Two Moons by Krystal A. Smith is a collection of short speculative fiction. Smith is a Black lesbian poet, and her poetic roots come through as she brings the figurative world of emotion into the literal, asking her readers to follow each protagonist in her soul's journey. While not all stories center on romance, this collection features Black lesbian and bisexual leads, some with disabilities. Trust that the range of representation here weaves organically into each story.
Most anthologies will be hit or miss; Two Moons is no exception. The weak stories fall flat mostly because they are so very short that they lack the development or tension needed to fully bring the reader into the concept. A few I forgot about when I was listing the stories out in my review notes. Overall, though, Two Moons offers a worthwhile peak in layered, extra-natural worlds. Smith brings us to a places where Earth and the heavens can be just a step and a whim away; young women can become goddesses; and the line between delusion, fantasy, and reality is really more of a semi-permeable membrane.
Two Moons excels in abstractions of problems the protagonists are working through: women falling in love with or being threatened by celestial bodies, drawing their strength from the weaknesses that have defined them. My favorites are “Me, the Moon, and Olivia,” “Cosmic,” and “Demetria’s Nature.” The first stars a woman recovering from a traumatic brain injury, whose therapist is struggling with devastating personal problems while the lead struggles to determine what is real. In the second, a former drug addict (and a literal star) is determined to redeem herself by protecting the heavens. The last, to avoid spoilers, I’ll only describe as a girl coming of age and finding out what is inside of her. And it’s mind-blowing.
A few of the stories hit the middle range; strong and interesting, but not as resonating as the ones mentioned above. The titular “Two Moons,” “Harvest,” “Life Cycle,” and “What the Heart Wants.” “Search” also hits a difficult balance between intriguing and lyrically. Plus, I have to give extra props for being able to pull off a story in second person. All of these are enjoyable on their own merits.
While a few of the stories could not hold my interest, they are still smartly conceived and could potentially reach the strength of the others. Because of this, I am bit of a rating bump. From the strongest stories, Smith has made me want to follow her work to see what she comes up with in the future. I’ll be hoping she continues in the genre of speculative fiction, and that she decides to expand some of her ideas into full novellas so we can see where she will go extending a concept to its final conclusions.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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