A review by huncamuncamouse
Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins

5.0

This book is nothing short of spellbinding. I was actually starting to think that I simply didn't enjoy short story collections anymore. So many of the ones I've picked up recently have been total hit-or-misses; for every good story, there'd be a clunker. But in Battleborn, each of the stories is truly great (not just merely good). I had read and enjoyed Watkins's novel, "Gold Fame Citrus," but I found this to be an even stronger work with intriguing narrative voices, characters, and the reliable through-line of Nevada as a setting. I'm excited to continue to follow her career, and I'm encouraged to remember how much I love a consistent collection without any filler or gimmicks.