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A review by steelcitygator
The Shell Collector: Stories by Anthony Doerr
3.0
A collection of short stories, the first two (the collections book namesake and an award winning one) are the clear highlights. Both are 5* short stories and the peak. The two following immediately after are not good in my opinion and probably the lowlights. The rest are somewhere in between, not bad but often not great, usually some form of "good." That feels about all you need to know about this work, it's a collection of stories and short enough that it's probably worth your time if you are in the mood.
My biggest gripe, and this goes to all short story writers, vary the endings for the love of god. I know it's a bit of a thing for short stories to usually end on vague endings that leave the reader to ponder, and most likely is often necessitated by their length, and it makes me hesitant to read collections like this. You can give a solid landing to these stories and they'll still be satisfying. It works fine in one offs reading these online or in a magazine but the problem really rises to the surface in a collection like this.
My biggest gripe, and this goes to all short story writers, vary the endings for the love of god. I know it's a bit of a thing for short stories to usually end on vague endings that leave the reader to ponder, and most likely is often necessitated by their length, and it makes me hesitant to read collections like this. You can give a solid landing to these stories and they'll still be satisfying. It works fine in one offs reading these online or in a magazine but the problem really rises to the surface in a collection like this.