"Something disturbing is going on here. From small-town witch hunts to mass incarceration to exploitations of the flesh, this chilling collection of twisted short stories imagines the horrors of a modern world not unlike our own. What have we done?"
Clearly I'm on a short story collection kick, for whatever reason. . . probably just because I can be.
The Best Girls by Min Jin LeeMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Meh. I'm the odd woman out, because I didn't enjoy this one. The writing was way too flowery for me, and the pacing was slow. That sounds ridiculous, because it's a short story. Basically, I was bored and thought nothing moved forward in a way that was interesting to me, which made it feel tedious.
The gender issues are interesting. But that's about it, and even that isn't presented in the most compelling fashion. I guess it technically ends dark and creepy, but that felt really out of the blue, as there wasn't enough plot or character development going on for that to even feel right in the moment. It felt like it was there more for reaction than because it is what the story called for.
Pages: 18
Anonymous by Uzodinma IwealaMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
Ugh. More 2nd person. Why do they feel they need that in every collection these days? I appreciate some variety, but I'm tired of gimmicks. It's just awkward and uncomfortable. Nothing makes it harder for me to bury myself in a story or world than constantly having to hear the word "you."
Guess what? I don't want to hear about myself in fiction. If I wanted to hear "you," I would be reading some self help, which let's face it, that is never going to happen. I read fiction to escape, and 2nd person POV does not allow for that. It's a constant disruption to the flow of the story, especially when it isn't extremely well done.
Long story short, this was tedious, which isn't great considering the page length. I just wanted it to end already. If it had been a full novel, I would have had to DNF it.
Pages: 18
Will Williams by Namwali SerpellMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Nope. This collection just isn't doing it for me. I'm 3 deep and haven't really enjoyed any of them so far. I should probably stop, but I keep thinking the next short story might be amazing, if I just hold out.
Pages: 20
Ungirls by Lauren BeukesMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
This one has a lot more voice, which is refreshing, but it jumps around so much that I had no idea who anyone was or what was really going on in the beginning. As a result, it feels a bit spastic, even though the concept sounds like it could be fantastically creepy.
I think this was too much for such a short story, because there wasn’t enough time to do anything well, including character intros. Plus, a lot of the plot/storyline was unclear. I listened to the audiobook, and everything felt jumbled. I could never settle into a character or what was really happening. Transitions must not exist in the writing, because I often couldn’t tell when we were switching scenes, or why, which left me dizzy and confused.
Pages: 20
I didn't bother to read the last 2 in this collection, because I am just over it. It wasn't doing it for me. I started LOAM and already wasn't paying attention after the first 5 minutes, so I called it off.
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