Included in Independent Book Review's list of "The Best Books We Read in 2024".

"An absolutely haunting and emotionally charged reading experience. Stepp's superbly rendered and consistently heartrending vignettes may dramatize mundane things like class trips, birthdays, checking the mail, and fixing the washing machine with granddad, but they nevertheless brim with genuine profundity and true terror at almost every turn."
—Kirkus Reviews (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/will-stepp/1986-stories/)

"Atmospheric & real—a recollective mood on childhood, family, and friends in the 1980s, coated with the nostalgia of times gone by. 'New Knife' might be the best short story I've read in years."
—Toni Woodruff, Independent Book Review (https://independentbookreview.com/2024/11/01/book-review-1986-by-will-stepp/)

"This book engrossed me in ways I struggle to explain as Will Stepp perfectly captures the ineffable qualities of reminiscing. While people tend to present their life stories as cohesive narratives with clear structure, themes, and resolution, things are rarely so simple: we misremember things, omit details that don't neatly fit into the narrative, and filter past events through our current perspectives and biases. The book embraces this messiness and keeps us immersed in the main character's raw experiences through vivid descriptions, bursts of streams of consciousness, and hazy, dreamlike scenes open to interpretation."
—Gabriel Santos, Readers' Favorite (https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/1986)