A review by gabbyreadswithtea
Love Is Hell by Scott Westerfeld, Melissa Marr, Justine Larbalestier
3.0
OVERALL RATING: 3.1 / 5 stars
*Minor spoilers in review*
Since this book is made up of lots of little stories, I thought it would be a bit silly to give it one rating, one review. Instead I have sectioned this review into each story, so you all know what I thought of each one, individually. Heads up, what surprised me is that the only stories that intrigued me at all, and came up with a NEW concept, were the only two authors that I actually recognised; Melissa Marr and Scott Westerfeld. To the other authors of this anthology I say; "Take a risk! Be creative."
Sleeping With The Spirit, by Laurie Faria Stolarz (3/5 stars)
Starting this anthology with a ghost story, was really a downer for me. I don't like ghost stories. I read this a fair while ago, so I don't remember many details, although I did like the ending, bittersweet. One thing that was hard about this book was lack of information, which was to be expected since this is a short story. Also, I'm starting to enjoy other genres, so going back to a genre that I read when I was twelve, was quite difficult to do. This is why some of these ratings were quite low. Overall, not a bad story but not a good story to start the book off, for me.
Compared to the other stories in this novella, this one was meh.
I did find the little 90's references super cute though, I love 90s movies!
"about his favourite '80s flicks (Back to the Future and Ferris Buellers Day off)"
Stupid Perfect World, by Scott Westerfeld (4/5 stars)
I was quite nervous going into this story as I've heard some of Scott Westerfeld's dystopian stories can be quite dark and creepy. The concept of this world dragged me in on the first page, there was so much I wanted to learn! His idea of this "perfect" world was so intriguing, yet he did it with such confidence; almost as if it actually existed. It was quite interesting what each of the students wanted to "give up" in their assignment, like sleep, health, time travel and many other things we couldn't even comprehend! It was interesting how these characters were learning about things that are so natural and common for us readers. Overall, really liked it and made me actually want to go read some of Scott's other novels and series.
Thinner Than Water, by Justine Larbalestier (2/5 stars)
Damn, I was regretting writing a review for this story. I don't really know what to say for this except for it made me uncomfortable. All the morals of these people, all the horrible things they did, made me SICK. I just hated everything about this world and struggled to even consider it. I know there are some places in this world that may live like this and that killed me inside. I guess the author deserves some credit for making me feel so strongly about this story, but it really did just make my skin crawl. I'm sure I didn't sleep well for the next few days after reading this. I've only read a limited amount of faerie/fey stories and I loved all of them, I was quite disappointed to really despise this one because I love reading about the world of the fey.
Fan Fictions, by Gabrielle Zevin (2/5 stars)
Another story that just creeped me out! It made me want to scream "I'm NOT crazy! I'm NOT crazy!" just like the main character. I gave this such a low rating because there was no answer to the main question; what the heck just happened? Is she crazy? Does she know a ghost? Does this person really exist? Or did she just read it in the book like everyone thought she did? I can't stand books with no clear answer, it literally drives me nuts. (Which, honestly, was probably the whole point of this story anyway.) Also, this story reminded me a lot of "Between The Lines" by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer.
Love Struck, by Melissa Marr (4.5/5 stars)
Those smarty pants decided to put the only author I really wanted to read right at the end of the book. I have not yet read anything from Melissa Marr, however I have her "Wicked Lovely" series staring at me on my shelf right now... This was going to be a tester...test the waters (yes, pun.) This was probably my favorite story in the anthology. Unique story, unusual creatures and something that I had never read before in my life. I have never heard of selchies, however I assume they are a real legend (I checked, and yes they are). Not many people, I assume have heard of these creatures, or read of them in this type of fictional story, and that's one reason why I loved this so much; it was new.
I was so prepared to give this story a really low rating, as at the end I was chanting, "Vic's gonna kill him, Vic's gonna kill him" but instead, it ended so beautifully, and really made me think, "love is hell. But it's worth it."
*Minor spoilers in review*
Since this book is made up of lots of little stories, I thought it would be a bit silly to give it one rating, one review. Instead I have sectioned this review into each story, so you all know what I thought of each one, individually. Heads up, what surprised me is that the only stories that intrigued me at all, and came up with a NEW concept, were the only two authors that I actually recognised; Melissa Marr and Scott Westerfeld. To the other authors of this anthology I say; "Take a risk! Be creative."
Sleeping With The Spirit, by Laurie Faria Stolarz (3/5 stars)
Starting this anthology with a ghost story, was really a downer for me. I don't like ghost stories. I read this a fair while ago, so I don't remember many details, although I did like the ending, bittersweet. One thing that was hard about this book was lack of information, which was to be expected since this is a short story. Also, I'm starting to enjoy other genres, so going back to a genre that I read when I was twelve, was quite difficult to do. This is why some of these ratings were quite low. Overall, not a bad story but not a good story to start the book off, for me.
Compared to the other stories in this novella, this one was meh.
I did find the little 90's references super cute though, I love 90s movies!
"about his favourite '80s flicks (Back to the Future and Ferris Buellers Day off)"
Stupid Perfect World, by Scott Westerfeld (4/5 stars)
I was quite nervous going into this story as I've heard some of Scott Westerfeld's dystopian stories can be quite dark and creepy. The concept of this world dragged me in on the first page, there was so much I wanted to learn! His idea of this "perfect" world was so intriguing, yet he did it with such confidence; almost as if it actually existed. It was quite interesting what each of the students wanted to "give up" in their assignment, like sleep, health, time travel and many other things we couldn't even comprehend! It was interesting how these characters were learning about things that are so natural and common for us readers. Overall, really liked it and made me actually want to go read some of Scott's other novels and series.
Thinner Than Water, by Justine Larbalestier (2/5 stars)
Damn, I was regretting writing a review for this story. I don't really know what to say for this except for it made me uncomfortable. All the morals of these people, all the horrible things they did, made me SICK. I just hated everything about this world and struggled to even consider it. I know there are some places in this world that may live like this and that killed me inside. I guess the author deserves some credit for making me feel so strongly about this story, but it really did just make my skin crawl. I'm sure I didn't sleep well for the next few days after reading this. I've only read a limited amount of faerie/fey stories and I loved all of them, I was quite disappointed to really despise this one because I love reading about the world of the fey.
Fan Fictions, by Gabrielle Zevin (2/5 stars)
Another story that just creeped me out! It made me want to scream "I'm NOT crazy! I'm NOT crazy!" just like the main character. I gave this such a low rating because there was no answer to the main question; what the heck just happened? Is she crazy? Does she know a ghost? Does this person really exist? Or did she just read it in the book like everyone thought she did? I can't stand books with no clear answer, it literally drives me nuts. (Which, honestly, was probably the whole point of this story anyway.) Also, this story reminded me a lot of "Between The Lines" by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer.
Love Struck, by Melissa Marr (4.5/5 stars)
Those smarty pants decided to put the only author I really wanted to read right at the end of the book. I have not yet read anything from Melissa Marr, however I have her "Wicked Lovely" series staring at me on my shelf right now... This was going to be a tester...test the waters (yes, pun.) This was probably my favorite story in the anthology. Unique story, unusual creatures and something that I had never read before in my life. I have never heard of selchies, however I assume they are a real legend (I checked, and yes they are). Not many people, I assume have heard of these creatures, or read of them in this type of fictional story, and that's one reason why I loved this so much; it was new.
I was so prepared to give this story a really low rating, as at the end I was chanting, "Vic's gonna kill him, Vic's gonna kill him" but instead, it ended so beautifully, and really made me think, "love is hell. But it's worth it."