This is an amazing collection. Every story is heartwrenching, and even more so today because there are people in governments all around the world that want to subjugate women like we see in these stories. These are stories of rage, hopelessness, tenderness and the will to fight back. I found the collection to be inspiring and many of these stories will stay with me for a long time. I originally picked this up when I saw a blurb for it at The Portalist, and then I later found out it's nominated for the 2026 Splatterpunk Awards: Best Collection. The other books in this category will be hard pressed to do better.

Infanticipation by Kelli Etheridge LOL, I thought this was some Handmaid's tale spinoff - then it gets worse.

I Will Get You Medical Care by Bogi Takács Not the strongest story, but it makes a good point about how hard it is to exist when you don't neatly fit into the system's definitions

A Local Gardener By Allay Rei A heart-wrenching story about the power of women's wisdom and community under fierce patriarchy

The Blood Mango Tree by Soyam Siddha I think there's some big subtexts here that I missed. Please let me know what this is about.

A Dead Woman’s Journal by R Haven This is written in second person so I didn't make it past the first sentence.

The Referral by A.V. Black Is this fiction? It details the reality of seeking care from a provider that is pushing their own agenda onto her body. Heartbreaking because it's so plausible.

**Vessels of God by Anne Wilkins ** Another Handmaid's Tale spinoff, this one explores when patriarchy's isolationism extends to mothers and their infants

Whose Pussy is This? by A. H. Davison Possibly the best story in the collection. The contradiction between women as adults with the right to self-determination vs the patriarchy's need to control reproduction is explored and... it's not pretty.

This Broken World By Mia Dalia This is written as an epistolitary memoir, so it didn't trip my 'second person panic' syndrome. Not the strongest story in the collection, it deals with grief for people made invisible by patriarchy's blind gaze.

Flickers by Elise Scott How much does someone have to give before the patriarchy has enough? > “Look at me,” I hiss. > Finally, his wavering gaze slides to my stony face. I stare into his hollow eyes where the truth resides, ready to be reflected back at him. > A chalcedony smile curls my icy lips. > My eyes flare green, twin mirrors turning him to stone.

What Normal Looks Like by Raluca Basala A meditation on the changes wrought by pregnancy... it's not always unicorns and rainbows.

A Mother Scorned by Enoli Lee I liked this story, it was a beacon of successful revenge in a book full of stories where the MC gets crushed

What is Asexuality in the Eyes of the Law by Ondine Mayor State sponsored rape is not good for people, m'kay? Not one of the strongest stories, I felt like the starting and end points for the MC were too close together.

Skin Deep by Sam Rosewilde Another one where women successfully fight back. The only drawback being that I'm familiar with selkies so there wasn't much intrigue.

A New Life by Meg Calendaria This one was great, a nice twist and the woman gets to give to the patriarchy as good as she gets.

There Is a Place for Us in This World by Justine White I wish this fiction was a radical exaggeration of how stupid people can be, but unfortunately it isn't. Think of it as a call to arms.

With Child by KT Wagner "Women cannot be trusted with the future of mankind" is where this story starts, and it gets worse from there. Short, but thought provoking. Probably the most traditionally scifi story in the collection.

Fireweed, Ferns and Moss by Ash Vale A fantasy of hope, a good story to start wrapping up the collection. I'd like to read a full length novel starring these brave birth workers.

Watcher of the Wisps By Amanda Cecilia Lang is "contemporary folk horror" a thing? Because thats what this is. Such a hopefull and uplifting way to end what is an otherwise emotionally grueling collection of stories. > A relentless landscape stained by the broad brushstrokes of masculine appetites. Voices of divine feminine wisdom drowned in a cacophony of boyish ego. A world of rules written in the sticky white ink of patriarchies. A man’s kingdom deliberately calibrated to control the autonomy of goddesses. Sacred fertility rites and rights buried beneath the monuments of male conquest. Women as trophies, women as damsels, women as targets and puppets and holes. Women reduced to wisps. And everywhere stand men dressed in shadows, lurking in darkness even as they imagine themselves to be knights on white horses.

> Men who pretend they’re the good ones simply because bigger monsters exist

This is a fantastic collection of short stories I picked up because it's nominated for the 2026 Splatterpunk Awards in the "Best Collection" category. I don't think I've read any Brandon MacLeod before, but I'm definitely on the lookout now. The collection as a whole was engaging, varied and emotionally charged. His writing is intense, fluid and the pacing is always impeccable. I absolutely looked forward to reading more stories every time I had to put the book down. This is thoughtful, empathic horror with enough viscera and sexiness to keep even jaded readers like me hooked.

EPILOGUE (FOR A STORY YET UNWRITTEN) Yet another "what about the Final Girl?" story, but this one singles out the FG nobody wants to remember.

PIGS DON’T SQUEAL IN TIGERTOWN Three dumb people and one smarter one all make some dumb choices. And the tigers get the final say. The narration feels a little episodic, but the MC is pretty stupid and can't string a whole lot of thoughts together so it works out.

WEIGHTLESS BEFORE SHE FALLS A young woman sets up her assailant using a special gift.

LOST BOY Grief and regret probably look the same on the face of a child.

THE LONELINESS OF NOT BEING HAUNTED "The kids call it ghosting..." is such a great premise, and it's handled so amazingly well here.

NOT ERADICATED IN YOU A child's need to love her parent knows no bounds.

A SHORT MADNESS Prologue I. Reconciliation II. Revelation III. Wrath Epilogue: Reunion The longest of the stories in the collection, but it's a pretty straightforward ghost story with a cynical priest as the protagonist. I usually don't like religious character MCs but this story worked for me, probably because he'd left the faith but not the job.

MEMORIES OF YOU ME This was written in second person, so I didn't make it past the first sentence.

THE GIRL IN THE POOL Another ghost story with an interesting premise. Not the strongest story in the collection, TBH.

EXTINCTION THERAPY CEOs are assholes, amiright?

NO ONE WHO RUNS IS INNOCENT This might be my favorite in the collection. A young man in a fascist near-future US speaks his truth, but is it enough to stir the heart of an agent of the state?

DREAMERS This is one of those "does the dreamer dream the nightmare, or does the nightmare dream the dreamer" sort of meta stories.

PAREIDOLIA The dead speak through an artist's hands - but who is willing to listen? Favorite turn of phrase: "The artificiality of mass-produced experience and the deadening of participatory ritual"

BACK SEAT This one hit right in the feels, then swung around and hit again. A contender for the best story in the collection. There's imagery from here that will stay with me for a long time.

EVERYTHING WE LOST IN THE FIRE Another contender for best story in the collection. Misfit kids try to make the world better for each other in some nameless, generic suburban conformist hell. The stakes suddenly get serious and so do the consequences.

LYING IN THE SUN ON A FAIRY TALE DAY Dying in the woods alone - as someone who goes into the wilderness solo fairly often, this is always in the back of my mind. Reading about it like this made it entirely vivid.

Bechdel Test?: YES Mako Mori test?: NO Vito Russo test?: NO Latif test?: NO

Reading Level: adult Romance: "EVERYTHING WE LOST IN THE FIRE" features teenagers in love Smut: a little vanilla behind the door Violence: YES TW: yes. All kinds of violence and self harm, some drug use, child endangerment, implied sexual violence, etc

Kindle only? NO

This was a short, dense and surprisingly engaging and accessible overview of the history of Katmai National Park through the lens of the native grizzly bear population. All those pictures you've seen of bears standing around a waterfall catching salmon as they try to leap over the falls? Those are from Katmai National Park. The author explains the natural history of the region, basically starting with a volcanic explosion and subsequent exploration by white americans. Then he goes into the commercial history of Brooks river, explaining how it evolved from a hunting and fishing resort into the National Park it is today, and then he discusses the history of attempts to manage human and bear interactions in the park. Along the way, a lot of information about bears is shared with the audience and I learned a lot. Notably, because bears are so hierarchal and dangerous to each other, they have evolved to hide signs of stress and injury - so while there may not be obvious signs of stress, most bears are in fact stressed by human presence in the area. The author goes through great pains to explain the world as the bears experience it, and contrast this with the experience of humans and attempts to make the bears more accessible to more humans.

I listened to this audiobook while running/cycling/swimming/etc and I'm not an audio learner, so my retention of the book is iffy at best.

Reading Level: easy adult Prequisites (Prior Knowledge, etc): basic geography of Alaska and recent AK/US political history Credibility/Research/Citations: referenced studies are worked into the text Tone: journalistic, educational Bias: The author is pro-bear but tries to balance human wants Author's Qualifications: the author worked as a ranger for years at Katmai National Park

authenticity/uniqueness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ personal impact: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ intrigue: ⭐⭐ logic/informativeness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Does the book accomplish it's goal: yes

Kindle/Audible only? NO

This is a very high level introduction to how money laundering works in international finance, with a strong emphasis on how oligarchs from around the world are able to "wash" their filthy lucre via the numerous loopholes and lax enforcements in the US. Basically, while any single large banking transaction needs to be logged, and banks are supposed to look into where large deposits are coming from, nobody looks at these reports and the banks are the only industry required to account for where their client's money is coming from. So oligarchs are spending money on real estate, art and luxury items without any oversight. The example of the former ukranian oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky is gone over in some detail. Notably, he owned so much of the pre-war Ukranian banking sector that when his banks risked insolvency (because Ihor had siphoned off too much cash into his own coffers) Ukraine had to bail them out. He made a number of big dollar real estate purchases throughout the midwest, then let the properties decline into ruin. The author also goes into some of Trump's dealings, but there's new nothing there that I hadn't already known from following the news for the last few years.

I felt frustrated at the lack of detail, but I believe the author's intent was to draw a clear line from: ill-gotten gains > US real estate/luxury goods > washed money > political and social cover to continue the same scams that impoverish working people. I would like to see more names named and more dates, times and places.

I listened to this audiobook while running/cycling/swimming/etc and I'm not an audio learner, so my retention of the book is iffy at best.

Reading Level: easy adult Prequisites (Prior Knowledge, etc): basic understanding of world finance and geography and recent world history Credibility/Research/Citations: the author is director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program with the Human Rights Foundation Tone: journalistic Bias: anti-kleptocrat Author's Qualifications: he has been studying this for years

authenticity/uniqueness: ⭐⭐⭐ personal impact: ⭐⭐ intrigue: ⭐⭐ logic/informativeness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Does the book accomplish it's goal: yes

Kindle/Audible only? NO