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magis1105's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
rystonlentil43's review
2.75
It's hard to sum up a collection in one review, but overall I felt disappointed by this book... I appreciated the variety of characters and premises, but a lot of the more interesting stories seemed truncated like they weren't best suited to the short story format, and I don't think any really stuck in my mind (though many individual stories I'd rate higher than 2.75).
jayra's review
1.0
I love Short Stories in general but was intrigued based on the title and because it was cheap in amazon?
Unfortunately, this book was not in it for me, it definitely did not bring me to better place. And I find myself struggling to finish this book. so, yeah.
Unfortunately, this book was not in it for me, it definitely did not bring me to better place. And I find myself struggling to finish this book. so, yeah.
evamarina's review
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
I only read the short story set in the Murderbot world, Obsolescence, and it was a fantastic murder mystery, set at the beginning of human space expansion and it was so good!
beulah_devaney's review
Despite skipping two of the stories I think this might be one of the best short story collections I've read in years? Maybe since The Bloody Chamber?? Just to unpack that a bit: I always skip at least one short story in a multi-author collection. So skipping in this doesn't mean anything beyond the topics dealt with weren't for me.
The theme of the book is vaguely-hopeful-dystopian-health-futures. So we've got rich white guys building their own altruistic bubble worlds, epic data-mining of individual health decisions, rising sea levels, content creators turning investigative journalists, climate change and plagues, plagues, plagues. It's a bizarre mixture of cynicism, doomsaying, optimism and truly gorgeous illustrations.
On paper I know why this worked for me: I love speculative fiction but I don't love being miserable. I like a complex theme with a clear story arc. I worry about climate change and privacy and isolation in a social media world but I also want to believe that there could be solutions to these problems. But also, on a more fundamental level, I'm genuinely surprised how much I loved this collection. I've been on a two year comfort-read kick and it was kind of a relief to read a collection of stories about such intense topics and come out smiling at the other end of it.
wunder's review
3.0
Oddly, this did not take me to a better place. Some of the stories were downers, others more stopped than ended. All of the science fiction stories were better than the non-genre stories. Maybe SF authors have more experience at weaving a topic into a story.
But none of the stories were five-star for me. The anthology is supposed to revolve around the Culture of Health idea from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I couldn't see any common threads beyond "health" being part of the plots. I could give the whole thing 3.5 stars, but without a standout, I'm rounding down.
For an anthology that really does take you to a better place (mostly), I recommend "Consolation Songs: Optimistic Speculative Fiction For A Time of Pandemic". https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54327781-consolation-songs
But none of the stories were five-star for me. The anthology is supposed to revolve around the Culture of Health idea from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I couldn't see any common threads beyond "health" being part of the plots. I could give the whole thing 3.5 stars, but without a standout, I'm rounding down.
For an anthology that really does take you to a better place (mostly), I recommend "Consolation Songs: Optimistic Speculative Fiction For A Time of Pandemic". https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54327781-consolation-songs
snuzzbobble's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
cgoiris's review
3.0
It's more like a 3.5 really.
Of course, in an anthology you're always going to find stories you like better than others. Most of these had some valuable contemplations about the roles of community, (income) inequality, politics,... in health outcomes.
It's a free read (no, really!) so I'd still recommend this to anyone who might be interested in contemplating the future of our healthcare system through different angles and prompts.
However, I felt like there was still something missing from this whole book. I sort of missed seeing authors like Tara Moss here, someone whose perspective would be influenced by their lived experience as a chronically ill author. I don't know every writer's lived experience but somehow still felt like this was missing.
Of course, in an anthology you're always going to find stories you like better than others. Most of these had some valuable contemplations about the roles of community, (income) inequality, politics,... in health outcomes.
It's a free read (no, really!) so I'd still recommend this to anyone who might be interested in contemplating the future of our healthcare system through different angles and prompts.
However, I felt like there was still something missing from this whole book. I sort of missed seeing authors like Tara Moss here, someone whose perspective would be influenced by their lived experience as a chronically ill author. I don't know every writer's lived experience but somehow still felt like this was missing.