Mystery Lights

by Lena Valencia

Introducing an electrifying new voice in contemporary fiction that illuminates the many forces that haunt us.


An influencer attempts to derail a viral TV marketing campaign with her violent cult following. A marriage between two ghost hunters is threatened when one of them loses her ability to see spirits. The lives of a famous painter in the twilight of her career and a teenage UFO enthusiast converge when a mysterious glowing orb appears in their small desert town. And a slasher-flick screenwriter looking for inspiration escapes a pack of wild dogs only to find herself locked in an SUV with a strange man beside her.

From the all-too-real horror of a sexual predator on a college campus to a lost sister transformed by cave-dwelling creatures, Lena Valencia’s debut story collection, Mystery Lights, grapples with terrors both familiar and fantastic.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Gothic, Anthologies, Adult

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 6, 2024

Reviews

[liv ❁ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this arc up because I love a good short story collection, but I found that I felt nothing except boredom while reading this. While the writing was fine, the plots of the stories fell flat. While I love the no plot vibes in full-length books, the lack of real plot in these stories left me unsatisfied and completely indifferent.

Thank you netgalley for the arc, book is out on August 06, 2024!

[Renee Godding · Rating 2 out of 5]

Drawn in by the dazzling cover and hooked by the idea of a short story collection dealing with the horrors of womanhood, I went into this debut collection with quite high expectations. Unfortunately, I was left feeling very underwhelmed by the content within.

Overall, there was a very consistent problem I found with all of the stories within this collection: there’s a lot of emphasis on “vibes”, and the “esthetic”, and using well-known horror-tropes to bring a message across. The issue is: there is no original or worthwhile message to be found at the end of them... These are pretty packages filled with nothing but packing-peanuts in book form… They seemingly build up to something, only to flicker out like a candle at the end, adding nothing to the already existing canon of horror (or feminist lit-fic) relying on the same tropes.
That isn’t to say that there isn’t a clear message behind them: the author has clear feminist ideas she attempts to bring across, as you will see in some of the premises for the individual stories. Unfortunately, none of them are creative, and many are so on the nose that they missed the mark for me.

Individual ratings of the 10 stories below. Beware slight spoilers as to their premises:

- Dogs: 2/5 stars
A woman is chased by a pack of predatory “dogs”. A metaphor that it’s só on the nose, that I struggled to focus on the actual story. Also on a personal note: I’m truly sick of the unnuanced trope of “all men are disgusting dogs” in feminist fiction. There’s so much more to discuss than that…

- You Can Never Be Too Sure: 2/5 stars
Female college student is trapped in her dorm by a storm, as an urban legend about a Boogeyman, said to prey on young women, makes the rounds… And nothing happens…

- Mystery Lights: 3.5/5
A company uses mystery lights in the sky to promote the reboot of their latest TV-show. This one had a lot to say about female rage and mother-daughter-dynamics. Interesting, if a bit too short to explore the themes in depth.

- The White Places: 1/5 stars
This one completely blended together with the previous one to the point where I initially missed the transition from one story to the next, because my mind wandered. Utterly unmemorable and didn’t go anywhere.

- Bright Lights, Big Deal: 2/5 stars
Woman gets disillusioned by the dark side of “glamorous New-York-life”, capitalism, etc. You’ve read this one before…

- Trogloxene: 2/5 stars
Young girl returns home after being trapped in a cave-system for 8 days. She returns different in disturbing ways…
Cool concept, some interesting visuals, but again: you’ve read this before, ánd better.

- Reclamation: 4/5 stars
A desert-wellness retreat turns cultish… a classic take on the wellness-horror-subgenre that has been taking flight lately. Reminded me a lot of Death Valley in terms of vibes. Probably my favourite of the collection.

- Clean Hunters: 1/5 stars
Again: utterly unmemorable…

- Reaper Ranch: 1/5 stars
A very anemic take on the nursing-home-horror-trope. Perhaps it’s my aversion to the popular use of this trope as a medical professional, but this one did felt very cheap and shallow to me.

- Vermillion: 2/5 stars
Feels like somewhat of a follow-up to Trogloxene, but because of the break between the two, I felt disconnected from both. I would’ve preferred to be unrelated, or be part of an extended novella/longer story.

Many thanks to Tin House Books and Dreamhouse Media for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) An odd, sometimes uneven collection, Mystery Lights, sitting as it does somewhere between conventional literary fiction and the strange and speculative. Going in, I expected more of the latter, and I’ll admit to being disappointed that some of the stories are more straightforward than anticipated, and/or hinge on the overfamiliar idea that reality is scarier than an imagined supernatural threat. The thing is, though, when Valencia is firing on all cylinders, she’s really, really good, and the standout stories make the book well worth reading. Excellent sense of atmosphere and place here – especially in the desert settings that appear across so many of the stories – and Valencia has a gift for crafting characters swiftly. Favourites were ‘The Reclamation’, ‘Vermilion’, ‘Dogs’, ‘Reaper Ranch’ and ‘Trogloxene’. You might enjoy this if you liked Meagan Poland’s What Makes You Think You’re Awake? or Kate Folk’s Out There.

[rachel x]

*cover add*

i mean, look at it

[Mary Jorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever felt like an alien or an outsider? Ever wonder what monsters lurk beyond city lights, deep within the depths of the desert and even within your own walls? Then these stories are for you!

“Mystery Lights" is a riveting collection that grips you from the first page and refuses to let go. It's like stepping into a surreal dreamscape where reality blurs with the unknown, leaving you breathless and on the edge of your seat.

With a keen eye for human complexity, Lena delves into the tangled web of mother-daughter relationships, the ache of grief, and the unsettling feeling of being an outsider in one's own skin.

Each story is a haunting exploration of the human psyche, wrapped in prose so beautiful it's practically poetry dipped in darkness. Every word dripping with tension and raw authenticity.

Lena had me gasping and clutching my pearls as she masterfully wove tales of White Places, Mystery Lights, and Bright Lights, Big Deal. Each story is a universe unto itself, with characters that leap off the page and into your very soul.

“Mystery Lights" is a must-read masterpiece that will linger in your mind long after you turn the final page.

Lena, consider me your forever fan. 10 out of 10 would read again and recommend without hesitation.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tin House, the publisher, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof. I was really looking forward to this "feminist horror" anthology. But ... pretty much every character was unlikable ... there was no real horror to be found, outside of the banal ... and the feminism? Angela Carter had more biting commentary back in 1979! The number of sexist tropes astounded me, to be frank. Moms fighting daughters over men? Please! I could let some of this slide if anything had gripped me or piqued my curiosity ... but aside from the excellent narration and wicked cover, it was all flat to me. The only memorable story was the first ... and it was a little too on the nose ... but a glimmer of fear did touch my heart. Dogs and dogs.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance copy of the audiobook.

[Brad Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite short story collection I've read this year.
Lena Valencia is like if Shirley Jackson and Georgia O'Keeffe had a child who was in the gifted program who saw a ghost in the desert one time.

Dogs ⭐⭐⭐⭐
You Can Never Be Too Sure ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mystery Lights ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The White Place ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bright Lights, Big Deal ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Trogloxene ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Reclamation ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Clean Hunters ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reaper Ranch ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vermilion ⭐⭐⭐

[Emma (of South Woobeewoo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sad to report that the cover is better than the book, and I am…conflicted. I’m usually not the biggest fan of short stories, but I’m still pretty sure this was mediocre. Lena Valencia’s style is fun and straightforward with an enjoyable balance of vivid descriptions both horrifying and lovely depending on the context, but it frequently seems like she doesn’t know what she wants to convey, and/or has some sort of pathological fear of just saying it. It’s not subtle, it’s just not there.

Unfortunately, Valencia also only had a handful of good stories to add to this collection, and the rest feel unfinished. So many started with a bang and then immediately fizzled out.

Dogs
Rating: 4
A woman is chased by a terrifying pack of angry dogs. The point of this one is quite obvious, but it’s still a powerful metaphor and a beautiful story about a mother’s changing perspective on how to raise her daughter, which is an angle on the subject matter I hadn’t read before. Easily the best story out of the way first.

You Can Never Be Too Sure
Rating: 4
A local legend preys on young women on a college campus. The visuals are amazing and one line from this really stuck with me, which is rare for short stories! Unfortunately, this story, the second in a collection of ten, is the last one I would actually recommend.

Mystery Lights
Rating: 3.5
A company creates mystery lights in the sky as an ad campaign for their reboot of a popular TV show. I think this one was doing too much with too little space; it feels like it wants to be a novella more than a short story. This also reminds me of Stop Your Women’s Ears With Wax by Julia Armfield (to be found in Salt Slow) in that there’s a heavy focus on ‘contagious’ female rage in young women, but I don’t think this holds up or has as much to say when compared to works with similar themes. Still, a lot of interesting ideas that I would’ve liked to spend more time with, especially workplace power dynamics between women.

The White Place
Rating: 2
There is a concerning orb. Although the premise is amusing on the face of it, this was pretty bad—much like Mystery Lights, there was too much going on combined with too much meandering around the point. Another round of editing might have sharpened this up.

Bright Lights, Big Deal
Rating: 3
I read the first couple lines and immediately wrote “ugh, 2nd person” in my notes for later. Having finished this, I still agree with my first impression, especially because the protagonist is named. Something about being told what “I’m” supposed to think of everything that’s happening instead of letting me follow the literary thread you’re laying out for a character just grates on my nerves; my honest opinion on 2nd person is that there’s a reason it’s considered unusual to utilize it in English literature. This story only gets a pass because it’s a play on Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney; a 1984 novel unfortunately written in second person. This story is a fun modern-day female-protagonist spin on Bright Lights, Big City and the ‘realizing the darkness/hedonism of New York’ / ‘escaping the New York Lifestyle’ tropes. I liked this more than I expected.

Trogloxene
Rating: 2.5
A girl returns home after 8 days lost in a cave system. If this premise sounds interesting to you, then I highly recommend skipping it and watching The Descent instead, since it’s clearly what this story was inspired by, and it’ll actually be enjoyable. I watch horror movies almost constantly, and I coincidentally revisited The Descent the week before I read this story, which added to my reading experience for all of five minutes—I enjoyed how creepy Max was at first when she returned from the cave. Unfortunately, the story petered out at the halfway point and didn't pay off. Bleh.

The Reclamation
Rating: 3.5
This was very fun, but also a pretty anemic take on the classic ‘evil wellness company/spa/hospital/retreat’ trope, which is my absolute favorite, and thus one I’m always going to be more critical of. I enjoyed the sudden injection of brutality at the end there, but I wanted so much less stereotypical content from this. This concept has been done to death so many times that you have to have something truly interesting to say to make a lasting impression.

Clean Hunters
Rating: 2.5
Okay. If the author could bother writing an actual ending for her short stories instead of shrugging and walking off into the distance like it’s somehow artsy or talented to make you ‘think’ about the absolute nothingburger she just fed you, that’d be cool. I love litfic and being asked to think at the end, but this story had nothing to say and it just pissed me off when it insisted on itself at the end like it had done something. I get what she was going for here but it didn't come together for me.

Reaper Ranch
Rating: 3
I mean…meh. At least this one had a point, and I didn't hate reading it, but it was such a trite discussion of grief. I do feel bad saying that because Valencia says in the notes that this story includes direct quotes from journal entries her grandmother wrote, but what Valencia built around this inspiration was almost comically bad. She puts all the scary stuff in the background, covers it with oddly goofy; laughable 'horror' (come on with that nurse), and refuses to let any of her settings and creepy additions shine. This had one whole scary moment I appreciated.

Vermilion
Rating: 2
Oh good, we’re talking about the events of Trogloxene again. Because that one was so great the first time. There wasn't enough work put into the emotional investment I would need to have in even a single one of these characters in order for this to pay off. It felt like this wanted to be a novella combined with Trogloxene—in fact, I think that would have saved both of these stories! Both have an interesting concept with inadequate buildup limited by the short story format.

Ratings average out to 3 stars even. I feel like if you read this, you’ll find something you like, but I struggle to recommend it as I probably won't go back for any re-reads. Dogs and You Can Never Be Too Sure are both very good, but not worth revisiting. This is also very much horror-lite to the point where I think classifying it as horror is an incredibly optimistic stretch; you shouldn't go into this expecting any scares.

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a flash in the pan. The stories were great while reading because I loved the whole horror desert theme (hadn't read anything similar, and it's why I even picked this up in the first place), but I don't think I'll remember I read this in 2 weeks.

The best stories were the middle ones. The White Place, Bright Lights Big Deal, Trogloxene and The Reclamation (my favourites), Clean Hunters.

[Hugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t know Lena Valencia before a couple of weeks ago when Electric Lit published a story from this collection. I loved it, and found more by her for a bigger post. Then I ordered the book.

Mystery Lights, Valencia’s first novel, is a collection of literary horror fiction. Ten short stories, most with some sinister human or supernatural force involved. The protagonists are all women, but the stories vary widely in style. Many of them have a cinematic quality to them — either something brief that feels like a setup for a slasher thriller (“Dogs”, “You Can Never Be Too Sure”), an episode of something like The Outer Limits (“Mystery Lights”), or even a short-run HBO series (“The Reclamation”). There are also recurring themes of mother-daughter alienation and lots and lots of spooky things in the desert.

Lots more at the blog, including a link to a playlist by Lena herself inspired by the stories.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

34th book read in 2025

I received this debut story collection from my subscription to the Otherppl Book Club.

10 stories involving women in various threatening situations. Some are set in the Mojave Desert of California. A bit of horror comes in.

I am not a particular fan of short fiction, so I don’t feel I can judge the collection. I read one a day, was impressed by three of them and did not mind the rest.

I would like to see a novel by this author. I think she has potential.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more I read short story collections/anthologies by the same author, the more I realize I do enjoy them. It just has to be all the same author. Each and every one of these stories was different. Most had a common desert theme and also a strangely happy ending for stories so dark, but other than that, the stories were all very different and all very enjoyable.

[Jessie (Zombie_likes_cake) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Currently, it appears I'm reading through this strain of books where I am really missing those half stars. Come on, goodreads, when? This is for sure another one of those that I am not 100% satisfied with either star choice and sadly I might err on the lower end even though that means underselling the talent that is here after all. But with the disappointment that I feel I cannot go higher.

On paper, this sounded like the perfect short story collection for me. The settings, the themes, this bouncing between Horror and litfic with maybe some magical realism: This should have been mine. Yet apart from 2 stories most other stories were very underwhelming or extremely forgettable. As in literally, I tried for the life of me to recall 1 of them and couldn't, flipped through the pages and nothing was coming. I didn't outright dislike anything here but it was mostly so mid and meh that I don't feel very positive towards this collection as a whole. It is a true 2.5* and rounding these down feels harsh but no way can I give something so lacking anything within the "I liked it" realm of stars.

The neat thing here that these stories often have a Horror hook without being a Horror story, or at least not a traditional one: there is a Slasher screenwriter working on her next script, a college student hearing about the urban legend of the Trapper, a couple of psychic ghost hunters or we follow the marketing team of an X-Files style show to name a few of the set ups here. But then the stories themself are much more grounded and deal with more grounded fears and woes of women like failing marriages, their partner's affairs, sexual harassment in a work situation, the threat of a being a woman out in the world going on a hike or ending up hitchhiking or simply attending college. Modern elements like social media, influencers or yoga retreats are very present and give these a certain vibe that I was not opposed to. In theory, this all sounds good but a lot of these stories fell a bit flat. Most of the time they felt like an interesting build up that missed its ending bang. For me, they rarely ever amounted to much, the possible disaster and arguably more horrifying ending was almost never the chosen one. In that sense I think these stories were purposefully often more about the threat which makes them imho less engaging and less memorable. They fizzle out. And I think you could have still stuck to the intended messages without always choosing the less eventful ending, you could give us some spice with that honey. Because the honey I often enjoyed but couldn't live from honey alone.

Going with that, the story that stood out to me the most was the exception to the rule. It was told from a child's perspective and while a young girl less about distinctive female issues but a sibling rivalry taking a terrifying and Horror filled turn during an innocent vacation with a family trip into a cave. This was Horror, this was dark, this was interesting and I wanted more of it but didn't really get it. Maybe though this was a good reminder, I sometimes feel like I am giving all my short story collections great ratings but maybe I just know what I like and what I don't in that regard so misses are rare but still possible and sadly "Mystery Lights" was one.

My top 3:
3) Bright Lights, Big Deal
2) You can never be too sure
1) Trogloxene

The one I couldn't remember for the life of me: "Reaper Ranch" (which had the best title, but still...).

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Average story rating: 3.85 ☆

Lena Valencia’s debut short story collection, Mystery Lights, is sure to appeal to fans of Karen Russell’s short fiction and anyone overwhelmed with the everyday horrors of contemporary life.

The star of the show in the ten stories presented in this collection is Valencia’s narrative voice. So frequently when I read horror or speculative fiction, I find myself loving the concepts and being disappointed in the execution or craft. This could not be further from the truth in the case of this book—Valencia’s prose eases the reader into the worlds that she creates, and is wonderfully atmospheric and strange without being suffocating.

I found myself gravitating towards the longer stories in this collection, where the reader has more time to get to know the characters and really explore their situations. Valencia also tends to embrace nuance a bit more in her longer pieces, which I really appreciate in speculative fiction and horror. In general, I LOVED the things that Valencia explored with respect to nature and setting (lots of very atmospheric descriptions of barren deserts and mysterious woods), and found her character work and thematic subtlety to pale a bit in comparison.

The collection as a whole approaches its topics from a feminist angle that meshes really nicely with the environmental context (à la Georgia O’Keefe), but it did sometimes feel like Valencia was a bit too forward about connecting the social background of her work to her in-story analogues and metaphors. Because of this, there were a handful of stories that I really loved up until the last few pages, where the tone would shift from eerie and subtle into somewhat obvious and outlandish, often with the effect of making the commentary or meaning come across as a bit shallow. Some of this feels like the common pitfalls of an author finding their narrative voice and continuing to perfect their craft, and I’m really excited to see where Valencia goes in her future work.

My last comment is that I do think that this collection suffers somewhat from being mis-marketed as horror, when it really isn’t. There is a general sense of unease in many of the stories, but it feels more accurate to label this as speculative fiction or magical realism, and I do think that I would have enjoyed it more had I gone into it with different expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House for the e-ARC of this collection in exchange for my honest review.

[S. Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystery Lights is everything I want from a collection of short stories. Imaginative stories written in beautifully straightforward language (I want to say "plain language," but that's not quite it, I think what I mean is an "economy of prose" where every word is exactly what it should be, nothing more, nothing less.) Eerie vignettes in the American Southwest, stories with sinister intent, with menacing undercurrents --it's not outright horror, but it flirts with it, it skirts the edges. A young girl gets separated from her family during a cave tour and doesn't come back quite herself; a woman attends an influencer retreat along with other zealous obsessives deep in the desert; another woman is chased on a hot day by wild dogs, only to wind up in a creepy stranger's car. These stories are haunting and uncomfortable, but only just--which is to say that they are definitely both those things, but they are handled so skillfully they almost seem like passing conversation, no big deal. These situations are not tied up with a neat bow, it's almost as if we get a glimpse into these character's lives for a moment, perhaps an afternoon or a series of weeks, just enough to become immersed in their strange, uneasy or distressing situations, and then the curtains are closed in our faces, as if the author is saying "well now, that's all you get." Well done. I think that's just as it should be.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Brandy Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

Underwhelmed is the word I would use to describe this collection

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

good lord this was fucking good. Will absolutely read this again and again.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were so good--uncanny short stories, mostly set in the Southwest, about the dangers stalking women and girls. My favorite was You Can Never Be Too Sure, about an urban legend at a college that morphs into a terrifying encounter. Other standouts:

*Dogs, about a woman hitching a ride with a stranger
*Bright Lights, Big Deal, a coming-of-age story set in Brooklyn
*The Reclamation, about a retreat led by a self-help guru
*Reaper Ranch, about a woman sent to an independent living facility after her husband dies (with lines from Valencia's grandmother's actual diary!)
*Mystery Lights and Vermilion, two mother-daughter stories

These were truly one-of-a-kind and I hope that this collection gets some attention!

[Ton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have received an ARC of this book.

Let me just start this by saying I have an awful attention span. Worlds smallest, some would say. Even if I'm enjoying a book, chances are I'm going to put it down about 30 times per chapter because I don't know how to focus on anything.

However, I finished this book in a little less than 2 days. I loved each story in it, none of them fell short or were boring to me. I love Lena Valencia's writing style, and I am definitely looking forward to more of her books to add to my collection.

It was such a pleasant read and I truly and honestly do recommend it to anyone who enjoys short stories.

[Azhar · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh you know i love me a weird collection of short stories but this one wasn’t it. i found a majority of the stories quite boring, stale, like the ideas presented in some of them were interesting but it didn’t feel fleshed out enough for my liking, i’ve read stories like this before but done way better. usually i do a list of my favourite stories from a collection but honestly the only story from this that i found mildly engaging was “trogloxene.” big womps.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a recent first-time resident of Arizona, this story collection screamed at me. The author did a wonderful job of creating these tiny worlds in each story, and I really liked how she connected a previous story to a later one in the collection. This would have been a five-star rating for me if every episode had me feeling like I did during “Dogs” because why would she get in that car?!

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best short story collection I’ve read in a long time

[Jennifer Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This short story collection was amazing. It is by turns whimsical and menacing, full of eerie delights and subtle surrealism. For fans of Karen Russell, George Saunders, and Kelly Link.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the early audiobook of Mystery Lights!

Am I a short story girly? Not really. Was I drawn in by this cover? Absolutely.

I had no clue what I was getting into when starting Mystery Lights, but I’m so glad that I did. As per usual in a collection, not every story is a solid five star — however, for me — there was no bad story in this one. It explores several topics, introduces us to different forms of nightmares & ties it together with the focal point being about women & young girls navigating danger — both supernatural and existential.

The audiobook was a pretty solid way to read this one & I got through it fairly quick. I’ve seen several reviews mention that it would have been better with more than one narrator to help separate the voices of each story, but for me, it worked just fine with the one narrator.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I usually really enjoy a nice short story collection and am used to how much the quality varies between the stories but rarely do I read a collection where all the stories feel pretty much the same: average at best. Maybe one or two of the stories were actually interesting but overall they were just really boring.

Valencia definitely manages to write a beautiful narration in which you can really feel the atmosphere and aesthetic she wants to communicate, but that's it. The stories feel empty. While the aesthetics are there, the plot is consistently missing. The stories had a lot of potential, many even had a pretty strong start, but then they just fizzled out, too meaningless to properly remember.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the first couple of stories, I read some reviews and agreed with them that the endings were weak and that the stories just didn't seem to go anywhere; weirdly, though, the weaker stories seem to have been put at the front of the book, and I really enjoyed the second half. I like the author's voice and pacing; I'll definitely read more from her.

[parker brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5
just a bunch of short stories that i felt would be a nice refresher in between books. out of the 10 stories there were probably only 3 or 4 that i enjoyed. some of them are along the "horror" aspect which is maybe why i didn't like some but they were all had interesting concepts behind them

[Kris V · Rating 4 out of 5]

This debut collection took me places I didn’t expect to go. There’s an open ended feel to them all, which I’d understand if some readers find unsatisfying. By the 2nd half though, I began to follow the varied voices into their worlds, and often left wishing there was more to the story. Valencia seemed to study the human condition in each of her stories, which ultimately kept me thinking. That to me is the mark of a good collection.

[marleighraereads · Rating 2 out of 5]

extremely lack luster way to start the new year. the writing was pretty good but the stories were too short to have any depth. the cover is really pretty tho!