This was a unique collection of short stories that drew primarily from Malaysian (I want to say that it’s predominantly Malaysian Chinese) culture and folklore. It took some getting used to the heavy use of what I discovered was Manglish (Malaysian English)—which has its own linguistic rules—but it added a lot of charm and nuance to the stories that featured this creole language. In addition, Cho’s storytelling is vibrant, clever, and playful, which I think really comes through in her characters (the overwhelming majority of them being girls and women) and their interactions with one another.

The particular edition I read included short stories that were not published in the original edition. Yet, I felt the flow from one story to the next worked really well, which I think reflects Cho’s interests in the kinds of stories she wants to tell. Like most other collections, I didn’t particularly find myself invested in every short story, but I will say the ones that stood out were especially remarkable. I was particularly taken to “The House of Aunts” and “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again.” The latter short story—which justifiably won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette back in 2019—was a bit of an anomaly in this collection, specifically drawing from Korean mythology as opposed to Malaysian.