Reviews

Growing Things by Paul Tremblay

meadforddude's review against another edition

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4.0

A mixed bag, as most short story collections are, but the best stuff here really gets under your skin. I must confess, in spite of having read the novels being referenced here, the connections to Tremblay's prior work were largely lost on me (aside from the way the recurring theme of apocalypse here recalls the exquisite "Cabin at the End of the World").

Weirdly, my personal favorite story in this collection, and the one that actually encouraged me to stop reading after dark as a means of staving off nightmares, is the one that's an homage to the work of Laird Barron. Looks like I need to find some quality broad-daylight time to finally dive into his work.

dr_hankziety's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

robots's review against another edition

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4.0

Finally got around to finishing the last few stories of this unique book of fictions. I did not love all of the stories, and some of them were a bit too high-concept for me to really buy into, but the ones I did love, I will remember forever.

annikajansen's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

blisterfeld's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

kingkrazy's review against another edition

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4.0

It’s funny how sometimes you ask a question to yourself and suddenly out of nowhere the answer hits you in the head.

I struggled to get through this book. But I feel short story collections are like albums, well, the way albums used to be. You don’t like every song but you still went through it at least once. Same with short stories. I was wondering why I was taking so long with this and in the middle of one of the best stories of the book, “Notes from the dog walker” ( not positive in exact title). One of the characters talks about having to invest in characters in each story as opposed to having only to do this once in a novel.

I still give this a 4 out of 5 but would probably go 3.75 if o could. I found that there were less stories that I really enjoyed then I liked less. I only found one story that I didn’t finish. So I am not saying I didn’t like the other ones, just dragged a little slower through them.

I am still going to get his other works. I love his style and look forward to getting through his works.

squaresofliving's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

its_ash's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.25

spiritismus's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Verdient sowieso al 4 sterren voor het magische hoofdstuk 11 (A Haunted House Is a Wheel upon Which Some Are Broken) waarin je interactief je eigen leesvolgorde bepaalt. Van de meeste verhalen heb ik echt genoten en het epiloog (/notes), waarin de auteur uitlegt waar hij bij elk verhaal inspiratie uit haalde, was erg leuk om te lezen.

sykosomatix's review against another edition

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lots of audiobooks on the go and only got halfway through before getting distracted by something else. Will likely return to it down the road