The Constellation of Forgotten Things

by Tiffany Chu, Renley N. Chu

"The Constellation of Forgotten Things feels like a mythical text that has existed for centuries — something unearthed rather than written. I was captivated by the relationships between souls, and deeply moved by the larger story that frames the book at its beginning and end. Tiffany and her son, Renley Nicolas Chu, have created a singularly beautiful jewel of a book.
"—Esmé Weijun Wang, The New York Times bestselling author of The Collected Schizophrenias

"Taken together, these short stories form a central theme that when a connection is forged deeply enough, it can defy distance, time, and nature itself [...] A fated grief memoir told in heartrending fairy tales, The Constellation of Forgotten Things is the ultimate tribute, an enduring gift of love carried forward." —Indies Today

"A grief memoir in fairy tales—The Everlasting meets When Breath Becomes Air"

In these tales, love transcends every boundary—death, memory, time itself. A ship captain exchanges letters with a mysterious island dweller through glass bottles that always find their way to each other. Memory Keepers and creatures of the Void discover forbidden love across cosmic divides. A blacksmith's boy and a village girl are torn apart by revolution, their bond tested by violence and forgetting. A ghost mother watches over her disabled daughter.

From celestial beings navigating eternal duties to mortals seeking connection across impossible distances, these stories explore love in all its forms—queer and straight, mortal and divine, tender and tragic. Each story is a doorway into worlds where devotion defies fate, where souls find each other across lifetimes, and where even the most broken hearts continue to beat with hope.

Perfect for readers who love the lyricism of Madeline Miller and Alix E. Harrow, the emotional storytelling of Studio Ghibli films, and the mythic beauty of Ursula K. Le Guin's work. If you read for gorgeous language and deep feeling rather than fast plots—these stories will captivate you.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

Hardcover

Published September 15, 2026

About the author

Tiffany Chu is a Taiwanese American literary fantasy author of stories that aim to stab your heart out with a spoon. She has been called “the queen of angsty beauty,” and writes on evergreen themes of grief, belonging, and what it means to be human.

Her essays and short stories have been published by Open Secrets Magazine, Chicago Story Press, and San Diego Writers, Ink.

She is obsessed with J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and reads it religiously every year. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two surviving children.

Tiffany writes a weekly newsletter where she shares literary nonfiction and fiction. To read more of her writing, subscribe at https://tiffanychu.org/

Reviews

[Ai Jiang]

A big thank you to the author for an ARC!!

THE CONSTELLATION OF FORGOTTEN THINGS is a tender collision of melancholy and hope, a heartache in words, filled with tales of forlorn travellers, wayfinding, and journeys unrealized. At its core, this anthology explores the true magic in the connections made between people, the way the stories we write hold shards of our souls laid bare so we may be seen, heard, felt, how stories may change when passed between the remembered and the rememberer, and how they are continued.

[maité]

4.5 ⭐️ — thank you so much to the author for this arc !!!!

this anthology of short stories is written by tiffany and her son ren, who passed away a few years ago. I am so glad she found the strength to share these stories with us because ren's beautiful writing deserves to be shared and loved ! this book is full of grief and sorrow but also hope and it makes you think about what is really important to you. every story has an author note where tiffany gives some more information about how the story came to be, whether she or ren wrote it. they both have such wonderful writing styles.

I have to admit that even before I got to the actual stories, while reading the prefaces etc. I was already tearing up on the bus. forever grateful to have been able to read ren's words.

[Jamie]

Thank you net galley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The description of this book had me excited immediately. Fairytales about grief? The Everlasting meets When Breath Becomes Air? Sign me up. Grief is probably the theme I am most consistently interested in reading about. The book is written by two authors, a 17 year old Ren who unfortunately passed away, leaving his mother Tiffany to complete his stories and the anthology. There is something heartwarming about knowing how much love there is expressed in these stories, sent between the two authors. I particularly enjoyed reading the authors note after each story to learn a bit more beyond the fairytale and the writing process.

However, for me, the writing style leaves something to be desired. Although I preferred one author over the other, all of the stories had the same emotional feel to them leaving the book rather one note. I wish there had been more complexity to the stories. I had also hoped for different explorations of grief. And there were different ones in the sense of there were romantic relationships, friendships, siblings - all relationships breaking down and ending in sadness. But this didn’t feel like an exploration of grief itself. And although those types of relationships were different, the grief is very relatable between all of them. I would have loved pieces that were more uniquely their own and left me thinking about grief differently. This book is closer indeed to a diary in that you are reading the personal grief an experiences of both authors rewritten into short stories. In this way, it certainly is a success I’m sure for Tiffany and others close to their story to process the loss of Ren.

[Moth]

The Constellation of Forgotten Things -

Thank you to Netgalley, Glass Bottle Press and Tiffany Chu, for allowing me the honour of reading the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book, as you might anticipate if you have recently lost someone, was a hard but important read. Its importance and its deeply personal message, told through an anthology of spellbinding stories that deal with loss, grief, disability, love and kinship, is one that I will remember for some time.

It is beyond any star rating or review I could attempt to give it, and one that you do just have to read in order to fully see the magic behind the relationship between Tiffany and Renley. It is one that I will like never be able to read in the same way again, and is a reminder to hold everyone you love closely.

The range of relationships and stories shown inside is vast and wonderful, with exerts from Tiffany after each, remarking on the circumstances surrounding the writing of each chapter, and its importance to them.

Go read this, but do take care if you have lost someone close to you recently.

[bess ₊˚⊹♡ (bessandbooks)]

Thank you so much, Tiffany, for this ARC and sharing your and Ren’s stories. 💫

This anthology of short stories are deeply raw and personal by Tiffany and her adopted late son.❤️‍🩹 Taking place in this fantasy world of Reveria, we meet characters who are going through the complexity of grief. Each story is followed by an author’s note, and I enjoyed seeing what sparked Tiffany & Ren’s inspiration and could sense their deep bond.

The writing is lyrical, poignant, and bittersweet. These short stories feature dreamy imagery that I believe any reader can relate to and find captivating. I highly recommend dedicating time to read each story, as it’s mean to be savored. It prompted me to ask questions and reflect on my own life. 💭

Here are a few of my favorites:
✦ Trail of Broken Dreams
✦ Beneath the Hawthorne Tree
✦ A Song of Rain
✦ Stardust in Your Veins
✦ Memory and Shadow

I recommend this to those who love poetic stories are looking for an introspective read ❣️. thank you again Tiffany for letting us in to you and Ren’s world.

This book will launch on kickstarter on September 15!

[paperbacktomes]

The Constellation of Forgotten Things is an anthology of interconnected short stories.

I received the ARC of this book earlier this year, but like all my plans, reading it got delayed.

This book made me feel too many things at once. Most of the stories are bittersweet, yet hopeful.

We get a glimpse into the fantasy world and the writing process through Tiffany’s notes. I knew Renley was no more while going into this book, but reading about his stories and thoughts made this book even more special.

Each story is lyrical and easy to picture in your head. If you ask me to pick one, I wouldn’t be able to do so. Every time I read a new story, it got better than the previous one. It’s sad that this is a collection of short stories. I would love to read them as novels because I never wanted them to end.

This book gave me The Everlasting vibes and also carried a bit of whimsy and magic like the lantern festival in Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao. If you like those books, you might like this one.

[Matthew Long]

I was provided an advance reader copy by the author. I read a lot of fantasy, but I’m usually drawn to the epic and the morally complex—stories where the world-building serves larger philosophical questions. That’s not what Tiffany Chu and Renley Nicolas Chu set out to create in The Constellation of Forgotten Things, and that’s fine. They built something different: a collection of emotionally rich, character-focused stories set in an original fantasy realm called Reveria. What impressed me most was the craftsmanship underlying the emotional beats. Each story stands alone, but they’re all connected by Reveria’s internal logic—its magic systems, its geography, its rules. That kind of consistency across a short story collection is harder than it looks, and the Chus pull it off without making the connective tissue feel forced. “A Tale of Two Brothers” particularly demonstrates this balance, delivering genuine emotional weight while staying true to the world they’ve built together. This is fantasy for readers who want to feel something—who prioritize relationships and emotional stakes over intricate plotting or moral ambiguity. If you’re drawn to stories about found family, sacrifice, and characters working through heartache in magical settings, you’ll find much to love here. The collaborative achievement deserves recognition on its own merits. Tiffany and Renley created an entire realm together, story by story, building something that belongs to both of them. That Renley passed away a few years ago makes this collection a testament to their shared imagination, but it’s the quality of that imagination—not the tragedy—that makes it worth reading. They built Reveria together, and it holds.

[diary.of.a.hobbit]

[I received an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.]

If I had to describe this book in two words, they would be 'achingly beautiful'.

The stories in this anthology have moved me deeply and I am so thankful to have been given a chance to read it.

[L.R. Scott]

Tiffany is an excellent and thoughtful storyteller. This is a very personal collection of stories and she put a lot of care and attention into every detail!

[Books and sh*t]

Thank you so much to the authors and net galley for this ARC!
This book was such a beautiful and unique take on both a memoir and a collection of fairy tales. Going into this I didn’t know what to expect, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. This is perfect to read at a slow pace especially reading one story a day. I love some of the stories so much i wish they were a full length novel especially ‘Memory and Shadow’.

[Rukayya]

Ugh this was so good I loved the short stories by Ren and Tiffany they were so good and intriguing

[julianne]

The Constellation of Forgotten Things is a collection of short stories about grief set in a fantasy world, written by Tiffany Chu and her adoptive son Ren, who recently passed away. Each story has an afterword by Tiffany about how the story came to be and about Ren’s involvement in it. Each of them were so beautifully written and a privilege to read, but my favorite by far was Beneath the Hawthorn Tree.

I loved this collection so much and would recommend it to anyone. The writing, characters, and themes are all so beautiful, and I’m so grateful Tiffany chose to share her and Ren’s stories.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publishing date: 15 September 2026

[Nicky]

A wonderful collection of short stories that kept my interest from beginning to end.
Grief is a funny thing, hard to describe the depth of which you feel it, even harder to capture in words that will evoke an emotional response within a reader, but the author manages to do both. I felt like I knew him even though we had never met.
Some pieces felt like personal diary entries that I stumbled upon without the writers' knowledge, and it seemed like I was looking into something that was not meant for my eyes. Everything was so heartfelt and an outpouring of sentiment.

[Tiffany]

UPDATE 9/27/26—Only four more days to get the special edition on Kickstarter!

[Kelly Bunch]

This is an intimate book of stories by Tiffany and her son, Ren. She does a wonderful job setting up the book by allowing us into her life and relationship before diving into the short stories. Each story takes you to new places I couldn’t have imagined. The imagery is beautiful as you work your way through these tender stories.

[Bonnie among the pages and chaos]

Thank you to Tiffany Chu and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Constellation of Forgotten Things early. More importantly, I am so sorry for the loss of Ren, and for the grief Tiffany must be carrying.

One-line review: A beautiful tribute where words are wielded with such mastery that they left me enchanted. ★★★★☆

The Constellation of Forgotten Things is an anthology of stories set throughout the world of Reviera, woven together with whimsical, mythological, and fantastical elements. There was something about its atmosphere and storytelling that reminded me of Piranesi and Susanna Clarke's voice: strange, dreamlike worlds treated as though their impossible rules are simply facts of existence.

Across the collection, we explore lost love, grief, memory, injustice, and what happens when seemingly incompatible worlds collide. Do not come here expecting neat little bows. An ambivalent ending is about the happiest bargain you're likely to strike.

The relationships are wonderfully varied too, spanning familial love, romantic love, friendship, and all the strange spaces in between. The romances themselves are equally varied, with queer, sapphic, and straight relationships woven naturally throughout the collection. I particularly appreciated that there isn't one singular shape that love takes in these stories.

I really enjoyed the collection overall, but a few stories have firmly lodged themselves in my brain. I loved the tale of the two brothers and "Born, Bound, Blind," which features a prince befriending a ghost. Memory and Shadow, the story of Lethe and Mira, gave me some of the same feelings I had reading This Is How You Lose the Time War.

The collection as a whole is intensely lyrical and poetic, full of poignant reflections on injustice and homophobia while remaining deeply interested in the painfully ordinary, deeply human feelings people experience when they love someone. There is so much tenderness here, even when that tenderness is surrounded by loss.

My main criticism is perhaps also evidence of how much I enjoyed Reviera: it felt like this world still had so much more to give. I wanted more time inside it, more of its people, and more of the threads connecting these stories. That may be asking too much of the author and of an anthology at this stage, but I was left wanting a slightly more concrete flow between the individual tales.

I think that sense of continuity might also have been helped by compiling the author's notes toward the end. I genuinely enjoyed Tiffany's reflections and learning how the stories connected, but reaching a note between stories sometimes pulled me out of Reviera just as I had settled into it.

Speaking of wanting more, the Kickstarter launches in early September, and I genuinely cannot wait to return to this world, particularly with the specific species of melancholy these stories have left me marinating in.

It is also one of those rare cases where the cover actually does the book justice. If you look at that edition and think, yes, I would like to crawl inside whatever ethereal melancholy is happening there, you will probably like these stories.

I thought I would have something witty to say to end this review, but I don't.

I'm going to spend the rest of the day grieving these stories, Ren, Tiffany, and, perhaps inevitably, thinking about all the people who have gone too soon. As a Middle Easterner, the last few years have made that grief feel particularly close. I find myself thinking of Refaat Alareer, and of Dr. Hammam Alloh, who, when asked why he remained working in a hospital amid war, spoke about his responsibility to his patients and community.

So I think I'll simply sit with that grief for a while.

And with these words from Ghassan Kanafani, in my own rough translation:

"Death has never been of concern to the dead, but it has always been the concern of those who remain."

Anyway. I've worked myself into a mood.

I'm going to go sit with my feelings.

[Lilah]

Thank you very much to the author and publisher, and to NetGalley and Victory Editing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Constellation of Forgotten Things is a collection of loosely interconnected short stories written collaboratively by the author, Tiffany Chu, and her late son, Renley Nicolas Chu. The stories are set in the fictional world of Reveria and explore themes of love, loss, grief, and death—among others.

This is a beautiful collection of stories; the world of Reveria is evidently rich with lore and made even more precious by its boundless tales. Few of these tales are of any historical significance to this world, instead focusing on the mundane experiences of often forgotten individuals. In making this choice, the authors evoke a sense of sonder in the reader. It is precisely this mundaneness that makes each character feel deeply familiar to the reader, whether as a reflection of oneself or of someone they have known.

The stories explore various avenues of sorrow and grief, whether between lovers, siblings, or parents and their children. My personal favourites were Tiffany Chu’s ‘Beneath The Hawthorne Tree’ and ‘A Song of Rain’; Renley Nicolas Chu’s ‘Born, Bound, Blind’ and ‘Walls’; and their collaborative project, ‘Until the Sun Sets Again.’ These, to me, felt the most cohesive and well-structured. ‘Born, Bound, Blind’ is particularly poetic and brought to my mind thoughts of imaginary friends waiting to be called upon by adults who have long forgotten them. Each of these stories, and indeed many others, were deeply emotional and written with an air of poetic romanticism I didn’t realise I was searching for.

I have pondered my criticisms of this collection quite extensively. Many of these stories are limited by somewhat clunky syntax, occasional unnecessary repetition, and even underwriting at times. All of these are criticisms I am reluctant to make when I understand the nature of these stories. Many of these were written by a 17–18 year-old boy who perhaps could have developed a better grasp of the craft had he lived long enough to learn it. I myself attended my first writing workshop at the age of 18, and my syntax was horrific then (it still is, in some of my first drafts). The issue of underwriting is even more painful to address when many of these stories were already expanded upon by Tiffany Chu, and therefore risked losing traces of their original author’s vision and intent. In the end, I determined that I should evaluate the stories as they are, as it would be disingenuous to rate a work based on what it could have been rather than what it actually is.

I can only commend Tiffany Chu for undertaking the unquestionably daunting challenge of expanding on these stories and refining them. As an editor, I know how modifying someone else’s work can at times feel almost sacrilegious to their intent and voice—I cannot fathom how much more difficult it would be to do so when the author is not present to confirm or deny whether the edits align with their preferences. Nevertheless, Tiffany Chu’s author notes at the end of each story provide ample context, explaining her choices and clarifying which parts belonged to Renley and which were her additions. These were a very welcome presence, and they provided insight into both creative processes like a beautifully episodic memoir.

This collection is a beautiful ode to its original author’s world and storytelling. Renley Nicolas Chu’s voice is vivid and lyrical, shown in how he instils his own emotions and experiences into his characters with incredible finesse. Tiffany Chu’s edits and additions often make these stories more hopeful and breathe light into them. The result is a fruitful collaboration resembling a starlit night sky, as poignant in its darkness as it is beautiful in its twinkling.

[Jasmine]

Review: 4.25 stars

My thoughts:

I do love fairy tales, and when Tiffany reached out to provide me a review copy, I jumped at the chance.

These collections of short stories take place in Reveria, a fantasy world. The lyrical prose touches on whimsy and intertwined emotions that linger throughout every fairy tale, including grief, love in all its forms, friendship, hope, sadness, and joy. Each story plays its own part, and the depth of human emotions it touches is so beautifully done. In each story, Tiffany adds a personal author's note explaining more about the behind-the-scenes process and what the story symbolizes.

This book is co-written by Tiffany Chu and her late adopted son, Renley Nicolas Chu, who passed away too soon, and it was released on the 5th anniversary of Ren’s passing. Ren hoped Tiffany would complete the book and release it. Theirs is a beautiful finding of kindred spirits, and the book is a wonderful ode to their relationship.

Instead of providing my thoughts on each story and giving out spoilers, I featured my favourite quote from each story with related images in the hopes of convincing you to pick it up! (Edits can be found on mh instagram). My favourite stories were Trail of Broken Dreams, Beneath the Hawthorn Tree, Remember, and Memory and Shadow.

The Constellation of Forgotten Things will launch on Kickstarter on 15th Sept, featuring a stunning cover by Angela Chen @duckhymn (as pictured), with beautiful illustrations and sprayed edges.

The Constellation of Forgotten Things reminds us that there are connections existing between people and some can be so beautifully piognant and heartwrenching but will never be forgotten…

Glass Bottle by Renley Nicolas Chu
You know me,” they wrote to each other. My soul knows yours. They marvelled at how they had never met before the glass bottle..

Until the Sun Sets Again by Renley Nicolas Chu & Tiffany Chu
Words are inadequate vessels for the vastness within him. How to say: you are the first person who has ever truly seen me?

A Tale of Two Brothers by Renley Nicolas Chu & Tiffany Chu
Time’s fluidity were a viscous block stopping itself from running just for them to cherish wholly what was

Born, Bound, Blind by Renley Nicolas Chu
Born, bound, and blind not to yours, nor yours alike, a seldom-seen spirit passes on this night.

Trail of Broken Dreams Renley Nicolas Chu & Tiffany Chu (Fav)
If broken dreams only lead to darkness, why do they shine so bright?”

Beneath the Hawthorn Tree by Tiffany Chu (Fav)
What I meant was, happiness need not be grand to be worthy. What I meant was, contentment in the face of a system designed to keep us wanting—wasn’t that its own rebellion?

A Story of Rain by Tiffany Chu
I write, not about the rain, but about her—my love, the girl who carried the fragrance of Summer yet belonged to Winter.

A Whisper in the Ear of the Eternal by Tiffany Chu
Time was to her as constant as the rhythm of the moon, the tides upon the sea. Its passage mattered little to her.

Unraveled Strings by Renley Nicolas Chu
We’ve lost our touch, lost our love to the beasts that come from mankind—that you lacked the strength to stay.

Walls by Renley Nicolas Chu
You can let me go

Remember by Tiffany Chu (Fav)
Once, I knew what it was to love another; later did I know what it is to lose. Only now do I know what it is to carry alone the memories of two.
Yet memory is not what the heart desires. How can love remain when memory is lost?

Her Name is Beloved by Tiffany Chu
If spirits could weep, tears would have streamed from my eyes to water the ground enough for flowers to grow.

Stardust in Your Veins by Renley Nicolas Chu
I’ll shine over you with the light of the moon and in each white cloud in the sky

Memory and Shadow by Renly Nicolas Chu and Tiffany Chu (Fav)
Yet how can something that feels so right bring such wrongness into the world?

Because this world is not one where we can love as we choose, and ours would break the world.

PS: if you see how long I took to read this book, it's because I read a short story here and there to savor it!

[Matt Tiu]

Many thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC.

First and foremost, readers should expect a different reading experience with this book because the narration wouldn’t land perfectly with how novels are usually presented. Think of it as reading children’s fairy tales with abstract concepts, the choice of words leaning towards concepts than a structured narration that goes from point A to point B chronologically. This book appeals more to the reader’s boundless imagination and catching the reader’s emotions which is different from what a typical novel’s structure. Nevertheless, this book is a collection of stories meant for adults which are wrapped in fantasy to add a unique touch in delivering the moral lessons of each story. Some of the story brings charm and gleaming hope, while others will keep the readers wanting for more because of the open-ended conclusion.

What I enjoyed with this book was the enchanting story-telling that at face value, only shows a straightforward narration, but if the reader decides to ponder on the weight of words and lessons underlying each story, they will be rewarded of profound reflections which are relevant to human experiences. I also loved the author’s note at every end of the story, because it makes the entire book more intimate and special.

Among the stories that appealed to me was the tale of two brothers. Also, the trails of broken dreams is very magical that I wanted it to have a sequel. How it presented in an abstract form the feelings of skepticism and how seeking refuge from workloads served as an escape route to numb one’s despair. And approaching the world with cautious hope rather than preemptive disappointment is what deeply resonated with me while reading that story.

Other interesting stories were coherently told which formed a tasteful tapestry of short stories that all have common underlying themes. Parting ways to live separate lives and discover one’s own journey, growing pains brought by regret of not keeping loved ones, loss of pure innocence and playfulness from childhood friendship brought by drifting priorities, loving someone whose mind is somewhere else, gradual separation between two lovers due to diverging ideologies and paths were among them. Dealing with the aftermath of loss due to self-harm, as well as stories delving on outgrowing relationships, abandoning the place we once called home, and learning to thread a future in the absence of the people we once loved could also be expected.

On the things I didn’t like, perhaps it was the difficulty of being immersed with the book due to the lyrical prose and poetic tone used by the authors. I find myself struggling at the first few stories, although I adapted eventually. This kind of prose might be too cheesy or fluffy for certain readers who prefer fast-paced and sharp prose, those that value the chronological accounts that engages them to discover more of the characters’ setting and mood rather than using abstract concepts.

But nevertheless, this book is rich in quotable quotes and profound contemplation which will resonate easily to all types of readers.

[Kimberly Warner]

There is something profoundly moving about The Constellation of Forgotten Things, the stories themselves, but also the living relationship breathing beneath them, the way the anthology becomes both archive and continuation, a vessel carrying voice beyond the fragile limits of time and body. These stories ache with longing: longing to be remembered, longing to belong, longing to love fully inside a world that so often punishes tenderness, disability, difference, hope itself. Again and again, the collection returns to memory as both wound and salvation, asking what remains of us when memory erodes, when histories are erased, when the people we love disappear beyond the veil of language or death.

And yet even in its grief, the book refuses cynicism. The authors’ writing carry an almost mystical attentiveness to beauty’s persistence, to the possibility that broken things are not failures but fragments searching for new constellations, as one story beautifully contemplates, “Maybe they’re just meant to remind us that everything—even broken things—can still be beautiful.”

There are moments in these pages that feel spiritually transmitted, as though the stories themselves are reaching from and toward something just beyond the visible world: the sacredness of chosen family, the unbearable vulnerability of being known, the terror of being forgotten, the radical act of continuing to love anyway even when the world says there’s no place for you.

What moved me most was the relationship at the heart of the anthology: Tiffany’s devotion to helping Renley’s voice remain alive in the world, not embalmed into perfection but preserved in all its humanity, complexity, sorrow, wit, yearning, and luminous imagination. The book becomes a collaboration across thresholds, a conversation between souls still speaking to one another despite death’s interruption. There is something almost Rumi-like in that dynamic, not in a literal sense, but in the way love itself becomes transformational, creative, enlarging, capable of reshaping reality around it. You can feel how deeply Renley feared disappearance, how fiercely he clung to memory and storytelling as proof of existence, as a way of leaving behind “something of your essence for the ones you hold most dear.” Tiffany does something extraordinary here amidst her mourning, she continues the sacred labor of listening. In doing so, she allows Renley’s voice to keep traveling outward, finding readers who will now carry pieces of him forward too. By the final pages, the anthology itself begins to feel like one of the constellations it describes: scattered lights across darkness that only become meaningful when someone loving enough chooses to connect them.

[Kimikat]

*The Constellation of Forgotten Things* is a collection that invites reflection as much as it invites reading. Each story uses fantasy as a lens to explore deeply human experiences, weaving together themes of memory, grief, love, identity, healing, and hope through whimsical prose.

What I appreciated most was the way the stories challenged me to think beyond simple answers. Rather than presenting ideas in black and white, the collection embraces nuance, encouraging readers to consider multiple perspectives on what it means to remember, to let go, and to love. While each story stands on its own, together they create a thoughtful conversation that lingered with me long after I finished reading.

The writing itself is consistently beautiful, with imagery that feels both whimsical and emotionally grounded. Reveria provides a magical backdrop, but the heart of this collection has always been its characters and the universal questions each story asks. This is not a plot-driven anthology. It's one that rewards readers who enjoy sitting with ideas and reflecting on them long after turning the page.

My biggest critique is that many of the stories felt quite similar in both theme and emotional cadence. While each one offers its own perspective, they often revisit the same philosophical ideas, making the collection feel somewhat repetitive when read in succession. I found this was a book that would have benefited from being read slowly, giving each story time to breathe before moving on to the next.

I also found myself wishing the author's notes had been placed at the back of the book rather than immediately following each story. I genuinely appreciated the insight they provided into the inspiration behind the collection and the collaborative process, but many stories ended on such a contemplative note that I wanted time to sit with them before immediately transitioning into commentary. Having the option to seek out those notes afterward would have allowed each story's ending to resonate a little longer.

Overall, *The Constellation of Forgotten Things* is a beautifully written anthology that asks thoughtful questions instead of offering easy answers. If you enjoy literary fantasy, atmospheric prose, and stories that prioritize emotional and philosophical depth over action, this is a collection worth savoring one story at a time.

Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, Tiffany Chu, and Renley Chu for providing me with an arc.

[Shamla The Reader]

This book broke my heart and then gently taught it how to keep beating.

I could not read this in 1 go even though it's only a few hundred pages. I had to stop because it tugged at my heart so much.

If you're expecting a conventional memoir, this isn't that. It's a grief memoir told in fairy tales, a collection of stories written by a mother and her son, completed by her after his death at just eighteen. Knowing that, as you read, changes everything. Every tale becomes a conversation between the remembered and the rememberer.

The collection opens with "Glass Bottle," and it's the perfect doorway in: a message cast out into the world in the hope of being found. As someone who believes physical objects can carry a person's heart, that image undid me, because that is exactly what this book is. A bottle sent across the water between two souls, and now to us.

But the story that truly stole my heart was "Beneath the Hawthorn Tree." Two ordinary people lying beneath a flowering tree as white petals fall like snow, finding belonging in a small village life. There is such dignity given to simple, everyday lives here, and that quiet tenderness is where the book stopped being stories for me and started being memory. I've thought about those falling petals every day since.

What moved me most is the collection's honesty. This is not a book that pretends grief is tidy. It sits with the ache of being left behind and the longing to be remembered, and it does not look away. Yet threaded through every story is redemption, belonging, and a love that refuses to be erased.

Tiffany Chu is candid about how creating this book helped her survive the darkest period of her life, and she offers these tales to readers with a beautiful wish: "May they be tiny pricks of light piercing even the darkest night." They are exactly that.

A gentle note for readers: the book does engage frankly with loss and despair, so bring tissues and tenderness for yourself.

I finished it feeling I hadn't just read stories. I had been entrusted with someone's memory. This is what it looks like when love outlives loss, one tale at a time, and I'll return to these pages.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jeannie Ewing]

I received a copy of THE CONSTELLATION OF FORGOTTEN THINGS in exchange for an honest review by the author, Tiffany Chu.

To begin, I am not typically a reader of literary fantasy. What compelled me about this anthology were two main things: one, the subtext provided by Tiffany that offered the reader a portrait of her relationship with her son, Renley; and two, the craftsmanship of weaving separate short stories into a larger picture with overarching themes and recurring characters and settings.

My two favorites were "Trails of Broken Dreams" for its rich metaphor and imagery and "A Whisper in the Ear of the Eternal," which I didn't know was an adaptation of an original micro piece Tiffany had won an award for. This one grabbed me with the thematic threads of what might happen when the immortal and mortal collide, when one ages while the other remains the same, and how every human experience contains the cyclic nature of changing seasons that move from life, death, and rebirth in some form all the time. I was particularly struck by the personification of Winter, because that is my least favorite season. After finishing this piece, I almost wondered if I misunderstand winter, that maybe I am overlooking its gifts and the invitation of dormancy and chill.

The prose was often lyrical in nature, lending to a poetic feel. Every short story was emotionally resonant to me as a reader. I often felt the ache of loss and longing, which appeared in nearly every story, yet I also felt bolstered by possibility, even and especially when stories had no clear ending and I was left to imagine the outcome.

Mostly, as a reader, I am impressed by the level of skill and time it took both Tiffany and Renley to collaborate on this anthology, and their ability to blend their unique voices into a strong, cohesive unit was evident throughout. I especially appreciated the "Author's Note" at the end of each piece, which provided deeper context in understanding the origins of each piece and how they evolved over time.

A beautiful tribute and powerful read.

[deea]

3.5 ⭐️ realistically, rounded down to 3 based on my rating system.

I received an ARC through NetGalley and I'm writing this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

The Constellation of Forgotten Things was a difficult rate because it felt like both a fantasy anthology and an incredibly personal collab between Tiffany Chu and her son who passed, Renley. That alone gave the book an emotional weight that is impossible to separate from the reading experience and after finishing it I honestly wish I hadn’t raced through it.

I knew very little about the book going in and was mainly drawn in by the gorgeous cover. Just know this is less epic fantasy and more grief translated into fable. The prose is lyrical and genuinely beautiful, but there were moments where it became so flowery that I had to reread sections to work out what was happening. Some stories also felt rushed, while others spent more time establishing the world than delivering a complete narrative.

Because I read the collection back-to-back, the stories started to blur together at some point. Many follow a similar emotional pattern: two people form a connection and are then separated by circumstance, choice or death. The relationships change, but the themes and structure remain quite similar, which made the stories repetitive after a while. But then again, read at a slower pace, I believe it would be better experience.

The author’s notes after each story were easily the strongest part for me. They were incredibly personal and gave more context and, honestly, they often affected me more deeply than the fiction itself. There is obviously a huge amount of love behind this book, and I cannot imagine how difficult it must've been to revisit Renley’s work and trying to preserve his voice.

Ultimately, I think I connected more with what the book represents than for every individual story. It was moving and definitely one that should be read slowly rather than inhaled in one sitting.

[Julia]

This stunning cover holds a beautifully written collection of stories about love and loss. Co-authored by Tiffany Chu and her late son, Renley Nicolas Chu, these deeply moving tales are mainly linked by the fantasy world of Reveria. The wonderfully lyrical prose is delivered through fairy-tale style stories of love, grief, memory, and hope. Tiffany and Renley’s individual styles wrap around each other with fluid grace as each tale unfolds. I thoroughly enjoyed the gentle, dreamlike quality of the book, the language flows so smoothly, it effortlessly produced vivid images and deep emotions in me as I read it.

The story behind this book is rooted in love, kinship, and tragedy. Renley was clearly a remarkable young man with a great writing talent, unfortunately taken too soon. He overcame so many difficult experiences in his short life before he found a kindred spirit in his adoptive mother, Tiffany. His final wishes were for Tiffany to live her life fully, complete her pending projects, and publish this joint work. Throughout the pages, Tiffany adds personal author's notes to the short stories. These give readers an intimate glance into their combined creative process and shared experiences, while gently acknowledging where she stepped in to finish his incomplete pieces. Reading these notes, I feel like Tiffany is speaking directly to me, making me feel deeply involved in their relationship.

This book took me through a wide range of emotions, but woven throughout the grief was a sense of hope for the future, for love, and for the difference these words might make to someone else. I definitely recommend this book if you appreciate beautiful, lyrical prose that explores the depths of human emotion. This is a book to savour and experience, rather than to rush through.

4.5 stars

Thank you to netgalley and victoryeditingngc for this ARC ebook

[Kim]

For me at least, this isn't the kind of collection you can just blast through in one sitting. I had to read through it a bit at a time, giving myself time to digest and feel. To be honest, this book isn’t my typical fare—but even without the action and adventure I usually go for, I still felt a deep appreciation for the facets of love that are showcased in these stories.

Something this book touches on a lot is the complexity of human emotion. Renley Chu takes on the challenge of putting that complexity into words, and the result is a series of stories that form a potent reminder of just how hard it is to understand ourselves, let alone others. These stories are a wonderful combination of artistically abstract and intimately specific, sketching characters in just enough detail that we can catch a glimpse of their lives and experiences. In some ways, I think the briefness of each story supports another theme of the collection itself—the way time moves forward without asking for anyone’s permission. I would’ve liked to hear more about some of these characters, but upon further thought it seems fitting that there wasn’t more said about them.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes, which I think really illustrates the beautiful prose of this book:
“One day,” he said, “this grief will pass for us both. You will walk beneath the light of the dawn, bringing light wherever you set your feet, even as I set forth my efforts to undo the good. One day we will not weep at the coming of the night. And we will lift our gaze to the distant hills where we whispered of a love we dared not reach for. And the world will shift as we know it will, until the seas have carved away the shores, and the land is no longer the one we once knew.”

[Beth]

I received an advanced copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this collection was not for me. I enjoyed the writing of the stories and the fresh approach to a fantasy short story collection; however, I ultimately found that too many of the stories felt repetitive and prolonged. Most of the stories in this collection follow the exact same formula: two characters start off close, but due to varying circumstances, end up parting, while recognizing that it was probably for the best. There is some variation (sometimes it’s lovers, sometimes friends, sometimes siblings), but over half of the stories follow this narrative structure. It results in the stories feeling predictable and repetitive.

Additionally, I felt like there were some pacing issues in some of the stories. There’s multiple instances where we jump around in time, but because these stories are quite short, I felt like things moved too fast to accommodate the speed of the story (“Her Name is Beloved” & “Memory and Shadow” in particular). And other times, I felt like certain stories would focus too much on world-building, causing a lot of time to feel like build up, rather than delivering a completed plot (“Beneath the Hawthorn Tree” & “Stardust in Your Veins”).

Something I really loved, though, (and that I wish more authors did), was the author’s note after each story. It was very beneficial to understand the context of each piece or the inspiration behind it. I looked forward to each author’s note to better understand the development of each story, especially considering that this is the second edition of this collection; I really appreciated seeing the progression of things.

[Annamaria Totagiancaspro]

Welcome for a new review by the Library of Babel blog.

First of all, I would like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for the digital advanced copy of this book.

'The Constellation of Forgotten Things' is a collection of short stories mostly set in Reveria, a magical world where dreams float in the sky, people have stardust in their veins and communicate with glass bottle messages.

This book touches your heart and makes you feel sad but warm at the same time. All the stories have a nostalgic atmosphere and characters that are so human that it's impossible not to find similarities with your self. Everything is sort of bittersweet and dreamy.

'Their meeting was not one of words, at first, but of shared silence, a recognition of souls that transcended the boundaries of their origins.'

After each story, there's an author's note that explains how the story came to be. I found those notes so interesting and they helped me understand why these stories were published and the authors behind it. Parallel to the short stories, there's a bigger and more real story of two people who found each other but unfortunately death got in the way.

My favourite story has been Stardust in Your Veins. I found it fascinating and I saw part of me in Ahsa. A boy who can read the stars and see the future because the stars have chosen him and stardust is his veins. What makes him special and sought by kings is slowly killing him, so he writes a book with his prophecies.

Anyway, this book is perfect to read when you're feeling a bit down and you want to see yourself in a story. 'A constellation of forgotten things' is to be read in your room, next to your open window, so the moon light can come in.

'A lifetime of wandering had left him longing for a home to call his own'

[Victoria H]

I received this book for free as an e-ARC through NetGalley with the expectation that I would leave an honest review.

This book is really just not for me, ultimately, but I can see how it would be for somebody. The writing is quite beautiful at some moments, but almost too beautiful for my preferences? It didn't feel very grounded, for one reason or another. I also did not connect with the dialogue.

Funnily enough, I think my favorite short story in the collection was the one Tiffany said that the beta readers didn't like/found pointless. I connected with that one the most. Also, Renley writing the seer with the coughing illness was quite inspired from my perspective.

Ultimately, my interest was most in the author's notes and the exploration of grief, which is a common theme of interest for me. I felt Tiffany's grief quite palpably and how much she and Renley adored each other. For that reason, the author's notes and her explanations of how she made different choices to change or add things to Renley's writing was captivating to me. Further, I did feel like Renley was almost the strongest character I got out of the book, as reading his writing and her writing about him seemed to be a way for me to get to know him, rather than to get to know his world or his characters. This is additionally because of the semi-autobiographical nature of many of them.

Even though this book wasn't for me, I would be interested if Tiffany ever wrote a memoir about her time with Renley.

[Eddie 🌈]

I jumped on this book as soon as my request was accepted. And I absolutely did not expect any of it, but I was definitely not disappointed.
This book is an anthology of different works connected through the world of Reveria, and deal with grief, loss, love, sometimes betrayal, sometimes depression. It is not an easy book to read, but it was no less beautiful because of it.
I devoured this book in a few hours, and I started crying after just a few pages. Those stories are beautiful and raw in an unusual way, considering the themes they deal with, and the prose almost looked like poetry sometimes. I was taken right away about the story of how this book came to be, which I will not develop here because the story has to be experienced from start to finish.
I was surprised to learn that one of the authors was so young when he wrote the texts, and that only minimal editing had been done. The amount of pain and trials one has to go through to write like this is unimaginable. Most of those stories are bittersweet and sad, and you won't see a happy ending. But I find that these do not matter as much as portraying more credible turns of events. There are love stories, and stories of abandonment, grief, loss. The idea of being forgotten also comes out a lot, and it makes the reader reflect on their purpose, at least that was my case.
I don't have enough words to express how much this book means to me and changed me, and I am grateful that I got to be part of it for a little while.