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sammibreads's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is probably the first short story collection I have read but I really didn’t vibe with it. I found most of the stories overdrawn in a kinda boring way and the metaphors etc either went right over my head or were too simple for the amount of dragging out done. I really kept hoping that the next story would be better because the subject matter interested me but I think I just don’t like the writing style ! I probably liked elegy and tangi the best out of them all ?
lydiaemilyy's review
2.0
2.5
This book started out really promising, but then most of the stories started to feel the same. Obviously the stories were going to focus on similar themes (relationships, infidelity, unhappiness, regret), but it felt like these themes were being recycled with the same characters. White, middle-class women (often mothers) in unhappy marriages. It would have been more interesting to see these themes explored through different characters in different life situations. Yes, I'm sure it would have been a harder collection to write and a hell of a lot of research would have to be done to do it right, but it would have made for a more interesting collection. Instead, I felt like I read the same story several times.
And parts of it were just a little odd to read. I felt particularly uncomfortable in "A Story She Might Tell Herself" when the main character felt herself experience a spiritual awakening after encountering a Buddhist monk, who just happened to appear in their farmers' market to sit and meditate. It just felt a little... off? This whole othering of different cultures generally makes for uncomfortable reading imo.
All those things being said, her writing is beautiful. It flows. It's poetic. It's evocative. Her writing cannot really be faulted. There were also a couple of gems; I really enjoyed The Highland Stories, The Scenario, Dick and Elegy. I liked the linking of human emotions with the wild. I appreciated the snapshots in time that we got of these characters. It was definitely enjoyable to read and her writing is the type of writing that you can just sink in to. If it wasn't for the similarity of many of the stories and the characters within them it could have been really good. But because of that it fell just short of average.
This book started out really promising, but then most of the stories started to feel the same. Obviously the stories were going to focus on similar themes (relationships, infidelity, unhappiness, regret), but it felt like these themes were being recycled with the same characters. White, middle-class women (often mothers) in unhappy marriages. It would have been more interesting to see these themes explored through different characters in different life situations. Yes, I'm sure it would have been a harder collection to write and a hell of a lot of research would have to be done to do it right, but it would have made for a more interesting collection. Instead, I felt like I read the same story several times.
And parts of it were just a little odd to read. I felt particularly uncomfortable in "A Story She Might Tell Herself" when the main character felt herself experience a spiritual awakening after encountering a Buddhist monk, who just happened to appear in their farmers' market to sit and meditate. It just felt a little... off? This whole othering of different cultures generally makes for uncomfortable reading imo.
All those things being said, her writing is beautiful. It flows. It's poetic. It's evocative. Her writing cannot really be faulted. There were also a couple of gems; I really enjoyed The Highland Stories, The Scenario, Dick and Elegy. I liked the linking of human emotions with the wild. I appreciated the snapshots in time that we got of these characters. It was definitely enjoyable to read and her writing is the type of writing that you can just sink in to. If it wasn't for the similarity of many of the stories and the characters within them it could have been really good. But because of that it fell just short of average.
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