Recoveries: A Tor.com Original by Susan Palwick
My rating: 5/5 cats
For all her rage and self-pity and endless self-sabotage, Vanessa has never complained about your own oddities: the green shakes and protein powders crowding the fridge and counters, the fad-diet books piled everywhere next to stacks of anthropology and folklore, the hours you spend puking in the bathroom.
You know Minta thinks you have an eating disorder. She has no idea.
oh, man—this was wonderful. a perfect little jewel of a story. i’m not gonna lie—if this was meant to be a “gasp, twist!,” it’s a failure, but i think you’re supposed to know what’s what from the get-go. from near the get-go. but the story itself—its build, its characters, its themes of abandonment and outsider-loneliness and chosen families and protective friendships, well gosh, it’s just perfect. this is one of the best free tor shorts i’ve read in a while, and in my 2018-determination to not over-review short stories anymore, that’s all i’m going to say, but YOU should read it and say as much or as little as you want to about it. hurrah for tor once more!
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2018/06/20/recove…
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