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A review by bexmontgomery
Sandcastle and Other Stories: The Complete Edition by Justin Bog
5.0
Sandcastle and Other Stories (The Complete Edition) by Justin Bog
This reissue of the debut story collection by Justin Bog is impressive. Originally published in 2013 by Green Darner Press the collection garnered high critical praise, was named one of the Best Books of 2013 Suspense Anthology by Suspense Magazine and a 2014 Ohioan Award Finalist.
It’s not hard to see why. This collection of 12 short stories runs the gamut of colorful characters, and the author manages to inhabit each of them with the ease of a well-seasoned pro. He slips into the mind of a 75-year-old gardener, a new mother, and a young child with equal aplomb.
The stories are imaginative and wonderfully mundane at the same time. Focusing on small details with such shocking honesty that they fascinate and resonate at the same time.
Sandcastle, the title story in the collection is masterful. It’s features the collection’s signature gorgeous, sumptuous prose and gives us a glimpse of what seems at first innocent voyeurism but ultimately turns to something much darker, more sinister. And then we as the readers, the ultimate voyeurs find ourselves helpless to stop the scene unfolding before our eyes.
Many of the stories in the collection play with human nature’s darker side to varying degrees touching on everything from apathy and want to murder and it’s delicious to read about in the hands of this author because it is done so well. There is not a false note to be found. He also plays around the edges of mental illness with characters that have suicidal tendencies, delusions, or (in separate stories) girls who want nothing more than to be trees.
Though most of the stories are firmly rooted in the here and now, a few give nods to the fantastical. Poseidon Eyes, for example, is almost an Alice in Wonderland tale set under the sea. And The Virtue of Minding Your Own Business has one word in it, a reference to a “holographic” will which thrusts it into the realm of something that could be defined as science fiction.
Overall these stories were enthralling to read. At times deliciously disturbing, utterly relatable and beautifully moving. I highly recommend this collection to fans of literary fiction, but I think there is something in this collection for every type of reader to enjoy.
4.5 stars.
Review copy courtesy of author/Sage's Blog Tours.
Review originally appeared at Aurelia {Lit} {Geek} {Chic}
This reissue of the debut story collection by Justin Bog is impressive. Originally published in 2013 by Green Darner Press the collection garnered high critical praise, was named one of the Best Books of 2013 Suspense Anthology by Suspense Magazine and a 2014 Ohioan Award Finalist.
It’s not hard to see why. This collection of 12 short stories runs the gamut of colorful characters, and the author manages to inhabit each of them with the ease of a well-seasoned pro. He slips into the mind of a 75-year-old gardener, a new mother, and a young child with equal aplomb.
The stories are imaginative and wonderfully mundane at the same time. Focusing on small details with such shocking honesty that they fascinate and resonate at the same time.
Sandcastle, the title story in the collection is masterful. It’s features the collection’s signature gorgeous, sumptuous prose and gives us a glimpse of what seems at first innocent voyeurism but ultimately turns to something much darker, more sinister. And then we as the readers, the ultimate voyeurs find ourselves helpless to stop the scene unfolding before our eyes.
Many of the stories in the collection play with human nature’s darker side to varying degrees touching on everything from apathy and want to murder and it’s delicious to read about in the hands of this author because it is done so well. There is not a false note to be found. He also plays around the edges of mental illness with characters that have suicidal tendencies, delusions, or (in separate stories) girls who want nothing more than to be trees.
Though most of the stories are firmly rooted in the here and now, a few give nods to the fantastical. Poseidon Eyes, for example, is almost an Alice in Wonderland tale set under the sea. And The Virtue of Minding Your Own Business has one word in it, a reference to a “holographic” will which thrusts it into the realm of something that could be defined as science fiction.
Overall these stories were enthralling to read. At times deliciously disturbing, utterly relatable and beautifully moving. I highly recommend this collection to fans of literary fiction, but I think there is something in this collection for every type of reader to enjoy.
4.5 stars.
Review copy courtesy of author/Sage's Blog Tours.
Review originally appeared at Aurelia {Lit} {Geek} {Chic}