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hannahvangorder's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jfaberrit's review against another edition
5.0
If Karen Russell didn't quite get the magic-to-realistic ratio right in Swamplandia!, which was very good in parts but kind of messy overall, then she definitely figured it all out here. In 8 stories that are all fantastic in their own deadpan, largely unspoken ways, she finds her voice and shows how the magical can be used to a number of different goals, fiercely clever in their own unique ways. Particular highlights include Bog Girl, which plays as a macabre teen comedy featuring a dead girl buried a few millennia ago, Orange World, which grapples with the terrors of parenthood in a way that more straightforward takes have very rarely achieved, and Black Corfu, which is basically a zombie story turned completely on its head with regard to where the threats to society and humanity lie. My favorite, though, is The Tornado Auction, in small part because the Audiobook narrator was absolutely perfect. It's a melancholy take on a whole different kind of "wind farming", whose voice is strong and just disconcerting enough to hit home hard. Some of the endings are a little rough, but basically the collection is darn near perfect, and should win awards.
r_rachel29's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hb_bookworm's review against another edition
5.0
I was caught off guard by how much I enjoyed this. each of these stories takes you by surprise, presenting a world very much like our own, with key differences that everyone accepts. the first two stories were good build-ups to this type of story, and it gets weirder and weirder as the collection progresses. normally I list my favorites in any story collection but I'm struggling to do so here as I really enjoyed them all. if I had to choose, I'd say Bog Girl, Black Corfu, The Gondoliers, and Orange World were my favorites. I highly recommend the audiobook - I really think the voices of the narrators add a lot to each story. Definitely excited to read more Karen Russell soon!
nellusso's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
eatingbooks69's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
dreaming_ace's review against another edition
4.0
This was a collection of very strange and very bittersweet stories. I think my favorite was Bog Girl: A Romance which was funny and relatively uplifting. I also enjoyed The Prospectors and The Tornado Auction plus found The Gondoliers to be a very hauntedly beautiful story.
rereader33's review against another edition
5.0
Holy shit. HOLY FUCKING SHIT, this collection was fun! Seriously, I had pretty low expectations going in, since I've never read any of Russell's work before, but this collection was PHENOMENAL. Before I go into short reviews for each story, let me get the one constant that I loved out of the way: the writing. HOLY SHIT, the writing in this collection was INSANE. Not only was everything well-worded, the descriptions were amazing and the language fit each story's scenario to a tee. Not only was the writing stellar, I could tell Russell made sure to choose her words carefully when trying to get a point across or describing something. Also, really quick, I loved the pacing of the stories, it really made me want to keep reading just to see what would happen!
Okay, with that out of the way, let's discuss each story. I'm not going to give each story a rating because I don't feel like it nor do I think it's necessary, and I'll try to keep my reviews/reactions short so as not to spoil anything. Enough chatter, let's get started!
"The Prospectors"-a phenomenal blend of historical fiction and supernatural that was the perfect opener for this collection. It set the tone for the collection, was a solid story on its own, and gave readers a perfect idea as to what the rest of the collection would be like. And damn, those eye descriptions! I never knew eyes could be described like that! The ending was a little confusing, but it was still a good story.
"The Bad Graft"-an interesting play on human's interactions with nature and the difficulties in ending a relationship, even when said relationship is unhealthy. Not my favorite, but definitely well-written and interesting.
"Bog Girl: A Romance"-I'm not gonna lie, I almost burst out laughing at the final twist/climax towards the end. I want to add a clever line here, but it would be a spoiler so all I'm gonna say is that romance isn't everything it's cracked up to be, even one-sided ones.
"Madame Bovary's Greyhound"-My least favorite of the bunch not because it was poorly-written or the story didn't make sense, but simply because I felt it wasn't as strong as the others. Don't get me wrong, I loved the idea of how a person's emotions, especially sadness, can affect others, including animals. I thought the nature scenes were strong and I did enjoy the message, but I couldn't connect to the characters and the ending was okay bordering on confusing. Still good, just not as strong.
"The Tornado Auction"-I straight up started reading this and thought, "this story is about selling fucking tornadoes? What the fuck?" and ended up not only loving it but loving EVERYTHING about it. The story, the pacing, the message, the ending, all of it was great! One thing to note: I am NOT an expert on clouds, tornadoes, etc, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of the science behind the story. That being said, even if all the science was inaccurate, I would still LOVE this story. Unexpectedly amazing, I love it!
"Black Corfu"-I have no other way of describing this story except it's "Where the Crawdads Sing" but better. For those of you who don't know what I mean by that, read my review (or really any negative review) of "Where the Crawdads Sing" and this will make more sense. For those of you who don't want to work that hard, here's the abridged version: the writing is stronger, the story is packs more of a punch, the characters were more fleshed out and interesting, and the ending was handled better. Speaking of the ending *pulls out megaphone, turns it on* HEY DELIA OWENS! TAKE NOTES FROM THIS STORY! THIS IS HOW YOU DO A LAST-MINUTE TWIST ENDING AND NOT FUCK UP THE REST OF THE STORY! THANK YOU! *turns megaphone off, puts away*
"The Gondoliers"-Easily the best story in the collection (in my biased, humble opinion) and my favorite of the bunch. The commentary on how older generations think they fucked up the world for young people and apologizing for it, but refusing to see any of the good left in the world that younger people point out is well done. The world in this story is super interesting, atmosphere was tense all the way through, Blister was an interesting character, and I loved how familial bonds/relationships played a big role in the story. I don't want to say anything else for fear of spoilers, but this was a fantastic story.
"Orange World"-If this story doesn't make you cringe because the way the characters act is EXACTLY how you'd think mothers (new or old) act in real life, you've CLEARLY never been around mothers. I really liked the ending and the writing was incredibly strong, specifically with regards to dialogue. Not to mention this was a strong ending story for the collection without feeling like it has to be bombastic or over the top. A great ending to a great collection of stories.
Welp, those are my thoughts. I forgot to mention that this collection isn't going to be for everyone, but if I'm being completely honest, I don't think this collection is "too weird". Like Her Body and Other Parties, all of the weird happenings purely exist to push a message or enhance the plot. It's not weird for the sake of being weird *coughTHEMERRYSPINSTERcough* However, if you read the summary and thought the stories were "too weird," then I guess they are, but coming from someone who ADORES weird shit, this collection was pretty tame, all things considered. I definitely recommend giving this collection a shot, it's easily one of the best books I read this year and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Okay, with that out of the way, let's discuss each story. I'm not going to give each story a rating because I don't feel like it nor do I think it's necessary, and I'll try to keep my reviews/reactions short so as not to spoil anything. Enough chatter, let's get started!
"The Prospectors"-a phenomenal blend of historical fiction and supernatural that was the perfect opener for this collection. It set the tone for the collection, was a solid story on its own, and gave readers a perfect idea as to what the rest of the collection would be like. And damn, those eye descriptions! I never knew eyes could be described like that! The ending was a little confusing, but it was still a good story.
"The Bad Graft"-an interesting play on human's interactions with nature and the difficulties in ending a relationship, even when said relationship is unhealthy. Not my favorite, but definitely well-written and interesting.
"Bog Girl: A Romance"-I'm not gonna lie, I almost burst out laughing at the final twist/climax towards the end. I want to add a clever line here, but it would be a spoiler so all I'm gonna say is that romance isn't everything it's cracked up to be, even one-sided ones.
"Madame Bovary's Greyhound"-My least favorite of the bunch not because it was poorly-written or the story didn't make sense, but simply because I felt it wasn't as strong as the others. Don't get me wrong, I loved the idea of how a person's emotions, especially sadness, can affect others, including animals. I thought the nature scenes were strong and I did enjoy the message, but I couldn't connect to the characters and the ending was okay bordering on confusing. Still good, just not as strong.
"The Tornado Auction"-I straight up started reading this and thought, "this story is about selling fucking tornadoes? What the fuck?" and ended up not only loving it but loving EVERYTHING about it. The story, the pacing, the message, the ending, all of it was great! One thing to note: I am NOT an expert on clouds, tornadoes, etc, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of the science behind the story. That being said, even if all the science was inaccurate, I would still LOVE this story. Unexpectedly amazing, I love it!
"Black Corfu"-I have no other way of describing this story except it's "Where the Crawdads Sing" but better. For those of you who don't know what I mean by that, read my review (or really any negative review) of "Where the Crawdads Sing" and this will make more sense. For those of you who don't want to work that hard, here's the abridged version: the writing is stronger, the story is packs more of a punch, the characters were more fleshed out and interesting, and the ending was handled better. Speaking of the ending *pulls out megaphone, turns it on* HEY DELIA OWENS! TAKE NOTES FROM THIS STORY! THIS IS HOW YOU DO A LAST-MINUTE TWIST ENDING AND NOT FUCK UP THE REST OF THE STORY! THANK YOU! *turns megaphone off, puts away*
"The Gondoliers"-Easily the best story in the collection (in my biased, humble opinion) and my favorite of the bunch. The commentary on how older generations think they fucked up the world for young people and apologizing for it, but refusing to see any of the good left in the world that younger people point out is well done. The world in this story is super interesting, atmosphere was tense all the way through, Blister was an interesting character, and I loved how familial bonds/relationships played a big role in the story. I don't want to say anything else for fear of spoilers, but this was a fantastic story.
"Orange World"-If this story doesn't make you cringe because the way the characters act is EXACTLY how you'd think mothers (new or old) act in real life, you've CLEARLY never been around mothers. I really liked the ending and the writing was incredibly strong, specifically with regards to dialogue. Not to mention this was a strong ending story for the collection without feeling like it has to be bombastic or over the top. A great ending to a great collection of stories.
Welp, those are my thoughts. I forgot to mention that this collection isn't going to be for everyone, but if I'm being completely honest, I don't think this collection is "too weird". Like Her Body and Other Parties, all of the weird happenings purely exist to push a message or enhance the plot. It's not weird for the sake of being weird *coughTHEMERRYSPINSTERcough* However, if you read the summary and thought the stories were "too weird," then I guess they are, but coming from someone who ADORES weird shit, this collection was pretty tame, all things considered. I definitely recommend giving this collection a shot, it's easily one of the best books I read this year and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
oraines's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0