OKPsyche in Locus

Tue 7 Nov 2023 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Posted by: Gavin

The new issue of Locus has a roundtable on short fiction with Ted Chiang, Kelly Link, and Usman T. Malik and an interview with superstar Carmen Maria Machado, both of which I’m looking forward to seeing when my print issue arrives. But the first thing I read in the pdf was Jake Casella Brookins’s review of Anya Johanna DeNiro’s OKPsyche. I can’t reprint the whole thing but it is worth reading before and after you read the book. It starts off:

I was completely unprepared for how powerful Anya Johanna DeNiro’s OKPsyche is. Told in second person by a carefully unnamed narrator, the novel blends fantasy, science fiction, and absurdism; it’s also a very grounded and personal work. The narrator, a trans woman trying to reconnect with her young son, trying to find friendship and love in a hostile world, is aided by magical figures and contraptions, but it’s her voice that stands out. This is absolutely brilliant writing: raw and unflinching in how it portrays transphobia and self-doubt, sweeping and dynamic in its use of language and imagery.

And all I can say is that I am so glad the reviewer read the same book I did and hope many people will pick up the book and see how strong it is.