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queenkoko's review
2.0
I didn't read No One Belongs Here More Than You, where the short story was published originally. I am just reviewing the one short story I came across. I thought this boring and it actually made me angry.
The narrator is woken up by a noise and she hears someone coming up the stairs in her apartment. Instead of getting up to kick some ass, she does nothing. She lays in bed and has an inner conversation with herself and thinks about her life. She's unarmed, someone is in her apartment, she leaves her boyfriend that is described as an asshole asleep, and she does not do a damn thing.
She talks about her boyfriend and we see some parallel with the intruder and her boyfriend. She hates them both and technically they are both strangers to her. The story was disappointing. I was angry with the woman for not standing up for herself, for not doing all in her might to fight back, and for staying in a loveless relationship.
No One Belongs Here More Than You, has some good reviews so I may give it a shot, and read.
The narrator is woken up by a noise and she hears someone coming up the stairs in her apartment. Instead of getting up to kick some ass, she does nothing. She lays in bed and has an inner conversation with herself and thinks about her life. She's unarmed, someone is in her apartment, she leaves her boyfriend that is described as an asshole asleep, and she does not do a damn thing.
She talks about her boyfriend and we see some parallel with the intruder and her boyfriend. She hates them both and technically they are both strangers to her. The story was disappointing. I was angry with the woman for not standing up for herself, for not doing all in her might to fight back, and for staying in a loveless relationship.
No One Belongs Here More Than You, has some good reviews so I may give it a shot, and read.
sunday_evening's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
is the writing a little simplistic and trite? yes. but i get what July was going for and i relate to this character. July perfectly captured what a catastrophizing thought spiral feels like, i almost wanted to read this short story through the corner of my eye.
violet's review
4.0
I hesitated between 3 and 4, but I have a principle according to which I always give the higher number when in doubt, so there.
I do like a short form and I do like a flipping of famous tropes, and in this short story I got both. The Man on the Stairs is an interesting and at times surprisingly funny reflection on intimacy, self-esteem, loneliness and how vulnerable we are to the presence and opinion of others. I feel like there's something there that could have been sharpened, but then maybe that's precisely the point — an imperfect 'product' we have to come to terms with. I will probably think back on this story quite a lot.
Also it made me think about this poem 'Yesterday upon the stairs / I met a man who wasn't there / He wasn't there again today / Oh how I wish he'd go away' ('Antagonish' by W. H. Mearns) and that wonderful, wonderful episode 85 of the Magnus Archives. Consider checking them out if you liked this story...
I do like a short form and I do like a flipping of famous tropes, and in this short story I got both. The Man on the Stairs is an interesting and at times surprisingly funny reflection on intimacy, self-esteem, loneliness and how vulnerable we are to the presence and opinion of others. I feel like there's something there that could have been sharpened, but then maybe that's precisely the point — an imperfect 'product' we have to come to terms with. I will probably think back on this story quite a lot.
Also it made me think about this poem 'Yesterday upon the stairs / I met a man who wasn't there / He wasn't there again today / Oh how I wish he'd go away' ('Antagonish' by W. H. Mearns) and that wonderful, wonderful episode 85 of the Magnus Archives. Consider checking them out if you liked this story...
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