Portals appear in linen closets, planetary gateways materialize in boarding schools, monsters wait in bathroom vents, and transformations of women’s bodies are an everyday occurrence. Political division causes physical rifts that break apart the Earth’s crust. A son on another planet sends dispatches home to the mother who failed him, and a wife turns to the supernatural to escape her abusive marriage. Portals are not only doorways found in children’s classics, but separations, escapes, dead ends, desertions, and choices that will change these characters’ lives forever.
There is an impressive neutrality to Urbanski’s portrayal of characters in opposition, despite how close these subjects clearly are to her heart. No character’s beliefs are held up as being more obviously correct than another’s ... Offers no easy answers, but it does present myriad possibilities ... Powerfully unique and thoughtfully written.
Eschew[s] the traditions of the portal fantasy subgenre ... Urbanski rarely allows her stories to consider what it would mean for a marginalized person to be accepted on their own terms, and the collection suffers as a result ... I encountered stories only tangentially about portals or fantasy, many of which recreated the violent and hateful points of view leveled against me and my communities daily.
