Beautiful and poetic writing; playful use of voice, point of view, and genre; thoughtful and thought-provoking. ( )

This is an amazing collection of intertwined stories. The lyricism and depth of characterization make this a worthwhile read, but the aspects of fantasy and reality - and how we interpret those connections - make it a perfect one for me.

I would have loved to have more, but the fact that I can't say specifically what was missing means that McQuade likely hit the perfect sweet spot on what to offer her readers without overwhelming them. ( )

I won this book through LibraryThing Early Review Give Away in July 2019.
Kate has a very unique style. ( )

I enjoyed this collection of richly layered, lyrical short stories about the inner lives of a group of women. Interwoven in the stories are elements of magical realism, hinting at truths behind action, and serving as the myths (and sometimes the fairy tales) of human nature and what it is to be a woman. This is the type of collection that deserves rereading for both the masterful writing as well as the story construction and meaning. ( )

I enjoyed the first story but the rest kind of lost me. It took me awhile to figure out that each story was about one of the girls later in her life, but I kept forgetting who was who. For me, the stories would have hung together more if the events of the first story marked each girl in some way; as it was, they seemed unmarked by the tragedy of their teacher drowning. By the last two stories I was skimming, as the magical realism (which I do not relate to anyway) seemed out of place. ( )