Reviews

Starlight by Hannah Lee Kidder

christianchacon's review

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5.0

4 or 5 Stars - 12 Strong, Impactful Stories Told in a Short Amount of Space

I really enjoyed this book and I feel as if it is an improvement from her last book which I also really enjoyed. If you enjoy dark, dramatic, prose (which I really like), Starlight has a lot of that. Nearly halfway through, I felt the urge to take a break because of how unsettling one of the stories was. A story that was only a page long.

I also really appreciate how the longer stories build-up to a satisfying pay-off. One of which, the last one, almost made me cry.

In regards to the cover, although I liked the minimalist art of the author's previous novel, I liked the cover of this one more. Another thing I felt was an improvement in regards to the book's aesthetics is the line spacing/size of the lettering. That's not something I expected to rate, however, those are my two cents on that.

This is a really good collection of flash fiction/short stories. The stories, characters, and prose are really good as well as the themes related to love and family. And again, the stories are dark, as well as violent.

doctorweep's review

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5.0

This collection of short stories had everything I was anticipating and more! I loved Hannah's writing and storytelling in Little Birds, but Starlight blew me away. I wasn't expecting to devour this collection all in one night and certainly didn't expect to be left in tears!

Hannah's ability to hook you into a story, either to be spooked out, have your heart broken, or anywhere in between, in just a few hundred words is second to none. 5 stars is nowhere near high enough for this one!

rennv's review

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4.0

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories, especially Margrove.
All of them left me feeling a little creeped out, in a good way.

mmcpheet's review

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4.0

4⭐

I really wasn't feeling this collection as much as Little Birds until the last story, Passing Ghosts. It was probably my favorite story between the two collections. I would definitely recommend picking this up, even if the only story you read is Passing Ghosts.

hayesjumper's review

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5.0

(I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review)
Starlight does for the "spooky" genre what Little Birds did for the contemporary genre: it turns it on its head in the most creative, poignant way. Each story is eerie in its own way, taking you on miniature journeys through unsettling worlds. This book is perfect for anyone who enjoys stories of the supernatural or any lover of all things creepy.

timbrrwolfe's review

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5.0

"Ow."

Is what I was tempted to leave as the only review, with 5 stars. But I should get a little more into it than that.

Where [b:Little Birds: a collection of short stories|41216866|Little Birds a collection of short stories|Hannah Lee Kidder|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534621245l/41216866._SY75_.jpg|64414801] is contemporary, and thus outside my usual taste, Starlight is much more in my wheelhouse for the supernatural aspects of the stories, and the spooky bits.
But Little Birds and Starlight are similar in that the stories in both will tug on your heartstrings.

I think my 3 favorite stories from Starlight are Swamp Witch (which had the bonus of being read by Hannah aloud on her twitch stream), white rabbit(for similar reasons as Swamp Witch. And different ones. You'll have to read them to get an idea of what I'm talking about), and passing ghosts, which was a solid ending to cap off the book.
But those are far from the only strong stories in the book. You get 12 of them with this book and they're all very worth reading.

nspinelli's review

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5.0

A fantastic spooky read

Hannah Lee Kidder is absolutely the master of written word. It's so exciting to see such a wonderfully written collection of spooky fiction. There is such a care to detail that is refreshing to read. 

I loved every story in this book. My favorites were “Margrove” and “Passing Ghosts.” I felt every second of their lives. The unexpected twists and turns blew me away. 

This was the first spooky story I have read in a very long time and it was beyond worth it. 

The darkness in the tone does a book good. Anything of hers, I enthusiastically  await.

evekorppi's review against another edition

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dark hopeful fast-paced

3.0

whatever1441's review against another edition

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5.0

I was given an ARC for an honest review.

I loved every story in this book. I don't know much about short stories but I know this was amazing.

My only experience with short stories was last summer when I read twenty of them for my AP English class and a few of these stories have that feel. They are well written and could be used an AP class for analysis.

As I read, I was able to understand the themes and the characterization that pulled me into each story. Not once did I falter with misunderstanding.

This is a good place to start if you are going to start reading again after a long break.