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A review by roach
Unknown Number by Blue Neustifter
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
like a butterfly flapped its wings and so I took estrogen
Unknown Number is a short story that was originally published as mock-up text message screenshots through a Twitter thread and is, as of writing this review, now in the finals for a Hugo Award.
I stumbled over it by pure chance and it intrigued me to read that a literary text released via a social media platform like this made it so far in this fairly prestigious awards ceremony.
The original post of the story is still available here [ https://twitter.com/Azure_Husky/status/1420177933826732034?s=20&t=kTeU3GMTrLutK2MntHRZnA ] and as you can probably imagine, it's a quick read. Around 60 screenshots of fictional text messages chronicling a conversation between two people.
The concept is pretty clever and brings some good perspectives on gender identity and roads not taken. It's clear that this story reflects the experience of real people in a way and it does a good job at making it accessible to the reader.
Minor: Dysphoria