What I’m Reading: We Are Here To Hurt Each Other by Paula D. Ashe

Synopsis: “With these twelve stories Paula D. Ashe takes you into a dark and bloody world where nothing is sacred and no one is safe. A landscape of urban decay and human degradation, this collection finds the psychic pressure points of us all, and giddily squeezes. Try to run, try to hide, but there is no escape: we are here to hurt each other.”

My take: It’s obvious why this collection has received critical acclaim and a Bram Stoker Award nomination. The prose is lyrical, serving as a balance for the discomfort the text creates in the reader. The collection is unflinching and forges a reckoning with the idea of pain and degradation. One story I won’t soon forget is “Bereft,” as it contemplates abuse, grief, death, and familial bonds, with a turn that is both shocking and deeply felt.

Buy it here.