Review by Linnea ‘LiteralGrill’ Capps
Difursity: Stories By Furries Of Color is a furry anthology featuring short stories written by BIPOC authors within the furry fandom. I remember being excited when I saw it have a successful kickstarter campaign and knew there couldn’t be a better time than now to expand the voices I was listening to stories from. So I got my copy off the shelf and sat down to give it a read. Let’s take a look at the stories within Difursity’s pages and see how this anthology looks as a whole.
“In Better Times” by MikasiWolf
This is an incredible hard-hitting story to start the anthology with that packs so much punch into so few words. It also makes fantastic use of repetition to drive home the story and make the climax sting in your chest. I don’t want to spoil anything on accident, so I’ll just want to say this look at war and race is one that I’ll be carrying with me a long while.
“Vietnamized” by Allison Thai Before going into this story, as someone who only speaks one language, I wasn’t even aware something like bilingual aphasia even existed. If that word leaves you scratching your head as well, you need to read this story just as much as I needed to. As a child to Vietnam War refugees, Allison offers such a phenomenal and personal perspective on the culture surrounding dating, romance, and life as a citizen in one country with ties to another. This may be my favorite story in the entire anthology, and it serves as proof of how we need to uplift authors of color so they can keep telling unique stories.
“No Substitutes Allowed” by Lauren Stoker
This incredibly curious take on Little Red Riding Hood was such a stroke of creativity that I couldn’t see it coming. Putting together all of the little pieces and seeing the ending was a serious treat.
“Where The Souls Go” by MikasiWolf This story features a young boy who can see ghosts but told with a far different perspective than your typical story of its kind. I loved getting to learn bits about Taoism alongside how people in another culture might view something like communing with the dead. It’s such an informative read while also being highly entertaining and provocative.
“Rekindling” by Al Song
Have you ever come home after a long time away? Catching up with old friends, seeing family after a while, and seeing all the changes that have happened since you’ve been gone can stir quite a few emotions.
This story looks at those emotions and how they can affect what you want your future to look like. It features a Laotian family, a bit of gay romance, and a whole lot of feels. It was a fantastic story to finish off the anthology.
I’ll be blunt on how I feel about Difursity: this should be read by every furry that enjoys good literature. Not only because we as readers should be trying better to seek stories from diverse creators, but because Difursity is high enough quality that it would come as no surprise if it got nominated for a furry literature award in 2020. Get a copy for yourself, for your friend, or even start a furry book club and start with this anthology. You won’t regret giving Difursity a read.