The Melancholy of Mechagirl

Reading Valente is an experience. It isn't just your regular run of the mill storytelling. When you read her work you don't just get the story, you get visuals and images, sensations and ideas wrapped into a convoluted and yet satisfying ride through some kind of dream-like fever. I didn't love all the stories and poems in this collection - I liked some, a few I was unsure about and a few I did truly love; but as a whole, it is just such a unique reading experience, unlike anything else that I have encountered, that I had to give it a full star rating. Even if all of the stories weren't my taste, I still appreciated the amazing talent Valante has in word-play and how even when the story didn't capture me, the words still did. Valente's writing isn't for the faint of heart though, it is meant to make you stop and think and absorb the words and ideas put forth, it doesn't always have a nice tied up with a pretty bow ending or a full circle story, but like travelling it is the journey that counts as you meander through the words. Take your time and enjoy this collection, and you'll find it worth your every minute and your imagination and brain will thank you for not just putting it in neutral, but actually engaging it in an experience like none other.