Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Best American Short Stories 2020, by Heidi Pitlor, Curtis Sittenfeld

1 review

skudiklier's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

I'm not sure how to rate a collection of short stories, especially when my views on them ranged, but overall I liked this collection. I read it mostly because I like Curtis Sittenfeld's writing, and was interested to see what short stories she'd select for this. The introduction she gave was good context, and I found it really enjoyable to wait to read her reasoning for each individual story until right after I'd finished it.

Some of these were interesting in terms of their contents, others I liked mostly for their writing/quotes, and a few I wasn't super interested in either way. But my lowest rating was 4 stars and even that one I thought was completely fine. Here are my individual ratings for and brief opinions on each story:

Godmother Tea: 4.25 stars (lots of good quotes, I liked it)
The Apartment: 4.5 stars (didn't write down any quotes but was very invested in what happens almost right from the beginning, more engaging)
A Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed: 4 stars (it was fine, eh)
Sibling Rivalry: 5 stars (my favorite so far, very interesting)
The Nanny: 5 stars (I liked this, how it got to the point slowly, the main character, the stuff with
Spoilerthe kid
)
Halloween: 5 stars (I liked this one, I like the ending, it
Spoilerleaves you hanging in a good way
)
Something Street: 4.25 stars (well done, I liked it more by the end, but a lot of it I wasn't super engaged with)
This Is Pleasure: 4.5 stars (well done, mostly engaging, but idk if the point was clear enough--I feel like someone could go into that story thinking the me too movement is bad, and come out feeling like their suspicions were confirmed. Like it could be read uncritically in a way I don't like)
In the Event: 4.5 stars (relate to the anxiety, it being in SF was fun, but god this was tense and too real)
The Children: 4.5 stars (not a lot really happened but it still felt tense and engaging)
Rubberdust: 4.75 stars (meta, very engaging, not longer than it needed to be, bothered me)
It's Not You: 5 stars (probably my favorite so far, made me go back through all my other ratings later and bump most of them down .25 each just so this one can be rated highest. The writing was just really good, I really liked it, also I'm confused by the ending???
SpoilerWhy do people recognize her voice
)
Liberté: 4.5 stars (very engaging but idk if I really liked it? I didn't know anything about either person and idk what the point was but it was interesting at least)
Howl Palace: 4.75 stars (interesting, very engaging, devastating in a subtle way)
The Nine-Tailed Fox Explains: 4.75 stars (engaging, interesting, like the ending,
Spoilergay
)
The Hands of Dirty Children: 5 stars (very engaging, my other favorite so far, really sad but told in a way that's so endearing, heartbreaking, really well done)
Octopus VII: 4.75 stars (engaging, not a 100% sympathetic narrator but still on his side, too real with both the Bay Area and LA, felt so unstable the whole time despite him clearly being able to lean on his parents if he needed to)
Enlightenment: 4.5 stars (engaging, but I didn't like it very much really? I do agree with Sittenfeld's reasoning for why she liked it)
Kennedy: 4.5 stars (engaging, upsetting, agree with Sittenfeld that it's both horrifying and tender; but also why tf is it about
SpoilerJFK???
Why him???)
The Special World: 4.5 stars (engaging, weird, idk) 
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