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I Can Fix Her
This is How You Lose the Time War meets Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke in this fast-paced queer horror novel in which an obsessive woman stumbles upon a second-chance romance with her flighty paramour, but it quickly deteriorates into a dark spiral of destruction.
Johnny spots her ex, Alice, at the local cafe with a vague sense that she’s been there before. Though she’s still angry about their breakup and Alice’s subsequent ghosting, Johnny can’t resist the draw of a second shot at their relationship and accepts Alice’s invitation back to her apartment. Once there, promises are exchanged. There’s talk of wonder and change and dreams made real. But after spending the night together, they face a morning in which Alice is still Alice, Johnny is still Johnny, and the dog has doubled in size.
Over the course of a week, increasingly bizarre changes in the world around them force Johnny to consider whether the pair can change just as easily, if they can change at all. Or if both her relationship and the bounds of reality are destined to implode. The narrative of I Can Fix Her operates on nightmare logic, putting forth an irresistible tale in which the world, the narrator, and time itself are not to be trusted.
Johnny spots her ex, Alice, at the local cafe with a vague sense that she’s been there before. Though she’s still angry about their breakup and Alice’s subsequent ghosting, Johnny can’t resist the draw of a second shot at their relationship and accepts Alice’s invitation back to her apartment. Once there, promises are exchanged. There’s talk of wonder and change and dreams made real. But after spending the night together, they face a morning in which Alice is still Alice, Johnny is still Johnny, and the dog has doubled in size.
Over the course of a week, increasingly bizarre changes in the world around them force Johnny to consider whether the pair can change just as easily, if they can change at all. Or if both her relationship and the bounds of reality are destined to implode. The narrative of I Can Fix Her operates on nightmare logic, putting forth an irresistible tale in which the world, the narrator, and time itself are not to be trusted.
152 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2025
10 people are currently reading
2516 people want to read
About the author
Rae Wilde
3 books32 followersRae Wilde (she/her) is a queer woman and author of dark fiction who has published numerous works under the pen name Rae Knowles. Her available long works include The Stradivarius and Merciless Waters among others.
Rae has published 20+ shorter works in magazines and anthologies such Dark Matter Ink, Nightmare, & Ghoulish Tales. Rae is represented by Laura Williams at Greene & Heaton.
Rae has published 20+ shorter works in magazines and anthologies such Dark Matter Ink, Nightmare, & Ghoulish Tales. Rae is represented by Laura Williams at Greene & Heaton.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
August 17, 2024
I did a really good job.
November 13, 2024
The blurb promises This is How you Lose the Time War meets Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, while I haven't read the latter, I have read my share of LaRocca's work and I can definitely see where they were coming from with that comparison.
It's a weird little book that seems much longer than it actually is and I think this is an excellent format for the topic of second chances that hinge on fixing one another.
It's a fever dream of toxic behavior and if you've ever been in or in the orbit of one of those really toxic relationships that leave you questioning reality, you'll definitely recognize something in the logic of it all and in the exhausting nature of even just looking at the situation.
It's dizzying and brutal but it's also cuttingly insightful at times.
I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley, many thanks to Clash Books for the opportunity to read and review this title.
It's a weird little book that seems much longer than it actually is and I think this is an excellent format for the topic of second chances that hinge on fixing one another.
It's a fever dream of toxic behavior and if you've ever been in or in the orbit of one of those really toxic relationships that leave you questioning reality, you'll definitely recognize something in the logic of it all and in the exhausting nature of even just looking at the situation.
It's dizzying and brutal but it's also cuttingly insightful at times.
I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley, many thanks to Clash Books for the opportunity to read and review this title.
May 22, 2025
Fast-paced, atmospheric, and unnerving, this novella explores codependency and toxic relationships through a lens of nightmare logic. With a tangible desperation that reminded me very much of Iain Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things this story was immediately immersive and hard to put down. The characters feel genuine right from the beginning, you can picture them and recognize them, and they become even more complicated and intriguing as the story progresses. The world-building is really well done, starting with quick and efficient descriptions that transform into unknown landscapes as the story twists and devolves. There isn’t really much of a plot, this is a story about one person navigating a clearly unhealthy relationship. Well, more accurately, two unhealthy relationships, the second one being with herself. Within her experience we see not just emotional maturity and logic but even physics and a healthy grasp on reality go out the window (almost literally, at one point). The atmosphere is one of deep unease and distress, and as a reader you feel uncomfortable and do not know who to root for or against but instead feel a compassion tinged with voyeurism for all the characters. Everything feels like it is a bit removed, which does a good job of reflecting the emotional turbulence of the character. This does leave the characters, although recognizable and genuine, as more sketches than incredibly robust or well-rounded. While I appreciate how these sketches let us fill in our own details and the approach works well with the urgency and directionality of the prose, I wouldn’t have minded spending more time with the characters.
The writing is what makes this story work so well. It is terse and direct, yet manages to reflect the unsettled interiority of the character. Importantly, although told in a close third-person with a seemingly omniscient narrator, the narrator doesn’t only engage the reader director but makes attempts to contact the characters and communicate with them. That is to say not only does the writing style itself (fast-paced and compulsive, direct but descriptive, focusing on interior experience as opposed to external reality,) work really well for this story, but the narrative style is unique and twisty, some unholy combination of an Ouroboros and a Mobius strip that works perfectly for the story being told.
The story doesn’t hold your hand. It explores what it means to be in relationship with someone else, and how that can eclipse our sense of self, how it can be overwhelming and suffocating and liberating all at the same time. Quick and to the point, it gets you invested right away and is hard to put down once you start.
I want to thank the author, the publisher CLASH Books, and Edelweiss, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The writing is what makes this story work so well. It is terse and direct, yet manages to reflect the unsettled interiority of the character. Importantly, although told in a close third-person with a seemingly omniscient narrator, the narrator doesn’t only engage the reader director but makes attempts to contact the characters and communicate with them. That is to say not only does the writing style itself (fast-paced and compulsive, direct but descriptive, focusing on interior experience as opposed to external reality,) work really well for this story, but the narrative style is unique and twisty, some unholy combination of an Ouroboros and a Mobius strip that works perfectly for the story being told.
The story doesn’t hold your hand. It explores what it means to be in relationship with someone else, and how that can eclipse our sense of self, how it can be overwhelming and suffocating and liberating all at the same time. Quick and to the point, it gets you invested right away and is hard to put down once you start.
I want to thank the author, the publisher CLASH Books, and Edelweiss, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 18, 2025
"Johnny forgets things. But I remember."
This is a fast-paced sapphic horror novella that grips you from start to finish. A fever dream I never wanted to end, beautifully written. I am now officially obsessed with Rae Wilde.
My favorite detail: If you look closely, there's a hidden story within the story.
This is a fast-paced sapphic horror novella that grips you from start to finish. A fever dream I never wanted to end, beautifully written. I am now officially obsessed with Rae Wilde.
My favorite detail: If you look closely, there's a hidden story within the story.
Read
November 6, 2024no thanks
March 27, 2025
What I liked:
-LGBTQ representation.
-Domestic abuse representation.
-The writing.
I thought the prose within this short story was fantastic. I had really no complaints there. I also enjoyed the LGBTQ characters and the domestic abuse representation. Since I enjoyed the writing, I know I would like to give another book from this author a try in the future.
Unfortunately I struggled with this book. Although it was short, it felt long to me. I couldn't find myself immersed within this story and I was honestly confused for much of it. It felt like a fever dream. Things sort of came together at the end, but I also was left wondering, "What did I just read?" Maybe this was just a case of me not fully understanding the story and less on the author, but nonetheless, that's how it left me feeling.
While I enjoyed the representation, I was disappointed to find myself unable to connect with any of the characters. I think being that this book was so short, there wasn't much character development and I found the characters unlikeable.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the arc. All opinions are my own.
TW: toxic relationship, domestic abuse, blood, stalking, cannibalism, death, gore, sexual content, violence
-LGBTQ representation.
-Domestic abuse representation.
-The writing.
I thought the prose within this short story was fantastic. I had really no complaints there. I also enjoyed the LGBTQ characters and the domestic abuse representation. Since I enjoyed the writing, I know I would like to give another book from this author a try in the future.
Unfortunately I struggled with this book. Although it was short, it felt long to me. I couldn't find myself immersed within this story and I was honestly confused for much of it. It felt like a fever dream. Things sort of came together at the end, but I also was left wondering, "What did I just read?" Maybe this was just a case of me not fully understanding the story and less on the author, but nonetheless, that's how it left me feeling.
While I enjoyed the representation, I was disappointed to find myself unable to connect with any of the characters. I think being that this book was so short, there wasn't much character development and I found the characters unlikeable.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the arc. All opinions are my own.
TW: toxic relationship, domestic abuse, blood, stalking, cannibalism, death, gore, sexual content, violence
March 4, 2025
Rae Wilde's "I Can Fix Her" is an extremely bizarre sapphic horror novella about a relationship collapsing again and again, a madness of two resulting in a sort of shared psychosis (and this is to put it mildly). The loop is both mental and metaphysical, centered on toxicity, the persistence of romantic delusions through time, and the iteration of mistakes. It treats of rather sick beliefs about love and the (im)possiblity of change, within the context of a story told in a somewhat thriller format. It reminded me a lot of the way Eric LaRocca portrays queer relationships, but Wilde rests more on plot twists rather than situational grotesqueries. The writing is trippy, weird, and choppy; the imagery vivid but occasionally nightmarish. I'd say that it's essentially a grim morality tale about obsession, without any catharsis or redemption. I recommend it for the ending, which I found insightful and realistic.
November 6, 2024
One of my favourite books of the year.
It's love letter to your past self, that is also a eulogy to your future self.
Get trapped in a nightmare of your own making in this fast-paced, sapphic horror novella about two toxic exes.
🖼️Like a magic-eye picture 🖼️, at first glance this is a nightmare novella, but when you look closer it's also a story of two women who are toxic together, but can't seem to let go. It's at once absolutely relatable and impossible. ♾️
📖 Johnny sees her ex-girlfriend, Alice, at a bar and they decide to give each other a second chance. 🤞They promise that they can change🤞, however when Johnny wakes up the next day, she notices everything is changing. Her girlfriends tiny French Bulldog, is now a 100 pound actual bulldog. The following day it snows in the summer and a fireplace mysteriously appears in the living room. Each day of the week plunges Johnny and her girlfriend deeper and deeper in a downward spiral of emotional abuse and jealousy. 📖
The storytelling is so creative, because there are two narrators. One is Johnny, who we're following as she is plunged into this nightmare journey with her ex, Alice. And the second isn't revealed until the end. 😱 The scream I scrempt 😱. I immediately went back to the beginning of this book and started it again. This book is EVEN better on the second reading. There is so much hidden right in front of you.
This book is gorgeously written. I highlighted so much. One of my favourite quotes,
"And she is willing to drown. But not without Alice."
Read this if you love
😱 Nightmare logic
😱 Gorgeous prose
😱 Fast-paced horror
😱 Dark spirals of destruction
😱 Supporting indie publishers and authors
Thank you to Clash, Rae Wilde and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC and physical copy of this book.
This book is best read while at your ex's favourite restaurant, waiting for her to enter.
It's love letter to your past self, that is also a eulogy to your future self.
Get trapped in a nightmare of your own making in this fast-paced, sapphic horror novella about two toxic exes.
🖼️Like a magic-eye picture 🖼️, at first glance this is a nightmare novella, but when you look closer it's also a story of two women who are toxic together, but can't seem to let go. It's at once absolutely relatable and impossible. ♾️
📖 Johnny sees her ex-girlfriend, Alice, at a bar and they decide to give each other a second chance. 🤞They promise that they can change🤞, however when Johnny wakes up the next day, she notices everything is changing. Her girlfriends tiny French Bulldog, is now a 100 pound actual bulldog. The following day it snows in the summer and a fireplace mysteriously appears in the living room. Each day of the week plunges Johnny and her girlfriend deeper and deeper in a downward spiral of emotional abuse and jealousy. 📖
The storytelling is so creative, because there are two narrators. One is Johnny, who we're following as she is plunged into this nightmare journey with her ex, Alice. And the second isn't revealed until the end. 😱 The scream I scrempt 😱. I immediately went back to the beginning of this book and started it again. This book is EVEN better on the second reading. There is so much hidden right in front of you.
This book is gorgeously written. I highlighted so much. One of my favourite quotes,
"And she is willing to drown. But not without Alice."
Read this if you love
😱 Nightmare logic
😱 Gorgeous prose
😱 Fast-paced horror
😱 Dark spirals of destruction
😱 Supporting indie publishers and authors
Thank you to Clash, Rae Wilde and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC and physical copy of this book.
This book is best read while at your ex's favourite restaurant, waiting for her to enter.
November 14, 2024
“Love is not possession.”
🍮
When Johnny sees her ex, Alice, at a local café, she gets a weird sense of déjà vu. She’s still upset about their breakup, as well as Alice subsequently ceasing communication, but neither can resist the chance to try again. Over the course of their next week together, the couple experiences bizarre things that force them to reevaluate their relationship. Can they truly change, or are they — and reality — bound for inevitable destruction?
I Can Fix Her is a page-turning sapphic horror story of second chances, toxic love, and dark spirals. The plotline packs a wallop in under 100 pages, moving at breakneck pace through Johnny and Alice’s meeting and romantic rekindling, as well as the reopening of old wounds and resurfacing of habitual behaviors. The writing is gorgeous, the narrative voice unique and mysterious, and the premise devastating, unraveling an addictive, harrowing, and nightmarish journey where existence is malleable, infatuation poisonous, and the line between truth and actuality razor-sharp and hair-thin. All of this collides to produce a phenomenal account readers will binge in a single sitting.
It’s a tale of trust, time, and logic; darkness, delusion, and obsession; dreams, promises, and patterns; jealousy, predators, and prey; memory, evolution, and lies; violence, blood, and oblivion; and denial, emptiness, and desolation — one where knowledge is powerless, desire dangerous, choice compulsive, and beginnings and endings repetitive and haunting.
Thank you to CLASH Books for sharing an eARC of this tremendous novella, which is scheduled for publication in June 2025. It’s a mind-bending, heart-rending experience sure to linger in readers’ minds.
🍮
When Johnny sees her ex, Alice, at a local café, she gets a weird sense of déjà vu. She’s still upset about their breakup, as well as Alice subsequently ceasing communication, but neither can resist the chance to try again. Over the course of their next week together, the couple experiences bizarre things that force them to reevaluate their relationship. Can they truly change, or are they — and reality — bound for inevitable destruction?
I Can Fix Her is a page-turning sapphic horror story of second chances, toxic love, and dark spirals. The plotline packs a wallop in under 100 pages, moving at breakneck pace through Johnny and Alice’s meeting and romantic rekindling, as well as the reopening of old wounds and resurfacing of habitual behaviors. The writing is gorgeous, the narrative voice unique and mysterious, and the premise devastating, unraveling an addictive, harrowing, and nightmarish journey where existence is malleable, infatuation poisonous, and the line between truth and actuality razor-sharp and hair-thin. All of this collides to produce a phenomenal account readers will binge in a single sitting.
It’s a tale of trust, time, and logic; darkness, delusion, and obsession; dreams, promises, and patterns; jealousy, predators, and prey; memory, evolution, and lies; violence, blood, and oblivion; and denial, emptiness, and desolation — one where knowledge is powerless, desire dangerous, choice compulsive, and beginnings and endings repetitive and haunting.
Thank you to CLASH Books for sharing an eARC of this tremendous novella, which is scheduled for publication in June 2025. It’s a mind-bending, heart-rending experience sure to linger in readers’ minds.
November 7, 2024
When Johnny spots her ex, Alice, at a local cafe, she's met with a vague sense that she's been there before. She's angry about Alice ghosting her for six months, but Johnny can't resist a second chance when Alice invites her back to her apartment. After all, Johnny is OBSESSED with Alice and wants her all to herself! They talk about all the ways things will be different this time around...but then, weird stuff starts to happen, things that are made from nightmares.
Initially, I had no idea where this book was going. It seemed disjointed and all out of whack, but stick with it...I promise, it will make sense by Friday. This was such a trippy book but I loved it! Although it's short (104 pages), this story really packed a punch!
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH Books for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinion and review.
Initially, I had no idea where this book was going. It seemed disjointed and all out of whack, but stick with it...I promise, it will make sense by Friday. This was such a trippy book but I loved it! Although it's short (104 pages), this story really packed a punch!
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH Books for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinion and review.
May 16, 2025
A sapphic horror fever dream where obsession meets metaphysical déjà vu and decides to move in and ruin your life (again). It’s giving “What if our red flags kissed?” and I devoured it like the little emotional masochist that I am. Obsession? Check. Possession? Double check. Reality melting like my makeup in August? You bet. Loved every disorienting second. More please.
June 5, 2025
(rounded down from 4.25)
This was very cool and high concept. I was a bit worried that I wasn't really getting it, whatever the point was meant to be, but I'm glad I trusted the process and stuck it out till Friday, which is when things start coming together. A very short book about obsession, toxic relationships, and not being able to let go of relationships that are simply not good for either person.
This was very cool and high concept. I was a bit worried that I wasn't really getting it, whatever the point was meant to be, but I'm glad I trusted the process and stuck it out till Friday, which is when things start coming together. A very short book about obsession, toxic relationships, and not being able to let go of relationships that are simply not good for either person.
December 14, 2024
I Can Fix Her is a time-bending queer horror novella about a woman certain she can fix her relationship. Johnny sees her ex, Alice, in a cafe and despite her sense that she's been there before, she ends up talking and then going back to Alice's apartment. Things seem to be going well, but the next day, the apartment is different, and as the week plays out, things keep changing, because sometimes a relationship isn't so simple to fix.
This book was compared to two hit pieces of short fiction, This Is How You Lose The Time War and Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, though it is really quite different from them. Structurally it differs, with a distinctive narrative voice and the sense that Johnny's vision of what has happened might not quite be correct either in terms of actual narrative or her relationship with Alice. As the universe starts to break, the questions start to be raised about which relationships can be saved and whether everything actually can have a happy ending. There's an existential horror element, though I found the book feeling more sci-fi than horror, with that kind of quiet sadness that comes from the idea of someone trying over and over to fix something that can't be fixed. The book also explores unhealthy relationships and I found the way it did that was pretty clever.
Overall, I think this is a book that will either be something you love, or just something you find pretty good, and I was really in the latter camp. I liked what it was doing and the style, but I wasn't always fully engrossed in it and probably would've personally preferred a bit more depth, especially around the characters' flaws.
This book was compared to two hit pieces of short fiction, This Is How You Lose The Time War and Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, though it is really quite different from them. Structurally it differs, with a distinctive narrative voice and the sense that Johnny's vision of what has happened might not quite be correct either in terms of actual narrative or her relationship with Alice. As the universe starts to break, the questions start to be raised about which relationships can be saved and whether everything actually can have a happy ending. There's an existential horror element, though I found the book feeling more sci-fi than horror, with that kind of quiet sadness that comes from the idea of someone trying over and over to fix something that can't be fixed. The book also explores unhealthy relationships and I found the way it did that was pretty clever.
Overall, I think this is a book that will either be something you love, or just something you find pretty good, and I was really in the latter camp. I liked what it was doing and the style, but I wasn't always fully engrossed in it and probably would've personally preferred a bit more depth, especially around the characters' flaws.
May 18, 2025
I'm a major Rae stan so I jumped on the chance to read this ARC.
As a lesbian who has suffered through a dysfunctional relationship in which we were both absolutely terrible for each other (but "we couldn't quit each other" to quote Brokeback Mountain), this story resonated with me.
Johnny meets her ex, Alice, out one day and goes home with her and they share a night of passion. But on waking, Johnny finds that things aren't quite what they seem, and this is where things go off the rails a bit. Imagine Groundhog Day meets This Is How You Win the Time War.
Rae perfectly captures the heartache and pain of unrequited love and explores how far one will go to garner the affection of their desire.
This is a quick read, and I finished it in less than 24 hours. Highly recommend.
As a lesbian who has suffered through a dysfunctional relationship in which we were both absolutely terrible for each other (but "we couldn't quit each other" to quote Brokeback Mountain), this story resonated with me.
Johnny meets her ex, Alice, out one day and goes home with her and they share a night of passion. But on waking, Johnny finds that things aren't quite what they seem, and this is where things go off the rails a bit. Imagine Groundhog Day meets This Is How You Win the Time War.
Rae perfectly captures the heartache and pain of unrequited love and explores how far one will go to garner the affection of their desire.
This is a quick read, and I finished it in less than 24 hours. Highly recommend.
April 27, 2025
‘Why can’t you need me in the same way?’
Rae Wilde’s ‘I Can Fix Her’ is a meditation on duality and metamorphosis akin to Julia Armfield’s ‘Our Wives Under the Sea’.
If you like your gore and Body Horror shot through with surrealism, then give yourself over to the narrator and their interjections, and see where Wilde takes you.
Her writing seems hardly to touch the ground at first – light, pattering along like a train of thought. But given pause, Wilde’s style reveals itself to be intensely imagistic, folding motifs back upon themselves with scrumptious prefigurement, and bleeding suspension of disbelief for all it’s worth.
Deeply absurd at one moment, achingly poignant the next (‘All that love she feels for Alice, and she doesn’t even know where she keeps her glasses’), tone paces structure throughout, never missing a beat of cohesion, allowing Wilde to rhapsodise bleakly about love:
A huge thank you to CLASH Books for the treat of this through NetGalley!
[Quotations here are from an advanced review copy and text may have changed prior to publication.]
Rae Wilde’s ‘I Can Fix Her’ is a meditation on duality and metamorphosis akin to Julia Armfield’s ‘Our Wives Under the Sea’.
If you like your gore and Body Horror shot through with surrealism, then give yourself over to the narrator and their interjections, and see where Wilde takes you.
Her writing seems hardly to touch the ground at first – light, pattering along like a train of thought. But given pause, Wilde’s style reveals itself to be intensely imagistic, folding motifs back upon themselves with scrumptious prefigurement, and bleeding suspension of disbelief for all it’s worth.
Deeply absurd at one moment, achingly poignant the next (‘All that love she feels for Alice, and she doesn’t even know where she keeps her glasses’), tone paces structure throughout, never missing a beat of cohesion, allowing Wilde to rhapsodise bleakly about love:
‘Within Johnny’s chest, an organ pumps blood, fast and hard and desperate. She would hand it over to Alice, slimy and thumping. She thinks she already has.’This is a supremely fantastical exploration of futility, which bears the imprints of Armfield’s ‘Private Rites’ and ‘Salt Slow’ both, and warrants five stars from me just the same as those:
‘Johnny is reduced to trembling atoms. Bones seem to chatter and clink together. Her blood is kinetic, nerves sparking with disabling electricity, her muscles useless, rigid, for all the microscopic scurry within.’There is such remarkable brilliance in the second half of the book that I wanted to cite as flavour, but I don't want to overleap any spoilers. Suffice it to say that Johnny undergoes all the imperative suffering of the anti-hero:
‘She has never felt so weak or so small, so meaningless in the face of destructive power that is not hers. […] For the first time, she understands fragility.’Dinky, this might be; frivolous, it’s not.
A huge thank you to CLASH Books for the treat of this through NetGalley!
[Quotations here are from an advanced review copy and text may have changed prior to publication.]
May 15, 2025
This was the best type of insane, a brilliant fever dream!
First and foremost, I think it would be best to get into this book knowing as little as possible! That being said, if you love absolutely insane little books in which you have no idea what's happening, this one's for you! You might think you know what you're reading at the beginning, but when you get to the second chapter, or rather day, called Tuesday, you'll quickly realize that you're about to lose your mind. This was clever and surprising in the best possible way. We're following Johnny and Alice over the course of one week, seeing each other after a while, months after their breakup. Johnny can patch their relationship back up, she can fix herself to become better for Alice. She can even fix Alice... right? Well, you'll have to see for yourself!
With magnificently bewitching writing style, the author has woven a short tale that at its core is not short at all. It is a temporal paradox in which anything and everything is possible. It is a story of deeply infatuating love, the kind that can battle time itself. Maybe. Maybe not. It is also a story of denying yourself a proper life for someone else who may or may not care for you the same amount. An absolutely insane journey that I wholeheartedly recommend!
PS: Once you finish reading, go back and read only the bold words sprinkled throughout; it's a stunning little writing experiment that takes the story to another level.
A huge thank you to NetGalley, CLASH Books and the author for sending me an ARC of this book!
First and foremost, I think it would be best to get into this book knowing as little as possible! That being said, if you love absolutely insane little books in which you have no idea what's happening, this one's for you! You might think you know what you're reading at the beginning, but when you get to the second chapter, or rather day, called Tuesday, you'll quickly realize that you're about to lose your mind. This was clever and surprising in the best possible way. We're following Johnny and Alice over the course of one week, seeing each other after a while, months after their breakup. Johnny can patch their relationship back up, she can fix herself to become better for Alice. She can even fix Alice... right? Well, you'll have to see for yourself!
With magnificently bewitching writing style, the author has woven a short tale that at its core is not short at all. It is a temporal paradox in which anything and everything is possible. It is a story of deeply infatuating love, the kind that can battle time itself. Maybe. Maybe not. It is also a story of denying yourself a proper life for someone else who may or may not care for you the same amount. An absolutely insane journey that I wholeheartedly recommend!
PS: Once you finish reading, go back and read only the bold words sprinkled throughout; it's a stunning little writing experiment that takes the story to another level.
A huge thank you to NetGalley, CLASH Books and the author for sending me an ARC of this book!
April 21, 2025
[3.75]
On Monday, Johnny follows Alice to a bar, they go home together. This is her second chance to make Alice stay, change, and fall in love again with Johnny. But things spiral in Alice's apartment as the week goes by.
Wow, what a journey! I did not know what to expect from this novella, as I didn't read the synopsis beforehand. I just knew it was a lesbian horror, but that was it. The story truly spiralled to a place I wasn't expecting, and as someone who enjoys metaphysical stories and narratives a lot, this was just up my ally!
The writing is a little rough, falling back on cliche's and sentences that reads a little too "wattpad" for my taste. It didn't bother me as much as I would have expected since it worked with the story itself, and the length of the novel. I would have probably given this book up to a 4.5 star rating if the writing felt more creative and distinct.
It was a page-turning, read filled with themes that dug deep and dark, told through a horrifying, warping reality. The way the entirety of the story and world revolved around Johnny's emotional attachment for Alice, was so exciting to read. The feelings evoked while reading will stay with me for quite a while.
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
On Monday, Johnny follows Alice to a bar, they go home together. This is her second chance to make Alice stay, change, and fall in love again with Johnny. But things spiral in Alice's apartment as the week goes by.
Wow, what a journey! I did not know what to expect from this novella, as I didn't read the synopsis beforehand. I just knew it was a lesbian horror, but that was it. The story truly spiralled to a place I wasn't expecting, and as someone who enjoys metaphysical stories and narratives a lot, this was just up my ally!
The writing is a little rough, falling back on cliche's and sentences that reads a little too "wattpad" for my taste. It didn't bother me as much as I would have expected since it worked with the story itself, and the length of the novel. I would have probably given this book up to a 4.5 star rating if the writing felt more creative and distinct.
It was a page-turning, read filled with themes that dug deep and dark, told through a horrifying, warping reality. The way the entirety of the story and world revolved around Johnny's emotional attachment for Alice, was so exciting to read. The feelings evoked while reading will stay with me for quite a while.
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 5, 2025
Okay so… I Can Fix Her by Rae Wilde?? Yeah. That book grabbed my heart, chewed it up, and spit it back out with a wink. This novella is giving breakup spiral, sad girl surrealism, and a full on descent into madness and I devoured every second of it.
We follow Johnny, who runs into her ex Alice at a café and decides: you know what? I can fix her. (Spoiler alert: she cannot.) What follows is a weird, dreamy, lowkey horrifying unraveling of their relationship where nothing feels quite real and everything feels way too much. Think: emotional damage wrapped in velvet prose.
Wilde writes like she’s been eavesdropping on your therapy sessions, and the result is something raw, chaotic, and honestly kind of gorgeous. It's toxic but tender. Messy but intentional. And the surreal elements?? I was spiraling right along with Johnny. Reality who?? We don't know her!
This book is short but it packs a punch. Like a poetic fever dream with big “she’s not like other girls, she’s worse” energy and I loved that for us.
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH books for the ARC. I need Rae Wilde to write a 500-page novel next because this was ✨not enough✨.
We follow Johnny, who runs into her ex Alice at a café and decides: you know what? I can fix her. (Spoiler alert: she cannot.) What follows is a weird, dreamy, lowkey horrifying unraveling of their relationship where nothing feels quite real and everything feels way too much. Think: emotional damage wrapped in velvet prose.
Wilde writes like she’s been eavesdropping on your therapy sessions, and the result is something raw, chaotic, and honestly kind of gorgeous. It's toxic but tender. Messy but intentional. And the surreal elements?? I was spiraling right along with Johnny. Reality who?? We don't know her!
This book is short but it packs a punch. Like a poetic fever dream with big “she’s not like other girls, she’s worse” energy and I loved that for us.
Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH books for the ARC. I need Rae Wilde to write a 500-page novel next because this was ✨not enough✨.
February 28, 2025
In I Can Fix Her, we follow Johnny and Alice, two exes who bump into each other at a bar after Alice returns from Germany, Somehow Johnny ends up back at Alice's apartment, and the realms of logic start to fall down in wakes of their obsession for each other.
This was a delightfully weird little novella that doesn't bother following convention and instead does what it wants to do when it wants to do it. The writing was a pleasant surprise, since I don't always expect books of this size to be as well written as this one is. I absolutely plan on reading more from this author in the future, and I never would have found this book had it not been for Netgalley.
Without saying much since it is so short, if you've enjoyed books like Finna by Nino Cipri and like a good old Groundhog Day premise, I think this may be for you.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this early review copy!
This was a delightfully weird little novella that doesn't bother following convention and instead does what it wants to do when it wants to do it. The writing was a pleasant surprise, since I don't always expect books of this size to be as well written as this one is. I absolutely plan on reading more from this author in the future, and I never would have found this book had it not been for Netgalley.
Without saying much since it is so short, if you've enjoyed books like Finna by Nino Cipri and like a good old Groundhog Day premise, I think this may be for you.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this early review copy!
April 7, 2025
I really liked how this book went hard on the weird horror, but it was too short for me to develop any kind of closeness to either Johnny or Alice. Both of them read like stock characters, which is really unfortunate.
I see other reviewers mention that this is a horror manifestation of a toxic relationship, which is a really cool concept. But it felt like the horror came out of nowhere and then spiraled out of control that I forgot that this was supposed to be about an unhealthy, obsessive relationship.
While the horror elements were cool and creepy, I just wish the message had more of an impact on me.
Thank you to CLASH Books, Edelweiss, and NetGalley for this arc.
I see other reviewers mention that this is a horror manifestation of a toxic relationship, which is a really cool concept. But it felt like the horror came out of nowhere and then spiraled out of control that I forgot that this was supposed to be about an unhealthy, obsessive relationship.
While the horror elements were cool and creepy, I just wish the message had more of an impact on me.
Thank you to CLASH Books, Edelweiss, and NetGalley for this arc.
June 6, 2025
This was brilliantly bizarre. Atmospheric, lyrical, fast paced, snappy and horrifying. It’s a punchy novella full of nightmare fuel that displays the desperation of domestic violence and intimate partner violence. The pattern repeating, head banging of brick walls to just be loved by the person who keeps destroying you, only to dangle themselves in front of you in the shape of something that looks too good to be true. The relentless hope that maybe if you’re just a little bit of something else, they’ll see you, know you, love you.
Really enjoyed this book and its use of strangeness that creeps into dreams that become nightmares and using it to show the dynamic of this relationship.
Really enjoyed this book and its use of strangeness that creeps into dreams that become nightmares and using it to show the dynamic of this relationship.
November 8, 2024
⭐⭐
Rep : Toxic Sapphic Relationship, Cycle of Abuse
CW: Cannibalism, Domestic Abuse
What I Liked
1) I thought the novella was well written and the choice to make it short suited it being a fever dream book (I would recommend this to fans of Bunny by Mona Awad)
2) I love how this book represented an abusive, toxic queer relationship since it is often underrepresented. No character is the hero and they're both terrible for each other and you can feel how desperate Johnny is to make things work that she goes to such extreme lengths. I think the time element of the book perfectly represents the cycle of abuse.
3) This book was definitely for people that love weird books but still have a good amount of explanation at the end
4) The horror was so grotesque, Wilde was not afraid to go there
Overall, I enjoyed this novella but it was just ok for me. I do think this book would be the exact kind of weird some people are looking for.
Favourite Quotes
1) 'Why didn't you call? Johnny thinks to ask. She doesn't ask, because she's lovestruck, not dumb. Johnny knows the answer: Alice didn't want to call.'
2) 'People always think kids will solve their problems. As if taking care of some other dependent creature will unlock a portal to a world where all their problems melt away and they get a clean slate'
3) '"Its a Pattern," says Alice. "You and me, hurting each other."'
Thank you to Netgalley and ClASH books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review
Rep : Toxic Sapphic Relationship, Cycle of Abuse
CW: Cannibalism, Domestic Abuse
What I Liked
1) I thought the novella was well written and the choice to make it short suited it being a fever dream book (I would recommend this to fans of Bunny by Mona Awad)
2) I love how this book represented an abusive, toxic queer relationship since it is often underrepresented. No character is the hero and they're both terrible for each other and you can feel how desperate Johnny is to make things work that she goes to such extreme lengths. I think the time element of the book perfectly represents the cycle of abuse.
3) This book was definitely for people that love weird books but still have a good amount of explanation at the end
4) The horror was so grotesque, Wilde was not afraid to go there
Overall, I enjoyed this novella but it was just ok for me. I do think this book would be the exact kind of weird some people are looking for.
Favourite Quotes
1) 'Why didn't you call? Johnny thinks to ask. She doesn't ask, because she's lovestruck, not dumb. Johnny knows the answer: Alice didn't want to call.'
2) 'People always think kids will solve their problems. As if taking care of some other dependent creature will unlock a portal to a world where all their problems melt away and they get a clean slate'
3) '"Its a Pattern," says Alice. "You and me, hurting each other."'
Thank you to Netgalley and ClASH books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review
November 7, 2024
4.5 stars
Johnny and Alice broke up a year ago, but when Johnny meets her again in a local café they decide to give their relationship another shot. She spends the night at Alice's place. The next morning reality starts to morph, and as the days go on inexplicably bizarre events unfold.
"I'll change. We will change. Think how good it could be, if we just get it right."
I absolutely adored my time with I Can Fix Her. This book has some familiar elements, but still feels unique. From the writing style to the overarching story, Wilde manages to tell a tight story in the span of a novella. A bittersweet story of getting what you want, but not what you need.
As someone who is a sucker for poetic prose I got my fill with this story. Wilde just has a way with words that makes me swoon. Her vivid, emotional imagery can't help but paint detailed pictures in your mind's eye. There is a playfulness in the writing, and an adaptability. Including some of the longest, still legible, actually-adding-to-the-story run-on sentences I've ever read, which capture the franticness and absurdity of the situation.
"Johnny decides the only important things are those bonds between herself and Alice and shaping them into a proper story with a proper ending. One in which Alice doesn't leave."
Quite early on we get clues that there is more to this story than initially meets the eye. It takes a little while to get the answers we seek, but once Wilde surrenders them, all the puzzle pieces fall into (a satisfying) place. We get some answers, but not all. I Can Fix Her is one of those books that invites you to read it all over again once you finish, and I am so looking forward to doing exactly that in the future.
I Can Fix Her is the perfect story for those that love poetic prose, are observant, and are patient enough to let a story unfold. It features elements of psychological and cosmic horror.
Thank you CLASH Books and Rae Wilde for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Johnny and Alice broke up a year ago, but when Johnny meets her again in a local café they decide to give their relationship another shot. She spends the night at Alice's place. The next morning reality starts to morph, and as the days go on inexplicably bizarre events unfold.
"I'll change. We will change. Think how good it could be, if we just get it right."
I absolutely adored my time with I Can Fix Her. This book has some familiar elements, but still feels unique. From the writing style to the overarching story, Wilde manages to tell a tight story in the span of a novella. A bittersweet story of getting what you want, but not what you need.
As someone who is a sucker for poetic prose I got my fill with this story. Wilde just has a way with words that makes me swoon. Her vivid, emotional imagery can't help but paint detailed pictures in your mind's eye. There is a playfulness in the writing, and an adaptability. Including some of the longest, still legible, actually-adding-to-the-story run-on sentences I've ever read, which capture the franticness and absurdity of the situation.
"Johnny decides the only important things are those bonds between herself and Alice and shaping them into a proper story with a proper ending. One in which Alice doesn't leave."
Quite early on we get clues that there is more to this story than initially meets the eye. It takes a little while to get the answers we seek, but once Wilde surrenders them, all the puzzle pieces fall into (a satisfying) place. We get some answers, but not all. I Can Fix Her is one of those books that invites you to read it all over again once you finish, and I am so looking forward to doing exactly that in the future.
I Can Fix Her is the perfect story for those that love poetic prose, are observant, and are patient enough to let a story unfold. It features elements of psychological and cosmic horror.
Thank you CLASH Books and Rae Wilde for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
January 23, 2025
*4.5
“God may love you, but not better than me”
If I had to be concise I’d say that the toxic sapphic horror novella subgenre has never known a bad book and this continues to be the case. I think this book is best gone into as blind as possible (as I did having been sold only by the comp titles), so if Time War x Things Have Gotten Worse sounds good to you, just stop reading here.
What I liked:
The Writing: My god, the writing. It is exactly what you’d expect when you see the comp titles. The gore and the grotesque of Eric LaRocca combined with the flourish and the beauty of This is How You Lose the Time War. Gripping from the first sentence and it doesn’t let you go until the end.
The Characters: We only get to know Johnny and Alice in glimpses, yet it is enough to build those characters up in your mind and meet them at the point. We get an obsessive ex and her emotionally unavailable paramour stuck in a cycle of hurting each other, we see all the ways they don’t fit together, and how they keep trying to reshape each other into something they are not. At the end the horror is as much their relationship as are the supernatural elements of the story.
The Story: An intertwining of a toxic relationship and time that doesn’t seem to flow as it should done as beautifully as it can be done. I don’t wish to say more to avoid spoilers (and with a novella it is hard to do so).
Who I’d recommend this to: The Sapphic Horror enjoyers, you know who you are.
Thank you Netgalley and CLASH Books for providing me with an ARC.
“God may love you, but not better than me”
If I had to be concise I’d say that the toxic sapphic horror novella subgenre has never known a bad book and this continues to be the case. I think this book is best gone into as blind as possible (as I did having been sold only by the comp titles), so if Time War x Things Have Gotten Worse sounds good to you, just stop reading here.
What I liked:
The Writing: My god, the writing. It is exactly what you’d expect when you see the comp titles. The gore and the grotesque of Eric LaRocca combined with the flourish and the beauty of This is How You Lose the Time War. Gripping from the first sentence and it doesn’t let you go until the end.
The Characters: We only get to know Johnny and Alice in glimpses, yet it is enough to build those characters up in your mind and meet them at the point. We get an obsessive ex and her emotionally unavailable paramour stuck in a cycle of hurting each other, we see all the ways they don’t fit together, and how they keep trying to reshape each other into something they are not. At the end the horror is as much their relationship as are the supernatural elements of the story.
The Story: An intertwining of a toxic relationship and time that doesn’t seem to flow as it should done as beautifully as it can be done. I don’t wish to say more to avoid spoilers (and with a novella it is hard to do so).
Who I’d recommend this to: The Sapphic Horror enjoyers, you know who you are.
Thank you Netgalley and CLASH Books for providing me with an ARC.
January 15, 2025
The comps of This is How You Lose the Time War meets Things Have Gotten Worse since we last spoke, and I definitely see where those comps come from, as someone who loved both of those stories. I'd also describe this as The Midnight Library [worst ending].
The narration style initial confused me but by the end, I was stunned, flabbergasted, and had to go stare at a wall. I definitely want to reread this one because I think knowing the ending would give me a new experience.
If you love messy, harmful sapphic relationships, stories that play with time, and being a bit confused, you'll love I Can Fix Her. As this is so short, I don't want to give more of a synopsis.
Read if you enjoyed:
The narration style initial confused me but by the end, I was stunned, flabbergasted, and had to go stare at a wall. I definitely want to reread this one because I think knowing the ending would give me a new experience.
If you love messy, harmful sapphic relationships, stories that play with time, and being a bit confused, you'll love I Can Fix Her. As this is so short, I don't want to give more of a synopsis.
Read if you enjoyed:
January 20, 2025
thanks to NetGalley and CLASH books for the advanced digital copy.
this one will be released June 03 2025.
--
this one was a short little number about johnny who arranges an encounter at a cafe with her ex alice, desperate to fix the things that went wrong with them. success - johnny does end back at alice's, but stuff starts to go awry when johnny starts losing time, alice's dog isn't the dog that johnny remembers, and the world begins to stutter on a cosmic level.
this was a fun, fast read ultimately about obsessing over relationships and interactions with humans when they don't work out, how the more that we attempt to make repairs the worse things turn out to be. yet we can't let go of that connection - why? why are we as humans so insistent on demanding things from the world that were clearly never meant for us?
needless to say i really enjoyed this one and the hypothesis that we're all our own worst enemies, that sometimes in order to be happy we must let go. i really hesitate to call this one horror, but maybe the point is that the real horror is that we can't always get what we want.
this one will be released June 03 2025.
--
this one was a short little number about johnny who arranges an encounter at a cafe with her ex alice, desperate to fix the things that went wrong with them. success - johnny does end back at alice's, but stuff starts to go awry when johnny starts losing time, alice's dog isn't the dog that johnny remembers, and the world begins to stutter on a cosmic level.
this was a fun, fast read ultimately about obsessing over relationships and interactions with humans when they don't work out, how the more that we attempt to make repairs the worse things turn out to be. yet we can't let go of that connection - why? why are we as humans so insistent on demanding things from the world that were clearly never meant for us?
needless to say i really enjoyed this one and the hypothesis that we're all our own worst enemies, that sometimes in order to be happy we must let go. i really hesitate to call this one horror, but maybe the point is that the real horror is that we can't always get what we want.
March 29, 2025
3.5
I'm really not sure how to rate this book. Its not what I usually read. This book wasn't for me but I do see its appeal and I can see people really liking this book. I'm also just realizing that novellas don't usually work for me.
What I liked:
-The representation of toxic/abusive relationship and the cycle that keeps people in them
-The books willingness to push boundaries and venture into the absurd and the gruesome
What I didn't like:
-The prose felt over-indulgent sometimes.
-I got a little lost in some of the absurdity. I feel like it was done for symbolic reasons but I think I just didn't understand it.
I'm really not sure how to rate this book. Its not what I usually read. This book wasn't for me but I do see its appeal and I can see people really liking this book. I'm also just realizing that novellas don't usually work for me.
What I liked:
-The representation of toxic/abusive relationship and the cycle that keeps people in them
-The books willingness to push boundaries and venture into the absurd and the gruesome
What I didn't like:
-The prose felt over-indulgent sometimes.
-I got a little lost in some of the absurdity. I feel like it was done for symbolic reasons but I think I just didn't understand it.
April 25, 2025
I Can Fix Her felt like stepping into an unhinged Tim Burton fever dream… in the best ways. The story is dark, weirdly romantic, and full of those “what is even happening right now” moments that just work. The time loop aspect was such a cool twist and gave the whole experience a surreal, almost haunting quality. Immaculate vibes.
THANK YOU, Rae, for the e-arc of this book. 💜
THANK YOU, Rae, for the e-arc of this book. 💜
June 18, 2025
I absolutely loved the writing. The obsessive, toxic relationship story felt a bit immature. A few people mentioned that the story felt longer than it actually was, this is true. I kept thinking "ok cool all this cosmic bizarre stuff is happening, but when does it end?"
The short-story at the end of the book was fantastic. I will definitely be reading more from this author!
The short-story at the end of the book was fantastic. I will definitely be reading more from this author!
April 12, 2025
This was not much like This Is How You Lose the Tome War, but it was still a wacky fun book on possessiveness and obsession. It went pretty much how I expected in terms of absurd horror. Not necessarily my cup of tea but still decent
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