Bitter Apples

4.5 rounded up.

The cover for this book immediately caught my attention there's just something about the juxtaposition of the flourishing greens and of the active decay of the human made structure that speaks to my soul. I know, we shouldn't judge a book by its cover but in this instance it does capture the essence of the book very well.

Overall, this collection does a very good job of conveying the anxiety, fear, and despair that comes with operating in a system which is actively falling apart and demanding ever more from you while offering you little to no hope of improving your lot.

Each story is unique and polished enough that I didn't feel the stories were bleeding into one another, something I often find to be an issue in collections with such a narrow scope. While each piece can stand on its own, they also work very effectively together and I had a low buzz of anxiety pretty much the entire time I was reading, and it even has ZOMBIES, I didn't want it to end!
It was my first encounter with Raglin's work and I feel almost cheated that I didn't hear about his work sooner!

Disclosure: I received a digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through BookSirens.