gardensong's review against another edition
4.0
This collection took me completely by surprise. I was expecting to finish it in a day, but it took me two weeks. I was expecting more... werewolves? Only one out of the five stories did I fall in love with within the first two pages or so, but even when I thought I was enjoying a story (Pretty Monsters?), I ended up changing my mind right at the end of the story. My least favourite is The Surfer, though there are some cool politix going on in there, and my favourite was The Constable of Abel for witch/ghost/goddess vibez. Pretty Monsters, the story, is... incredible and indescribable. Fun and chilling werewolf tale hidden by almost-boring hetero not-love story? It's great and super meta. Not much to say about either Monster or The Cinderella Game, except the first sets the tone really well, and the last one is very Roald Dahl.
Read it if you like werewolves, witches, being tricked, aliens, or if you like mocking the way the United States treats the rest of the world.
Read it if you like werewolves, witches, being tricked, aliens, or if you like mocking the way the United States treats the rest of the world.
cinzia's review against another edition
3.0
This collection of nine short stories started out with a powerful degree of curiosity, only to completely untangle and delve into a chaotic and disjointed mess for the final three stories.
To be honest, the structure of the book itself was an ironic reflection of how each of the stories unfolded. They started out with originality with some exceptionally haunting imagery, but they either tried to do too much which diluted the power of the story, or they’re too allusive and confusing which makes the final pay-off not worth it.
Let’s take the tale called “The Surfer”. Clearly inspired by the Hendra virus in the 90s, this dystopian tale examines the world from the perspective of a young teenage boy living in a global pandemic (yah, spookily familiar), only this virus is fatal upon contraction. That plot and the characters in the story were engaging enough as they were, but then there was a whole added element of alien invasion and cult mentality which… just didn’t need to be there.
That becomes a running element of each of the stories: they could easily have been divided into two or three separate stories within themselves. But then, you have other stories like “The Specialist’s Hat” which was wonderfully atmospherically creepy, but then trailed off rapidly and ended poorly, rendering the tale totally vapid and jumbled.
It’s a shame overall. Because Links clearly has a brilliant imagination, but it tried to take on too much in either exceptionally short spaces or excessively long-winded ones. I’d like to see her writing in a few more years with some more refining, editing and structural effort because she has the imagination to create tangible scenes and characters but lacks the finesse to cement them in literature.
To be honest, the structure of the book itself was an ironic reflection of how each of the stories unfolded. They started out with originality with some exceptionally haunting imagery, but they either tried to do too much which diluted the power of the story, or they’re too allusive and confusing which makes the final pay-off not worth it.
Let’s take the tale called “The Surfer”. Clearly inspired by the Hendra virus in the 90s, this dystopian tale examines the world from the perspective of a young teenage boy living in a global pandemic (yah, spookily familiar), only this virus is fatal upon contraction. That plot and the characters in the story were engaging enough as they were, but then there was a whole added element of alien invasion and cult mentality which… just didn’t need to be there.
That becomes a running element of each of the stories: they could easily have been divided into two or three separate stories within themselves. But then, you have other stories like “The Specialist’s Hat” which was wonderfully atmospherically creepy, but then trailed off rapidly and ended poorly, rendering the tale totally vapid and jumbled.
It’s a shame overall. Because Links clearly has a brilliant imagination, but it tried to take on too much in either exceptionally short spaces or excessively long-winded ones. I’d like to see her writing in a few more years with some more refining, editing and structural effort because she has the imagination to create tangible scenes and characters but lacks the finesse to cement them in literature.
jejjewjkwk's review
It was a library book and i had to return it, i heard a lot of bad reviews either way so I decided it wasn’t worth finishing. However, i really enjoyed the wizards book, it had a cheesy ending but before that it was very interesting.
discocrow's review
4.0
Absolutely lovely collection. [a: Kelly Link|24902|Kelly Link|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1422586197p2/24902.jpg] has a deft hand at weaving imaginative, rather surreal, scenarios into coherent stories that offer more than just what meets the eye. While [a: Aimee Bender|5285|Aimee Bender|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1291155858p2/5285.jpg]'s stories offer a greater level of surrealism, and [a: Jonathan Carroll|23704|Jonathan Carroll|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1222900262p2/23704.jpg] greater complexity, [a: Kelly Link|24902|Kelly Link|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1422586197p2/24902.jpg] manages a humor that both somewhat miss. Her characters are memorable, and her short story "Magic For Beginners" something not to be missed.
I'd recommend this collection happily. While perhaps three of the stories are incredibly memorable, the rest of them are quite good, and only one a story I genuinely disliked. Not bad for a collection, really.
I'd recommend this collection happily. While perhaps three of the stories are incredibly memorable, the rest of them are quite good, and only one a story I genuinely disliked. Not bad for a collection, really.
readordierachel's review
5.0
This book rocked my face off. I'm sad that it's over. If I had to make a criticism, I would say that some of these stories ended a little abruptly. But even then, I only hate that because I just want so badly for them to keep going. Kelly Link has this incredible ability to leave you hanging while also providing a completely satisfying ending.
Link's imagination is astounding. It must be vastly entertaining to be inside her head, and I'm glad she has chosen to share a bit of what that must be like. Even if you don’t dig magical realism or sci-fi, I would recommend these based on the writing alone. It’s crisp, with realistic dialogue, and a pretty amazing level of character development for short stories. It's also funny as hell. I would frequently stop to read passages to whoever happened to be around. (It made public transit a little awkward...)
I really did enjoy every story in the collection. I would read one and think, "Okay, this one is my favorite. This is the best of the bunch." Then I would read the next one.
There were standouts though (I’ve added some quotes that I marked as I was reading because I thought they were so funny or charming or whatever):
"The Faery Handbag"
A girl's grandmother carries a small universe in her purse---or a murderous, skinless dog, depending on which way you open it up.
"I hate those movies, those books, where some guy gets to go off and have adventures and meanwhile the girl has to stay home and wait. I'm a feminist. I subscribe to Bust magazine, and I watch Buffy reruns. I don't believe in that kind of shit."
"The Specialist's Hat"
Twin little girls playing the “Dead game” in a spooky old mansion. This story creeped me the hell out. In a good way.
“Mr Coeslak can tell the twins apart, even if their father can’t; Claire’s eyes are grey, like a cat’s fur, he says, but Samantha’s eyes are gray, like the ocean when it has been raining.”
"Monster"
A group of boys at a summer camp go camping up on a mountain, and shit gets crazy.
"You learn a lot of stuff at camp...You learn how to make something out of yarn and twigs called a skycatcher, because there's a lot of extra yarn and twigs in the world, and someone had to come up with something to do with it."
“The Surfer”
A soccer player and his father in quarantine in Costa Rica wait for the aliens to return. This was probably my actual favorite story in the collection. She could have made this into a 500-page novel and I would have happily read it.
“During flu season, up in the bleachers, during matches, everyone wore masks like hers…There were always girls who wrote DORN on the mask, and so I’d look up and see my name right there, over their mouths. It was kind of a turn-on. Sometimes there was a scout up in the bleachers. I figured another year or two, another inch or two, and I’d slip right into that bright, deserved future. I was the future. You can’t stop the future, right? Not unless you’re a better goalie than me.”
“Pretty Monsters”
The last story in the bunch, and the one that lends its title to the whole. I don’t quite know how to describe this one. Coming-of-age. Stories within stories. Goats. Lawrence of Arabia.
“Later it was clear that this was the good part of the evening, where she’d managed to get drunk and not be eaten by wild dogs. Things went downhill after that.”
Bottom line: Read it. It's fantastic.
Link's imagination is astounding. It must be vastly entertaining to be inside her head, and I'm glad she has chosen to share a bit of what that must be like. Even if you don’t dig magical realism or sci-fi, I would recommend these based on the writing alone. It’s crisp, with realistic dialogue, and a pretty amazing level of character development for short stories. It's also funny as hell. I would frequently stop to read passages to whoever happened to be around. (It made public transit a little awkward...)
I really did enjoy every story in the collection. I would read one and think, "Okay, this one is my favorite. This is the best of the bunch." Then I would read the next one.
There were standouts though (I’ve added some quotes that I marked as I was reading because I thought they were so funny or charming or whatever):
"The Faery Handbag"
A girl's grandmother carries a small universe in her purse---or a murderous, skinless dog, depending on which way you open it up.
"I hate those movies, those books, where some guy gets to go off and have adventures and meanwhile the girl has to stay home and wait. I'm a feminist. I subscribe to Bust magazine, and I watch Buffy reruns. I don't believe in that kind of shit."
"The Specialist's Hat"
Twin little girls playing the “Dead game” in a spooky old mansion. This story creeped me the hell out. In a good way.
“Mr Coeslak can tell the twins apart, even if their father can’t; Claire’s eyes are grey, like a cat’s fur, he says, but Samantha’s eyes are gray, like the ocean when it has been raining.”
"Monster"
A group of boys at a summer camp go camping up on a mountain, and shit gets crazy.
"You learn a lot of stuff at camp...You learn how to make something out of yarn and twigs called a skycatcher, because there's a lot of extra yarn and twigs in the world, and someone had to come up with something to do with it."
“The Surfer”
A soccer player and his father in quarantine in Costa Rica wait for the aliens to return. This was probably my actual favorite story in the collection. She could have made this into a 500-page novel and I would have happily read it.
“During flu season, up in the bleachers, during matches, everyone wore masks like hers…There were always girls who wrote DORN on the mask, and so I’d look up and see my name right there, over their mouths. It was kind of a turn-on. Sometimes there was a scout up in the bleachers. I figured another year or two, another inch or two, and I’d slip right into that bright, deserved future. I was the future. You can’t stop the future, right? Not unless you’re a better goalie than me.”
“Pretty Monsters”
The last story in the bunch, and the one that lends its title to the whole. I don’t quite know how to describe this one. Coming-of-age. Stories within stories. Goats. Lawrence of Arabia.
“Later it was clear that this was the good part of the evening, where she’d managed to get drunk and not be eaten by wild dogs. Things went downhill after that.”
Bottom line: Read it. It's fantastic.
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