ravenofoctober's review
4.0
Full disclosure: I received this book via a giveaway on the author's blog. I only paid shipping.
Mrs. Henderson's Cemetery Dance — I enjoyed the humor in this story, as well as the spin on the idea of respecting the dead. The opening scene and the ending few sentences are especially amusing.
Letter From A Murderous Construct... — What's not to love about a Shakespearian sonnet about a robot and his fish? I like that the idea sounds amusing but the sonnet still manages to sound menacing.
Annabelle Tree — While I liked the idea of this story, and identified with Annabelle to an extent (I too enjoyed climbing and being among trees when I was younger), I didn't enjoy this story as much. As I read the rest of this book, I came to the conclusion that I enjoy Cuinn's work most when it has some hint of humor or somehow bucks expectations of where the story is going, and this didn't have those qualities for me.
A Cage, Her Arms — I think I'm going to declare this my favorite story in the collection. I just loved everything about it. The idea of someone doing something out of love or a sense of protection, only to have their actions be the worst thing they could have done...I just love everything about the idea and execution of this story.
Call Center Blues — Another funny, thoroughly enjoyable story. I liked this one also for the feminist thread running through it (If a woman doesn't act how you want, just reset her programming!), which made it an interesting type of social commentary without beating you over the head.
Mitch's Girl — Didn't care for this one, either. The idea is creepy enough, and again has some subtle social commentary going on, but I just generally don't enjoy any stories about sexual exploitation, so while this one isn't terribly graphic I just never got into it.
All The Right Words — I like the idea of this one a lot and actually wish it were a longer story, maybe a novella or something. A strength in Cuinn's writing, and a topic she talks about a little in the Introduction, is the way she addresses the gender roles we normally see in science fiction or horror. She either meets those roles head-on and finds a way to challenge them in her stories, or she reverses those roles. That was part of what I enjoyed so much in this story and wanted to see more of.
Monsters, Monsters, Everywhere — The fakeout ending on this one was the best. And I loved the idea of the jungle reclaiming its territory, of the creatures evolving and adapting to smarter (human) prey. The animal she confronts in the jungle is such an awesome idea, but the one at the end is even better!
About The Mirror... — I'm not familiar with the Snow Queen tale beyond knowing its basics and that it exists, so it wasn't until I read the explanation for all the stories in the book that I understood the gist of this story better. But I like the language and imagery in this story best, I think. It has a more fairy tale/fable feel to it (likely because of the source of inspiration) than the other stories in this collection.
Mrs. Henderson's Cemetery Dance — I enjoyed the humor in this story, as well as the spin on the idea of respecting the dead. The opening scene and the ending few sentences are especially amusing.
Letter From A Murderous Construct... — What's not to love about a Shakespearian sonnet about a robot and his fish? I like that the idea sounds amusing but the sonnet still manages to sound menacing.
Annabelle Tree — While I liked the idea of this story, and identified with Annabelle to an extent (I too enjoyed climbing and being among trees when I was younger), I didn't enjoy this story as much. As I read the rest of this book, I came to the conclusion that I enjoy Cuinn's work most when it has some hint of humor or somehow bucks expectations of where the story is going, and this didn't have those qualities for me.
A Cage, Her Arms — I think I'm going to declare this my favorite story in the collection. I just loved everything about it. The idea of someone doing something out of love or a sense of protection, only to have their actions be the worst thing they could have done...I just love everything about the idea and execution of this story.
Call Center Blues — Another funny, thoroughly enjoyable story. I liked this one also for the feminist thread running through it (If a woman doesn't act how you want, just reset her programming!), which made it an interesting type of social commentary without beating you over the head.
Mitch's Girl — Didn't care for this one, either. The idea is creepy enough, and again has some subtle social commentary going on, but I just generally don't enjoy any stories about sexual exploitation, so while this one isn't terribly graphic I just never got into it.
All The Right Words — I like the idea of this one a lot and actually wish it were a longer story, maybe a novella or something. A strength in Cuinn's writing, and a topic she talks about a little in the Introduction, is the way she addresses the gender roles we normally see in science fiction or horror. She either meets those roles head-on and finds a way to challenge them in her stories, or she reverses those roles. That was part of what I enjoyed so much in this story and wanted to see more of.
Monsters, Monsters, Everywhere — The fakeout ending on this one was the best. And I loved the idea of the jungle reclaiming its territory, of the creatures evolving and adapting to smarter (human) prey. The animal she confronts in the jungle is such an awesome idea, but the one at the end is even better!
About The Mirror... — I'm not familiar with the Snow Queen tale beyond knowing its basics and that it exists, so it wasn't until I read the explanation for all the stories in the book that I understood the gist of this story better. But I like the language and imagery in this story best, I think. It has a more fairy tale/fable feel to it (likely because of the source of inspiration) than the other stories in this collection.
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