Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ALC. I really enjoyed this book. I do love a collection of short stories and this one was incredible. Touches on some tough stories and topics but so worth the read.

This short story collection was beautiful and moving, and should absolutely be required reading in 2025. The collected works from fourteen incredible BIPOC authors explore the meaning of home, family, love, and diasporic identity. Each entry is unique in it's perspective, but they all remind the reader that the layers of identity are in constant flux in ways we can't always see through out own narrow gaze. By engaging with the stories and experiences of the people around us, we come ever closer to truly knowing ourselves.

My favorites were "A Hard Bed" by Princess Joy L. Perry, "Cleaning Lentils" by Susan Muaddi Darraj, "Magic City Relic" by Jennine Capó Cruset, and "Straight Dollars or Loose Change" by LaToya Watkins.

This audiobook was read by multiple narrators, lending authenticity to the stories within. The differing voices clearly marked the change in stories, which is something that is sometimes missed in audio format. I truly enjoyed each of these narrators. As for the format itself, I do wish they had introduced each story with the title and author because with compilations, the listener sometimes wants to look up more by that author.

That was definitely the case in this collection. Even the foreword by Edwidge Danticat (who was a large part of my interest in the collection) and the intro by the editor made we want to read more of their words.

Each one of these stories was moving in some way. They explored immigrants, refugees, and caste. Many of the stories were from women’s POV and showcased their extra burdens as mothers, caregivers, and wives. Race and ethnicity was explored and varied. I got a sense of multiple countries and cultures throughout this. I’d also love to point out that the male POV stories are just as interesting and impactful. Their struggles go beyond male machismo, and these stories justly represented great emotional depth for the male characters. Laura Pegram says in her intro that she was looking for stories and words that meant more, showed more, than what was on the page. Her curation is peak, and I look forward to reading more of each of these authors.