Foreshadow

by Nova Ren Suma, Suma, and , Pan

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley and Algonquin Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I am not normally a short story person, but I really loved Foreshadow.  This collection of stories compiled by Emily X. R. Pan and Nova Ren Suma excites the imagination ands such a deliberate of language that while they flow together beautifully, they are also individually beautiful.

Often with these sorts of collections. I'll go in and rate the discuss each of the pieces on their own.  However, Foreshadow was such a cohesive collection that I am comfortable saying - if you like one of these stories, you will like them all.  Each of these new voices is powerful, and the storytelling is curious and magical when it should be... and all just a little bit dark.

All the stories here are really good, but the one that sticks out to me the most was Risk by Rachel Hylton.  I thought it was so original and the language was absolutely fabulous.  Ever story - every single story - in this collection is a fantastic example of the craft.  But Risk was my favorite and it still pops into my head from time to time.

Another aspect of Foreshadow I really enjoyed was the way each story had an introduction and an follow-up conversation with either Emily X. R. Pan or Nova Ren Suma, discussing the original prompt behind the story and why they chose this one for the collection.  And if that wasn't enough of a behind-the-scenes peek, there's a section at the end of the collection which introduces the editors of the collection, how they approach their craft, and how they came to each of these stories.  There's an extensive Q&A at the end that's very interesting, so definitely read past the stories themselves.

I know this is a bit of a shorter review for me, and please don't take that as an indication of quality.  It was so good, and I'm not sure what more to say other than I recommend this one wholeheartedly.  I requested the ARC of Foreshadow because I had high hopes for it and in my experience there's not a lot of buzz for short story collections.  I'm here to tell you to add this one to your TBR.  Every story is heartfelt and memorable.

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