Learning to Hate Yourself as a Self-Defense Mechanism

LEARNING TO HATE YOURSELF AS A SELF DEFENSE MECHANISM is a rare one-author short story anthology that isn't uneven. That is to say, most of the time when an author collects a bunch of their short stories it tends to contain a few great stories and a bunch of whatever. But reading this made for a very strong collection, only getting better as I kept reading.

There's a few themes in these stories that keep returning—cultural appropriation and exploitation, being (ab)used by others, modern and refreshing takes on social media and how they've changed the way we interact, AI, time travel and time loops. What I loved about these stories the most is that they never overstay their welcome. Most of them are flash fiction or slightly longer than that. Too many short story writers don't know when to stop, but Kriz does.

I think I'd read maybe one story by her before in Clarkesworld or something like that, so this was a pleasant introduction to the author. Feels like something AK Press might've published.
Thanks to the Interstellar Flight Press for another strong ARC.

The cover immediately caught my attention and that title was so good I just knew I had to read this book as soon as possible.

I am pleased to report that it was pretty much as fantastic as I hoped it would be and I will certainly be on the lookout for more by Kriz. The stories blended science fiction, fantasy, and horror elements seamlessly and honestly my only gripe with this one is that I wish it was longer because I'm greedy.

AIs Who Make Ais Make the Best Ais! was a favorite for its use of repetition which I thought was masterfully done and I Want to Dream of a Brief Future was also a favorite because it gave me Recursion vibes but with a fantasy flavor which I found most delightful.

Many thanks to Interstellar Flight Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this title.