I love mythology turned feminist, but something about this was so on the nose that it didn’t quite pull me in. I will revisit in a different mood to see if I feel differently, but alas, being an ARC, a review is due now. Solid three stars it is.

Sally Wen Mao is a talented author, but I didn't feel much emotion for this short story collection.

This collection is composed of eight short stories spread between one longer story carried out through several POVs. While the writing and themes explored were compelling, I struggled with staying engaged. The themes of immigration, misogyny/sexism, oppressive patriarchal ideals, and identity in one's culture would barely be touched in the story before it ended.

Without a doubt, the interspersed story was the most engaging, but only once I reached the last part did I feel that way. It came together in a collective tale that was powerful and moving.

While I'm sad this collection didn't work out well for me, the mythology's gorgeous, and the prose phenomenal. The themes are impactful even if the stories felt too brief for them to land. Mao has beautiful original ideas, so I will be checking out her other collections.

(I won't be leaving descriptions of the separate stories since I believe it best to go in blind, but here are my ratings for each.)

Angel Island collection avg.: 3 stars
Love Doll: 3.5 stars
Beasts of the Chase: 3 stars
Turtle Head Epidemic: 2 stars
The Fig Queen: 2 stars
A Huxian's Guide to Seduction Revenge Immortality: 5 stars
The Girl with Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes: 2 stars
Lotus Stench: 3.5 stars
The Crush: 3 stars

CW: Body Horror, Death, Suicide, Bullying, Violence, Abortion, Gore, Racial Slurs, Cheating
*this list comprises only what I noted and is not extensive*

Thank you, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Books for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you net galley for providing this ARC.

I unforunatly DNF'd this book, not because it was not good writing. It just not my style that I enjoy reading, I would still recommend this book to people who enjoy this writing and type of story.

I enjoyed these stories for the most part. Some held my attention more than others. Overall this is a good short story collection. The stories are very unique.

"Did you know? Like in those Pu Songling stories, you become either a ghost or a fox."

Sally Wen Mao weaves a masterful fairytale across a broad canvas, with the Ninetails fox appearing whenever she wishes.

But here there are monsters. Faint of heart, be wary. The author writes with a feminist urgency that is apparent in each story, whether ghostly-faint or angrily in your face.

"The silence between them was a landmine filled with poetry."

Each story is clever and unique, unconventional, and genre-bending.

"...smiling against the desperate poems of women long departed..."

Oh, and read Dickinson sometime.

Thank you for the publisher and Netgalley for a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was looking forward to this book. I liked the first story about an interpretor going to work at Angel Island. However, the second story about a sex doll in Hong Kong was quite a jarring departure in tone. I pushed through, but after that, the stories just didn't keep my interest. I think I was expecting more fantasy-like stories about the fox legends. This wasn't for me, but it could be for others.