Power to Yield and Other Stories by Bogi Takács

Power to Yield and Other Stories Reviews

• 
  Bogi Takács

  My new short story collection, coming on Nov 7 2023 in both paperback and hardcover! Let me know if you'd like a review copy. :)
  ____
  Source of the book: I wrote it
• 
  M

  
  🌟10 speculative fictions I read and loved in 2023🌟
  
  Since the moment I opened “Power to Yield and Other Stories” by Bogi Takács, I would wait, each day, for evening to come so I could read another one of the stories. This didn’t happen to me in a while with short story collections, so what was the reason I was so pulled towards it? Probably the unique combination of speculative fiction from a particularly queer, neurodivergent, Jewish point-of-view, which added multiple layers to each and every story. We’ve got an AI with a soul who reads the Torah; a mother-turned-plant as her non-binary child is dealing with their bar mitzvah; a queer mage couple separated by a war; riots started from mysterious reasons; living vampire-like houses and their tenants; an intergalactic interspecies Pride parade in Győr (in Hungary!) and a planet that asks too much of some of its residents – just to name a few!
  
  “Plantiness” is one of the first states I observed as particular to this collection, the recurrent theme of plant-being finding itself in at least three stories. One of them is “Folded into Tendril and Leaf”, which I loved. It tells the story of queer love between two mages, of whom one becomes a water caltrop for much too long: “I gradually eased into the days and into my new existence. The pain not so acute, the pain in the soul. The lesson being learned deep in the body.” I can’t help but think of Natasha Myer’s work on the Planthroposcene and her concept of “becoming sensor”, “vegetalizing” and plant-feeling, which I encountered working on
  this video-essay on plants. Plant-time and plant-feeling are touched upon, again, in the stories “And I Entreated” (which delves into family dynamics with a Jewish non-binary child) and the very short, poetic and fantastical “The Third Extension”.
  
  Another main theme is difference and identity of multiple kinds – in culture, sex, gender, class, language, body/mind. Neurodivergence as we know it is a close cousin to what is fittingly termed “cognotype distribution” in a universe of multiple species. This attention to the different ways the mind might work pops up a lot, as does the experience of being Jewish and/or queer and being perceived as such by others (who might look upon with recognition or judgment, as is the case in “On Good Friday the Raven Washes Its Young”).
  
  In “Volatile Patterns” we have a clash of cultures – a couple who are called māwalēni in their own language and “wizards” otherwise, investigate the causes of a mysterious riot. It turns out to be both a disturbing and fascinating case of cultural appropriation. The difficulties of intercultural communication are further explored in “The 1st Interspecies Solidarity Fair and Parade”, where after multiple alien(s) invasions, a call for peace and discussion is made, brought forth by a disabled character and an extraterrestrial sphere – in the fields of future Hungary! I loved reading such a story set in Eastern Europe, and only wish that “interspecies solidarity” would include non-human animals as well.
  
  One of the most interesting stories, to me, was “A Technical Term, Like Privilege”, which intersects class, species, status and gender in such an interesting manner that it would prove a striking discussion start for a study group. Within this story-world, house-beasts feed on the blood of their tenants – until one of them rebels, not wishing to give up all of his life-energy just to have a roof above his head. What a metaphor, right? Staring into your face is a scream against the housing crisis, but a beastly sort of scream, with the house and the tenant in unison against the profit-makers.
  
  The collection ends with short content notices as some difficult themes are touched upon and bonus notes about the author’s inspiration for each story – which I always like reading, ever since I first found them in one of Ted Chiang’s books. I was very excited to be able to read “Power to Yield and Other Stories” before its publication as I was sent a digital copy from the author for an honest review, which is a small price to pay for such a queer wonder of a book!
  
  You’ll like this if: You love short speculative fiction written with attention to difference, identity and power, and are totally into reading what’s written from a queer neurodivergent Jewish perspective. Also if you wonder what it would be like to be a plant. And you hate paying rent.
• 
  Kaa

  4.5 rounded up, because I think the stories in this collection will stick with me. I've been a fan of Takács's writing for a while, and had previously read both "Four Point Affective Calibration" and "The Power to Yield", but all the other stories were new to me. I enjoyed that there were several Ereni stories here, as I hadn't previously realized that this was a larger continuity; now I really want a full collection of stories from this storyverse! Highly recommend this collection, both for readers who already enjoy Takács's work and for new readers who enjoy imaginative stories exploring themes of identity, communication, power, and resistance.
  
  Thanks to NetGalley and Broken Eye Books for providing an eARC.
• 
  Zoe Kaplan

  Absolutely fabulous. I’m going to make every parent I know read “And I Entreated”
• 
  Alexandra

  Bogi Takács sent me a copy of eir book, and I'm totally stoked I got my (electronic) hands on it.
  
  Takács writes in a variety of styles across these stories. Some are fantastical, some more science-y, and many refuse classification. There are a few themes that recur: the question of identity - how we think about our own, what it informs it, how it changes the way the world approaches us - was what stood out the most, to me. There's also a lot of questioning of authority and power, in terms of who has it, how it's used, how it can or should be controlled/mitigated/ challenged. All of which is show that Takács doesn't shy away from being provocative - but it's never about just being provocative: there's a purpose to it, because at heart it feels to me (an educator) that e is an educator - educating people about how the world and people do, could, and perhaps should function, through eir fiction. Which is not to say that the stories feel in the least bit didactic, or preachy, or anything like that! It's more the vibe I took away from the collection as a whole.
  
  A few favourites, not exhaustive:
  
  "A Technical Term, Like Privilege" - not the sort of story I expect to be grabbed by, because it does have body horror as a fairly integral idea (this is me avoiding phrases like "I was absorbed by this story" because... well, story-reasons). However, the way Takács uses the issues of class and other privilege as part of the discussion is totally up my alley, and works brilliantly.
  
  "Power to Yield" - I haven't read any of Takács' other Eren stories (except those collected here), so there were a few moments where I felt a bit adrift; nonetheless, it didn't actually take away from my appreciation of the story and the characters. As with "A Technical Term," this has more violence/ bodily harm than I would generally expect a story that I was moved by to include. But it does, and I was moved; this is a story that will stay with me a for a long time. How to build a new society, how to deal with what's left from the old society, how to balance the needs/the good of the few and the whole... Takács doesn't offer any easy answers to such questions, but it's brilliant to see them confronted.
  
  "Folded into Tendril and Leaf" - another one that includes bodily harm and warfare, and now I'm seeing an unexpected pattern! Anyway: magic, love, identity, dual perspectives; this is brilliant.
  
  I read this collection quite slowly, because many of the stories require thinking and reflection and I didn't want to short-change them, or myself, by simply powering through. Some of them are quite heavy in terms of the issues discussed (violence, various types of discrimination), and some are on the denser side in style (in a good way!), so ditto on the short-changing.
• 
  Kamilė

  "I always told myself I was focusing on my studies, that was why I couldn't pay attention to politics. But politics had spattered me in blood and left people dying in my arms."
  
  "Power to Yield" is a compelling collection of sci-fi works that introduces some interesting concepts while staying grounded in reality. You can clearly tell how Takács's lived experiences influence eir storytelling - subjects of gender, sexuality, religion, and culture are interwoven throughout, exploring how one's identity and attitude toward it would change (or stay the same) through the lens of alien life and technological developments.
  
  The common thread in each of the short stories is community and communication, yet each approach is distinct, and Takács gives distinct voices to eir cast of characters, some being closer reflections of em than others. The stories lean more heavily to light sci-fi and I quite enjoyed the touch of likening what would typically be written as "superhuman powers" to magic, combining the futurism of sci-fi with tropes more common in fantasy. My favourite story from the bunch was "Folded into Tendril and Leaf", which was one of the few to lean into the magic of it all. The concepts were captivating enough that I'd love to read long-form stories set in the same universes, regardless if they'd follow the same cast of characters or explore different scenes.
  
  Thanks to NetGalley and Broken Eye Books for the arc.
• 
  Zsófi

  I've never dived into Bogi's work in depth, I've read an essay here and there, and a short story in a hungarian anthology, but that's about it. The cover got my attention on NetGalley, it's absolutely stunning, and clicking on it made me realise who the author was. I thought I didn't really have time to schedule it between the holidays, but here I am, finished with this being the last book of 2023. And it was amazing.
  
  Its a really niche problem, but I always find the usage of Hungarian language, let it be names or "exotic magic spells" really weird in English language literature. It always felt like bonus diversity points. Here, I was proven that they actually are. Because if you touch them with understanding and care:
  . you can have an extremely meaningful part amplified - like naming a character Sulyom, which is not a currently applicable name by hungarian standards, but might as well be, it fits extremely well with other plants used as names
  . or you can have an absolutely hilarious crazy idea and it makes sense - like naming the local witch Sanyi, or the alien who gets compared to a cat Lukrécia - which I think is a reference to this black cat from an oldschool hungarian cartoon called Frakk, the Cats' Nightmare:
  
  
  This collection is full of suprises. Sometimes, we get a story which is a rewarding puzzle to figure out what's going on, sometimes it's straightforward and emotional and I wish they would be longer. My favorite was "And I Entreated", which displays a little bit disfunctional family, where everybody wants to do the best and it just doesnt work, because we fail to listen - and teaching in a kind way that we can always strive for better.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and Broken Eye Books for providing the ARC!
• 
  Laura

  4.5, rounding up. Before picking up Power to Yield and Other Stories, I had read one story by Bogi Takács before in an anthology (Xenocultivars) and really enjoyed it - it was one of my favourites. When I saw the chance to read an entire collection of eirs I was really happy and requested it immediately. While inevitably, with any collection there are some stories that I liked more than others, there is no 'filler' here - the stories fit together without feeling repetitive and all are compelling in one way or another. I find Bogi Takács' work very thoughtful and thought-provoking, particularly around themes of identity and power. There is so much diverse representation here that I appreciate.
  
  I will mention here some of my absolute favourites:"The First Interspecies Solidarity Fair and Parade," "Folded into Tendril and Leaf" (the story I'd read previously in Xenocultivars), "And I Entreated," "An Errand Holy Spark," and the first story in the collection "Four-Point Affective Calibration" which let me know I was in for a great read.
  
  Content warnings: violence, war, imprisonment, self-harm, blood, injury detail, colonialism, harm to non-human animals, mentions of antisemitism, classism, cissexism / transphobia, ableism, S/M in a non-sexual context. NOTE: the author provides a list of content warnings story by story at the back of the book. I have here adjusted the terms slightly just so that my StoryGraph and Goodreads reviews are consistent, but please do consult the author's own list if you have concerns - e even bolds the titles of the stories that are most content-heavy, which is thoughtful and something I wish more authors bothered to do.
  
  Thank you to Broken Eye Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
• 
  BookishlyJewish

  This review first appeared on my blog
  BookishlyJewish Check it out for similar books and reviews.
  
  I’d like to get something out of the way before I review Power To Yield, the most recent short story collection from Bogi Takács. I was insanely flattered when the author filled out the BookishlyJewish Suggest a Book Form, and even provided a brief explanation of eir work as if I was not already a raging fan of eirs. So I went into this reading feeling pretty pumped, but also having read some of the stories in their original venues. It was intriguing to see them laid out in this way and several stories were new to me as I did not have access to them prior. The forward by Ada Hoffmann is dead on about Takács employing perspective in a unique way. The reader will encounter human perspectives that are orthodox, queer, neurodivergent, disabled, and many other things. And that's before we get to the perspectives of AI, aliens, and plants. There are even humans that become plants ( twice!!!). 
  
  As a writer, I’ve long struggled with the fear that the perspective I write from may not be welcome, or that every sale is just a fluke, and the novelty will soon pass for editors. It doesn’t help that I once got a rejection calling the setting of the women’s mikvah “exotic."  As if a tradition still practiced by millions of people worldwide is nothing more than an endangered species spotted in a zoo. So to see Takács in And I Entreated have the main character describe another character with the phrase “They davka looked Jewish,” was particularly special for me. Like choke on water going up my nose in surprise special. Because migration is another one of Takács's themes and that phrase is the language of home to me. It tells me that not only can I tell my stories, I should be doing so in my own words. 
  
  I suspect a lot of people will favor the title story Power to Yield, and for good reason. It includes aro/ace characters with varying cognotypes that we Earth dwellers would likely call neurodivergence, engaging in a magical form of BDSM for ethically complicated reasons. They acknowledge that their choices are flawed, but still the best they can make at this time because sometimes freedom requires certain compromises. It’s the type of story that you sink into and think about for a good long while after finishing it. But it was not my favorite. That particular award goes to An Errant Holy Spark. 
  
  An Errant Holy Spark, on it's surface is about an AI, the people that invent AI, and alien communication. This is all good stuff, but that’s not why it’s my favorite story from the collection. I really, really enjoyed the character of Dani, a trans Jew who teaches the AI about Torah and why G-d bestowed a divine spark upon an AI. When the arrtificial intelligence comments,
  
  "Mother always tried to look “American,” as she put it. Dani looked American
  and wore all this ethnic clothing. I could not figure this out for years."
  
  - it really encapsulated why varying perspectives are valuable in story telling. I loved that line, but when Dani says -
  
  “I was thrown out of an Orthodox synagogue, not all of
  Judaism itself. That would be quite a feat! .... I’m too Orthodox still to be Reform, ....Too trans to be Orthodox, at least in their eyes. And I believe because it feels right.” (The ... represents text I removed for brevitys sake ).
  
  - I felt a whole lot of feelings that are not easily quantified. It was like a dagger through the heart and a hug all at the same time. In a good way. I could see why the aliens chose to communicate with Dani specifically. I suspect I’d enjoy communicating with them too. Alas, they are fictional and rading the story is as close as I'll get.
  
  This is a book that will challenge ones own perspective even as it validates it. There are things to laugh about, things to ponder, things to make a person wonder in the best sense of the world. Your favorites will be different than mine, and that's cool, because we each have our own perspective and voice that we bring to reading too. That's the real take away here. That all these different ways of seeing the are valid.
  
  Note: BookishlyJewish received a free e-arc of this book from the author through our Suggest A Book form.
• 
  Aliya

  This collection of stories contains both strong and average stories. The collection itself opens with Four-Point Affective Calibration, which, for me, sets the tone for the entire anthology.
  I enjoyed some stories, some of them were good, and some were okay, but, overall, it was a good collection of stories and I would like to read more by Bogi Takács.
  Thanks Netgalley and Broken Eye Books for the ARC of this book.
• 
  Littlebookterror

  A spectacular speculative collection that highlights diverse, intersectional characters and unique worlds while exploring the human condition.
  
  I love how so many of eir pieces center communication and conflict resolution as their central themes and focus on how the lives of each protagonist shape the narrative itself. You can see it in Four-Point Affective Calibration where our protagonist is frustrated by how much they have to compensate and pick themselves apart to be heard and accepted. Or how in Folded into Tendril and Leaf, one character is changing into a tree, both physically, and later on, mentally. Their neurodivergence, Jewish identity and physical difference shape their interactions with the world.
  We also have several pieces where aliens are coming into contact with humans with varying degrees of success. From unwanted housing situations to unique consciousnesses and recourse-seekers, their interactions are all different but relatable. It's easy to understand where they are arguing from even if a solution might be harder to find.
  
  Some of the stories (Four-Point Affective Calibration, An Errant Holy Spark)
  also address a “you”, the reader or another person present in the text, something I always love and adds another meta-textual layer to a story.
  
  
  Sometimes, worldbuilding can feel gimmicky when authors are trying to inclusitivity but Takács does it effortlessly, naturally. It's entwined with the narrative and not an afterthought. I particularly enjoyed that Jewish identity and practices were involved since (real-world) religions are often forgotten in SFF books.
  As with all collections/anthologies, I read, I am always excited when a foreword or commentary is included to give an insight into the creation of the pieces or why they were chosen – this one has both!
  
  
  Four-Point Affective Calibration | ★★★✩✩
  about a person transcribing their thoughts through prompts for a screening, discussing the assumption of others and having to placate strangers, microaggressions and more.
  
  An Errant Holy Spark | ★★★★✩
  a kidnapping case where the protagonist thinks about his existence and which is addressed towards “you” the kidnapper.
  
  And I Entreated | ★★★★✩
  A mother turned houseplant navigating her temporary sedentary life with her child's upcoming bar mitzvah.
  
  Folded into Tendril and Leaf | ★★★✩✩
  About two mage students who are in love where one turns into a tree for two long to avoid an upcoming war
  
  The Third Extension | ★★★★✩
  A short piece about exclusion and trying to survive under scrutiny.
  
  
  On Good Friday the Raven Washes Its Young | ★★★✩✩
  An outsider finding kindship in an unexpected place.
  
  Volatile Patterns | ★★★✩✩
  A courthouse proceeding in which magic channelling clothing patterns are at the centre of discussion.
  
  The Ladybug, In Flight | ★★★★✩
  A hivemind meeting a human.
  
  The 1st Interspecies Solidarity Fair and Parade | ★★★✩✩
  An unlikely team are travelling through Hungary and hoping to start peaceful communications with the new aliens arriving while making friends along the way.
  
  A Technical Term, Like Privelege | ★★★★✩
  On the surface, it's about a blood-sucking sentient housebeast but it's also a discussion on perceived and true privilege while being stuck.
  
  
  Power to Yield | ★★★★✩
  A novella-length tale about a research project turning into a life-long vocation – kinship or obsession? The complexity of human natures.
  
  
  
  
  I received an advanced reading copy from Broken Eye Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Danielle

  Thank you to NetGalley and Broken Eye Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
  
  Average rating: 3.97
  
  I really enjoyed this short story collection. It's light speculative fiction but what makes it unique is its focus on various kinds of disability and mental illness, Judaism, and gender. Almost every story features a queer character, many have a disabled character, and a few heavily feature Jewish traditions. Some of the stories are located in or reference Hungary as well. I don't fit into any of these identities myself so a lot of these stories were very eye-opening for me. I didn't understand all the Jewish references so I had to Google a bit, and learned a lot!
  
  I will say that I generally preferred the shorter stories in this collection. My favorite story is actually less than 2 pages long ("The Third Extension" - I honestly couldn't tell you what it was about but the vibes are immaculate)! I feel like Takács is great at depicting unique worlds and perspectives with very few words. The other top stories for me were "An Errant Holy Spark" (about AI with a Jewish twist), "Volatile Patterns" (about the dangers of cultural appropriation across alien species), and "A Technical Term, like Privilege" (about a renter tired of giving blood to their landlord / housebeast). All three of these tackle real world issues within a unique speculative context, which is one of my favorite things.
  
  Sadly, the title story, "Power to Yield", was my least favorite of the collection by far. It was also the longest, at about three times the length of most of the other stories, so it was a struggle for me to get through. I had no idea what was going on as nothing was explained in a straightforward manner and was just alluded to. It felt really uncomfortable in a way that I'm pretty sure the author intended, but I honestly wouldn't have understood it at all without the context from the author's notes at the end of the book (which are great!) and the foreword from Ada Hoffmann at the beginning, both of which explain it briefly.
  
  I'm sad that none of my libraries have this and it seems to be difficult to obtain for most people. But if you can get your hands on this, I highly recommend it! I would definitely be interested in reading more of Bogi Takács's work in the future.
• 
  Ian Mond

  I’ve been aware of Bogi and eir work for several years, but (and I say this far too often, to the degree I could cut and paste it in half my reviews) this, eir’s second collection, is my first exposure to Bogi’s work. The book collects thirteen stories that were originally published in a diverse range of anthologies and magazines, including Fireside Magazine, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, Mother of Invention and Rebuilding Tomorrow. What struck me about Bogi’s fiction is that it’s inherently kind. Even the darker pieces (with one exception that I will get to) are threaded with compassion for the marginalised, for those who have regularly found themselves on the fringes of the mainstream. The story that brought that home to me was “And I Entreated”, which is about a trans-teen learning his bar-mitzvah portion in his bedroom, which is located on a space station and whose mother- our point of view character - has recently been transformed into a houseplant. It’s not as surreal as that sounds, but rather a heartfelt, personal piece that explores the tension between religion — in this case, Judaism — and the recognition of intersex and trans-folk. I also loved the delightful “The 1st Interspecies Solidarity Fair and Parade” and the funny “Volatile Patterns”. But I enjoyed all the stories. My one reservation is with the title tale, “Power to Yeild”, a novella that centres on torture, pain and pleasure (essentially, the main character willingly goes through an excruciating process to control the magical forces that govern their world). It’s not my thing, but others mileage may vary. Overall, this is a strong collection. Well worth your time.
• 
  Niké

  Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.
  
  There were stories in this book I really enjoyed, in particular "And I Entreated". I loved the concept of being stuck as a plant and how all of the characters were affected by it somehow. I also liked “The 1st Interspecies Solidarity Fair and Parade” especially its setting and the community the characters built for themselves. At last, and probably my favourite from all the stories, was "Power to Yield". It's a novella and I feel its length was great enough to build the characters, which was something that made me like it much more than the stories which didn't have that opportunity. It also dealt a lot with ableism and neurodivergency and I really loved Oyārun as a character.
  The overall writing of this book was excellent, flowy and focused on the characters, it was easy to read in most parts.
  But I still struggled to get through some of the stories and while the ones I mentioned were great, the whole impression I was left with after finishing this book was simply okay.
• 
  E.D.E. Bell

  I always love Bogi Takács's writing, and this new collection elevates on every level. The art, the weaving between tale and inspiration, the spin through dream and water of eir stories always makes me feel more connected, more mortal, and thus more alive. And in that: calm. Peace and control within the storm. The choice to love and the choice to break. The essence of our existence. Power to Yield and Other Stories is an invitation to insight, an invitation to joy.
  
  Regarding content notices: There were moments that came close to hard-learned guidelines for my own care. That said - something I have learned through my own experiences with ptsd is that the measure of content is vastly affected by the understanding of trust, the meaning of message! A theme? A good theme, I think.
• 
  Liz

  Takács is such an extraordinary writer and ey bring eir Judaism into the stories in a way that makes me not actually get hung up on weird questions and actually just embrace the realness because ey include but don’t infodump. It’s just part of the background fabric of the incredibly strange and moving and complicated stories.
• 
  Maria Haskins

  A collection of speculative fiction short stories with a truly original take on the genre. There is depth and beauty in each story here, and each story makes me feel like I'm seeing new worlds, characters, and places through new eyes.
• 
  Frankie Sellitto

  Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review.
  
  I have thoroughly enjoyed this collection, but I had to put down the arc due to the terrible formatting. A more detailed review will come once the book officially come out.
• 
  Max

  4.5/5
• 
  Elizabeth

  I want to rate this 4.5 stars.
  
  I struggle with short story as a genre, so I want to be clear upfront that my primary complaint with the book is that of genre and not a reflection on the author. I have long covid and struggle with memory and task-switching. Immersion takes a lot of cognitive effort for me so I prefer to stick to longform fiction where I find the cognitive effort pays off more reliably.
  
  This collection has some real bangers. I loved "Folded into tendril and leaf", "The 1st interspecies solidarity fair and parade", and "Power to yield". They've really stuck with me - in the months since I read this book I have thought about each of these stories so many times and my appreciation of them has intensified.
  
  Generally speaking, I preferred the longer stories, though I did like "The ladybug, in flight" which was quite short.
  
  My reactions to the stories ranged from "loved it" to "meh". I realize that doesn't sound like praise but as far as short story collections go, this is the most favourable I ever am about short story collections. None of the stories were actively bad, which stands out for me as somebody who generally doesn't like short stories!
  
  My primary complaint about the book is the ordering of the stories. I found the first few stories "meh" and think I probably would have benefited from reading them in a different order than what was presented. If this hadn't been a book club pick I don't think I would have kept going, and I think that's the greatest weakness of the book. I think it's unrealistic to have or expect every story be a triumph, but I think it's a good idea to put at least one of the triumphs upfront to motivate the reader. (-0.5 star for this.)
  
  I think the ordering is a shame, because the fourth story, "Folded into tendril and leaf", I really LOVED! This story was easily my favourite of the whole collection, one of my favourite reads of 2023, and as far as I'm concerned makes worth getting a copy of the book worth it. It's a gentle love story where one character is intersex, in a magical fantasy setting where war is going on in the background. This one has a character turn into a plant, which is a theme across multiple stories. (And this time it landed for me in a way the earlier spy-turns-into-a-plant story didn't.)
  
  I liked how Takács had a theme of turning-into-plants across multiple stories - it helped the whole collection cohere.
  
  Content warning: "On Good Friday the raven washes its young" prominently features harassment of an intersex main character, which I personally found triggering. Take care with that one; I took a break from the book for a few weeks after reading it. That stopped my momentum in reading the book, and I think would be another place that readers would drop out, so I'm not sure putting it at the halfway point was the right call? I would have put it in the last quarter of the book, and definitely before the solidarity fair story. The Good Friday story has an intersex-as-sea-creature theme that Takács has drawn on in eir other writing, so was nifty to seem it pop up again.
  
  Overall: as far as short story collections go this is one of the better ones I've read, and I was always going to be a hard sell on this. If you're looking for a short story collection for people who don't like short story collections, this is a solid pick. Maybe start with "Folded into tendril and leaf" though. If you like speculative fiction short story collections, I highly recommend it.