Rather than being simply a vehicle for plot, Chern’s writing sings with artful composition and delightful turns of phrase that not only make reading easy but pleasant, too.
Author Archives: Elisabeth Ring
‘Creek’ a Spooky Summer Tale of Grief and a Curse
In the same way grieving is often harder on anniversaries and holidays—times when things feel the same as always except for the loved one’s absence—Glory’s haunting of the titular town feels perfectly fitting in a metaphorical sense well before it becomes literally true.
‘Threads’ Uses Rugs to Step Back in Time
The rug in my dining room was mass produced and bought at a discount store. It’s a purely utilitarian object that I bought and put in my house to keep my dog from slipping on the fake hardwood while he recovered from a sports industry. If the cat barfs on it, fine. If food spillsContinue reading “‘Threads’ Uses Rugs to Step Back in Time”
‘Nightmare Box’ Tinged With Real-Life Horror and Fictional Justice
There are few happy endings in The Nightmare Box, though it does seem that Gómez intentionally left off on one of the more optimistic stories—an unexpected choice but one that ultimately informs the way we leave The Nightmare Box: Fully aware of the horrors, but pressing forward nonetheless.
In ‘Universes,’ Characterization is Constant Throughout Many Worlds
Though the universes are a little uneven in their execution, the book’s greatest weakness is giving us ten versions of Raffi’s life and finding our main character happy in none of them. Perhaps this is intentional commentary from North on how no singular choice in our lives can take us from sad to happy, or that our essence doesn’t change whether we live in a post-apocalyptic world or one in which our partner is pregnant with an octopus.
‘Sounds’ a Captivating Journey of Music and Devotion
This is not a story of the Soviet Union versus Arvo Pärt, but about an authoritarian regime demanding performative patriotism against those who have far more interesting things to think about.
‘Call Me Emma’ a Journey of Self-Discovery Amid Tougher Teenage Years
Call Me Emma is ultimately a story about identity, both who we choose to be and who the world will supposedly accept. It’s one of those apparently universal parts of growing up, but here, it’s more obvious than most.
‘Bat Eater’ Brings New Fears to Pandemic Lockdown
Bat Eater is a marvelous friendship bracelet of plot threads that sometimes take turns and sometimes work in tandem but are always engrossing, and all feel like facets of a terrifying and claustrophobic world.
‘Perspective(s)’ Gives Gossip Without the Guilt
The epistolary nature of Perspective(s), along with the framing of the letters as centuries-old discoveries, blunt the unfolding of the unhappier plot elements, letting us sit back and relish the political intrigue.
‘Birth Canal’ a Kaleidoscopic View of Obsession, Trauma
The most fascinating thing with Birth Canal as a whole is its dizzying range of vibes that can be pulled out of a narrow cast of characters in a handful of places and only a couple of eras in history.
Ring Reads 