Scan barcode
zurpel's review
5.0
This was a real treat. I had this collection of ten short stories by different fantasy authors lying around for quite a while now, having it originally bought for only one of the stories. Now I finally managed to read the whole collection and don't regret it.
The stories are all different in topic and style, naturally. But still the common theme suggested by the title can be found in all of them. Sometimes the characters are literally half-human, sometimes one has to look closer to "see" their other side.
Although these are fantasy stories they are also recommended reads for people who normally don't enjoy the genre in itself too much, because that isn't the point in the stories. It's friendship, discovering one's own merits and other important aspects of life. And because I can't find any fault with the collection or any of its stories, it deserves the highest rating.
The stories are all different in topic and style, naturally. But still the common theme suggested by the title can be found in all of them. Sometimes the characters are literally half-human, sometimes one has to look closer to "see" their other side.
Although these are fantasy stories they are also recommended reads for people who normally don't enjoy the genre in itself too much, because that isn't the point in the stories. It's friendship, discovering one's own merits and other important aspects of life. And because I can't find any fault with the collection or any of its stories, it deserves the highest rating.
michireading's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
aknas22's review
3.0
I only read the shorty story by Tamora Pierce since she is the only author I read.
frequentlyinfrequent's review
3.0
Really, I would give it a 2.5 because it's a book of many stories and I only liked a couple of them. But the ones I liked were great, and I really liked the poem "How to make a Human" by Lawrence Schimel. It's a very... realistic poem from some points of view and it's a poem that says something I think to be true.
ifthebook's review
5.0
Often with collections of short stories, it's hard to like all of them. With this collection, though, there's something in each of the stories that appeals to me. I certainly like some better than others (the one about the girl with snakes for hair, the one about Melusine, and the one about the boy with hawk's wings), but they all have their moments.
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
3.0
A nice collection of YA spec short stories about beings who are half human and half something else. Nothing particularly deep or earth-shattering, but a lot of solidly crafted tales to keep a reader entertained for a time.
iamastraythought's review
2.0
Okay, prepare for an unusually harsh review from me. I was excited for this book, I really was.
I found my hopes for this book quickly dashed. The outside of the book was pretty, and that's about where my excitement ended. The book itself is... childish. Maybe it was meant for a child, and I just wasn't aware of that fact. It would have changed my view of it from the start. But the stories feel like something written in a High-school creative writing class and the pictures are poorly done Photoshop that feel super fake. I couldn't even bring myself to read the last two stories.
The only bright spot in it is the story Linnea.
I found my hopes for this book quickly dashed. The outside of the book was pretty, and that's about where my excitement ended. The book itself is... childish. Maybe it was meant for a child, and I just wasn't aware of that fact. It would have changed my view of it from the start. But the stories feel like something written in a High-school creative writing class and the pictures are poorly done Photoshop that feel super fake. I couldn't even bring myself to read the last two stories.
The only bright spot in it is the story Linnea.
More...