Status Updates From Instructions on How to Disa...

do over 💪🏼

Will finish this tonight.

Rereading for the second time :)

Rereading for the 2nd time.

Oh my gahd, Jonse :(

“Dr. Lopez idly wondered why the Lady President never got her mole surgically removed.”

The first story was really good :( I love the imagery

6th of 11 stories. I need to get through this before the huge tsunami of monthend workload comes. RAWR!

2 out of 10 stories and my reading groove is distracted kasi huhuhu whyyyy this book so hard to love huhu

I can actually finish it tonight (two stories left), but I think I'll hold back for another day. This book ended too early.

Dear Ma'am Lee, if you ever see this, please know I don't ever want to finish reading this book and I wish I could read it again for the first time.

I skipped to the last story, same title as the book, I almost cried, it was so beautiful. So affecting. I've forgotten the pleasure of words. I wish I got her as a prof (I was unsuccessful; she rejected me at prerog). She's spectacular. I need to breathe.

Not a recommended follow-up after a heavy novel. Book hangover is real.

The titular story of this anthology was quite elegantly woven. Lee knows how to capture heartbreak and vulnerability in such splendid prose. This was a great collection.

Eyes Wide as the Sky was searing and gorgeously well-crafted. It was too soon to end and yet its brevity is what allowed it to linger in the mind.

August Moon is splendid. I enjoyed the way the prose flowed and the poignancy of it all.

The Nameless Ones doesn't really work as a standalone because it feels like a chapter of a longer story. But I enjoyed it enough.

I'm not really sure what to say about Honesty Hour. It was weird and really out of there. I don't know if I even like it or not. That being said, Lee's prose is still engrossing.

Capture was enigmatic. Just as uncomfortable to read as the last story Hunger. I don't know what is happening half the time and yet I also know I am deeply sad all of a sudden.

HUNGER was simply extraordinary, an amazing twist in the manananggal mythos. The prose was lush and teeming with poignancy. And it was written in second-person POV too ☆♡ I think Gabriella Lee is my newest favorite female speculative fictionist next to Eliza Victoria.

Tabula Rasa was harrowing and devastating! The symbolism where a girl consumes her lover's memories every time they make love and he orgasms is quite unforgettable and a little worrisome. It struck deep. It also creeped me out.

The Side of the Looking Glass was a nice wish fulfilment story. I of course related to it since it was told in the perspective of a fat girl. But the ending was uplifting at least. I liked it.

That second story was intriguing. I like the futuristic set-up. The pacing was okay but the descriptions were rich and incredible.

The first story Bargains was solemn and haunting. The theme reminded me a lot about the wish-granter Yuuko Ichihara from xxxHOLIC so naturally I found the story phenomenal. Lee's prose flows with rhythm and purpose that has hypnotized me throughout. Truly remarkable ♡

Every short story has been an awesome read so far. Love it.

Unrelated to the book, but Goodreads really shouldn't give entering the page number as an option for progress updates when a book doesn't have an indicated page count - just the UX developer in me getting bothered, don't mind me, haha.

If you want to read short stories but engaging... you totally need to read this.