E.D.E. Bell

I wouldn't exactly? call this cozy? But it is cozy-adjacent. There is a central quest, but there is time spent shopping for niblings and relaxing in taverns and making friends with dragons. All the best cozy stories are queer, and this story has Neo-pronouns and a complex gender system that it never makes a big point to try to explain — just trusts you to accept that you know as much as you need to know.

I would also not exactly say cozy as we spend our time in the head of Xelle, and I don't know if in fiction I've ever spent as much time in such a highly anxious, deeply introverted over-thinker. And WOW, did I identify with her a majority of the time.

There are hidden depths in this novel. Descriptions and place names that seem simplistic at first slowly turn out to have a complex system underneath them. A political system that seems simple and stable at first, that is revealed to have hidden cracks.

Mostly this book is very soft. Xelle knows and uses magic, yes, but mostly her superpowers are responsibility and her sense of justice.

This is the first book in what will be a series, so not every thread is neatly tied off at the end of this volume, but a mystery is solved, our Xelle has grown, and there was enough resolution to feel satisfying as a stand-alone.… (més)

Slowly, but surely, I am getting better at actually READING anthologies, and not just collecting them without ever reading them because they stress me out. Mostly thanks to E.D.E. Bell, actually. Anyway, this one I bought because E.D.E. Bell & Carlos Hernandez & C.S.E. Cooney. There are a few other names here I recognize and was curious about, but that's what justified the ticket price for me.

A few of the stores in this collection are Not For Me but I ended up enjoying more than enough to be happy to have read it. "The New Pointillist Manifesto" (by Hernandez) did turn out to be my favorite, and I enjoyed Bell's and Cooney's stories as expected, and also loved Cat Rambo's, whose other work I really need to get around to reading.

The theme of "speculative fiction stories of art used for change" was lovely and the variety of tales here was definitely interesting. Adding a few new authors to my mental "authors to watch out for" list!… (més)

// Thanks to Atthis Arts, LLC and Netgalley for the ARC to review //

“No matter what their differences were, in shape, size, or how they came to be in this place, everyone felt rather certain that their futures would be interwinded somehow.”

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*All of my reviews are as spoiler-free as possible unless states otherwise*

overall
~ As Told by things is a compilation of short stories from different authors, but still revolving around the same theme: the fact that each story is told from the perspective of an inanimate object.

I found this to be really intriguing once I actually started reading it. But as usual, the problem I always encounter with books like these is that there are always those stories that you LOVE but then there are those stories that are just meh.

And I would always need to put these things into consideration when rating and reviewing the books.

some of the stories were just uninteresting for me, but others had emotion packed in every page. There were stories that just got me thinking of how they can be related to how people feel if they were in the place of those objects. It made me really consider the objects as people while I was reading the story and it really made me so much more aware of the people around me.

Sometimes the people we don’t notice that much are the ones who notice the most

writing style
~ most of the writing were descriptive enough

Even though there were some stories that were not my favorite, they still kept me reading to find out what was the object for that story. It also helped that most of the stories were actually pretty unique and were written creatively for me.

They were diverse in a way that the stories were meant to be humorous with some philosophical ideas here and there.

I also find it to be pretty cool to have some insight to what everyday things could be thinking about. They were interesting topic. This is also a topic that my dad and I talk about, which made it that more intriguing.

There were objects that never came to my mind but it was just as fascinating to read.… (més)

Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove is a short story anthology featuring 61 authors. All genres are represented. Writing styles greatly differ. It's a most unusual and unique collection with a fascinating thought provoking premise, which I'm not going to tell you because it would spoil it. While I didn't connect with every story, some were excellent and resonated with me. One aspect that makes anthologies such as this one successful is the inclusive variety. No matter your taste or preference, there is a story here for you. The bigger picture of this collection spans a massive range of complexity and dynamism that is impressively framed and bursting with vivid creativity. I highly recommend if you simply want something truly different. Don't be deterred by the possible idiosyncrasies found here. They are actually quite entertaining and immersive. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.… (més)