Reading Diary: Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap

Here is a synopsis from the author's website:

Spells and stories, urban legends and immigrant tales: the magic in Isabel Yap’s debut collection jumps right off the page, from the joy in “A Spell for Foolish Hearts” to the terrifying tension of the urban legend “Have You Heard the One About Anamaria Marquez.”

This book of short stories knocked me out. Of course, not all the stories are equally strong. For me, the stories rooted in Filipino culture and folklore were the strongest and most interesting. For example, "A Spell for Foolish Hearts" is a delightful queer love story, but it's also fairly standard fantasy fare, whereas the story "Have You Heard the One About Anamaria Marquez" is SUPER spooky, combining elements of Filipino folklore and general spooky ghost story/urban legends. Asphalt, River, Mother, Child, which you can read for free online, is utterly heartbreaking and, in my opinion, the strongest story in the collection.

I hope that Yap has a long and fruitful writing career.