Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - The Office of Historical Corrections

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The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

75 reviews

logsbooklog's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

a beautiful collection of short stories that i will be rotating in my head for the rest of my life. each one felt more earthshattering than the last, and there really are no duds here. evans has a way of writing where every story is like a puzzle box, where you slowly open piece by piece until you have the complete picture in front of you, and it makes every story a revelation.
i won’t be spoiling anything concrete, but i’ll be reviewing each story now and i recommend going in blend so it’s up to you if you wanna read further.

happily ever after-
not at all a dud, but maybe the weakest story here. it was short and sweet and well written, but did not leave me as much to chew on as the others

richard of york gave battle in vain-
this story definitely had something special to it, and is the first real knockout of the collection. and that ending is HAUNTING it will stick with me forever

boys go to jupiter-
this is the best story here. thinking about the layers of complexity and pain and trauma is literally nauseating, but it’s so moving and impassioned that it’s all worth it.

alcatraz-
this one left me feeling hollow, like a piece of my soul had been sucked out. it’s definitely the most simmering, pensive story here, but still just as deeply affecting.

why won’t women just say what they want-
another one i will be thinking about for a long time. it deals in themes of performance, forgiveness, and responsibility in such a unique and creative format, and the ending third contains so many concepts to pick apart

anything could disappear-
this def felt the most by the numbers conceptually, but the author takes it so many interesting places and her writing and skill at creating uncertainty carries what would ordinarily feel tropey

the office of historical corrections-
as the novella of the bunch, this undeniably has the most to chew on, which is fitting since it’s a mystery. the themes and once again the ending shine here, and the character writing excels in this longer format. id love to see a full novel in this style from evans one day.

overall, this collection is so worth your time if you want a thinker, and stories that will haunt you for days after finishing them. they’re incredible and revelatory in ways most full novels aren’t for me

Content Warnings

rafritz1's review

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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laguerrelewis's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Office of Historical Corrections is a collection of short stories about, fittingly, histories. The familial, the personal, the buried, the rewritten, and the ugly. It reflects on the history of Blackness in America—specifically, being a Black woman in America—and all the grief that comes with it. This left me tender and raw, but most importantly, I felt seen. I will be sure to seek out Evans’ writing in the future, and will likely revisit these stories often.

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