Allison always does an excellent job at showing characters who are likable, understandable, and deeply, deeply flawed. The stories of this collection are tied together with themes of anger, violence, humor, shame, pining, living up to stereotypes, family (and discovering their secrets), and perhaps most prevalent: loss.
The first story of the collection does an excellent job setting up the main themes of the collection, though it is the juxtaposition Allison gives between growing up poor "trash" and middle class that most situates this collection. Immediately, the reader is forced to recognize how socio-economic status can frame someone's entire life and the life of their family. Irresponsible procreation resulting in a slough of family members that are forced to lie, cheat, or most frequently, steal to get by. Allison is excellent at showing characters who make terrible decisions while keeping their humanity. Sometimes poor decisions are made based on anger, frustration, the idea of "if this is what you think I'm doing, then I may as well," or out of straight desperation. It never gets easier to read about the abuse and hardship, but Allison makes it clear that it is the point. Arguably, the final story does the best at wrapping up these themes. Dealing with the slow death of a far-from-perfect but dearly-beloved mother and reflecting on the good, bad, and ugly, it feels almost as though Allison is consoling the reader: "yes these horrible things happen, but in our own ways, we can always persevere."
Most to this collection's detriment is that sometimes the characters and plots begin to feel a bit familiar. While the themes are what keep the collection interesting, they do begin to feel a bit repetitive after a while. I think it is mostly because Allison seems to have stories about family and stories about relationships, but the families and the relationships are all somewhat similar: based in pain, longing, and often, shame. I do think the final story is a bit of a saving grace as I had started to lose interest, but the final story reminded me why I love Allison so much as an author.
