A review by charshorrorcorner
The Other Room by James Everington
4.0
I loved this collection!
There were 12 stories in this book, they were all lyrically written and quite original(which in itself is a feat). I did not care much for a few of them, but, for me, that is not unusual in a collection such as this. Finding 5 stories that absolutely knocked my socks off IS unusual!
First off, my favorite story, "A Writer's Words" was well written, concise and a pleasant surprise-very different from anything I've read before. For the main character of the story, what happened to him was an absolute horror. For me? It was glee! This story goes down as one of my favorite shorts, EVER. I think it has one of the best endings ever for a short story (which is saying a lot because I prefer shorts with a punch).
I also very much enjoyed "First Time Buyers", "Schrodinger's Box", "Some Stories for Escapists #3: The Haunted House", "Red Route" (my second favorite in this collection" and lastly "When the Walls Bend" which was a different type spin on an old theme.
I also liked the author's note section at the end. I always enjoy hearing an author's thoughts and reasoning behind a story, AFTER I've read the story. There were some interesting tidbits in there regarding how the stories came about; it was like a peek behind the curtain.
I usually like to make a note regarding any errors, typos or formatting issues. In this case, I don't have any notes to make. I noticed very few, if any, errors and lately, that's very refreshing.
I would give this book 4.5 stars if the system would let me. Since it doesn't, I've left it at 4.0. I am going to keep an eye on this author...I have a feeling that his name will be more well known in the future and I want to be in on the ground floor!
There were 12 stories in this book, they were all lyrically written and quite original(which in itself is a feat). I did not care much for a few of them, but, for me, that is not unusual in a collection such as this. Finding 5 stories that absolutely knocked my socks off IS unusual!
First off, my favorite story, "A Writer's Words" was well written, concise and a pleasant surprise-very different from anything I've read before. For the main character of the story, what happened to him was an absolute horror. For me? It was glee! This story goes down as one of my favorite shorts, EVER. I think it has one of the best endings ever for a short story (which is saying a lot because I prefer shorts with a punch).
I also very much enjoyed "First Time Buyers", "Schrodinger's Box", "Some Stories for Escapists #3: The Haunted House", "Red Route" (my second favorite in this collection" and lastly "When the Walls Bend" which was a different type spin on an old theme.
I also liked the author's note section at the end. I always enjoy hearing an author's thoughts and reasoning behind a story, AFTER I've read the story. There were some interesting tidbits in there regarding how the stories came about; it was like a peek behind the curtain.
I usually like to make a note regarding any errors, typos or formatting issues. In this case, I don't have any notes to make. I noticed very few, if any, errors and lately, that's very refreshing.
I would give this book 4.5 stars if the system would let me. Since it doesn't, I've left it at 4.0. I am going to keep an eye on this author...I have a feeling that his name will be more well known in the future and I want to be in on the ground floor!