Brea Lanae's Reviews > The Black Girl Survives in This One

** spoiler alert ** Most of these reviews aren’t “deep,” and really just I liked this or didn’t, but some do have spoilers.

Harvesters
Predictable and not that great. Also, she did technically survive, but that ending left her fate unknown. 2/5

Welcome Back to the Cosmos
This one was interesting and held my attention. It was slightly creepy, and the exploration of space will always be interesting because there’s just so much unknown out there. This body snatcher scifi was definitely done better than the first story. 4/5

Ghost Light
Did not like at all. It was a simple ghost/poltergeist story set in a school theater, and though the writing was immersive and great, it just wasn’t for me. 1.5/5

The Brides of Devil’s Bayou
Based on generational curses and bargains with the devil/demons type story. This was good though.
5/5

TMI
I have a love hate relationship with this one. The story was intriguing, but I wanted to know more. What’s the lore behind the phone? We can assume Etta got it from her “mentor,” but what’s the point of it, and where did it come from? There’s no sense of urgency. I understand reading everyone’s minds/hearing their thoughts could be distressing and inconvenient, but there are no high stakes with this one like with the others. The story was still enjoyable, but missing so much. 3/5

Black Pride
Boring with crappy friends. Any “friend” who is upset because you want better for your life, isn’t a friend at all. Hunting members of the KKK is fine and dandy in my book, but the story still didn’t interest me. I’ve read quite a few books with the “let’s kill racist white folks” storyline and in films and books, cool, but I just feel there can be a better motive and plot than that. This feels cheap and easy. I dunno, I wanted a better story than “WereLions” hunting members of the kkk. 1/5

The Screamers
😒 The entirety of this felt rushed. There’s no connection with anyone. It’s just on go immediately and extremely predictable. This one was my least favorite so far, not memorable in any way. 0.5/5

Queeniums for Greenium
Another mediocre one for me. High stakes, but rushed, and cult stories never interest me. I also would have no desire to attempt to rescue my sister who just tried to kill and/or turn me into a MLM cult zombie after forcing me to sip their nasty concoction. It is comedic in some aspects though, because it is how MLM people act. “Everyone should drink (insert bs tummy tea or whatever else here). It will make you lose 100 pounds in two days or make all your depression go away naturally. I’ve been happy ever since drinking this.” Overall, still not my cup of tea. 1/5

Inheritance
Cultural horror, but the back and forth didn’t work for me. I did enjoy the ending, somewhat. I loved that she felt empowered and didn’t have to live in fear. I loved that she didn’t let the power wash over her and realized that Miles was defenseless, so there was no further need for harm at that point because it would no longer be for protection. I do NOT like that she agreed to help him after all the threatening he did, but this wasn’t bad. 3/5

Black Girls Nature Club
Generic and corny. This one was beyond predictable to me. 1/5

Cemetery Dance Party
Loved the premise, hated the execution. It’s cheesy as hell and cliched. I don’t mind zombies, but this could have focused more on the witch and curse and been so much better. 2/5

The Skittering Thing
Mixed emotions. My main thought is why the hell would you go to someone’s house you literally JUST met. Not only that, but agree to play some weird ass game with them also?! This was one that would have benefited from being longer or the setup shorter. 3/5

The Black Strings
I am a little confused on this one. If the black strings only show up when near death, and Nora was the one killing the rival bands, why did Essie and Mal also get black strings? I feel as if maybe I missed something, and if so, that’s on me. And so much needless killing, just for the band to still not make it and break up anyways. Overall, I liked the concept of this one, even if I am overthinking. 4/5

Local Color
Locking lips with a shapeshifting creature as your first kiss is wild. 💀 I’m curious to know about gramps though. 2.5/5

Fox Hunt
Similar to a game of tag, I suppose. If you’re the Fox, you’re attempting to get to “home base” or safety, which in this would be the river, but the stakes are raised in this. (And if y’all didn’t play tag like this as children, please don’t tell me I’m “wrong” for our rules. 😹 We did tag and if you got “home,” you were safe. Also, no tag backs.”) But anywho, overall, not my favorite story, but not bad. 2.5/5

Many of these would benefit from being slightly longer, as some felt incomplete. I expected horror, but none of these actually scare you. The “creepiest” one probably was the skittering thing. Overall, I didn’t hate this anthology, but I didn’t have a great time with it either. I’m one of the few who found it a bit dull overall. There were some standouts and my favorites were The Brides of Devil’s Bayou, Welcome Back to the Cosmos, and The Black Strings . I loved how each story highlighted a black female main character. I enjoyed the fact that said MC would survive. Overall, the book was about a 2.5 for me, but rounded up to 3.