Midlisters

According to Goodreads' metadata, this is one of KPB's oldest works, currently sitting at 13 years past publication, so I was very curious to see how it would go. I feel like it's always intriguing to pick up early works from authors you love, especially when you're more accustomed to that author's recent titles, but I knew I loved Kealan's writing voice and imagination enough that there was no way this novella would disappoint — and I was right!

Midlisters is narrated by a horror author, which automatically can lead you as the reader to look for autobiographical moments in the story, but Jason presents as a fleshed-out character in such a brief span of pages that I quickly let that go and was able to just enjoy his angry, paranoid, insecure little personality all on its own. I definitely wasn't expecting the catalyst of this story at all, and I loved how it all went down, especially when Jason begins questioning his own narrative. I'm always amazed by how melancholy and twisted Kealan's stories are, and this was no exception!