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Tell Me Yours, I'll Tell You Mine
A strange and sinister debut from Stephen Dixon Award–winning author Kristina Ten.
The new kid in school discovers a diabolical presence in the depths of an English-language-learning CD-ROM. A declining empire, in its last desperate gasp, designs an elaborate matchmaking system around cootie catchers and soda-can tabs. A former varsity volleyball player reopens the grisly wounds of her youth, haunted by a lost friend. In each story, the game has been twisted. In each game, players must make their own rules. Through a bloody, shattered lens, the artifacts of growing up take on a new and disquieting power—riddles remain unsolved, pranks have perilous stakes, and superstitions won’t save you.
Populated by living paper dolls, summer camp legends, and trivia nights gone terribly wrong, the twelve genre-crossing tales in Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine wrestle with themes of memory, disobedience, alienation, belonging, and the horrors of inhabiting a body others seek to control.
The new kid in school discovers a diabolical presence in the depths of an English-language-learning CD-ROM. A declining empire, in its last desperate gasp, designs an elaborate matchmaking system around cootie catchers and soda-can tabs. A former varsity volleyball player reopens the grisly wounds of her youth, haunted by a lost friend. In each story, the game has been twisted. In each game, players must make their own rules. Through a bloody, shattered lens, the artifacts of growing up take on a new and disquieting power—riddles remain unsolved, pranks have perilous stakes, and superstitions won’t save you.
Populated by living paper dolls, summer camp legends, and trivia nights gone terribly wrong, the twelve genre-crossing tales in Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine wrestle with themes of memory, disobedience, alienation, belonging, and the horrors of inhabiting a body others seek to control.
322 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2025
13 people are currently reading
413 people want to read
About the author
Kristina Ten
18 books8 followersKristina Ten is the author of Tell Me Yours, I'll Tell You Mine (Oct. 2025, Stillhouse Press). Her stories appear in McSweeney's, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction, Nightmare, Lightspeed, Uncanny, and elsewhere. She has won the Stephen Dixon Award for Short Fiction, the Subjective Chaos Kind of Award, and the F(r)iction Writing Contest, and has been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and the Locus Award. Ten was educated at Emerson College (BA) and the University of Colorado Boulder (MFA), and is a graduate of Clarion West Writers Workshop. She has received fellowships from the Ragdale Foundation and the Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine is her debut story collection.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 8, 2025
I had the pleasure of meeting the author in person and it was truly a privilege to speak with someone so passionate for what they do. The experience added an extra layer of appreciation as I read through this collection of short stories. However, if I’m being honest with myself, none of these stories blew me away.
The collection largely centers on teenage characters, exploring themes of coming of age and the struggle to fit into societal norms. These are important and personal themes that resonate with many.
That said, the storytelling choices seemed to avoid pushing boundaries and never got weird enough.
Readers looking for stories that touch on identity through a speculative lens may find much to appreciate here. However, others might find the pacing uneven and the impact of certain stories muted.
The collection largely centers on teenage characters, exploring themes of coming of age and the struggle to fit into societal norms. These are important and personal themes that resonate with many.
That said, the storytelling choices seemed to avoid pushing boundaries and never got weird enough.
Readers looking for stories that touch on identity through a speculative lens may find much to appreciate here. However, others might find the pacing uneven and the impact of certain stories muted.
November 17, 2025
Fantastic and strange speculative fiction collection. It was a bizarre and captivating surprise to see where each story took the reader. Never a dull moment and I enjoyed the deeper messages and coming of age moments throughout as well.
“The Dizzy Room”, and “Approved Methods of Love Divination in the First Rate City of Dushagorod” were favourites.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Stillhouse Press for a copy!
“The Dizzy Room”, and “Approved Methods of Love Divination in the First Rate City of Dushagorod” were favourites.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Stillhouse Press for a copy!
October 3, 2025
High-quality, literary, speculative fiction, with a special emphasis on horror, a brutally honest and provocative exploration of the experience of girlhood and womanhood in the US of the last few decades. The writing is flawless, though the style puts a certain uncomfortale emphasis on introspection, offering only glimpses of what's actually happening, mostly through the reactions and thoughts of each story's main character. This doesn't always work, unless you allow yourself to be mesmerized by the spectacular prose for its own sake; otherwise, the stories will end up feeling unnecessarily long-winded, self-indulgent or even too verbose, "chatty"or "wordy". I myself was seduced by the writing style very early on, and found the author's decision to sacrifice dread and suspense for imagery and style to work wonders for the unique atmosphere of wonder suffusing some of the stories; I can't prove it, but for me those extra words did matter.
Of the twelve stories within, four I enjoyed the most, and would easily recommend the collection for these alone: "Bunny Ears," a magical tale of camp horror and urban legends, with a deeply unsettling ending; "The Dizzy Room," a sort of "cosmic horror takes over video game" story, full of 90s vibes, taking the idea of language influencing perception to a wholly different direction; "The Curing," a stellar example of weird fiction, about kids discovering fascinating alernative uses of glue; and the absolutely brilliant "Adjective," trying to convey a woman's immigrant experience through cunning and twisty employments of syntax, dictionary definitions, memories, and an incredible grasp of the weight of the most innocent of words (very much reminiscent of Ted Chiang's similar attempts in SF; in fact, there's a couple of other stories in the volume that could have been written by Chiang - and this is a compliment).
The collection, I suspect, will be a hard sell for many people: the author's tendency to quietly highlight language instead of simply going for the usual gore and punchline twists, will leave most readers exhausted, if not annoyed. If you enjoy dark speculative fiction with achingly beautiful writing, however, I highly recommend you give it a shot!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC to review.
Of the twelve stories within, four I enjoyed the most, and would easily recommend the collection for these alone: "Bunny Ears," a magical tale of camp horror and urban legends, with a deeply unsettling ending; "The Dizzy Room," a sort of "cosmic horror takes over video game" story, full of 90s vibes, taking the idea of language influencing perception to a wholly different direction; "The Curing," a stellar example of weird fiction, about kids discovering fascinating alernative uses of glue; and the absolutely brilliant "Adjective," trying to convey a woman's immigrant experience through cunning and twisty employments of syntax, dictionary definitions, memories, and an incredible grasp of the weight of the most innocent of words (very much reminiscent of Ted Chiang's similar attempts in SF; in fact, there's a couple of other stories in the volume that could have been written by Chiang - and this is a compliment).
The collection, I suspect, will be a hard sell for many people: the author's tendency to quietly highlight language instead of simply going for the usual gore and punchline twists, will leave most readers exhausted, if not annoyed. If you enjoy dark speculative fiction with achingly beautiful writing, however, I highly recommend you give it a shot!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC to review.
October 18, 2025
Very riot-grrl in a fundamental sense, in that it elevates girl culture, especially elementary- and middle-school girl culture, to the firmament: there's an entire postapocalypse society built around playground romance games, including jumping rope and those little folding things I remember from bus rides. There's the kid fantasy of abandonment, crossed with summer-camp urban legends. Elmer's-glue copies of your fingertips that become hands that become whole people that become a metaphor for immigrant assimilation. Haunted English-learning videogame (maybe my favorite: even though the haunted-object genre moves are predictable by now, making it an immigrant-culture parable gives them new life). Pub quiz that turns into...a metaphor for family blindness and anti-gay camp and loss of the self? HS volleyball as cult as referendum on Yellowjackets and what happens to teenage girls. Women's pain being dismissed by their doctors as literal jousting, though not sure if this is also supposed to serve as some sort of anti-vax parable, in which case blech.
Found it shelved under Horror in Borderlands, which seems semi-fitting (at least a few of these probably would qualify), but you could just as well link it to post-fabulists like Kelly Link or E. Lily Yu, writers concerned with how women and fairy tales and brute reality collide who are unwilling to accept limits imposed by the literal. And the immigrant aspect adds a new dimension, one she even theorizes in a short-short as Aristotelian v Brechtian notions of art. I quite liked the plainspoken clarity and freshness of her voice, along with her fearless embrace of the existentially terrifying aspects of being that thinking kid.
Found it shelved under Horror in Borderlands, which seems semi-fitting (at least a few of these probably would qualify), but you could just as well link it to post-fabulists like Kelly Link or E. Lily Yu, writers concerned with how women and fairy tales and brute reality collide who are unwilling to accept limits imposed by the literal. And the immigrant aspect adds a new dimension, one she even theorizes in a short-short as Aristotelian v Brechtian notions of art. I quite liked the plainspoken clarity and freshness of her voice, along with her fearless embrace of the existentially terrifying aspects of being that thinking kid.
August 31, 2025
3.25 💫
A really beautiful collection of stories with creative takes on different elements of girlhood/womanhood and childhood and the immigrant experience. A lot of intriguing concepts and a writing style/voice that I thoroughly enjoyed and that kept me engaged. For me, the biggest issue here is how needlessly long-winded most of them were. I felt like some of them just really dragged and could have been cut down a great deal. Like I said though, I really love this author’s voice, and I’d love to check out more from her.
My top three were The Dizzy Room, Bunny Ears, and The Curing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Stillhouse Press for the ARC!
A really beautiful collection of stories with creative takes on different elements of girlhood/womanhood and childhood and the immigrant experience. A lot of intriguing concepts and a writing style/voice that I thoroughly enjoyed and that kept me engaged. For me, the biggest issue here is how needlessly long-winded most of them were. I felt like some of them just really dragged and could have been cut down a great deal. Like I said though, I really love this author’s voice, and I’d love to check out more from her.
My top three were The Dizzy Room, Bunny Ears, and The Curing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Stillhouse Press for the ARC!
December 8, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Stillhouse Press for providing me with the ARC.
I liked the way the stories were written – in a funny way, very reminiscent of my childhood. I think younger people would have harder time to relate to some of the “games” and references in here, but I liked that aspect.
Some of the stories felt a bit too long, and others a bit too short. Most of them dragged and was kind of boring to me, since I’m more used to weirder stories, these were kind of bland. You can tell they are written by the same author, although they are very different genre wise.
Unfortunately, this was not the short story collection for me. My individual ratings are:
Keep tabs on you - 2.5/5 very on the nose metaphor
The Dizzy room - 4/5 A black mirror episode, this was the best story in my opinion
The curing - 3/5 A bit too long
Approved methods of love divination… - 4/5 I loved the way this was written, also reminded me of the love divinations we used to do as children, so fun
Bunny ears - 2.5/3 I love camp settings, but this was again too long that it dragged
Seven days in the kingdom of the Missplacer - 2/5 there was a big potential here, but it was in the other extremity – too short
Last letter first - DNF
Mel for Melissa - DNF at this point I was starting to be very annoyed with the stories
The flood the tumble the talons the trick - 3/5 this was very uncomfortable to read
The advocate - 2/5 I didn't like the way this story was written and I didn’t get the humor
Adjective - 2/5 good concepts
Another round again - DNF
I liked the way the stories were written – in a funny way, very reminiscent of my childhood. I think younger people would have harder time to relate to some of the “games” and references in here, but I liked that aspect.
Some of the stories felt a bit too long, and others a bit too short. Most of them dragged and was kind of boring to me, since I’m more used to weirder stories, these were kind of bland. You can tell they are written by the same author, although they are very different genre wise.
Unfortunately, this was not the short story collection for me. My individual ratings are:
Keep tabs on you - 2.5/5 very on the nose metaphor
The Dizzy room - 4/5 A black mirror episode, this was the best story in my opinion
The curing - 3/5 A bit too long
Approved methods of love divination… - 4/5 I loved the way this was written, also reminded me of the love divinations we used to do as children, so fun
Bunny ears - 2.5/3 I love camp settings, but this was again too long that it dragged
Seven days in the kingdom of the Missplacer - 2/5 there was a big potential here, but it was in the other extremity – too short
Last letter first - DNF
Mel for Melissa - DNF at this point I was starting to be very annoyed with the stories
The flood the tumble the talons the trick - 3/5 this was very uncomfortable to read
The advocate - 2/5 I didn't like the way this story was written and I didn’t get the humor
Adjective - 2/5 good concepts
Another round again - DNF
July 16, 2025
A powerhouse of a debut collection. Ten weaves themes of the immigrant experience, of the experience of growing up as a girl/woman, and the experience of moving beyond the past to find the new “you” at the end of the transformative journey, coalescing these elements into a unique reading experience. Weird and wonderful, heartbreaking and oh-so-human, these stories all stand on their own but together they are a cohesive statement from an author you’d do well to read!
December 7, 2025
Kristin Ten expertly entwines humor and dread in this collection of strange, unsettling stories. Paper dolls come to life and take revenge; a computer game teaches a strange, possibly demonic language; a water dragon is entrapped by a cheating card player, and a girls’ volleyball team is caught in a horrifying cult dynamic. Children’s games and folklore form the basis of many of these stories; this book is stepped in the 90s’ milieu. In Ten’s hands, nostalgia takes a sideways turn: the familiar and mundane are just slightly askew, or recast in a dramatically new light. A childhood camp legend comes to life in “Bunny Ears” and childhood games become the basis for officially approved methods of predicting love in “Approved Methods of Love Divination in the First-Rate City of Dushagorod.” Ten’s stories explore issues of identity and immigration. Most of all, they examine the experience of girlhood and womanhood in the 90s and beyond: the fierce adolescent need to belong, the anxieties, the threats to bodily autonomy and the violence that girls can enact on their own bodies. These sound like heavy issues, and they are; some stories, such as “Mel is for Melissa” are outright heartbreaking and wrenching. But there’s also a sly humor in many of these stories, braided with the horror, and a playful inventiveness. These are stories that breathe in the place between horror and realism, that slip between genres. Reading them, I was reminded of the work of Carmen Maria Machado, particular in the surreal last story, “Another Round Again.” This story, one of my favorites, is a tale that begins in the seemingly mundane, set in an ordinary bar on an ordinary-seeming first date. But then the first oddities occur; there’s something off about the trivia night event in this bar. Reality begins to crack, and dread and uncertainty build and build. By the end, the main character—and reader—realizes that nothing of what she initially believed about herself may be true.
I said that Kristina Ten’s stories remind me of Carmen Maria Machado’s. They also remind me of that other master of the surreal, Kelly Link. And her stories are also unmistakably her own: fresh, odd, dark, disturbing, and darkly gorgeous. This is a wonderful debut collection, a surreal romp through 90s nostalgia and an affecting look at girlhood and womanhood.
I said that Kristina Ten’s stories remind me of Carmen Maria Machado’s. They also remind me of that other master of the surreal, Kelly Link. And her stories are also unmistakably her own: fresh, odd, dark, disturbing, and darkly gorgeous. This is a wonderful debut collection, a surreal romp through 90s nostalgia and an affecting look at girlhood and womanhood.
November 21, 2025
👻🍊🪆💿𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝕽𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖊𝖜💿🪆🍊👻
Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine by Kristina Ten feels like that weird girl you know from school or work or the pub (which is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black) sits down next to you and starts talking. Some of what she says is obviously unrealistic, but it all feels true, and it encourages you to share your own weird stories.
The stories she tells have a dark sense of humor, but there’s an underlying melancholy to some of them, too. The subject matter ranges from whimsical to serious and includes the unexpected future of children’s fortune-tellers, the childhood habit of drying Elmer’s glue on your fingertips, the pressure of high school sports, and the struggle women can have in making doctors take them seriously with themes of life as an immigrant and as a woman in a patriarchal society.
When she finishes her last story, you shake your head. You’ve laughed, you’ve gasped, you’ve groaned in commiseration, you may have even shed a tear or two. One thing’s for certain, you hope this isn’t the last time you run into her. You know she has more stories to tell, and you want to hear them.
Thank you to NetGalley and Stillhouse Press for the review copy for my unbiased opinion.
Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine by Kristina Ten feels like that weird girl you know from school or work or the pub (which is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black) sits down next to you and starts talking. Some of what she says is obviously unrealistic, but it all feels true, and it encourages you to share your own weird stories.
The stories she tells have a dark sense of humor, but there’s an underlying melancholy to some of them, too. The subject matter ranges from whimsical to serious and includes the unexpected future of children’s fortune-tellers, the childhood habit of drying Elmer’s glue on your fingertips, the pressure of high school sports, and the struggle women can have in making doctors take them seriously with themes of life as an immigrant and as a woman in a patriarchal society.
When she finishes her last story, you shake your head. You’ve laughed, you’ve gasped, you’ve groaned in commiseration, you may have even shed a tear or two. One thing’s for certain, you hope this isn’t the last time you run into her. You know she has more stories to tell, and you want to hear them.
Thank you to NetGalley and Stillhouse Press for the review copy for my unbiased opinion.
August 4, 2025
*thank you to netgalley and stillhouse press for this arc in exchange for an honest review*
The premise sounded promising, and I truly thought I would love this collection. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me as much as I hoped.
Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine is a compilation of twelve short stories. While the ideas behind them are intriguing, several stories felt overly similar, especially those that centred heavily on words and language. At times, I wondered whether some pieces were interconnected or simply standalone, as the transitions weren’t always clear. Many stories leaned so much into vocabulary that it almost felt like being thrown into a spelling bee. A few had fantastic concepts, but ultimately dragged on without a strong payoff.
Stories I enjoyed:
- Mel for Melissa
- The Flood, the Tumble, the Talons, the Trick
- The Advocate
Stories with great potential but didn’t quite land for me:
- The Dizzy Room
- Approved Methods of Love Divination in the First-Rate City of Dushagorod
- Another Round Again
As for the rest, I unfortunately didn’t find myself connecting with them.
The premise sounded promising, and I truly thought I would love this collection. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me as much as I hoped.
Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine is a compilation of twelve short stories. While the ideas behind them are intriguing, several stories felt overly similar, especially those that centred heavily on words and language. At times, I wondered whether some pieces were interconnected or simply standalone, as the transitions weren’t always clear. Many stories leaned so much into vocabulary that it almost felt like being thrown into a spelling bee. A few had fantastic concepts, but ultimately dragged on without a strong payoff.
Stories I enjoyed:
- Mel for Melissa
- The Flood, the Tumble, the Talons, the Trick
- The Advocate
Stories with great potential but didn’t quite land for me:
- The Dizzy Room
- Approved Methods of Love Divination in the First-Rate City of Dushagorod
- Another Round Again
As for the rest, I unfortunately didn’t find myself connecting with them.
October 20, 2025
Thank you Stillhouse for my free copy of Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine by Kristina Ten — available now!
» READ IF YOU «
👾 enjoy slightly sinister childhood tales
🌱 want to read about identity, immigration, and growing up
🐰 love collections that are eerie and a little feral
» SYNOPSIS «
A creepy collection of twelve speculative fiction stories—in them, a mashup of sinister games, eerie urban legends, and Slavic folklore (which is dark enough without a leading adjective). From haunted video games to paper-doll doppelgängers, Kristina Ten takes us on a ride to see what happens when the games we play turn on us.
» REVIEW «
Looooved some of these stories! The collection overall is extremely solid, though my favorites were all in the first half. I really resonated with Kristina Ten’s writing style, and felt completely sucked into the temporary worlds she created in each story. Computer rooms?! That line-work “S” we ALL know how to draw?! BAND CAMP?! Nostalgia at its finest, and made hella creepy in here. Had a great freaking time. Can’t wait to see what Kristina Ten comes up with next!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
» READ IF YOU «
👾 enjoy slightly sinister childhood tales
🌱 want to read about identity, immigration, and growing up
🐰 love collections that are eerie and a little feral
» SYNOPSIS «
A creepy collection of twelve speculative fiction stories—in them, a mashup of sinister games, eerie urban legends, and Slavic folklore (which is dark enough without a leading adjective). From haunted video games to paper-doll doppelgängers, Kristina Ten takes us on a ride to see what happens when the games we play turn on us.
» REVIEW «
Looooved some of these stories! The collection overall is extremely solid, though my favorites were all in the first half. I really resonated with Kristina Ten’s writing style, and felt completely sucked into the temporary worlds she created in each story. Computer rooms?! That line-work “S” we ALL know how to draw?! BAND CAMP?! Nostalgia at its finest, and made hella creepy in here. Had a great freaking time. Can’t wait to see what Kristina Ten comes up with next!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
September 4, 2025
I'm reading a lot more short story collections lately, spending time with a single author's body of work and that's been so much fun! Yesterday I finished Kristina Ten's forthcoming collection TELL ME YOURS, I'LL TELL YOU MINE (10/14/25) and had such a marvelous time. It's a clever little collection of stories, rooted in the games of childhood and their lingering effects in adult life, schoolyard games and sleep-away camp giving way to trivia and poker, tied deeply to the immigrant experience, and permeated with an unsettling aura, sometimes just barely on the edge of speculative. Clever, emotionally affective work!!
Personal highlights included "The Flood, The Tumble, The Talons, The Trick", "The Curing" and "Another Round Again".
Definitely a collection worth seeking out and one that I hope many of my followers will enjoy as much as I did!
Personal highlights included "The Flood, The Tumble, The Talons, The Trick", "The Curing" and "Another Round Again".
Definitely a collection worth seeking out and one that I hope many of my followers will enjoy as much as I did!
October 8, 2025
Tell Me Yours, I'll Tell You Mine by Kristina Ten is a collection of short stories about girls, women, and growing up. Some are a little creepy, others more thoughtful. A few share similar themes, but each one has its own twist. The writing is solid overall, though it does vary a bit from story to story, and with books like this, I often find myself sensing which stories the author was especially excited about or had fun writing.
It wasn’t my biggest reading experience this year, but I still enjoyed it enough to recommend. I think some of the stories might resonate more with young adults, but the horror elements definitely give it a grown-up vibe. A great pick for setting the mood during dark autumn evenings.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.
It wasn’t my biggest reading experience this year, but I still enjoyed it enough to recommend. I think some of the stories might resonate more with young adults, but the horror elements definitely give it a grown-up vibe. A great pick for setting the mood during dark autumn evenings.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.
October 12, 2025
Wow, this was a fantastic story collection! Sometimes I find story collections drag for me, but this one kept me engaged the whole way through. Surprisingly, the last story may have been my favorite. That moment when Zasha realizes she doesn’t know her own birthday as the whole bar is playing Zasha-themed trivia had me SHOOK. So unsettling.
There are a lot of other gems in here too—read on Kindle makes it harder for me to remember the names 🤦🏼♀️ I’ll have to go through and mark up my hard copy when it gets here! I loved the story with the glue kids and the journey into space for women’s reproductive healthcare gone wrong. The whole collection feels super timely and is very well done. I’m so looking forward to Kristina chatting with my book club in November 😁
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
There are a lot of other gems in here too—read on Kindle makes it harder for me to remember the names 🤦🏼♀️ I’ll have to go through and mark up my hard copy when it gets here! I loved the story with the glue kids and the journey into space for women’s reproductive healthcare gone wrong. The whole collection feels super timely and is very well done. I’m so looking forward to Kristina chatting with my book club in November 😁
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
October 25, 2025
I first encountered Kristina Ten in McSweeney's with her story ADJECTIVE. What a dazzling first encounter. When I found out she had a story collection coming out, you bet I jumped on it. holy shit. What a fabulously fucked up batch of stories. If I were to describe the main thrust of this volume, it's that it's really hard being a woman or an immigrant, and you better be on alert. Kristina Ten is a force, and I'm thrilled to be watching for her next work.
November 5, 2025
This is a beautiful, odd, original, and unsettling collection! Honestly some of the most unique stories I've read. The speculative elements are subtle, but effective. They capture many timely social issues, and awkward life stages, while also dabbling in fun nostalgia. The writing is fantastic, and while not every story 100% pulled me in, it's definitely worth a read!
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!
August 27, 2025
A fascinating collection, really special. My favorite stories was the inventive and memorable video game tale, "The Dizzy Room." "The Curing" and "Bunny Ears" were also standouts. I'll think about this collection for a long time!
October 17, 2025
This book was so weird and beautiful I don’t even know how to describe it. Eery story feels like a dream that’s a little bit messed up but also kind of comforting. Shows you how strange people really are.
December 20, 2025
3.5/5
The weird girl speculative short story collection you've been looking for. "Bunny Ears" and "Dizzy Room" were my favorite of the bunch. I loved the writing style and the very nostalgic feel to some of these stories. There were a few that felt like they dragged on a bit in places, but I overall really liked this collection!
Thank you to Netgalley and Stillhouse Press for the eARC!
The weird girl speculative short story collection you've been looking for. "Bunny Ears" and "Dizzy Room" were my favorite of the bunch. I loved the writing style and the very nostalgic feel to some of these stories. There were a few that felt like they dragged on a bit in places, but I overall really liked this collection!
Thank you to Netgalley and Stillhouse Press for the eARC!
July 16, 2025
A jaw dropping collection of stories. Strong thematic through lines but every story is so unique. Do yourself favor and read this book.
October 27, 2025
What a thrilling collection! A millennial Twilight Zone.
November 4, 2025
As a lifelong lover of short stories this collection really did it for me. The push and pull of nostalgia and heartache from one story to the next kept me on my toes in the best way!
November 23, 2025
A slipstream-y short story collection that is IMO very hit and miss; Last Letter First is pretty great, though.
(Edited the rating because after some time to think, I think I underrated this; there are a number of bangers in this collection.)
(Edited the rating because after some time to think, I think I underrated this; there are a number of bangers in this collection.)
December 21, 2025
Exceptional! Characters and stories that will forever linger in my mind.
October 30, 2025
A wonderful collection of stories that feels like meandering through nostalgic dark halls. Ten has an incredible ability to capture time and surround the reader with fears you've had forgotten about. Dark, tender, and just a truly enjoyable collection.
October 23, 2025
Kristina has a knack for elevating small, everyday moments into rituals. Frienships into adventures. Average people into creatures of folklore and the other way around. This is a collection that captures a certain nostalgia of the millennial psyche, a love letter to girlhood and childhood.
But Kristina doesn't hold back on the horrors of that time either, nor does she hold back in the profound sense of uneasy that comes from not fitting in. Whether the reason is that you're a girl, an immigrant, or simply a weirdo. There's tenderness in those stories, yes, but also there's a cautionary tale for everyone out there. Never feel too comfortable in your own skin, because from one moment to the next the world might give under your feet. Like falling into a rabbit hole
But Kristina doesn't hold back on the horrors of that time either, nor does she hold back in the profound sense of uneasy that comes from not fitting in. Whether the reason is that you're a girl, an immigrant, or simply a weirdo. There's tenderness in those stories, yes, but also there's a cautionary tale for everyone out there. Never feel too comfortable in your own skin, because from one moment to the next the world might give under your feet. Like falling into a rabbit hole
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews