Capable ... Deftly told ... If the world outside is doomed, there’s great affection in these stories and in finding each other, along with great awareness of what it means to be a neighbor or a regular customer — or even a viewer of someone else’s life on social media.
Most of these stories do not stand on their own — they aren’t meant to — which puts a lot of pressure on their cumulative power to stir in readers both the dread and joy of being alive ... Millet is really toeing the line between piercing satire and cynicism. But what’s wrong with cynicism as a coping strategy for mass extinction and ascendant tyranny? That is the question Millet takes up in one of the more affecting stories in the collection ... If nothing else, Atavists reminds me that we need to try a hell of a lot harder.
... there's a lot going on here — and most of it is great ... Millet is like a spotlight operator, moving her light around to illuminate different characters one at a time. With each shift, the voice and focus change, taking readers down very short rabbit holes. Not every story is strong, but they work well together. Millet is a talented storyteller capable of writing stunning passages, and that talent is on full display here. However, it seems like the writing often suggests a topic or briefly touches on something only to quickly move away, leaving readers wondering why it was brought up at all. Sometimes there are actual discussions about things like plagiarism, but most of the time it will be a quick mention of something — racism, social media, canceling celebrities — before moving on to something else ... Ultimately, Atavists is an interesting, complex collection that accomplishes a lot, but it's also occasionally self-indulgent and aimless. The humor shines and the prose is a delight, but the dialogue often meanders.
Intriguing ... These thought-provoking, surprising, charming, and deeply moving stories illuminate who we are at our core even as our lives are mediated by social media, dating apps, and surveillance cameras, even as the living world is being driven precipitously toward extinction.
