Reviews

A Manual for How to Love Us by Erin Slaughter

Only show reviews with written explanations

zuly's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

jds77_'s review

Go to review page

5.0

I already love Erin Slaughters poetry, so I knew I would love these stories.

mollymisek's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

I can’t quite wrap my head around any of these stories, and I sort of love it for that. Like you’re orbiting a black hole and you’re close, but not close enough to understand it, to be fully pulled into it. Only a witness to the eerie mystery. Stand-outs were “You Too Can Cure Your Life,” “The Dragging Route,” “Burrowing,” “Nest,” and “Crescendo.”

rmhollars's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

amandabrookem's review

Go to review page

4.0

i love when poets write prose because each story was like a long poem. everything was so expertly and beautifully written. my favorite stories were “anywhere”, “the black box”, “you too can cure your life”, “the forgotten coast”, and “elsewhere”. erin really knows how to transport the reader from wherever they are and whoever they are into the minds and settings of these stories using lyrical descriptions and characters that are incredibly unique and mostly unhinged. there were some stories where i felt lost until the end but that just meant i got to reread it and experience the beauty again.

fcourtneyyy's review

Go to review page

4.0

overall i think the prose was just exquisite. it was heartbreakingly stunning and captured such a dangerous tenderness. some of the chapters took my breath away. others felt less satisfying. short stories are usually not my favorite type of read. but overall i did enjoy this book.