The premise sounded promising, and I truly thought I would love this collection. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me as much as I hoped.

This is a compilation of twelve short stories. While the ideas behind them are intriguing, several stories felt overly similar, especially those that centred heavily on words and language. At times, I wondered whether some pieces were interconnected or simply standalone, as the transitions weren’t always clear. A few had fantastic concepts, but ultimately dragged on without a strong payoff.

Stories I enjoyed:
- Mel for Melissa
- The Flood, the Tumble, the Talons, the Trick
- The Advocate

Stories with great potential but didn’t quite land for me:
- The Dizzy Room
- Approved Methods of Love Divination in the First-Rate City of Dushagorod
- Another Round Again

As for the rest, I unfortunately didn’t find myself connecting with them.

A wonderful collection that so magically captures both the horror and nostalgia of youth. With the short stories featuring the many games that children play, it captures the magic of being a child - a time when magic was real and with that came the doom of the unknown, of the what ifs that came with. A great collection that hits the nostalgia of childhood and the looming dread of adulthood.

I Liked the way the stories were written – in a funny way, very reminiscent of my childhood. I think younger people would have harder time to relate to some of the “games” and references in here, but I liked that aspect.
Some of the stories felt a bit too long, and others a bit too short. Most of them dragged and was kind of boring to me, since I’m more used to weirder stories, these were kind of bland. You can tell they are written by the same author, although they are very different genre wise.
Unfortunately, this was not the short story collection for me. My individual ratings are:
Keep tabs on you - 2.5/5 very on the nose metaphor
The Dizzy room - 4/5 A black mirror episode, this was the best story in my opinion
The curing - 3/5 A bit too long
Approved methods of love divination… - 4/5 I loved the way this was written, also reminded me of the love divinations we used to do as children, so fun
Bunny ears - 2.5/3 I love camp settings, but this was again too long that it dragged
Seven days in the kingdom of the Missplacer - 2/5 there was a big potential here, but it was in the other extremity – too short
Last letter first - DNF
Mel for Melissa - DNF at this point I was starting to be very annoyed with the stories
The flood the tumble the talons the trick - 3/5 this was very uncomfortable to read
The advocate - 2/5 I didn't like the way this story was written and I didn’t get the humor
Adjective - 2/5 good concepts
Another round again - DNF
Thank you to NetGalley and Stillhouse Press for providing me with the ARC.