Hugo 2020 Nominations (Best Short Story);

This story, set in America's Civil War era, focus on a fifteen-year-old slave girl, named Sully, who frees herself from bondage by the murder of her owners and all their related family after hearing the man of the house has died in the war. Whats happens unexpectedly because of this becomes the rest of the story.

I very much liked the richness of this story. It's stark, dark, and cruel (or 'crotchety,' as Ziza would say), just as much as it is accepting, loyal, and compassionate. There is blood and gore aplenty, so that as a warning if you weren't quite prepared. The name definitely hits both 'blood' and 'hunger' to a 't' on the story subject matter. I very much loved the interplay with the Balance of Life and Death, and how it must be kept.

I was incredibly glad to see the story ending a surprisingly hopeful note, and something of a beautiful hint about the future relationship of the two main characters. ( )

It’s probably more of a 3.5 but I’m rounding up.

Another short story I read because it’s nominated for the Hugo.

This is pretty out of my comfort zone coz it’s so bloody and gory, with quite a bit of violence. I loved the vengeance part of the story because there’s just something satisfying about a slave girl extracting it from her masters. But what happens later with the balance between life and death, and the main character’s hunger for a place where she and her loved ones can feel safe was both disturbing as well as hopeful; and I’m amazed at the author’s ability to evoke so many contrasting emotions in me.

I’m not sure this will be for everyone, so I don’t want to outright recommend it. But if you’ve read the author’s other Hugo nominated novella The Deep and enjoyed it, you should give this a try as well. It just might surprise you. ( )

This was dark, unique, beautiful, strange, and poignant.
I loved it ( )

The subject matter is pretty dark, but the matter-of-fact storytelling style makes it almost like a folktale. I liked the character development. ( )