“There are places you go and places you leave. You don’t always know which is going to be which.”

This was an interesting collection of speculative fiction short stories filled with magical realism, loss, regret, death, friendships, and so much more. One thing I can say is everything ain’t for everybody after reading this. Magical realism is still iffy for me. I think it takes a special kind of expertise to pull it off. Or maybe it’s just me lol but when it’s randomly thrown in it never makes sense. This one didn’t really pull me in like I wanted. Some of the stories were engaging, a little bizarre in a sense but the plots were interesting.

Then there are a few I could’ve done without like Them Apples and No Good Answer. I found them both to be a little confusing almost like something was missing. But I can definitely say the author has a unique writing style and such a creative imagination. A few of the stories I enjoyed:

🔹 Cloud Nine
🔹 Make a Break
🔹 Ashes to Ashes
🔹 No One Is Waiting For Me

Overall, the collection was okay it was very fast-paced and each story gave a different perspective or feeling. Some were humorous, sorrowful, and whimsical. Others were strange, creepy, or twisted. Special thanks to the author & @blackstonepublishing for my gifted copy!!!

Rating: 3.5/5⭐️

Review: We Have Always Been Who We Are by: Sofia T. Romero

This debut collection full of weird creepy short stories, was honestly a banger. 

We Have Always Been Who We Are was an atmospheric collection of short thrillers. There were so many original stories, and fresh ideas in this one! I really did enjoy the majority of the stories inside, but like most short story collections, there were a couple of misses. In this case, I'll highlight some that particularly stood out to me:

🐈‍⬛ Ashes to Ashes - a mother-in-law who cannot let go of control, even after death.

🐈‍⬛ No Good Answer - a cat mysteriously turns up and invites itself into a girl's life, leading to some relationship troubles (awakenings?)

🐈‍⬛ The Jars - a couple are on a cabin retreat, and are woken by whisperings in the dark. 

🐈‍⬛ What I Meant to Say - a woman who's neighbours to a couple slowly gets drawn into their lives, full of paper veils and guilty consciences. 

🐈‍⬛ Motherworld - a woman orders a mother online, uploading her information to get the best results, until her mother catches a virus that won't go away. 

What I noticed from the stories that stood out to me, is that I particularly enjoyed the longer of the short stories, which really makes me curious to see a long-form novel from Romero! I loved her writing style and creativity, I can only imagine that whatever she writes next will be a hit. 

The only part of the collection that really confused me, was the connections between the characters of the story. Sometimes, a story would throw in a name from a previous story but there didn't seem to be any interconnection between the two (or if there was, it wasn't made clear to me). It made those reads a bit confusing, which lowered my personal enjoyment of them. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Genre: Short Story Collection 
Rating: ️ ⭐️⭐️⭐

I wanted to like this one because it was so creepy, but I didn't get half the stories or their message. I'm not even sure if there is a message? Maybe I'm making it bigger than it really is and that's the problem. For that reason, this wasn't for me.

I'm really going to rate this 2.5 stars, but for the benefit of the author I increased to a 3.

Sofia T. Romero’s debut collection, We Have Always Been Who We Are, contains a fantastic mix of stories. Here are my favorites:

My First Confession - A weird sorority initiation ceremony including a book of secrets. It all goes wrong when an “outsider” tries to join.

Ashes to Ashes - Oh my word, this was absolutely terrifying. A mother-in-law that will not give up her attempts at controlling her daughter-in-law, even after death.

No Good Answer - A cat enters a girl's life, refuses to leave, makes her sleep on the floor. But compared to the treatment from her boyfriend, this seems kind!

Things I Will Never Get Back - A short piece containing some interesting thoughts about motherhood, and the futile ways we try to protect our children.

The Jars - Another creepy one. A couple go to a beach cabin, and begin to hear voices, the source of which is completely unexpected.

The Seal Queen - This was one of my favorites. A woman telling her granddaughter a story of a boy getting kidnapped by the Seal Queen.

You are Approaching Your Destination - Now this was absolutely heartbreaking! A girl with relationship problems, a weird man called Gabe trying to give people unsolicited Uber rides. "Sin amor, todo es nada." Beautiful.

How Whales Came to Be - The collection ends on a gorgeous, whimsical tale about a herd of elephants making their way across the U.S. I enjoyed how this story expressed the strange ways families communicate with each other (awkward, mostly silent calls with moms, snarky texts with siblings).

This is a really exciting collection, with some incredibly original ideas. Yay for new short stories!

We Have Always Been Who We Are by Sofia T. Romero is a captivating debut collection of interrelated stories suffused with magical realism. I thought this was an incredible read.
The characters were well written and so relatable. And Romero’s writing is so beautiful.
I enjoyed this read a lot more than I originally thought I would and I’m so glad I picked it up!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WHO WE ARE by Sofia T. Romero will definitely be making its home in my creative writing classes. The digital arc had technical issues, making it very hard to read, so I didn't get to read much. The first two stories were enough for me to know my students will benefit from reading Romero's work.

The writing in this book is good and the story was interesting but I was unable to finish it due to lack of quotation marks. I know that is probably not what they are asking me to review here but goodness it made it just about impossible to read. It felt like steam of consciousness and I’m not a fan. Interesting choice, I’m sure it appeals to some readers!

This book is a great collection of short stories that have magical realism, but also a kernel of truth. Each story takes you on a ride of nostalgia, family, and love. But they also contain betrayal, death, and dismay. Romero’s characters are relatable and interesting. Each short story contains a nugget of another story, making the collection more like a novel at times. The collection was a quick read and a lot of fun.

Readers who loved Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades will appreciate this book of interconnected stories with a distinctly Latina and New England identity. The book almost reads as beautifully written micro-stories; each could stand alone and prompts its own reflection. Together, they form a picture of past and present, individual and community. While there were parts that resonated deeply, at times the connections between the chapters was too thin a thread to follow and the web did not entirely connect.

This was my first book to read by this author. The book deals greatly with loss, relationships, and all of life’s problems. The lines get blurry between life and death, reality and fantasy. The deceased woman counsels her son’s fiancée on how to be a good wife. The book will make for great discussion at a Book Club event.

This is a collection of short stories that are connected among themselves, usually through a couple of characters, and that become increasingly more speculative and magical while being set in our world. I loved the first stories and thought they were very impactful and right up my alley, but as I kept reading, I felt that they were too many to remember or to keep track of, and some of the less realistic ones went completely over my head. Mind you, I started reading this at a point of transition in my life, so I wasn't in a state of mind to sit down and focus all of my attention and energy in a short story. I am also still trying to figure out the kind of short story reader I am since I mostly read novels.

The book is pretty short, and so are most of the stories, which makes the reading experience generally pleasant. I wouldn't suggest readers to go through the whole book in one sitting, but that depends on everyone's preferences and styles. I would say that until halfway through the book I got vibes from No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July, which is my favorite short story collection, so if you liked that book, you might enjoy this one.

This book is a great collection of short stories. Normally I am not a fan of magical realism, but this book read more like a novel - each short story contains a nugget from another one. I found myself unable to put the book down as I kept looking for the connections between each story. Romero’s characters are relatable and loveable.

This was an intensely interwoven book that will make you feel all the things.
The writing is beautiful and we see magical realism happening from the beginning.
I had a hard time with the characters and figuring out how they were all connected. I did like they we see snippets of the characters and it slowly all reveals itself.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.