Thank you to NetGalley and Gatekeeper Press for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I found this collection of short stories about morality, humanity and female identity, fascinating. While I thought some stories were much stronger and more thought out than others, I appreciated all of them for what they were and there were a couple that I’ll definitely be thinking about for a long time.

I can’t wait to see what the author writes in the future.

TL;DR I liked these stories, some more than others.

This is a collection of twelve stories, many feminist-leaning, some queer. Infinitesimal, the title story, is about a young girl in a mountain village where one child is chosen every year to go to the city for further education. The protagonist has to choose between her personal happiness and academic success. To Each of Covered Imperfections reminds me of the world of Divergent and similar: a dystopian society where young people are tested for perfection, in this case young women in a Stepford Wives-like, twisted version of feminism. Stepford Wives is also the theme of the queer love story, Collision Theory. Biscuits and Rain is about a woman coming to terms with a failed relationship. Sacrifice invokes Jack the Ripper (a chilling, horrible read). The Heaven Express, my favourite story, is about a train everyone rides when they get to age 65; you kind of see what’s coming, but the way it’s achieved is stunning. And Day’s Dozen recalls the futility of cubicle life.

Short story collections are a way for an author to show off their range, and this one does, with stories that lean SF, historical fiction, mystery, romance, and more. Hanjing Wang has a strong voice, and this is a good collection, a great way to pass the time. I will be looking forward to reading more from her.

Many thanks to Gatekeeper Press and NetGalley.

3.75, rounded to a 4
A fascinating, wide-ranging collection of stories around notions and experiences of womanhood, mortality, and sometimes, love. It had a lyrical writing style for the most part that kept me engaged, even if the plot seemed to be lackluster in some parts. I can easily appreciate, however, the ease with which she is able to use her Chinese-American identity as a natural backdrop to her various stories, all of which at least incorporate, if not deal with, a misfitting against a monocultural environment. Knowing that she started writing this in the ninth grade, despite the different stories and protagonists, one could track a developmental trajectory of the characters as they deal with experiences in different stages of their lives.

Unfortunately, while I love the concepts and the execution of most of them, I always felt a sense of hollowness at the end of every story, wishing that she delved into the stories a bit more deeply, brought out nuances that cross-cultural stories of this day and age fail to consider. However, this is more of a personal gripe, since as short stories, they capture almost perfectly what they need to, hinting at depths the reader is left to ponder about.

Here are my subjective rankings of all the stories, from weakest to strongest, and short (mostly spoiler-free) reasons for them. Please note that the weakest stories are by no means bad, but in comparison to their counterparts, could have more nuanced explorations of themes and characters:

12. Biscuits & Rain: Girl encounters her ex in a bakery, leading to an awkward conversation. A simple story, with a simple purpose, and for the most part, lighthearted if forgettable. Perhaps, I'm just not the target audience, and it may resonate better with others. However, this dialogue felt too Wattpad-y for my liking (hiding it as it may spoil the ending, though it is not exactly a huge twist):
<spoiler> Abigail, she imagined, would be a petite redhead with soft hands and a bohemian sense of fashion. Abigail would love cooking foreign dishes and prefer dogs to cats and go on hikes in her spare time. Abigail would be the complete opposite of brunette, old-fashioned, and organized Clara, but Aiden would love Abagail more all the same. </spoiler>

11. Dowager: The idea behind it was really good, and at least the first half was well done. I understood what the second half was trying to do, making us question our own judgement of the titular dowager, but it felt a little too obvious and heavy-handed. Again, the story is second-last because the others are so much stronger.

10. Immortals: As someone whose exploration of Greek Mythology started with the Riordanverse, continued with reading around, then Madeline Miller's works, I really wanted to love this piece, and I did appreciate its framing device that forces the reader to participate as an active listener. A few of the stories, like those of Aphrodite and Athena, were really good, because they showed goddesses with flaws. Unfortunately, stories like those of Hera and Demeter felt too rote and made the characters one-dimensional, especially owing to the recent influx in feminist retellings of Greek myth. I agree though, the male gods need to be held more accountable.

9. Sunlight, Seawater, Saliency: Again, I loved the concept, reminding me of Mulk Raj Anand's memoir 'Conversations in Bloomsbury,' with its use of conversations to branch off into philosophical, artistic and political discussions. Unfortunately, here is where I wished there was a more concrete worldbuilding, given its futuristic dystopian society that is somehow America-centric. This is the one short story which I believe would work better as a full-length novel, with more developed characters.

8. Day's Dozen: From this story onwards, the differences in the rankings highly rely on personal preferences and gripes. The plot is simple: a woman office worker who has applied for a promotion is anxiously waiting for the results as she goes about her day. I do enjoy that the cause for the ending is left ill-defined, with the focus being on the pressure put on by her socioeconomic circumstances and familial expectations. Unfortunately, the vagueness also reduces the memorability of the story.

7. Sacrifice: A simple story narrated beautifully, dealing with similar themes as those above, but more emotionally touching than them. A big reason for this is its ending, which blends a paradox of realism and unrealistic hope. A reflection of what this whole collection is about. I avoid sharing details of this story since it would lead to an unnecessary spoiler.

6. Heaven Express: Different perspectives and stories of 65-year old passengers aboard the titular train. Touching on themes of mortality and ageism, it unfortunately feels a bit iffy given the sociopolitical climates in multiple countries, where politics and entertainment are still controlled by older generations that are out-of-touch with younger ones, and still see them as immature and opinionated without nuance, while failing to recognise their own impact and problems. But, the ending of the story being unresolved works brilliantly.

5. Criminal #1240: This is a well-crafted short story touching on themes of unreliable memories, and vaguely on a probably authoritarian regime. It gets a spot higher than 'Heaven Express' because of its plot and narrative complexity. Additionally, the use of a lie detector, considered by the protagonist and the officer as '100 percent' accurate, is interesting, especially considering the author's (and possibly protagonist's) Chinese background. I don't know if this was intentional, but given the dodgy history of lie detectors with non-Euro-American suspects (read Susan Choi's 'A Person of Interest'), there is an added complexity and unreliability to this narrative, making it compelling. I wish I could give it higher, but the stories above felt better to me.

4. Counselling Core: Yes, yes, 'Criminal #1240' is more experimental, and perhaps, more complex in crafting and more engaging. But the idea this story deals with is often not touched upon, though its elements are. I can't reveal more without spoiling, so please do read this short story which resonated with me quite deeply.

3. To Each of Covered Imperfections: Now the top 3, which are surprisingly the first three stories. This second story's twisting of the idea of a 'woman-led' future is fascinating, revealing the corrupting influence of the male gaze to linger without the exertion of an overt patriarchy. Being a short story, however, it focuses on the viewpoint of a girl who is going to be examined to be determined if she is like her family, 'Idealised,' or at least has the potential to fit the mould. This story, though simplistic in its message, has a brilliant execution (Love that the doctor examining her and other girls is male).

2. Infinitesimal: The titular story is also the opening one. I wish it was placed somewhere in the middle or even as the ending, because it set the bar very high, as seen by the position I've given it. A girl burdened by her father's expectations, stemming from his downward luck, meets another girl whose friendship opens her up to so much more. While queer-coded (cue Chappell Roan's 'Good Luck, Babe'), even as a platonic friendship it's beautiful. A small town, that may grow smaller as the years pass by, but never reaching zero, all because of the memories of a redwood tree.

1. Collision Theory: Beautiful. Two often-told stories come together, the union never entirely explicit or detailed, into something truly queer, both in form and narrative. No notes.

The review is entirely my own. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

A collection of stories ranging from contemporary to historical, futuristic and dystopian (and one Greek Mythology retelling). They all have female main characters, dealing with human emotions, misogyny and expectations placed on women. Several of them have women loving women, including a retelling of Athena and Arachne which makes them lovers. :)

I loved the first story very much, and then the rest were good but none of them quite lived up to that first one. I think the ideas were imaginative, but the execution often felt clumsy. Some of the stories felt almost half-finished and could have been developed further. Things like a child in the late 1800s casually suggesting divorce to her mother took me out of the story sometimes. Etc.

I'm making some assumptions here, but overall this anthology had very Beginner Author vibes. It's imaginative and passionate and excited, and I think the author clearly has talent, so I'm curious to see what she'll come up with in the future.

Very imaginative work. Traveling between ancient times, modern times and the future, some sci-fi elements and philosophical thinking are my favorite style. Recommend!

4.5
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!!!
This read was incredibly immersing causing me to read it in one sitting aiming to absorb each of the 12 tales as quickly as I could. The author handled a variety of topics and perspectives with grace and care while causing about them and their lingering effects. I would definitely recommend this book it was quite introspective.