenge taken against a brutal man. I appreciated all twelve of these short stories. There is something daring about these young women, trapped by their age and circumstances, yet striving to break free. I look forward to reading more from this author.
https://redheadwithabrain.ch/index.ph...
https://redheadwithabrain.ch/index.ph...
March 14, 2026
3.5⭐️ rounded down. Which is quite disappointing since this was on the Faulkner-Pen award shortlist.
There were a few highlights in this collection (The Park, Our School Year, Hair) which I enjoyed but many of the stories felt pointless and unsatisfying.
There were times when it was like the author was trying to be edgy or shocking (Basic Training, The Newlyweds) but the actual storytelling was bland and lacked decent world building, or the whole plot just didn’t make sense. If she was tying to be symbolic or teach some sort of moral lesson.. I missed it.
But my BIGGEST GRIPE is that she didn’t use quotation marks so I kept losing utrack of what was being spoken, what was just in the narrators head, and often couldn’t figure out who was actually talking. It was super annoying and having to reread lines just pulled me out of the story.
There were a few highlights in this collection (The Park, Our School Year, Hair) which I enjoyed but many of the stories felt pointless and unsatisfying.
There were times when it was like the author was trying to be edgy or shocking (Basic Training, The Newlyweds) but the actual storytelling was bland and lacked decent world building, or the whole plot just didn’t make sense. If she was tying to be symbolic or teach some sort of moral lesson.. I missed it.
But my BIGGEST GRIPE is that she didn’t use quotation marks so I kept losing utrack of what was being spoken, what was just in the narrators head, and often couldn’t figure out who was actually talking. It was super annoying and having to reread lines just pulled me out of the story.
February 8, 2026
One of the best short story books I read in a long time. Each story captivated me from the first few lines. It was very grounded writing yet each story felt like a small fable. I loved the experiments in form with some of these stories being lists. Wow what an amazing collection!
February 16, 2026
I borrowed this from the library, but as I read it became clear and clearer that I would eventually need to buy my own copy so I could come back to it again and again. These stories stay with you. Beautifully and uniquely written. I felt so many things while reading.
December 15, 2025
every single one of them was brilliant
December 18, 2025
Oh the beautiful way this was written and the words flew and ahhhh maybe a gorgeous last book of the year 😭 (nah trying for 2 more before new years??)
December 23, 2025
i enjoyed myself
January 1, 2026
2.5 stars rounded up: conceptually, this was interesting, but the writing felt flat
January 11, 2026
luminous
January 12, 2026
An incredibly interesting compilation of thought provoking and haunting stories...thank you to Shakespeare & Co for introducing me to this book! It will stick in my mind for some time.
January 29, 2026
This book constantly made me anxious but I think that was the point
February 11, 2026
y’all have no idea
February 19, 2026
I read one story at a time to just let each beautifully written story sink in.
March 1, 2026
Depressing.
March 1, 2026
Read in two hours in Greenlight Bookstore
March 4, 2026
the perfect collection. too many thoughts and feelings for a short review, working on something bigger now
August 18, 2025
This is the kind of short story collection that sticks with readers for a long time. The cohesiveness and diversity of the collection creates a really unique mix that blew me away. The writing was impeccable, and I especially liked how the style changed depending on the narrator of the story. I think it’s obvious a collection like this is one-of-a-kind when even just one of these stories would have a huge impact on the reader. I loved this collection!
Read
January 26, 2026I am so sorry, I did not know how much it would hurt to live my own life [...]
***
This is a collection of short stories that counters the narrative of hyper independence and its path to loneliness, while still facing the abuse that happens in the deeply intertwined circles of communal cultures. There are no winners here.
Some of my scattered notes below:
"Our School Year" did not end as I expected, holy crap.
"Najwa" is a fucking horror story, but it ends sweeter than I expected. "It occurred to me that this is why she had always asked me to go on with my stories, teasing out as much as she could before finally giving up. Perhaps she knew there would always be more after the last, awful part."
***
This is a collection of short stories that counters the narrative of hyper independence and its path to loneliness, while still facing the abuse that happens in the deeply intertwined circles of communal cultures. There are no winners here.
Some of my scattered notes below:
"Our School Year" did not end as I expected, holy crap.
"Najwa" is a fucking horror story, but it ends sweeter than I expected. "It occurred to me that this is why she had always asked me to go on with my stories, teasing out as much as she could before finally giving up. Perhaps she knew there would always be more after the last, awful part."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews