Januaries by Olivie Blake

I have been in love with the short story for what feels like my entire life, but if I had to pinpoint a moment in my life where I shifted into someone who consumed short stories as often as possible, it would likely be in college when I first had the opportunity to read Welcome to Bordertown. I was taking a portal fantasy fiction class, and I fell in love with the stories in this anthology. So much so, that I tracked down the original anthologies for Bordertown that were edited by Terri Windling. At some point, I became obsessed with any anthology she or Ellen Datlow edited. Then I started branching out into other amazing short fiction writers- Charles de Lint, Patricia Mckillip, Jane Yolen, Stephen King, Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, Kat Howard, Ursula LeGuin, and many more. I dove in headfirst, and I’ve never come up for air.

And then I picked up Januaries by Olivie Blake.

And I fell in love with short stories all over again, like it was the first time I had ever read them before. I had to force myself to read these slowly. One per day until I was finished because after I read the first short story, I closed the book and sighed and thought to myself “oh my gosh, that was the most beautiful story I have ever read.” I needed time to digest, absorb, think, dwell, ponder, wonder, wander. And every short story after was like that. It is a transformative, moving experience that takes you places you never thought you would go. It drew up long forgotten emotions, worlds I didn’t know I needed to step into, characters I didn’t realize I had been missing. That being said, this was my absolute favorite book of the year to date, and it will forever hold a special place in my heart. (Also, the illustrations in this book are positively stunning and a thing of beauty all their own).

Januaries is divided into four parts- Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Don’t ask me my favorite section, I couldn’t choose. Don’t ask me my favorite story of the book, I couldn’t choose. As my five year old son says when I ask him his favorite color (“I love all the colors”), I loved all the stories. With all of my heart. I will do my best to review these without giving too much away:

In Spring, we have “The Wish Bridge,” “The Audit,” and “Sucker for Pain.” “The Wish Bridge” is a story about a girl who is bound to a bridge of wishes, one she is stuck to serve for eternity. What will happen when she starts to imagine a different life for herself? “The Audit” is about a young woman who has the chance to receive her entire projected life income up front, to prove youth is not wasted on the young. Imagine the burden of that. In “Sucker for Pain” we see a young woman, Nora, fall in love with a half-mortal/half-witch who she can never truly have. This grouping of stories will draw you into this collection, and trust me, you will never want to stop reading. I loved these stories. They are magical, full of heartache, longing and heartbreak. But there’s hope and love in them, too.

The first story of Summer is “The Animation Games,” which tells of two ill-fated lovers constant dance of killing and finding each other (it’s gorgeous). “The House” is a very short and sweet prose that speaks of love and marriage. “To Make a Man,” is stunning in every possible way. It tells the story of a young woman who takes the life of a man, Marcelo into her hands. This story is told in a present/past flip-flopping timeline that is really effective. I loved it so much.  “Preexisting Condition” is a heart-wrenching story, and it kind of is a different twist on a mother-daughter relationship though I can’t say much more than that.

Then we arrive at Autumn.

Can I just take a moment to say that “Monsterlove” is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) stories about a mother’s post-partum experience after giving birth? The way Olivie Blake encapsulates how hard those first few weeks/months are after having a child, but spinning it on its head so it’s coming from the point of view of a monster is something altogether incredible. There is no greater perfection than this story (except all of the other stories in this book of course). “How to Dispel Friends and Curse People” is a story told in poetry form, from a poet to a witch. I liked this a lot, and Blake has an excellent eye for beautiful poetry just as she does prose. “Fates and Consequences” has one of my favorite takes on Hades, ever, but it is a story of a man who died too soon, his thread accidentally cut before he has a chance to commit the wrongs of his life. So he is sent to the underworld to be punished even though he never committed the sins that would have put him there in the first place. Witty, funny, full of delightful banter, this story is absolutely fabulous. The last (but not least) story of Autumn is “Sous Vide” which sees main character Gabrielle take an unconventional job in order to pay her rent and make ends meet. Just read it and find out what the job is. You won’t be disappointed.

Last but not least, we arrive at Winter. “Sensual Tales for Carnal Pleasures” sees a young woman become bewitched by a dark prince of night who tries to offer her everything she could want in the world. But there’s more to the story than you’ll ever think or expect. “Chaos Theory” is the longest story in this book, and it’s a story I plan to re-read again and again because it is one of the greatest multiverse stories ever written, and I was absolutely blown away. After an assassin kills her biggest target, she is tasked with having all of the other versions of herself kill the same target too to keep all of the worlds in balance. And last, but again not least, we see a banished fairy, who calls herself January, answer a strange ad for a roommate. And what comes of this is a beautiful friendship. 

I haven’t read a collection this beautiful in a long time. Olivie Blake has solidified herself as an author I have to read everything by. I’m currently listening to the audio book Alone with You in the Ether which is really gorgeously read by a group of narrators (including I believe Blake herself). This book pulled at my heartstrings in every way possible. It made me laugh and cry; joyful and sad. These are tales of love, magic and betrayal, but also friendship, strength and growth. I’m here for another collection. I mean, there’s 11 more months in the year, right?