The refrigerator monologues

This anthology is imaginative and dark. It centers characters whose suffering is more important to the plot than they themselves are. The Refrigerator Monologues is similar to [b:Sadie 34810320 Sadie Courtney Summers https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1534431396s/34810320.jpg 56026767] in that both explore how early we reach for women's pain as a storytelling hook, while shrugging off the impact of these portrayals.I liked how the stories flowed into one another. The overlap between characters let Valente worldbuild in the background, in a way that enriched when it easily could have distracted.Valente's phrasing can be abrasive, and while sometimes jarring, I think overall the tone works well in contrast with typical depictions of women in superhero stories: as soft damsels who exist to provide emotional support until they become collateral damage.Some of the characters were hard to tell apart. I understand the anthology is about women subject to similar plights, but I still think the perspectives could have been more distinct. Maybe Valente was commenting on how so many girlfriends of superheroes are young blonde white women? But even then, she could have looked at non-romantic relationships, like an older maternal figure, or something unrequited. I will say, I don't know a ton about this genre, so maybe I missed certain references.It starts out strong and ends strong, but it's somewhat lacking the variety that anthologies are uniquely able to provide (a good example such variety would be [b:How Long ‘til Black Future Month? 40855636 How Long ‘til Black Future Month? N.K. Jemisin https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1535169689s/40855636.jpg 63632161]). So if you like more cohesive collections, and you like Valente's writing, you'll love this. I don't think I loved it, but I'm glad I read it. I'm used to reading this sort of analysis via nonfiction journal articles, so this was meta and fun in comparison.