A woman contemplates the gradual and wrenching loss of her husband to disease (plus a river monster). Yap crafts short stories that evoke nuanced and complicated yet relatable emotions, and her losses come in many different flavors. There are monsters (some of them human) and spells and witch doctors, yet many of Yap's stories are threaded through by a pervasive and lingering sense of loss. Isabel Yap's collection of thirteen short stories is one of the most beguiling things I've read all year, somewhere at the intersection of magical realism, horror, and mythology. "If I feel like it, I eat organs, too."Īnd that's when I knew, four pages into Never Have I Ever, in what should have been the most mundane of introductions between rehab girls, that I had entered some strange new lands. Isabel Yap's collection of thirteen short stories is one of the most beguiling things I've read all year, somewhere at the intersection of "So what's your deal?" Sara asks, as Kaye peels off her shoes and socks and sticks her feet into the slippers. "If I feel like it, I eat organs, too." And that's when I knew, four pages into Never Have I Ever, in what should have been the most mundane of introductions between rehab girls, that I had entered some strange new lands. "So what's your deal?" Sara asks, as Kaye peels off her shoes and socks and sticks her feet into the slippers. But there's much to enjoy in the social sparring of the girls in the Catholic retreat, and Yap again weaves a rich net of local detail. I can't say I'm a fan of its particular brand of magical retribution. The closing novelette, "A Canticle for Lost Girls", seems a bit overextended for its material. The dark turn at the end is nicely executed. A young girl is the unreliable narrator, and two parallel storylines tangle as we get glimpses of her troubled relationship with her father.
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"Misty" is quite different from the other stories in the collection. "All the Best of Dark and Bright" is fun, a fairly straight supernatural romance, maybe a bit too cute. I think Yap shows admirable restraint, and doesn't let her tale of the afterlife collapse under the weight of its subject matter. But the War on Drugs in the Philippines is so tragic and painful, I'm not sure how one can work with it in a short story. "Asphalt, River, Mother, Child" is probably one of the less artful stories in the collection so far. There are enough surprises and charm for me to enjoy the ride. (I can be forgiving when we share an enthusiasm for Ben Whishaw, ha.) Yap seems to live in San Francisco and work in tech, and gets those details right. But the style is brisk, and the voice of the earnest, uptight protagonist is nicely handled. Normally I would be suspicious of the somewhat sappy "A Spell for Foolish Hearts", with its YA romance inflections and fantasy conventions (playfully handled with a light touch, thankfully). (I can be forgiving when we share an enthusiasm for Ben Whishaw, ha.) Yap seems to live in San Francisco and w This is a diverse and largely enjoyable collection. This is a diverse and largely enjoyable collection. Isabel Yap is a writer to watch out for, and you need to experience her brilliance for yourself. My head is just full of images and feelings and ideas after reading these wondrous tales. These gorgeous stories will help you to glimpse a world that is both stranger and more immense and varied than any you've visited before. I'm in awe of her capacity for playful weirdness and mind-expanding terror. Isabel Yap's prose is a constant delight and her characters are endlessly rich and fascinating.
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