Sofia T. Romero’s debut collection, We Have Always Been Who We Are, contains a fantastic mix of stories. Here are my favorites:
My First Confession – A weird sorority initiation ceremony including a book of secrets. It all goes wrong when an “outsider” tries to join.
Ashes to Ashes – Oh my word, this was absolutely terrifying. A mother-in-law that will not give up her attempts at controlling her daughter-in-law, even after death.
No Good Answer – A cat enters a girl’s life, refuses to leave, makes her sleep on the floor. But compared to the treatment from her boyfriend, this seems kind!
Things I Will Never Get Back – A short piece containing some interesting thoughts about motherhood, and the futile ways we try to protect our children.
The Jars – Another creepy one. A couple go to a beach cabin, and begin to hear voices, the source of which is completely unexpected.
The Seal Queen – This was one of my favorites. A woman telling her granddaughter a story of a boy getting kidnapped by the Seal Queen.
You are Approaching Your Destination – Now this was absolutely heartbreaking! A girl with relationship problems, a weird man called Gabe trying to give people unsolicited Uber rides. “Sin amor, todo es nada.” Beautiful.
How Whales Came to Be – The collection ends on a gorgeous, whimsical tale about a herd of elephants making their way across the U.S. I enjoyed how this story expressed the strange ways families communicate with each other (awkward, mostly silent calls with moms, snarky texts with siblings).
This is a really exciting collection, with some incredibly original ideas. Yay for new short stories!
We Have Always Been Who We Are is out on October 10th, 2023. Thank you so much to Blackstone Publishing for the ARC.
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