REVIEW: “Katya’s Microscope” by Monica Joyce Evans

Review of Monica Joyce Evans, “Katya’s Microscope,” Small Wonders no. 4 (October 2023): 6-8 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

It’s lovely to see a story that showcases a child with chronic illness; it’s not representation that I see very often!

It’s a tough story to categorize, because even though we’re given quite an intimate view of Katya and her best friend (the narrator), it’s all channelled through the narrator’s experiences; so we are just as ignorant as she is. But it’s fragile and chilling and speculative in just the right way to make for a very satisfying read.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “To Serve the Emperor” by Damián Neri

Review of Damián Neri, “To Serve the Emperor,” Flash Fiction Online 133 (October 2024): 31-34 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Child harm, flesh eating.

Neri’s story is the sort that rests on the border of gross horror and psychological horror which sits very uncomfortably with me — I like the latter but not so much the former, but here it is the former that makes it the latter. It was entirely compelling and even if I wasn’t entirely happy reading it, I couldn’t look away.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Vinegar-Gurgle” by Andrew K Hoe

Review of Andrew K Hoe, “Vinegar-Gurgle,” Flash Fiction Online 133 (October 2024): 23-26 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Torture, racism.

Now this was horror: A gruesome glimpse into depravity. I struggled to find anything in any of the characters to approve of or sympathize with. The author’s note at the end of story was therefore quite important for me, to understand its purpose and inclusion in the issue: “The story
‘Vinegar-Gurgle’ was written as a way of dealing with two real-life Asian hate incidents.”

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Dissection of a Mermaid” by Wailana Kalama

Review of Wailana Kalama, “Dissection of a Mermaid,” Flash Fiction Online 133 (October 2024): 16-18 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Assault.

This is a step by step how-to guide for what it says in the title. The steps begin detailed and complicated and full of tips and tricks. In the end, the short, sharp staccato sentences are sparse and bare, their structure like a knife driving into your flesh.

It is very, very dark.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Little Whispers” by Christina Raia

Review of Christina Raia, “Little Whispers,” Luna Station Quarterly 59 (2024): 229-248 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I am unsure what to make of this story. Ava, the main character, is 12, but often felt quite a bit younger than that in her actions, reactions, and internal thoughts. At times it seemed like this was trying to be a horror story; at other times, it felt more like it was trying to subvert the usual horror tropes. The pacing was quite slow, and I ended up feeling like I was often waiting to find out what was going to happen. The unexpected turn at the end was sudden enough to be a bit nauseating. So all in all, I’m left rather uncertain.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment

REVIEW: “Dragons Over Cefalù” by Liv DeSimone

Review of Liv DeSimone, “Dragons Over Cefalù,” Luna Station Quarterly 59 (2024): 143-165 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Violence against women.

I struggled with what to put in the content note for this story, because it’s more than sexual harassment (what I initially had), but not quite sexual assault (what I toyed with). Whatever it is, it pervades the opening pages of the story so if that isn’t something for you, definitely avoid this story. The harassment feels like it isn’t that awful, because it isn’t quite assault, but the low-levelness of it ends up making it even worse, because as a reader, as a woman, I kept finding myself trying to normalize it, and that made it all the more awful. In the end, a quote from the story gave me what I needed: “After all, none of this had ever been about sex” (p. 162). It’s not about sex, it’s about violence, and power.

Normally I’m not a fan of using violence against women as a means of moving plot forward in a story, but there was something about this that worked. Two women’s separate revenges become intertwined,

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a comment