Something's Not Right

by yves.

A vampire is forced into a compromising situation; a father fears his child's growing plant collection; the undead go to high school; a butcher contemplates whether or not she can be loved. In a captivating debut, yves. opens the door to our world, slightly askew-- a world where the crows work for witches and the telephone booths serve as secret channels for prophecy; a world where a diverse cast of monsters and humans alike are forced to contend with what the world believes is right.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Queer, Anthologies, Horror

212 pages, Paperback

About the author

yves. is an undead speculative fiction author-type living in California. Their name is pronounced "eevz-dot" and written lowercase with a period. In addition to their indie published short story collection, Something's Not Right, they post short fiction to Tumblr and Patreon, both @yvesdot. Find them on Twitter, Twitch, and miscellaneous other social media at the same handle, always ready to bite.

Reviews

[max theodore]

maybe i don't need to review this, because, after all, one of the blurbers is a man after my own heart:

“A quietly fantastical wonderland of creatures, queerness, and possibility.” — Max Franciscovich, author of Night Shift

and my own name. don't think too hard about that one. anyway, he's right. but we can go deeper than that, deeper than my sixteen-year-old self's review of the first edition, deeper even than the entire powerpoint presentation i made to promo the re-release because yes, i am friends with yves dot.

here is the thing: i am biased about this book. i'm close friends with the author; i have a horse in this race. but i'm also biased about this book because in 2018, many months before i ever spoke to yves., i was fifteen and closeted and sitting in the back of a car, dreading the return to high school as summer waned, and devouring this book story by story. i was ravenous for it: for the joyful flexibility of the narrative voice; for the wide range and emotional variation of each story; and, most importantly, for the sheer ease of the LGBT representation. i am secure in and loud about my transness now; i was not so then, and there was something terribly relieving about a collection where every story had room for someone like me. there is at least one story in this collection that is a direct allegory for queerness, but equally meaningful to me then and now are the ones where there is nothing strange or speculative or fantastical at all about it, where the main character hands off ice cream to a pair of girlfriends without blinking, where a wizard boy's skirt is neither punch line nor producer of self-loathing.

at fifteen, i had grown used to the idea that LGBT representation was hard-earned and hard-found. even when i found it, it was rarely revolutionary: there were a few books about gay men, and a few about lesbians, and maybe one or two bisexuals and a sensationalist piece about a tragic trans person, and in all cases the story would be written in such a way that a cishet reader could enjoy it without having to google anything. this isn't the fault of those books--the publishing world doesn't like what's revolutionary; it likes what's marketable, and usually what's marketable isn't, like, neopronouns. but the message i had swallowed was that gay rep was something to be parceled out in small doses without getting too controversial about it, and that us less marketable freaks should take our scraps gladly. so i still remember the way i felt when SNR gave me a femme lesbian who uses they/them pronouns, who is referred to unerringly as they and them and still as a woman, with no comment on the "contradiction." i remember looking at this story--myself a butch dyke, a he/him woman, a lesbian who figured he would just tell people "max" and "he/him" because no one would ever get the complexity--and thinking: oh. so it wasn't too much to ask after all, seeing myself.

you should read SNR. you should buy SNR. you should buy a signed copy, actually! if only because it means a lot to me--but it's also just a very well-done collection, with lots of variation and vigor and verve (read my powerpoint you know you want to). the fifth edition is definitely worth it, with a refurbished cover and three new stories and some minor edits (eg, one piece has a delightfully expanded ending). having followed yves. for five years now, and having read basically everything they've ever posted, rereading was a little strange, because i could see the growth. their newer work is cleaner, more refined. but there's a total sincerity in these stories that's all the more apparent for the rough spots: it's obvious that yves. wrote these stories because they wanted to, because they were having fun playing around with plots and words and formats. it's entirely unselfconscious. it's art for the sheer joy of art. trust my fifteen-year-old self, if you won't trust me: you want in on that joy.

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect from this collection at all, but I was still pleasantly surprised by how sweet many of the stories were. There are a plethora of love stories with happy endings. yves. creates a world where however much of an outsider a character feels they are, there are always other people who understand and will provide companionship.

[I. Merey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I promised a delirious review. I have since then gotten some sleep, so the review might be more normal. Nonetheless, I start by saying, I have known yves for a very long time, but I had never read their writing. This puts some trepidation into the reading (and reviewing) for the obvious, well damn, what if this is terrible?

I was pleasantly relieved and then steadily impressed by this collection of stories. First off, this book is dedicated to being relentlessly queer. *Forest Gump voice* Little bitty stingin' gay and big ol' fat gay, and sideways gay. Next, it is dedicated to being relentlessly inventive and imaginative. This is a big ol' mess of flash-fiction (some longer, some truly a couple of brush-strokes), and I was impressed by yves's ability to seemingly effortlessly conjure a place, a scenario, a connection, a satisfying (or sometimes, the even better, satisfyingly UNSATISFYING) resolution, with such limited space. These are stories created in joy. Lastly, I loved just the sheer variety. Horror, gods, pastel soft, witches, goblins, terrible abilities we never wanted. Thematically, the relationships veer most often to the tender realm, but there is enough humor (and lack of resolution) to keep things from going saccharine.

Not every story landed, (Also okay? I can appreciate when a collection goes up and down a bit, instead of each story trying to solar-plex-punch you even harder than the last one) and the pieces that did, I will be remembering for a long time. Playful, thoughtful flashes of queer light, amongst many dark rooms and little corners. I enjoyed this very much!

[Abi (The Knights Who Say Book) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I liked this a lot! Anthologies can be hard to rate, especially since I didn't rate each individual story in this collection, but I would say I really liked two third of the ones in here, and there were no bad ones in the lot.

My favorites were Parent-Teacher Conference, a Frankenstein retelling from the perspective of a father meeting with the teacher of his very odd daughter; To Hold a Fairy Court, in which a court of goblins meets to determine which among them is a thief; I Know, a one-sided dialogue gossiping about a friend who possibly has sex with an elf-dude; Gold-Based Offerings, about the minor god of a wish-granting fountain who falls in love with a mortal boy; and Monsters and The Guy, the story of an unemployed college student who becomes fascinated with a guy who waits perpetually in the airport for some unknown person to show up.

Monsters and The Guy was my absolute favorite, and it's hard to pinpoint why. The casual backdrop of monsters using the airport like it's nbd? The precision with which Red's personality is drawn, while still managing to be a humorously vague kind of person? Or just this vibe of the integration of the strange with the utterly mundane that is so successful in this story? Either way, it's funny, cute, and original, and to me the peak of the collection.

I would say there were one or two of the very short stories that I didn't particularly feel anything about, and one or two of the longer ones that needed more explanation, but overall I'm very pleased with it. Read for ice cream girls selling blood to vampires on the side, vampires in turn working in cafes, and a whole bunch of frustrated oracles.

[elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flash fiction isn't rly my thing so I was a little worried at the beginning but this only got stronger as it went on! Delightful. Gay. Max has good taste.

[Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny and very surreal. If you only like story collections that are funny but not surreal, or surreal but not funny, veto this. This one may surprise you with a vampire or a Princess Bride joke.

Two stories spoke to me personally.

"extra credit." It's dedicated to Rabbi Greenberg. In this flash fiction, a Jewish Studies teacher carries a leather-bound book with "a painting of a flickering flame" on the cover (and no title). This means she's practicing pyromancy. The question is whether doing so changes who she is.

"monsters and The Guy." This is a longer story.

"How are you going to know when you find who you're waiting for?"...

"That was not explained to me," he says, and I remember how much I really hate oracles.

* * *

"I'm not an oracle," says The (Oracle) Guy, oracle-y, in response to being tagged as an oracle.

"Sure," I say. "And I'm not a filmmaker."

More than just speaking to me, these are important keys for me. I think everyone who reads this book (with appreciation for the funny and the surreal — if you haven't got the itch for it, why are you still here?) will be handed their own keys. Maybe we live in a series of odd kitchen cabinets and we each need a few keys so we can free each other or visit each other for tea.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a surprising little collection of delightful, fantastical short stories.

I went in expecting these to be darker overall than they ended up being. Some had dark elements, but as a whole, the collection is more fun than anything else. I found myself smiling more often than not. I also appreciated the scattered religious themes. Always a plus.

My favorite thing was that several stories were openly connected to one another. I crave that in most short story collections, and this is one of the only ones I have read where that hope was actually met. When I realized it was happening, it had me kicking my feet!

The character dynamics were just so cute! Especially in the later stories, I just ate them up.

My top favorites were: “blood orange tea.”, “monsters and The Guy.”, and “soliloquy.”

This collection is absolutely worth it for anyone who’s interested in character focused short stories with fantasy elements. They’re short, sweet, and so loaded with interesting ideas. I feel like I need a physical copy now just to go back and mark it all up.

All opinions are my own. Thank you to yves. and the publisher for the Something's Not Right: Fifth Anniversary Edition ARC in return for my honest review!

[Avi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ironically, yves.’s debut novel, Something’s Not Right, does almost everything right. Granted, being in the dedication means I have at least passing familiarity with the author, but that doesn’t diminish how much I enjoyed this collection of short stories, nor the reasons I loved it.

yves. blends their natural wit, humor, and thoughtfulness into a fully realized story every time, but each story still has its own unique flavor, which means it never gets boring or repetitive. Common themes are hard to find, but the ones that are there – especially the theme of how society interacts with those it deems different – are especially rewarding for how each story takes a different approach to exploring them. Every reader inevitably has their own preferred lens for exploring themes, whether that’s romance, action, parent-child dynamics, sibling relationships, etc., and for each lens, you’re almost guaranteed to find a story that approaches the book’s themes through it.

My personal favorite story, The Hands and The Mouth, is a perfect example of how SNR recycles its core themes in new, unique, and surprising ways. This time it’s a sci-fi chase sequence with a vibrant setting and gripping lore, with enough action, twists, and fun to keep any reader entertained. If you want to quickly get a sense for what the collection is about, read this story. If you want to do that before you commit to buying the book, which would make sense, then you can read it online, here.

One of the things that SNR does best is how it establishes just enough common threads between stories to create intrigue and to enhance some of the lore, but not too many that it weighs down each story and doesn’t let them stand on their own merit. And this way there are enough Easter eggs to warrant a second read-through. The infamous “Department” pops up just enough times to feel pervasive, and every throwaway mention of a character from a previous story is a joy. One character in particular even gets a full character arc between stories! I personally read it three times in beta and enjoyed every read-through in new ways, and I can’t wait to read the published version once it arrives.

My main criticism would be that, because the stories vary so much in genre, style, and even length, it results in a kind of whiplash between some stories that can be hard getting used to. Thankfully, the common themes and character threads help smooth those transitions.

That said, overall SNR is a wonderful collection of short stories, each with their own personality but all engaging and resonant, and each one is worth a read, making the overall book a strong win.

[Rook Bellflower · Rating 5 out of 5]

yves. has created a beautiful, rich world that's so easy to sink right into. This book comes prepackaged in bite sized pieces, but really, it's so delicious you're gonna wanna unwrap the whole thing and devour it in one go. If you've ever felt isolated from the rest of the world, if you've ever found comfort in inhumanity, you will find a home in Something's Not Right.

[max theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much!!! yves. has a wonderful writing style & a wry wit that works perfectly for these kinds of stories, where the supernatural/magical intersects with the modern world. I adored most of the short stories (although my favorites are probably "my parents are spies," "the hands and the mouth," and "monsters and The Guy") and I also really enjoyed that some of the stories connected with one another, and that characters could pop up in multiple. It also really warmed my heart that so many of the characters were LGBT (and that this wasn't the plot - while books ABOUT being LGBT are obviously important, it's nice to see people like myself included in speculative/fantasy works seemingly without a second thought). Tl;dr: I loved it.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy of the fifth anniversary edition in exchange for a review.

This is a really interesting collections of short stories that will guide you through a strange and fascinating world. Some of the stories are set in the same universe and finding where they are interconnected made me feel a lot more invested than I would have been without. Especially the early stories tend to be very short (they get longer as you get further into the collection), and I would advise you to not let that put you off the book. It is worth it, even though some of the stories made me desperately wish there was more (especially Don’t feel guilty, which had a really cool concept, but was too short for me to enjoy in all its terror).

As it always is with short story collections I did not like all of the stories in here, some due to premise or because they were off a genre I did not really enjoy, but I liked a lot of them. The stories span from fairytales with a twist, romances with gods or AI and urban magic to gothic horror, so even if there are some genres or tropes here you normally don't enjoy, there's more than enough other interesting stories here to definitely make this a worthwhile read for many. I think if you like stories exploring fantastical worlds and supernatural characters, there will be a few gems in here for you.
(Warning for slight spoilers for some of the short stories)
My personal favorites are “the turning of claribella holte”, which is one of the short stories that I think really showcases the beauty of the writing, “my parents are spies” a short story about a young person going through some changes as they grow older and having to come to terms with the knowledge that their parents won’t accept them, “blood-drenched brothers”, a fairytale horror about loss due to other’s prejudice, “edie” a Hansel and Gretel-based revenge story, “theoretical robotics and the dynamics of love” a story about an AI experiencing something new, “koschei” about a girl who can see other people’s deaths meeting someone whose death she can’t see, “the magic number” about a trans woman nervous about telling her date she’s trans, “the hands and the mouth” a short story about escaping an oppressive regime when the way you speak can out you as somebody who needs to be hunted down, “soliloquy” following a being from an underground society befriending a human and learning to understand art and “six hours under” about a chance meeting that might just save a life.

I adored the way queerness played a role in these stories, sometimes a source of anxiety for a person worried about facing queerphobia, other times just part of the story that was being told. I also like that real life aspects of oppression where reflected in these stories somewhat. Besides the supernatural aspect of the stories another thing that connects these stories is love and connection, which plays a role in pretty much every single one of the stories. There’s a wide variety of connections from friends to lovers to family and even sometimes strangers and I really enjoyed how important community was in many of the stories. The characters also always feel different, which made them unique and interesting.

All in all, this is a really good short story collection and I can definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys vignettes and short stories that guide you through a strange world and allow you to meet a variety of different characters. If you know and enjoy the podcast Monstrous Agonies, or enjoyed reading Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children Series you will probably enjoy this book as well.

[Dale Stromberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are brief, sometimes radically brief, and they deposit you directly into scenarios where the magical blends into the humdrum, leaving you imbued with a mood of unease, or sombreness, or amusement, or half-smiling hope.

yves. is gently playful with the genre conventions they toy with: horror, fantasy, the occult. We encounter fae folk, goblins, augurs, vampires, witches and the like. Sometimes these brushes against magic disquiet the reader (as magic should); other times the magic is part of the ordinary, and the emotion and charm of the work emerges in how it humanises the extramundane by pairing it with the struggle to make ends meet, the helplessness to resist our drab modern systems, or the tongue-stuck-to-roof-of-mouth hopeful anxiety of seeking to leap the gap so as to know and be known by another person.

I review the collection at greater length on Medium (un-paywalled link).

[A.R. Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as Something's Not Right arrived, I picked it up with the intention of thumbing the contents and wound up reading it all in one sitting. Comedic, witty and chilling by turns, Yves. has given us speculative fiction at it's best in bite-sized chunks. They build their fictional worlds quickly and spin a story that will stay in your mind long after you've finished.

A wonderful collection of short stories.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many months ago I was approached with a request to buy & read this book. At the time, I was caught in the middle of a series of books (or so I think, my memory's shot) and I put this book on the backburner. Between you (all of this website) and me? Big mistake.

This book is good. Like, ridiculously good. And I'm not saying that out of a bias, I'm saying it because I mean it. yves. has got style the likes of which I as a writer aspire to achieve. Matter of fact, I want to say that this book really had inspired to me to improve. Which is a rare thing, but I really did sit here throughout the entirety of this book with my jaw at my navel.

Without spoiling, and in part due to aforementioned shot memory, as I was reading this book I very genuinely struggled to pick a favorite snippet. I would decide one was my favorite, and four pages later it had shifted.

So to summarize? Hell yeah. Read this book dude.

[Ronan Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the biggest surprise of my reading year so far! All I knew about Something's Not Right was that it's a collection of magical realism short stories. What amazed me the most is actually how short these short stories were! Some were less than 3 pages but still packed such emotional and narrative substance. The first story had me utterly hooked into this writer's imagination - I wish I could take a journey inside their mind just to be able to see the world how they do.

I cannot commend this author enough. Even though we only witness snapshots into these characters, I became so quickly attached to them! They were expertly and genuinely crafted. The voices and grammatical persons were suited to each story, with a mix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons as well as just colloquial dialogue. Some authors struggle to write in one voice, let alone dozens! Finally, the world-building for each story was so smooth and natural that I hadn't noticed how much information I'd swallowed since it was so seamlessly embedded.

Of course, I had some favourites. don't feel guilty was so deliciously obscure and ominous; I loved the narrators voice here especially since it was so natural and real, yet still decorative. theoretical robots and the dynamic of love also sticks out in my mind for its exploration of emotion. It had a nostalgic and bitter-sweet ending, which I loved. Another gem was gold-based offerings; I loved the narrator and the cunning cheek of the love interest. My ultimate favourite had to be the butcher, but I can't explain why! Maybe it was the combination of beauty and darkness.

So if you couldn't tell already, I loved this book.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Etta Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s inherently difficult to rate anthologies because my normal criteria for novel-prose-fiction falls apart, but I really loved this book, and I was honored that yves. reached out to me to review the 5th anniversary edition of their debut! Something’s Not Right consists of thirty-some pieces of flash fiction, vignettes, and short stories which range from the humorous to the bizarre, the horrific to the sweet, the gross to the endearing. Most of them are entirely unrelated, jumping from scene to scene like peering through a hall of portals, only stopping at each doorway for a moment before moving on.

The writing style across them all is immersive and vivid and the characters and situations are all unique to their pieces without any ideas feeling stale or reused. Many of the stories are queer and they’re written in such a way that it’s just accepted as a fact of the world alongside the vampires or what-have-you so it feels natural. I think there’s something in this anthology for everyone to like, but I’d especially recommend it for anyone who likes slice-of-life urban fantasy or surrealist horror. If I’m describing it as a concept album, I’d put it somewhere between Dirt Poor Robins “The Raven Locks”, Neoni’s “Wars in a Wonderland”, Shayfer James “Counterfeit Arcade” and Will Wood and the Tapeworms “Self-ish”.

Some of my favorite stories include:

Cricket: Getting a new outfit at a shop with a clairvoyant owner who knows exactly what you need
Parent Teacher Conference: A Frankenstein Retelling
To Hold a Faerie Court: goblins entreat She Herself to settle a dispute
monsters and The Guy: there’s A Guy in the airport, waiting for someone

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given a free copy of this book of short stories in exchange for an honest review.

In my opinion, most of these are more like vignettes than short stories. Many of them were only a couple of pages long, and most of them didn’t really feel like a complete story.

That being said, the writing was good, and the vignettes (or stories, or whatever you want to call them) were intriguing and drew me in. They were filled with strange occurrences, interesting characters, and just enough of the supernatural to make you feel unsettled.

I could see fans of books like Miss Peregrine’s enjoying this collection very much! They have the same creepy atmosphere to them, with the feeling that something just isn’t right…

Definitely check this collection out if you are looking for some lighter reading with a fantastic dark fantasy atmosphere and strong writing.

[KD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rounded up from 4.5

This collection was really enjoyable. I love the choice to organize the story order by length, it makes the beginning few vignettes feel like windows into a world yet to be expanded on. I read this in bite sizes, picking up a few stories at a time to really absorb them before coming back for more. This felt like an overall relaxing read for me.

Some favorites (in order of appearance): and another, cricket, parent-teacher conference, to hold a faerie court, i know, get ready, the butcher, the hands and the mouth, six hours under.

(the story "the hands and the mouth." in particular is incredible. one of my absolute favorites of the "longer" short stories)

[Eli Solitas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Visceral, twisting, engrossing and painfully human, Something's Not Right follows a winding, gold-digging trajectory along which the reader must trek to discover more and more about the world our characters and their lives reside in. Throughout, the descriptions are chilling, the worldbuilding is just vague enough to keep the reader wondering, and the entire story, despite its atypical structure, is broad, sprawling and engaging. Perfect for any paranormal contemporary/alternate world fantasy fans looking for a new take on the genre.

[Zilla Novikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes monsters are a metaphor for queerness. Sometimes she's a metaphor for monsters. He wants to do right by his daughter, scaring the teacher, his son, taken by plants. He wants to be good and pure and die without sin, not that he can die, being a member in good standing of the undead.

The same story, over and over, in different words, characters, plots. What does it mean to love the monster. What does it mean for the monster to be loveable.

Something's not right, but that doesn't mean it's you.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! The stories were all full of interesting concepts and twists, and I loved the interplay of queerness and monstrosity. Easy to devour in one sitting, full of cool characters and even cooler story plots, in short, an amazing and well-rounded experience. I logged into Goodreads for the first time in two years to review this so let that speak for itself. I also read it in one day because I got so into it! Anyway, love, love, loved it!

[Lark Benobi · Rating 5 out of 5]

yves. has a wonderful way of telling an intensely gripping and emotional story that is not, actually, the overt story you're reading on the page, but instead lies in the between-spaces of the story on the page, hiding behind the literal words, until the full meaning bursts out in the end, and you say: aha! and what I'm trying to say is: this is wonderful writing, about new territories of being, and you should read it.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every story in this book! It seems to start out with the shortest stories and work towards longer stories, which almost put me off at the start. While I enjoy a short short story, reading many of them consecutively isn't as appealing to me. I was relieved when the stories started getting a bit longer. Even the shorter stories were good though, and I highly recommend the book!

[Lou Elusiveink · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this and devoured it in a couple of nights. I love the occasional recurring characters and connections between some of the stories. Some are genuinely unsettling whilst others are about the fantastic coexisting with the mundane. Most of them are about love as a driving force. There isn't a single story that I didn't at least like, if not love.

[Toheed Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

The water fountain God was my favorite story

[Oz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a good collection. Well ordered, easy to read (including on a literal level, the typeset is really helpful as someone who gets migraines from reading fine print), fun and interesting stories. I especially like ‘blood orange tea’ and ‘theoretical robotics and the dynamics of love.’