Women! In! Peril!

Reviews

Both humorous and raw, the story is a concise snapshot of how A.I. could bring out the worst in us. It might even make you wonder who should be in charge. With settings that span the known and unknown universe, her work explores queerness, toxic relationships with a consistent note of total weirdness. An early contender for best title/cover combo. An award-winning playwright makes her prose debut with this collection of short stories, including one in which a lesbian’s wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, and another about an ambitious sexbot. For starters, excellent title. This debut short story collection from playwright Marshall spans sex bots and space colonists, wives and divorcées, prodding at the many meanings of womanhood. Short story master Deesha Philyaw, also taken by the book’s title, calls this one 'incisive! Provocative! And utterly satisfying!' Genre-bending . . . wickedly smart . . . Women! In! Peril! reflects on the ever-evolving complexities of being a woman, especially when intertwined with LGBTQ and Asian American experiences. This unflinching lens gives power to this collection, with Marshall’s delightful sense of humor sparkling throughout. An amusing but poignant collection for those who enjoy strange women in even stranger circumstances. Welp, I've found my new favorite writer. Jessie Ren Marshall is so funny, so smart, so inventive, and I loved living in her wild imagination with these characters. I love it so much I want to roll in its words like a pig in the mud. I've been telling everyone I know about this book. Read it. It's a gift. In this sharp, inventive collection, Marshall establishes herself as someone to watch. These are stories that make you think, make you laugh, and make you uncomfortable in the way that only smart fiction can. Jessie Ren Marshall’s voice in these stories is virtuosic in its range—surprising, funny, melancholy, shocking, poignant, and profound. She manages this by turns, and sometimes, amazingly, all at once. Women! In! Peril! is a fantastically good collection. Delectable . . . It’s weird, it’s wild, and it’s wonderful. [A] bold debut collection . . . Stocking these stories with an eclectic cast ranging from robots to divorcées and sideshow performers, Marshall explores with humor and tenderness the complex emotional interiors of characters who find themselves at a crossroads. This heralds the arrival of an arresting new voice. Jessie Ren Marshall's clever stories took me on a wild, wonderful ride through speculative landscapes both heartrending and hilarious. Women! In! Peril! is incisive! Provocative! And utterly satisfying! Hilarious, strange, profound, and profoundly strange in that way only truly great short fiction can be. Marshall’s creativity seems boundless . . . This collection shows the power and vibrance of the short story at its best and shows that Marshall is a talent we are lucky to have. Fearless and hilarious, brutal and huge-hearted . . . These stories are exhilaratingly honest, yet saturated with love for the messy, doomed worlds they create—and I fell totally under their spell. A powerful and fearless work . . . these twelve stories relentlessly pursue questions of identity, belonging, and what it means to be a woman in contemporary society; I would eagerly follow them into deep space and beyond. Marshall’s creative range is breathtaking, and Women! In! Peril! is a spectacular debut. Brilliant and fearless, Women! In! Peril! is an utterly original collection. Jessie Ren Marshall inhabits a thrilling range of characters—an android, space traveler, former ballerina, jilted wives and more . . . A blazing, big-hearted debut. Cinematic, charming, and disturbing. Bold and often, hilarious. There is a guilty pleasure in reading these stories. You feel like you’re in the hands of someone who has a sharp eye for the strangeness of existing in today’s world and doesn’t have anything she is too afraid to say. Women! In! Peril! lives up to its obsession-worthy title and cover. This short story debut is full of smart, fresh fiction that I wanted to savor. Marshall brings a hilarious voice to inventive literary stories about women whose struggles range from divorce to the destruction of the human race. Singular characters like a former ballerina with memory loss and a lesbian whose girlfriend thinks she’s carrying the baby Jesus make up this exciting and unabashedly queer collection! Remarkable . . . The stories range from absolutely absurd to merely heartbreaking; each one unique and inventive and full of bittersweet magic. [W]ickedly funny and imaginative . . . These stories are strange, but they work, and even in folly the female protagonists make things happen, they demand to be seen and heard. By way of a remarkable imagination and an energetic writing style, Jessie Ren Marshall gives her characters glorious expression . . . I had never heard of Jessie Ren Marshall, but after reading her debut effort I won’t forget her any time soon. A witty collection of subversive, sardonic tales . . . [that] span bizarre dystopias, gritty realities, and everything in between with clever control and electric wit . . . Marshall’s striking voice rings loud and clear in each one as she probes the emotional complexities of being a woman who is, indeed, occasionally in peril . . . Nearly every offering leaves us wanting more . . . This deliciously sardonic collection stands out for its deft navigation of inner turmoil. Marshall’s use of shifting realities and dystopian elements in some of the stories is reminiscent of George Saunders, while her dark humor recalls Lorrie Moore. It’s a winning combination that promises a bright future for the author. Expand reviews