beckydouglas's review
4.0
I don't often read short stories. I also don't often read romance. So the full title, "It's Complicated: Short Stories About Long Relationships" might not usually have been the kind of thing I'd pick up. On the other hand, variety is the spice of life, right?
I'm glad to say I really enjoyed it! Perhaps it's unfair to call it romance because, although there are certainly aspects of romance in many of the stories, there are also many stories about relationships more broadly. The range of different themes to the stories was fantastic as well, and I actually really enjoyed the shift of focus between one story and the next (something that normally grates on me when I read short story collections).
Something that was new to me was the recurring theme of religion in many of the stories. Not being religious myself it hadn't occurred to me how important a person's religion would be to them in the context of the relationships they have with others. I guess the relationship a person has with God could easily be the longest and most complicated one they might have.
For many of the stories I wanted to read more about the characters. I wanted more details, I wanted to know what had happened before the snapshot we got of their lives and what happened afterwards. So, in spite of having enjoyed this more than I normally enjoy short stories, I really hope the author writes a novel.
I'm glad to say I really enjoyed it! Perhaps it's unfair to call it romance because, although there are certainly aspects of romance in many of the stories, there are also many stories about relationships more broadly. The range of different themes to the stories was fantastic as well, and I actually really enjoyed the shift of focus between one story and the next (something that normally grates on me when I read short story collections).
Something that was new to me was the recurring theme of religion in many of the stories. Not being religious myself it hadn't occurred to me how important a person's religion would be to them in the context of the relationships they have with others. I guess the relationship a person has with God could easily be the longest and most complicated one they might have.
For many of the stories I wanted to read more about the characters. I wanted more details, I wanted to know what had happened before the snapshot we got of their lives and what happened afterwards. So, in spite of having enjoyed this more than I normally enjoy short stories, I really hope the author writes a novel.
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