𝑨𝑻𝑨𝑽𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑺 𝒃𝒚 𝑳𝒚𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒕 is coming out on April 22nd by @dreamscape_media and has a cast of narrators, including Hillary Huber whom I love! This is a short story collection that has a quiet interconnectedness throughout, which is becoming a form I enjoy immensely. These stories coalesce around a couple of families and I found I was quite moved by some characters, and less impressed with others, as real life is. I keep reading the synopsis to capture what this book is as a whole, but it is difficult to find the succinct sentence. It is of life, and generational differences, class systems, fears, and efforts to be relevant or meaningful. I laughed, sighed, cringed, and ultimately felt the heartbreak and hope. I was a fan of Millet after reading DINOSAURS, & this cements my fandom of hers. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

3.5⭐️ rounded up.

This is the first I’ve listened to / read by this author and I particularly enjoyed the way the author has written a series of short stories that all intertwine with each other and follow on from the previous one with great flow and ease. Usually I’d find something of this nature distracting to listen to ongoing as it’s varying characters etc but with a couple of rewinds and pauses (personal neediness) it was surprisingly manageable! I believe it’s due to the nature of the stories having a similar pattern and just overall well written.

It’s thought provocative though it’s fiction there are many aspects that touch on the world we currently live in and would be a good read for YA as well as older!

Was well narrated with particular note on the varying pitches and tone changes where applicable making the listener really feel into the clips easier fantastic job by Hillary Huber; Devon Sorvari; Patrick Zeller; Pete Cross.

With thanks and gratitude to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for this ELC in return for this review. Wishing all at publication and Lydia Millet best wishes for publication on 22nd April 2025 📚🎧🙏🏼❤️

In a series of interconnected short stories, we follow groups of people as they navigate life and current issues in the world after COVID. This collection felt like a window into private lives that you would not otherwise see; a recent college grad’s therapy session, a couple investigating who is putting homophobic notes in their mailbox, and a woman getting her legs waxed, among others. A character study and a view of humanity from above, this left me feeling at times hopeful and at others disgusted.

I typically like interconnected stories, but I think this one may just not have been as much for me. Though it was still interesting to me, I did not feel like I took much away from it other than a slightly melancholic mood. I listened to the audiobook version of this book and found it enjoyable in that format, the voice actors put on an excellent performance!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an interconnected group of stories that focuses on current issues, like the pandemic, climate change, homophobia, social media, misogyny, etc. There are some truly interesting plot lines and characters here, but we don’t spend enough time with any for them to become truly meaningful or develop any connection. I didn’t feel there were any true standouts, and think this would have worked better as a novel; there would be more room for character development and exploration of various issues.

Brief summaries below:

- “Twist”: An interesting musing on social media and how everyone’s life looks so great until it’s dissected.
- “Dramatist”: A high school girl realizes that her brother, a recent college graduate who has become very into fantasy, is not as amazing as he’s always seemed to her.
- “Fetishist”: A comparison of the differences between sons and daughters growing up.
- “Artist”: A mother urges her daughter to start a service project.
- “Terrorist”: A gay couple keeps finding hate mail in their mailbox.
- “Mixologist”: A young man talks about the people he meets in his job as a bartender, in particular a gay couple, one of whom is married with another family.
- “Gerontologist”: The girl from “Artist” (Mia) talks about her experience working in a retirement home until she is asked not to come back.
- “Pastoralists”: A misogynistic man discusses his dating life, calling women “sheep,” commenting on their weight, and talking about how he uses them to feed his ego.
- “Cultist”: Shelley and her sister, Mia, bring their boyfriends to dinner to meet their mom.
- “Futurist”: A conceited academic is found to have plagiarized a line in his book.
- “Insurrectionist”: A woman becomes obsessed with her ex, who dumped her because of her weight.
- “Therapist”: A therapist goes hiking and muses on global warming and the dying world.
- “Cosmetologist”: A waxer has a small breakdown while thinking about her little cousin who died of Covid.
- “Optimist”: A man builds a guest house and signs up to be the hosts of Afghani refugees. His wife vacillates about it.

A great premise but the work itself falls short in almost every imaginable way. The storylines are flat and the characters are one dimensional at best.

I’m obsessed. These stories had me hooked from the very first line and didn’t let go until the last. The way the characters are revealed and connected is pure storytelling magic. Every twist, every emotional beat landed hard. I couldn’t stop reading! My heart is a little shattered and I loved every second of it. The only reason this isn’t five stars is because, while the writing was strong and compelling, I didn’t quite feel that extra layer of beauty in the prose that I am always chasing. Still, an absolutely stellar read.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the chance to listen to this title in exchange for my honest review.

Sadly not for me…

I picked up Atavists: Stories by Lydia Millet with high hopes, especially seeing that it’s from a Pulitzer finalist. Also the synopsis sounded great. But honestly, it just didn’t click with me. The stories felt like they had too many pots on the stove—too many themes, too many layers, too many POVs—and instead of being intriguing, it ended up feeling inaccessible and kind of... boring? I wanted to connect with it, but I found myself zoning out more than once. Maybe it's just one of those books that works for others but not for me.

By the way, I really do appreciate the writing style. It was funny and darkly humorous at times and I found myself enjoying some particular stories more than the others.

Thanks to the publishers, Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the ALC in exchange of my honest review.

Some stories resonate more than others. Writing generally strong. Offers diverse perspectives, though not all fully realized. Worth a look for short story fans seeking variety.

This short story collection touches on politics, immigration, and relationships through linked stories with recurring characters. The writing is solid, and I liked how the characters popped up in different perspectives, but overall, the stories felt a bit too brief. Just as I was getting into each one, it was already ending.

My favorite story was Cosmetologist—it stood out the most. The rest didn’t really land for me. There’s no strong plot or clear theme tying it all together, and while the characters were well-written, the whole thing felt kind of aimless. The final story especially left me feeling bleak in a way that didn’t feel meaningful—just heavy.

If you’re a fan of Lydia Millet’s style, this might be up your alley. Personally, I just wanted more depth and direction.

**.5

The collection of short stories are loosely linked, with some recurring characters. It was interesting in spots to see the same story told from different POVs, but mostly it just felt like a choppy disconnected novel, as the individual chapters both didn't quite stand up on their own and didn't have a cohesive plot or theme to really tie them together.

The book was written and is set in the post-Covid age, but many of the observations about social media (referred to as "social" in an attempt to be hip but just comes across as cringe) and other aspects of modern life feel like they were written in 2013. For instance, Millet leans hard into the Millenial/Gen Z divide. But the author is a couple of years older than me (solidly Gen X) and it feels contrived. As do the characters launching into lengthy soliloquies in the middle of banal conversations, in order to bestow their wisdom upon us. Seriously, no one talks like that!

In the pursuit to portray Modern Life in California, there is an endless stream of trying too hard to address contemporary issues. Everything from LARPing, internet porn, climate anxiety, catfishing, getting a Brazilian, Elon Musk's hair implants, Afghani refugees, and lazy digs at trump make an appearance. But there was little insight you wouldn't find in 20 minutes scrolling on Bluesky. It felt like a bunch of trendy hashtags dressed up in narrative form to attract Likes.

Millet is definitely a skilled writer, and I do appreciate what she was going for. But overall the individual stories had weak endings and got very little out of the book.

I listened to the audiobook courtesy of NetGalley. The narration was excellent.

Atavists: Stories is a collection of connected (sometimes vaguely) short stories of people who are "ists", set in 2025. The pandemic, global warming, and current events are pretty prevalent in these. I had a hard time relating, therefore caring, about many of the characters, probably due to a generational difference. As an audiobook I appreciated different voice actors but it became difficult to differentiate because none of the POVs repeat, so you may have the same voice for one character as her mom had, and her brothers girlfriend, etc, so this may have been better to physically read. I also got a little bored halfway through because nothing major or exciting really happens.
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the ARC!

Atavists is a collection of stories detailing the lives of various "-ists"—a cosmetologist, an insurrectionist, etc,—and how their lives intertwine. The themes in this book are relevant, but it felt like a very surface-level exploration of topics like the pandemic and climate change. I think the pandemic is especially hard to write about successfully in fiction, and in this case it falls flat beyond providing context for the time in which the stories take place. It's also hard for a book like this to feel timeless even just a few years out from its publication.

I do think the characters were unique and original. I am wondering if I would have enjoyed this more if I physically read it instead of listening to the audiobook. It helped that the audiobook had three different narrators, but with so many characters to keep track of and the lack of truly distinct voices for each one, I sometimes wasn't sure whose story I was listening to. This was a quick and easy listen, though, and I would be interested in reading more from Millet!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio arc!

Lydia Millet never misses. She is a huge climate activist so her stories always have themes of climate fiction but this one definitely focused more on relationships and how the generations have changed it’s funny and thoughtful and I related to so many of these stories. Easy reading, need a copy for my shelves when it’s out April 22!

This was such a unique listen. Atavists: Stories is a fictional book of short stories where each story is loosely connected. I thought each story was so different, some sad, some hilarious, some makes you annoyed at the main character. I was excited to learn that Hilary Huber was one of the narrators. She is one of my favorites. I thought this was so well done and different than anything I've ever read. I laughed out quiet a few times. I would recommend this to anyone that wants a fictional palette cleanser. I also found a lot of the stories timely with what is going on in our world today. Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio ARC.