PositiveThe Los Angeles TimesRoxane Gay is razor sharp on the constant contradictions of being a woman — the terrible mundanity and the terrible violence of it all, and the way these two things rub up against each other so fondly ... These short stories have given Gay’s writing and ideas a way to transcend boundaries in a way Bad Feminist couldn’t and reveal her to be a writer as interested in form and language as she is in social commentary ... There’s a distinct echo of Angela Carter or Helen Oyeyemi at play; dark fables and twisted morality tales sit alongside the contemporary and the realistic, although the majority of them have some element of magic or the surreal at play ... The stories are frequently about sex or rape but are not titillating or gratuitous; they are harrowing and unflinching. The scenes of sexual violence feel relevant, raw and true to life ... The longer stories are almost always the most successful; managing to balance clever concepts with a more languid reveal. The very short, 'flash' stories can collapse a little under the weight of the one idea or line that birthed them.
