Reviews

Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman

oczerniecka's review

2.0

I did not enjoyed that book. From around 20 per cent in, I was just debating whether I should drop it or try to finish it. Eventually I endured, and I read the whole book.

Generally I enjoy short stories, but stories in this book didn't have any power or message that was captivating. For some time I had an impression that the book was written by someone who’s English is not the first language. This is not necessary bad thing, English is not the first lanuage for me. But in the book this impression I got means that the wording, and the language was just lacking something, some ease of the wording or the way sentences are built.

I was frustrated at the end of every single story. I would like them to end with some kind of message or leave me filled with emotions, or make me wonder about the story. Stories in the book were ending flat. That's all I can say about them, they were flat.

spinning_jenny's review

funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

ljbentley27's review

3.0

I requested Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman from NetGalley because I had read some really good things about the book and the collection of short stories included. If I am honest I wasn’t overly impressed by some of the stories. The art of writing short stories is a skill that is honed and Abigail Ulman has it. No one can argue that. Personally, I didn’t enjoy all the stories. You can’t win them all.

It is not all bad news. Some of the stories in Hot Little Hands were pretty epic and did have me holding my breath. In particular Warmups and Your Charm Won’t Help You Here.

Whilst the short story isn’t my favourite form of writing (I think due to the often ambiguous endings and lack of time to be able to care for the characters) I do respect any writer who can produce them. Although Hot Little Hands didn’t do it or me personally I can see that Ulman is a talented writer and an exciting new voice. I will be intrigued to read more from her in different formats.

Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman is available now.

Follow Abigail Ulman (@abigaileulman) on Twitter.

For more titles from Penguin Books (@PenguinUKBooks) please visit www.penguin.co.uk.

sarahc3319's review

3.0

A good collection of stories-- but I always felt lost, like I was missing something obvious. Ultimately, I enjoyed what I read but wasn't blown away. Ulman is a talented writer and I would try something else by her.

nelopees's review

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

romywilsongray's review

5.0

I could not put this book down! I was disappointed to finish it and I'll definitely be looking out for future books by this author. I really liked that Claire was the protagonist of three short stories.

emkoshka's review

3.0

I read Abigail Ulman's story 'Chagall's Wife' when it was published in the journal Meanjin several years ago and it stayed with me thereafter, its suggestive ending haunting me. Unfortunately, the rest of the stories in this collection didn't live up to its promise. Ulman seems to be the epitome of that writing axiom, 'Write what you know'. The stories all feature young women, many of them of Jewish and/or Russian origin, most of them completely self-absorbed, oversexed and unlikeable. The three stories featuring Claire smacked of the writer being heavily influenced by Girls and wanting to write her own millennial angst female story but failing because the protagonist is so, well, meh. But maybe that's the whole point of Girls; I don't know, I don't think I could stomach it after tasting this version in print. The only standout stories of this collection were 'Chagall's Wife', the chilling 'Warm-Ups' and perhaps the final story, 'Your Charm Won't Help You Here', for its claustrophobic description of the American border protection system.

oliviaquinn's review

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

wtb_michael's review

3.0

Probably 2.5 really. This collection of stories, all with young women or girls as protagonists is pretty patchy. I quite enjoyed the three linked stories about the young English woman trying to figure out her life while living in the US, which felt quite autobiographical, but many of the others passed me by. It's very readable - Ulman is a good writer, but there was something a bit aimless about most of the stories that left me frustrated.

estelas's review

2.0

Although I like the idea of short stories about women that are all slightly interconnected, I found that the stories don't really have much logic or order to them. What happened in the end is that I kept confusing them and not knowing which one ended where.

I like some of the concepts in the stories (coming of age, deportation), but the stories didn't amount to anything for me. There wasn't a conclusive ending to any of them (or not that I can remember, and I just finished this), and I believe the stories suffered mostly for this lack of structural flow.

I only really became interested in one story, but absolutely nothing happened in the end!