manssecondbestfriend's review
3.0
THE PINK MONKEY by Gabino Iglesias 5
STUNTS by Ace Atkins 5
REFLECTIONS by Amanda Moore 3
THE GOOD NEIGHBOR by Jeff Abbott 3
A THOUSAND BATS ON AN AUSTIN NIGHT by Scott Montgomery 2
Part 2
RUSH HOUR by Richard Z Santos 4
SAPPHIRE BLUE by Alexandra Burt 1 and fat phobic. You can’t refer to anyone as “a blob”
CHARLES BRONSON by Lee Thomas 5
SAVING by Miriam Kuznets DNF holy fuck that was AWFUL
A TIME AND A PLACE by Jacob Grovey 2
Part 3
THE FOUNDATION by Chaitali Sen 1 zero plot. Like, what even was this?
MICHAEL’S PERFECT PENIS by Molly Odintz 1 just…awful
STITCHES by Amy Gentry 3 great writing but an ending that kinda went off the rails
BANGFACE VS CLEANING SOLUTIONS LLC by Andrew Hilbert DNF after 1 page. I’m not one with a weak constitution, but I’m not interested in reading a story where the first page is all about zit popping. Disgusting. And then the way the MC talks to and about women. Double disgusting!
dgrachel's review
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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
2.0
I’m always a little heartbroken when an Akashic Noir collection doesn’t work for me. After 3 amazing collections last year, Akashic’s first noir collection of 2023 is a disappointment. There were only three stories I enjoyed: Stunts by Ace Atkins, Reflections by Amanda Moore, and Stitches by Amy Gentry. I loved the main character in Stunts. Moore’s Reflections was delightfully twisty, and Gentry built a complex tale that combined a missing woman, a dead body, mystery, and a sad search for answers with a great ending. The rest of this anthology is filled with mediocre writing, boring plots, and terrible endings. Overall, this is a big miss for me and I hope this isn’t a harbinger of what is to come in the rest of this year’s Akashic Noir collections. I really hope it’s just an outlier.
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