Ateli-weird

This one really gripped me! Genre-wise, it’s not something I typically go for - the “fantasy” tag is pretty loosely used here - but it was a really good example of a child’s viewpoint done well.

I’m reticent to discuss the plot too much, to avoid spoilers (go read it).

I think the horror was done really well, and contrasted with the general sense of childlike wonder with the world that the protagonist had. I think it did a good job of making the adults in the story seem both distant and - when relevant - threatening. This is something that I’ve found typically doesn’t work when reading children’s media as an adult; the author expects a child protagonist to listen to any adult’s words, purely because they are a child. There’s something about the way the narration is written that there’s a real sense of helplessness when the character is prevented from doing something. It’s more than just words, if that makes sense.