Cait Gordon

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

I reviewed this book as part of GeekDis 2022 an event discussing disability representation in pop culture from the perspective of the disabled and neurodivergent community.


Content warnings:
This anthology contains stories that feature scenes of ableism, internal ableism, racism, and homoism. There are scenes of death on and off page with several stories containing deaths of loved ones from cancer. One story, ‘Crutch. Cage, Sword, Kerfuffle’ by Dorothy Ellen Palmer, is about a miscarriage and contains a very violent and visceral scene which may be disturbing for anyone who has been touched by the loss of a child (I know it was for me personally).

I hadn’t realised just how much I needed an anthology like Nothing Without Us until I read it. As disabled author Derek Newman-Stille says in his brilliant foreword “these stories are fictional, but they tell truths that can’t be expressed in simple […] tales”. I’ve felt seen in other books by disabled authors, however, I have never felt completely at home in a book. There’s always that feeling in other books that they’re not completely for a disabled audience, that some part of the story has to be written in a way that it appeals to a non-disabled audience because otherwise the book won’t sell. I felt this especially the other day when a bookstragrammer I was following showed their annotations of one of my favourite books with a disabled character and not a single annotation included a scene about her chronic illness. I don’t think they probably even noticed that they had done it.

You can’t read Nothing Without Us and be in any doubt that these stories are about disabled and/or neurodivergent characters. The stories, the characters, the situations and the ableism is vibrantly there for all to see and there are no words to describe how liberating it was to read them. There is no holding back, no playing to a non-disabled audience and the writers’ experience bleeds through onto the pages. These fictional stories and characters give voice to experiences, and feelings that so many of the disabled and neurodivergent community will recognise.

Normally when I review an anthology I do a breakdown of each story, however, this time I feel that each of these stories should be experienced fully first hand. I am going to share some of my favourites with you briefly.

There is the wonderfully heartfelt ‘The Bellwoods Golem’ by Myriad Augustine which is the first story in the book, the clever ‘The Descent’ by Jamieson Wolf, the phenomenal science fiction story ‘Bug Hunt’ by Joanna Marsh, the poignant ghost story ‘Search and Seizure’ by Shannon Barnsley and the incredible ‘The Case of the Silenco Scientist‘ by Maverick Smith. I could keep going because to be honest, this is an anthology of the highest calibre and all the stories in Nothing Without Us are brilliant in their own right. I had to stop myself several times from adding just one more to that list because I’d add another, then another. They are all that good.

The editing is also superb, with the selection and placing of the stories being perfect. I tend to find that the story order in most anthologies falls flat but Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson have curated Nothing Without Us very well. Just as ‘The Bellwoods Golem’ is the perfect start to the anthology, the final story ‘Charity™’ by Derek Newman-Stille is a poignant end that leaves the reader with a lot of things to think about after they have finished the book.

In Nothing Without Us you’ll find stories of various genres, characters from multiple backgrounds, ages, and identities. This is an inclusive and intersectional anthology that celebrates, gives voice to and represents disabled and neurodivergent people, and it’s a must-read.

Here is a full list of the stories and the disability and/or neurodivergent representation in each one:

The Bellwoods Golem by Myriad Augustine – Chronic illness
Knit One, Purl Two by Carolyn Charron – Arthritis
Names by Jennifer Lee Rossman – Neurodivergent
Mafia Butterfly by Raymond Luczak – Deaf and Deaf Community
Dress Rehearsal by Nicole Zelniker – Cancer
The Descent by Jamieson Wolf – Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Bug Hunt by Joanna Marsh – ADHD, Autism, Schizophrenia, Sensory processing disorder (SPD)
Oliver Gutierrez and the Walking Stick of Destiny by Elliot Dunstan – Mobility aids, hearing aids, Deaf, Rheumatoid Arthritis
Crutch. Cage, Sword, Kerfuffle by Dorothy Ellen Palmer – Miscarriage
Iron Bone by J. Ivanel Johnson – Spondylolisthesis
Sometimes you… by Tonya Liburd – Schizophrenic
Search and Seizure by Shannon Barnsley – Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia (PoTS)
Backbone by Madona Skaff – Wheelchair user (disability not named)
The Case of the Silenco Scientist by Maverick Smith – Deaf
Flight by George Zancola – Mental Health
Panic in Paradise by Diane Koerner – Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), migraines, PTSD
The Blessing Cookies by Laurie Stewart – Depression, Chronic Pain
Jungle Demon by Tom Johnson – Mental Health
The Living Among the Dead by Tasha Fierce – Paralysed
Alone by Nathan Fréchette – Dissociative identity disorder, Cancer
No Room at the Inn by Emily Gillespie – Mental Health
Charity™ by Derek Newman-Stille – Amputees, prosthetics, mobility aids

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Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

I reviewed this book as part of GeekDis 2022 an event discussing disability representation in pop culture from the perspective of the disabled and neurodivergent community.

Content warnings:
Detailed content warnings appear at the beginning of each story. Stories in this anthology discuss abuse, trauma and gaslighting (familial, medical, child, infertility, religious), parental neglect, sexual assault, gender dysphoria, transphobia, suicidal ideation, self-harm, ableism and eugenics.

There are stories containing deaths on and off page including two stories where there are events with mass casualties. One story (‘A Cure for Crying’ by Ari Fletcher-Bai) contains drug use and an overdose (non-fatal).

I was deeply impressed by Nothing Without Us for multiple reasons, and didn’t think that Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson could improve on the formula they had already perfected. I was wrong; Nothing Without Us Too is even better than its predecessor. While the first anthology was a tentative toe dipped in the water to see if there was any interest for an anthology about disability by disabled writers, the second one is a plunge into that pond. Created during the pandemic, Nothing Without Us Too is unapologetic and bold, and it’s exactly what is needed.

The foreword this time is by the author Amanda Leduc known for her non-fiction book Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space. It’s another book that has been on my TBR for a long time, and after reading this foreword I’ll be pushing it up the pile. She does an excellent job of introducing the anthology and discussing why disability representation is so important.

One welcome change to the anthology this time is content notes at the start of each story. In the last anthology there was one particular story that was particularly triggering for me, so I really appreciated the heads-up this time. Considering the topics discussed in this book it’s a very good idea, and I’m sure it will make a lot of people feel more comfortable.

As with the previous anthology trying to pick favourites is difficult as the selection was top-notch. I do want to mention some notable ones that stood out for one reason or another. Once again the editors’ skills shine through with their curation and the first story sets the tone perfectly. ‘Tour of the Facilities’ by Sienna Tristen is a tongue-in-cheek account of what it’s like to stay somewhere which many people will relate to. The second story, ‘Saving the World at the Bat Outta Heck’ by Mart Meg Candelaria takes on the vampire trope from a neurodivergent perspective. This one had me chuckling for a long time after I finished reading it, and has had a huge impact on me as a writer.

‘Health Benefits’ by Jessica Corra offers a terrifying glance into the future while interrogating the charity model of disability. The wonderfully clever ‘Neurodivergent Hire’ by Cathy Smith is a great read, as is ‘Visiting Hours’ by Stephen Graham King which I really hope becomes a full novel at some point because I need to know how that story ends! The heart-warming ‘Fishing in Martian Waters’ by Bernadette Gabay Dyer will leave you smiling and is juxtaposed by the next story ‘At The Terminus’ by A. Gregory Frankson which is a frank look at the institutional ableism of mental illness.

‘The Pronoun Game’ by Rook Laz was one of my favourites and is about a non-binary teenager opening up to their school therapist about the days when they have disassociate and have days when their pronoun is “it”. It’s a very well written story that gives a lovely insight into a neurodivergent mind. Similarly, ’24 Things You Never Needed to Know that are Mostly About Tea’ by Anita Goveas uses an inventive format of an article to talk about what women have to deal with when struggling with infertility. The very on point ‘Political On-Ramp’ by Matthew Del Papa is a must-read because the barriers that George faces in this story are happening to disabled politicians, advocates and activists every day. Likewise, ‘Bring it to the Yard Sale’ by Juliet Hill confronts the important issue of non-disabled actors copying the medical symptoms of disabled people to use in their roles.

Just as Nothing Without Us Too begins with the perfect stories it ends with the beautifully poignant ‘Together’ by Polly Orr. In it the protagonist asks someone why they help the people who used to see us less than human. They are told “We did it because we understood. Because we had been there; different, forgotten, left out” and that to me sums up how many of us felt during the pandemic, especially those of us with ME/CFS. We offered our experiences, our tips and hacks, anything we could because we knew what people were going through. We go through it every day, and we knew that there would be some people who wouldn’t just dust themselves off and go back to their old lives, they would become one of us, one of the disabled community.

I’m going to stop there because I could keep going on and on. Even the ones I have not mentioned are superb with disabled and neurodivergent stories and characters being told in multiple genres. There’s urban fantasy, science fiction, dystopia, and contemporary fiction. Nothing Without Us Too is the disabled and neurodivergent anthology that we all need in the aftermath of a pandemic that has left us feeling lost, voiceless and unnoticed. If you read one anthology this year then make it this one.

A full list of the stories and disability representation:

Tour of the Facilities by Sienna Tristen – Sensory triggers
Saving the World at the Bat Outta Heck by Mart Meg Candelaria – Neurodivergent
Pulling Futures, Plucking Thyme by Avi Silver – Mental Health, Anaemia,
Why I’m Deleting My Account by Cal G. (AKA @RandomTDotQweirdo) H.E. Casson – ADHD, cPTSD,
Health Benefits by Jessica Corra – Chronic Pain, Unknown condition
Orange Rope for Sale by N.R.M. Roshak – Depression, Suicidal Ideation
Neurodivergent Hire by Cathy Smith – Neurodivergent
Visiting Hours by Stephen Graham King – Severe injury resulting in leg amputations and right arm amputation, Trauma, Visually Impairment, Prosthetics, Wheelchair user,
Fishing in Martian Waters by Bernadette Gabay Dyer – Glaucoma
At The Terminus by A. Gregory Frankson – Mental Illness
The Rats by B. Lawrence – Mental Health, Delusions
Lament of the Lotus Eater by Erin Rockfort – Depression, Suicide Ideation
A Cure for Crying by Ari Fletcher-Bai – Unknown condition
The Pronoun Game by Rook Laz – Dissociative Disorder, Neurodivergent
24 Things You Never Needed to Know that are Mostly About Tea by Anita Goveas – Infertility
Lattes and Latent Luminaries by Michelle F. Goddard – Trichotillomania
Semper Ubi Sub Ubi by Jen Desmarais – Eating Disorder
Political On-Ramp by Matthew Del Papa – Wheelchair User
Crows’ Hoard by Jayne Barnard – Suicide Ideation, Chronic Pain, Chronic Fatigue
Should I Stay by Dianna Gunn – Suicide Ideation, Anxiety, Depression, Self-Harm, Wrist Braces, Chronic Pain, Trauma
Heart on Your Sleeve by Holly Schofield – Anxiety
Bring it to the Yard Sale by Juliet Hill – Tourette’s Syndrome
Cool Dudes and SantaS by Anita Haas – Visual Impairment, Invisible disability
The Flap by Tea Gerbeza – Scoliosis, Intestinal Malrotation
Once Upon an End Time by Jessica Peter – Hearing Impairment, Deaf Community
Pest by Melissa Mead – Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Health, PTSD, other unnamed disabilities
Together by Polly Orr – Neurodivergent, Mental Health, Trauma

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