An uneven collection that nonetheless solidifies Enríquez’s reputation as a purveyor of haunting and thought-provoking tales.
A dozen pitch-black Argentinean stories laced with body horror, self-incrimination, and existential dread.
Enríquez’s Our Share of Night (2023) earned her a prominent place among innovative South American writers, and the stories here deliver the same squelchy charms. The stories, mostly from the POV of women, offer some new perspectives in an already rich genre, while the horrors within range from pedestrian to Lovecraftian to surprisingly equal effect. Opening with a ghost epidemic and closing with dead-eyed children, in between Enríquez examines the human condition through a spattered lens of body horror and grotesque surrealism. Following the ethereal “My Sad Dead” and its portrayal of a lonely doctor looking after lost souls, things tend to bounce back and forth between the ordinary and the phantasmagoric. In the first of many everyday nightmares, the title tale tackles the story of Elisa Lam, a Canadian student whose body was discovered in a water tank on the roof of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles circa 2013. Twisting a real-life tragedy into a mystery involving suicide and a death cult only makes it that much worse. Some entries are more notion than narrative—“Face of Disgrace” extends the concept of faceless victims to its literal conclusion, while “Night Birds” and “Metamorphosis” both twist Kafka’s themes of transformation to their own purposes. “Hyena Hymns” takes the form of a ghost story of sorts, unearthing eerie imagery from the ruins of a wealthy landowner’s domestic zoo. Ironically, the stories are much more devastating when they don’t delve into the supernatural. Two childhood friends are marked by a game gone awry in “The Refrigerator Cemetery,” giving off vibes from Stephen King’s short story “The Body.” Meanwhile, a search for dresses results in unexpected self-discovery in “Different Colors Made of Tears,” and a painter’s obsession spirals into madness in “A Local Artist.”
An uneven collection that nonetheless solidifies Enríquez’s reputation as a purveyor of haunting and thought-provoking tales.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780593733257
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Hogarth
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
