Living with Demons, an anthology that packs a punch from its name and content, but, if you think this is just a dark fantasy anthology, you might want to reconsider that, because this is a dark fiantasy/fiction anthology with stories based on mental illness.
The starting story of the anthology is shadowy, (quite literally), and turbulent, if not chaotic story as we find out as the author paints the description of the realm of Selenara in the readers mind, and displays Kazmera as the newest Queen of a realm that faced, or is facing a war. This, leaves our main character with two wars to deal with, three, actually, the war of the realm and its political affairs, the war of ruling affairs and the war inside her mind due to her traumas of seeing the murder of her loved ones, that will appeal to fantasy lovers with more feminist views.
Have you ever thought of being in love with a fireplace before? And how interesting would be to read a story about it? The second story, although with a weird start, has a great vibe to it, one that the narrator is just an observer , most of the time, and you, as the reader, get into the “mood” of talking of the narrator, that is somehow disinterested in the whole shebang . The descriptions of the author make you think and fill in the colours of the scenes, as if the author was imagining the atmosphere, and then showing to us on a video with a monochrome-ish style of display. It’s nice and makes you get interested into what is going to happen next and what is the point of the story. Nice!
Ok, this second story is REALLY GOOD, like, it’s ultra-weird, but it’s good, because of the main character and his obsessions with fireplaces, but also because it is annoying to see this man that apparently attracts girls by the scores, to just ignore them, or Emma in particular, because of his pbsession that makes him so aloof and out of touch with reality. You want to punch him and at the same time let him be to see what will happen next, hahhahahaha. Super!
I might be too much in love with this story, because it’s very unusual, but there’s just something about it that m pulls me as a reader to it. I have weird tastes, hahahahahaha.
Foreshadow of a doubt , the third story is sharper, with a more deliberate narrative and a laser-like focus on small details and notes about the happenings and the characters, and you as the reader feel that. A reporter trying to figure out, and re-write a story of a bombing,
One of the great things about this story is that the author can tell you things in a way you never thought before, and surprise you with how accurate he is without using many words as he takes you to the underground, yet very visible and accessible, world of drugs while an investigative reporter tries to keep herself alive, and away from the cops. But there is a twist, a time twist that will make this story totally trippy, hahahhaaha. Nice!
Homing, the fourth story is also intriguing, because we have a character that isn’t good with words, at all, and has a love for pigeons. But, this man, doesn’t speak for a reason, a reason you will get to understand as you read and maybe, maybe, relate.
The common theme about this awesome anthology, although being a dark fantasy, dark fiction genre book, is trauma/mental illness, not in the sense of insanity, but on the sense of people having mental conditions, or traumas that some characters have to live with, mainly the main characters, but the fascinating thing about it is that most stories are about their experience in the first person, and how they se and feel the world instead of the experience of a third person that doesn’t live with that condition or trauma, and it’s very fascinating.
It’s fascinating because you cannot, somehow, feel detached from the experiences that the authors lead you through. It’s so honest that you realize that sometimes, the books you read about characters with mental illness were faking it, or not touching the root of the problem, not because they were, but because the level of detail these stories bring and the amount of understanding they invite you to have is on another sphere. I’ve never read a book with this angle of approach to these subjects. It’s nice!
I mean, the stories talk about imposter syndrome, gargoyles, PTSD, homeless people, military veterans, OCD, post-partum depression, eating disorders, agoraphobia and much more in so many scenarios, and with an inside view of what and how the characters feel and experience the world that one can only be fascinated while reading. And another thing that you will notice is that, mental conditions open a whole new set of plot-twist possibilities in fantasy or fiction that we as readers are not even ready for, and can’t prepare for which makes these stories even more intriguing.
Oh my god! There is a story, “Own You”, that shows the twist of the medical practice when it comes to mental illness, and how sometimes, the patients are more sane than the doctors and how, many times, the mental facilities are just prisons, and the doctors insanity are driven by their own delusions, and it is BEAUTIFUL and sad, but true (pun intended).
There are some stories, like Spiral, that simply GRIP you and do not let go until the last word, and even then they don’t leave you be with your thoughts, and will have you breathless, totally breathless from how intricate and solid they are. The weight is overwhelming. BEAUTIFUL!
This might be THE BEST book Tea With Coffee Media has published this year. Amazing stuff!!!!! Get your copy, SERIOUSLY! Read this anthology.
Oh, and btw, meet the authors ;D
Pros:
Incredible stories filled with mental illnesses in a way you have never read. This is some serious writing here. Amazing! I wish I could say more, but this anthology just leaves you speechless and thoughtful.
Cons :
– The first story has desciprions of men as “cis gender men”, which doesn’t make sense, as men are simply that, men. Such language is unnecessary to describe men.
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