I am going to go back through my updates so I can include thoughts on each short story, later. (UPDATES BELOW)

For now, I will say- this is an eclectic mix of short stories with similar themes in different styles (fantasy, horror, realistic fiction, etc). There are some that were more to my taste than others.

For the final story, The Lost Roads, I don't know if it's the state of things in the US, or thinking of the incredibly rural area that I live in, but as much as I want to believe in a world free of cars where food is grown in every neighborhood & asphalt is ripped up to be restored to native plants, I just feel too heavy in my heart right now to believe it, even though I'm potentially one of the biggest native plant advocates you may ever meet.

There's a lot of beautiful hope mixed in with the dread & despair in these stories. Much like Sim's debut DEPART, DEPART! they excel at taking heavy, difficult topics & providing much-needed hope & light to keep it from feeling overly oppressive.

I'm a big fan of Sim's writing & am grateful to their publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

*UPDATES FOR EACH STORY BELOW (roughly in order - last story is above)*
The Propagator: yesss plant crimes & reproductive care in an uncaring government!

The Listener: I wish I could hear the trees too