Practices in Apparition

by Gabi Abrão

108 pages, Paperback

Published May 12, 2026

Reviews

[Ruthie Earley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Gabi’s work and it has been such a treat to follow her literary developments. I loved her longer sort of short story pieces in this book so much. I loved the structures and themes as a whole. I didn’t enjoy the twitter poems and I was disappointed that it took up so much of this small book, they fell flat in comparison and it felt like filler.

[Gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabi is in my Mount Rushmore of favorite chronically online writer baddies and hearing her whisper-read the story “pretend I’m a ghost” at Barnes and noble in The Grove genuinely altered my brain chemistry and I re-read that story 4x before sleeping last night hoping to dream in the floaty lesbian landscape that it evokes

[groovygab · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love her writing and have always seen myself in her in a very parasocial way. I enjoyed the longer passages, the storytelling was raw and honest and poetic. There were definitely some moving quotes, ideas, and silly spiritual laughs that I adored.

There were tweets from X turned into poems through erasure/patch writing and some landed more than others. If I’m honest I didn’t like entering the digital world through analog means but also found it a unique and artful way to integrate spiritual downloads in a medium we so often discount and demonize. She is saying something there. Poking at our resistance to it in some way maybe.

Anyway! Enjoyed the ride, gabby to gabi.

[liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sixth sense meets white feather tail hawk deer hunter meets my brain

[francisco rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

the first thing that i noticed about the second installment from this author was hearing the evolution in her voice on the page. i have been a follower of sigh swoon and her podcast for many years now and have seen her progression, i wouldn't say in finding her own voice, because she always has been rather singular, but in making no concessions to her audience. the opening story had the conversational closeness of her podcast, but also a relaxed sort of assuredness coming in through the writing. it reads like it was written by a Cool Person Who Gets It. she starts at the plain world, the one we can all agree on, and she takes language between her hands and coaxes it, massaging the facts of the physical, to bring the mystery to the surface.

it is impressive and beautiful to me to see Gabi's ethos woven through these pages. we often don't recognize the water we're swimming in, and it's books like these that show you around, it's beautiful clear water that is fresh on your skin and tastes sweet and delicious. the most powerful spells are the ones you don't know you're casting. need to find a large sunbathe-able rock.

[Sydney Guido · Rating 5 out of 5]

gabi’s outdone herself!!! absolutely gorgeous, i loved it. ive been a pretty dedicated sighswoon follower since 2020, podcast listener, and this was perfect. something about the way she perceives things will always resonate with me, maybe it’s the fellow september virgo in me (seeing the september virgo in her 👀), and even when i don’t agree with her, i still respect the vision. also just read this cover to cover while floating in a pool which i feel….really fits the vibe, i think that would be sighswoon approved

my favorite segment was definitely “pretend im a ghost”…absolutely gorgeous.

[Rawrdiva98 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Gabi’s POV! Been following her for ages and so happy she’s created her now second book. So brilliant and thought provoking. “Pretend I am a Ghost” is my absolute favorite passage. Incredible work!!!!!

[Jamie Yonker]

god, my patience is such a virtue with this one ….
any day now ……
:~)

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, especially her anecdotes about encounters with the supernatural. I would love for Gabi to write a memoir at some point.

[Vendela Werme · Rating 5 out of 5]

practices in apparition was for me an apparition in itself to experience - a ”god” like visit. beautiful poetry that found me at the exact right place and time, best read in one go

[carissa c · Rating 5 out of 5]

body chills sheeeeeesh

[alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

the truth is, i liked this book and found myself all over it.

[reenie bobeenie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The anecdotes were my favorite. The twitter poems were interesting, it was cool to see the transformation of them. Her strength, for me though, was in the more straight forward storytelling of her personal experiences. It read like part of a novel, or short stories, and I wished for more of them! I really, really enjoyed her writing style in those pieces.