A review by podanotherjessi
Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers

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

3.25

This has the same problem as many short story collections, which is to say some of the stories are great and some are not so great. I liked the stories at the beginning that leaned more fantasy more than the sci-fi ones toward the end, but they were a mixed bag throughout.
The added challenge in this collection is that the stories are meant to be interconnected and tell a complete saga of a family through the generations, and it fails to meet that challenge. There's not quite enough of a through-line outside of the biological one and a thin theme about injustice. Some stories actively contradict previous ones in a way that left me very confused as to what was real and what wasn't for a very long time.
Overall, I applaud the ambition of this book, but it just didn't quite land for me.