andtheitoldyousos's review against another edition
5.0
Claire Vaye Watkins has an infamous father. I don’t point this out in a salacious “looky here” way, but this father looms large over the first story in this collection. Her father is Tex Watson, yes, that Tex Watson. Murderer. Manson Family member. Currently and indefinitely imprisoned Tex Watson who married a prison pen pal and fathered four children while in jail. Claire wrests the reins from her father, her family, and her history to tell her own story- and it’s a doozy.
All of the stories in this volume will break your heart…but you will wait in line for it to happen like the 49ers, tourists, lost children, and down and out losers that populate this book. You’ll wait in line for your broken heart, and quickly pay another dollar into the video poker machine to feel it fall apart again. You can smell the beer soaked carpets. You can feel yourself fall in too deep with her wounded and wandering women. When she writes “It was an inevitable kiss. A kiss like I had caught the hem of my skirt on the seat of my bike while trying to mount it, and toppled. A kiss like we had fallen into each other, which I suppose we had” you will feel that tug running through your body down through the soles of your feet.
Battleborn is full of ghosts. These ghosts kick around in the American West, mostly floundering about in Reno but sometimes rushing Westward towards promises of the Golden State. The ghosts live in trailers behind brothels, drink warm beer in churches, and sneak into their sibling’s houses to secretly wash the dust out of their laundry. For every mountain of dirt there is a tiny fleck of gold luring you further into the mess.
All of the stories in this volume will break your heart…but you will wait in line for it to happen like the 49ers, tourists, lost children, and down and out losers that populate this book. You’ll wait in line for your broken heart, and quickly pay another dollar into the video poker machine to feel it fall apart again. You can smell the beer soaked carpets. You can feel yourself fall in too deep with her wounded and wandering women. When she writes “It was an inevitable kiss. A kiss like I had caught the hem of my skirt on the seat of my bike while trying to mount it, and toppled. A kiss like we had fallen into each other, which I suppose we had” you will feel that tug running through your body down through the soles of your feet.
Battleborn is full of ghosts. These ghosts kick around in the American West, mostly floundering about in Reno but sometimes rushing Westward towards promises of the Golden State. The ghosts live in trailers behind brothels, drink warm beer in churches, and sneak into their sibling’s houses to secretly wash the dust out of their laundry. For every mountain of dirt there is a tiny fleck of gold luring you further into the mess.
jakekilroy's review against another edition
4.0
The first story of this collection is perhaps the most jarring opener I’ve ever read; not for any horrific details, but rather the realization of what it’s about (as I knew little about the author going in). From there, it’s one engaging reminder after another that everyone is trying to find something and it may not be happiness. It may be happiness adjacent or even adjacent to whatever that is. In the bleak landscape of the deserty American west, especially in and around Las Vegas, anything from safety and security to joy and jubilation to rationale and realization can be a copy of a copy of a copy — but it’s the closest you’ll likely ever get to purity, so you take it and hold onto it; not exactly treasuring it, not exactly dismissing it. It’s worth something, even if it’s not everything you want it to be. I found this collection fascinating, even when the desolation rolled through my body. These are characters aware of an absence within them, and even when they speak from the heart, they can come across as if they’re talking with gritted teeth. The hardened ones seem sharper and the softer souls seem ripe for the world’s devouring. I respect this world, but I do not fear it. Yet I worry how true it may be.
glabour's review against another edition
5.0
4.5-5 stars. The first short story collection I’ve read that I could not put down. Every story is that good.
vspinazola's review against another edition
5.0
If I could give this 7 stars, I would. One of the best short story collections I've read in a while.
timperdoody's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jaydenbrowne's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
jonathan_packer_1994's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
tarynwanderer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
motifenjoyer's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
5.0
Nothing but hits 💯💯💯
"That’s what I prayed for then: divine preservation of something I would never understand, the safeguarding of something I’d already lost."
"That’s what I prayed for then: divine preservation of something I would never understand, the safeguarding of something I’d already lost."
cobydillon14's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5