wentingthings's review against another edition
3.0
some of the stories were excellent--loved "house of grass," and all the stories with louisa+ sister--but others just refused to adhere in my head.
elibrooke's review against another edition
5.0
Perillo's stories are full of hard-luck characters -- women mostly, some kids. They offer a rough yet dreamy reality, a place where people have given up and find solace in whatever they can sink into -- cough syrup, bad sex with broken strangers, or just the intricacies of the patterns in the wood floorboards. Perillo is an amazing wordsmith, particularly good with images and setting a mood. Her characters are sympathetic without being pitiable. They’re fucked up and trapped, maybe, but they’re making the best of it on their own terms. It’s all set in the Pacific Northwest but might as well be my hometown, reminds me of a lot of people I knew as a kid, could have become myself if I'd made different choices. It's unsettling yet comforting, somehow. I didn't realize she was a poet until after I finished the book, and am now reading through her back catalog and loving it. Been a while since I found a new-to-me poet I could really get into.
renee_reads_books's review against another edition
2.0
I listened to this via audiobook, and I just couldn't stay with it. I thought maybe I just wasn't devoting enough of my attention to it, but when I sat down and listened to it while knitting and therefore not really focused on anything BUT the stories, I still found my mind wandering away. They were well-written enough, but just not what I typically read. I think my favorite story was "Ashes," which did resonate a bit somehow. I also liked Dr. Vicks, but I think what I enjoyed most was the character Louisa who appears in several of the stories. She was the easiest for me to visualize, and I found her sister to be a believable narrator.
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