3.5*
this is a very interesting collection of short stories, all with bits of magical realism/fabulism mixed in. the writing is extremely beautiful and it’s very easy to get sucked into each of the stories. i found each of the characters to be very interesting, especially “the writer,” “mrs. randall,” and “rodney.” and, while reading, i was surprised by how much emotion i felt, and oftentimes i felt really anxious or sad while reading certain parts. the way Disney perfectly articulated loneliness and isolation really hit me hard, haha. however, this is an experimental debut, and while the stories are all connected, it wasn’t explained why they were connected. i did like the ideas being explored and feel like this is a really strong debut novel, but unfortunately i found that it lost steam after about half way.

thank you to netgalley for the ARC!!