The World Wasn't Ready for You

Stories

By: Justin C. Key

Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White, Susan Dalian

“The most profound terror is rooted in love—the terror of losing love, of love betrayed, of love in peril. Justin C. Key’s work is a cold knife through a hot heart, a surgical blade unleashing gouts of searing fear.”—Cory Doctorow, author of Red Team Blues, Little Brother, and Radicalized

“An electrifying collection of stories that would make Octavia E. Butler smile.”—Ebony

Black Mirror meets Get Out in this gripping story collection reminiscent of the work of Octavia E. Butler, which deftly blends science fiction, horror, and fantasy to examine issues of race, class, and prejudice—an electrifying, oftentimes heartbreaking debut from an extraordinary new voice.

Justin C. Key has long been obsessed with monsters. Reading R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps as a kid, he imagined himself battling monsters and mayhem to a triumphant end. But when watching Scream 2, in which the movie’s only Black couple is promptly killed off, he realized that the Black and Brown characters in his favorite genre were almost always the victim or villain—if they were portrayed at all.

In The World Wasn’t Ready for You, Key expands and subverts the horror genre to expertly explore issues of race, class, prejudice, love, exclusion, loneliness, and what it means to be a person in the world, while revealing the horrifying nature inherent in all of us. In the opening story, “The Perfection of Theresa Watkins,” a sci-fi love story turned nightmare, a husband uses new technology to download the consciousness of his recently deceased Black wife into the body of a white woman. In “Spider King,” an inmate agrees to participate in an experimental medical study offered to Black prisoners in exchange for early release, only to find his body reacting with disturbing symptoms. And in the title story, a father tries to protect his son, teaching him how to navigate a prejudiced world that does not understand him and sees him as a threat.

The World Wasn’t Ready for You is a gripping, provocative, and distinctly original collection that demonstrates Key’s remarkable literary gifts—a skill at crafting science fiction stories equaled by an ability to sculpt characters and narrative—as well as his utterly fresh take on how genre can be used to delight, awe, frighten, and ultimately challenge our perceptions. Wildly imaginative and powerfully resonant, it introduces an unforgettable new voice in fiction.

Can't wait for next book!

Such a fun and enjoyable book! It's like watching a sci-fi mini series. Highly recommend.

Excellence!!!

Okay, so mentioning Octavia Butler in the description sold me on this purchase, but the captivating stories and excellent writing have me leaving this review. Each story was interesting and captured me in different ways. My favorite was Customer Service because it had me laughing out loud at points. There's a little something for everyone in this collection. I would definitely recommend as I'm about to recommend to my son, who is a huge fantasy fiction fan.

Come memorable short stories

I am a huge fan of The Twilight Zone. This book of short stories is very Twilight-Zone-ish with an updated feel and a racial piece as part of most of these tales. Some of the stories were good, some very good, and a few amazing. Each story was so different from any other. Only one of the stories was boring to me. I really liked this fun / creepy / cool / original set of tales! Stories included: a body-clone that goes rogue, a prisoner released for participating in an experiment where spiders were housed in him, a black man's wife is dying and he has her brain transplanted into the body of a white female prisoner, and more!

Loved the storytelling and characters

I decided to buy this audiobook after reading an article on People Magazine. I hadn't heard anything about the author or the book before that, I'm glad I did 😉 When the stories started I didn't quite know where the characters were leading me, but then without realizing it, I was caught up and fully invested and often wished to know more once they ended. Loved Spider King... Looking forward to more of your work in the future.

A very strange group of short stories

The narrator was perfect. The emotions that it generated me left me sad somehow.. congratulations to the author for exploring those feelings.. The book is well worse to read. Hope to hear more from him.