An excellent collection of short stories with very, very, veeeery few “just okay” ones. Mohamed has a great voice, and this was a joy (in a creepy, dark way) to read.

Favourites:
- Fortunato
- No One Will Come Back For Us
- Below the Kirk, Below the Hill

Mohamed delivers a super solid collection of cosmic horror here. The stories are in conversation with a variety of different facets of the horror genre (sometimes by accident, per her story notes at the end), but with prevailing themes of actions we take in the face of the unimaginable becoming reality. How far would these characters go for love, for themselves, for their towns, for a story? Mohamed doesn't shy away from engaging with how racism, misogyny, classism and colonialism have informed horror (and especially cosmic horror) and turning those aspects around to hold a mirror to the people who are normally regarded as the protagonists. That commentary is baked in across all the stories, only being explicitly called out a few times throughout the collection.

I love the way her style shifts to suit each story while still retaining a core recognizable quality that is hers. The collection has a mix of emotions, tones and horror intensity, ranging from deeply disturbing to one that leans heavily into family saving family and action. A few are set in the same general universe, where the gods of the land still hold a place in people's lives, but only two are directly connected.

My favorite was probably a toss up between Fortunanto (set in space in a far distant future) and Willing (set in a small farming community), although I suspect that will continue shifting as there are so many here that I keep thinking about. My least favorite goes to At the Hand of Every Beast, which I thought was lacking in the subtlety and complexity of Mohamed's other stories.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a standout author in the new generation reclaiming the Lovecraftian mythos.