Carniepunk

Carniepunk ed. by Rachel Caine

Link to Blurb

I don't think I'm ever going to be able to look at a carnival the same way again. This is definitely a dark read, with shades of horror, lots of creepy, and a few lighter moments that serve to highlight the darkness.

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"Painted Love" by Rob Thurman (Rating: 🍁🍁🍁🍁)

Very enjoyable standalone story. Like with so many of Ms. Thurman's stories, I can't say much without giving it away, but definitely one of the best in the anthology.

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"The Three Lives of Lydia" by Delilah S. Dawson (Rating: 🍁🍁🍁)

If you're not familiar with Ms. Dawson's Blud series, I suspect that this story will make little sense. If you are, you're in for a treat. Trigger warning for self-harm, though.

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"The Demon Barker on Wheat Street" by Kevin Hearne (Rating: 🍁🍁🍁🍁)

Again, this is part of Hearne's Iron Druid series and probably less enjoyable if you're not already familiar with it. Slightly creepier than the rest of the series, but still one of the lighter reads in the anthology thanks mostly to Oberon the Irish Wolfhound. I love that dog, and he really shines in this short story.

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"The Sweeter the Juice" by Mark Henry (Rating: 🍁🍁)

Strange. Strange and slightly confusing. The story takes place in the post-zombie apocalyptic world, among the trans community struggling to qualify for gender reassignment surgery. There's some kind of purple juice that turns people into ghouls? And a wonder drug? That can only be produced by trans people? Or for trans people? It was a fascinating world, but I really only had a vague idea of what was going on.

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"Werewife" by Jaye Wells (Rating: 🍁🍁🍁)

I finished reading this one with no real sense of who I was supposed to root for. Since it was about the dissolution of a marriage, that's probably pretty accurate and kudos to Ms. Wells for avoiding the demonization of either party. But it left me kind of unsatisfied at the end.

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"The Cold Girl" by Rachel Caine (Rating: 🍁🍁🍁🍁)

I'm not a huge fan of Rachel Caine's work, but this story was wonderful! Dark, raw and empowering. I would say it's the best story in the anthology.

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"A Duet with Darkness" by Allison Pang (Rating: 🍁🍁🍁)

Another story that's part of a larger series. Since I haven't read it, there were elements of this story that didn't quite make sense to me, though I'm sure they would to those who have. Still, it was well written and interesting, without a lot of the creep factor present in most of the other contributions to this anthology.

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"Parlor Trick" by Jennifer Estep (Rating: 🍁🍁🍁)

Part of the Elemental Assassin series, with all of the elements that I enjoy about it and none of the rage-inducing back story repetition.

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"Feral House" by Kelly Meding (Rating: 🍁🍁🍁)

I really hope this becomes a series! What a fun world, full of characters begging for further exploration.

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"Daughter of the Midway, The Mermaid, and The Open Lonely Sea" by Seanan McGuire (Rating: 🍁🍁🍁🍁)

Anything Seanan McGuire writes is pure gold. This standalone story was haunting, and beautiful, and sad, and wonderful.

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The anthology also contained "The Inside Man" by Nicole Peeler, "Recession of the Divine" by Hillary Jacques, "A Chance in Hell" by Jackie Kessler, and "Hell's Menagerie" by Kelly Gay. They may all be wonderful stories, or they may be awful. I don't know as they didn't manage to capture me in the first couple of pages so I skipped them.