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whatsmacksaid's review
4.0
WOW. This was so good. There are only four stories, so it's a quick read, but very much worthwhile.
jodicleghorn's review
5.0
Caution: Contains Small Parts is modern Australian suburban gothic at it's best. McDermott's writing is taunt and evocation from the first page, gripping and compelling the reader through the four tales of broken bodies, relationships and toys. The opening two stories, stark in their desolation are counterbalanced with the bittersweet hope inherent in the final two.
The title story, "Caution: Contains Small Parts" leads with the creep factor of a mystery toy dog that won't disappear and segways beautifully into an unexpected ending of love and redemption that is worthy of a Golden Tissue box.
"Horn", a partial epistolary story, is McDermott at her finest, inhabiting and weaving the multiple voices and mediums into a seamless story of utter and senseless devastation. It reminds us of our capacity every day, every hour and minute to consciously and subconsciously create monsters. And what we stand to lose once we unleash them.
The title story, "Caution: Contains Small Parts" leads with the creep factor of a mystery toy dog that won't disappear and segways beautifully into an unexpected ending of love and redemption that is worthy of a Golden Tissue box.
"Horn", a partial epistolary story, is McDermott at her finest, inhabiting and weaving the multiple voices and mediums into a seamless story of utter and senseless devastation. It reminds us of our capacity every day, every hour and minute to consciously and subconsciously create monsters. And what we stand to lose once we unleash them.
raven_morgan's review
5.0
Caution: Contains Small Parts is one of the series of Twelve Planets, collections of short fiction by female writers produced by Twelfth Planet Press.
I'd like to take a moment here to congratulate Twelfth Planet (helmed by Alisa Krasnostein) for the consistently high quality of the books they publish, in particular the Twelve Planets published to date. Not only are the books themselves slick productions (I am, in particular, looking forward to having a complete collection of the Twelve Planets on my shelf), but the quality of the writing is absolutely superb. Krasnostein and the crew behind Twelfth Planet have an amazingly astute eye for fiction and are seriously producing some of the best quality stuff in Australia (and in the world) at the moment.
That said, I am going to make absolutely no bones about the fact that Kirstyn McDermott is one of my favourite authors (and just a damn nice person, too, but that's tangential to this review). McDermott is usually classed as a horror writer, which I think makes some people hesitate to read her work (and all power to those who choose not to read horror as a genre, but I do think they miss out on some stellar and insightful work). There are absolutely horror elements in McDermott's work, but I never feel like they are the central axis of said work. McDermott writes characters who live and breathe, who experience pain, who are human, even if they are, technically, inhuman. Her prose is invariably gorgeous, too, making every sentence an absolute pleasure to read.
All of the stories in this collection highlight these elements of McDermott's work admirably. The opening story, and perhaps the most outstanding in the collection, is What Amanda Wants. I don't want to spoil any of this story for anyone who's planning on reading the collection. Suffice to say that I think McDermott taps into some of the darkest corners of the human psyche in this powerful story. It is one that deserves to be included in Year's Best anthologies and shortlisted for awards, and I am going to mighty cranky if it isn't recognised.
Horn, a take on both the unicorn mythos and the life of a writer, follows. There is something jarring about this story - in a good way, I have to hasten to add. Reality and fantasy flow together until it's hard to tell what's real and what isn't. Which is probably a really good way to describe the mental space one has to get into to write.
The titular Caution: Contains Small Parts is the third story in the collection. Beautifully creepy, it is an example of just how well McDermott uses small details in her stories to create something truly unsettling.
The final piece in the collection is a novella, The Home for Broken Dolls. McDermott makes mention in the acknowledgments about the research she had to do for this piece (without spoiling: the story involves sex dolls) and I kind of dread to think what she read! The protagonist of this piece, Jane, is a wonderful character, and her "broken dolls" are hauntingly memorable. Another example where reality and fantasy blur together and create something unsettling, but insightful into the human condition.
I also need to make note of the cover of this collection. Twelfth Planet Press has opted for a very distinctive look with the Twelve Planets series, with simple but effective covers. I adore the cover for this volume in particular (though the creepy dog head kind of needs to be pointed away from me after reading the story it refers to!).
In summary, McDermott's collection is knife sharp, filled with beautiful prose and unsettling worlds and characters who provide much insight and reflection on the darknesses in humanity. Even if you don't tend to read horror, I recommend this collection highly (as well as all of McDermott's work).
(Review cross-posted to my blog)
I'd like to take a moment here to congratulate Twelfth Planet (helmed by Alisa Krasnostein) for the consistently high quality of the books they publish, in particular the Twelve Planets published to date. Not only are the books themselves slick productions (I am, in particular, looking forward to having a complete collection of the Twelve Planets on my shelf), but the quality of the writing is absolutely superb. Krasnostein and the crew behind Twelfth Planet have an amazingly astute eye for fiction and are seriously producing some of the best quality stuff in Australia (and in the world) at the moment.
That said, I am going to make absolutely no bones about the fact that Kirstyn McDermott is one of my favourite authors (and just a damn nice person, too, but that's tangential to this review). McDermott is usually classed as a horror writer, which I think makes some people hesitate to read her work (and all power to those who choose not to read horror as a genre, but I do think they miss out on some stellar and insightful work). There are absolutely horror elements in McDermott's work, but I never feel like they are the central axis of said work. McDermott writes characters who live and breathe, who experience pain, who are human, even if they are, technically, inhuman. Her prose is invariably gorgeous, too, making every sentence an absolute pleasure to read.
All of the stories in this collection highlight these elements of McDermott's work admirably. The opening story, and perhaps the most outstanding in the collection, is What Amanda Wants. I don't want to spoil any of this story for anyone who's planning on reading the collection. Suffice to say that I think McDermott taps into some of the darkest corners of the human psyche in this powerful story. It is one that deserves to be included in Year's Best anthologies and shortlisted for awards, and I am going to mighty cranky if it isn't recognised.
Horn, a take on both the unicorn mythos and the life of a writer, follows. There is something jarring about this story - in a good way, I have to hasten to add. Reality and fantasy flow together until it's hard to tell what's real and what isn't. Which is probably a really good way to describe the mental space one has to get into to write.
The titular Caution: Contains Small Parts is the third story in the collection. Beautifully creepy, it is an example of just how well McDermott uses small details in her stories to create something truly unsettling.
The final piece in the collection is a novella, The Home for Broken Dolls. McDermott makes mention in the acknowledgments about the research she had to do for this piece (without spoiling: the story involves sex dolls) and I kind of dread to think what she read! The protagonist of this piece, Jane, is a wonderful character, and her "broken dolls" are hauntingly memorable. Another example where reality and fantasy blur together and create something unsettling, but insightful into the human condition.
I also need to make note of the cover of this collection. Twelfth Planet Press has opted for a very distinctive look with the Twelve Planets series, with simple but effective covers. I adore the cover for this volume in particular (though the creepy dog head kind of needs to be pointed away from me after reading the story it refers to!).
In summary, McDermott's collection is knife sharp, filled with beautiful prose and unsettling worlds and characters who provide much insight and reflection on the darknesses in humanity. Even if you don't tend to read horror, I recommend this collection highly (as well as all of McDermott's work).
(Review cross-posted to my blog)
small__fry's review
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
beekins's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kieralesley's review against another edition
4.0
A great small collection by a new-to-me Australian writer: contemporary horror that focuses as much on the internal psychology of its characters as it does on the external dark and creepy elements.
Each story in the collection takes a different angle on violence against or involving women. While this makes some of the scenes and material confronting it’s not gratuitous and delves into the natural horror in the ideas and themes McDermott is using as the basis for these stories. She’s not afraid to make you really look at what is more commonly overlooked or dismissed.
The stories are also all adept at zigging when you expect them to zag and in completely different tonal and content directions to what had been signalled and set up. The stories are sad, lonely, angry, cruel, hopeful and lonely and the unexpected shifts between these really make the collection.
It was a short collection, so I feel I can make a quick comment on each of the stories individually (somewhat vaguely to avoid spoilers – I’d recommend coming into all of these as blind as you can).
What Amanda Wants – The best sort of surprise and a really strong opening piece. The mystery provides a good hook that leads you to a vicious little heart.
Horn – This one was probably my least favourite of the collection. Dealing with unicorns, loss and the life of a successful writer, I found it really bleak.
Caution: Contains Small Parts – Creepy – possessed toys always are! – this one has a really lonely feel to it, looks at an often overlooked type of abuse within relationships, and includes one of the most interesting emotional turns in the whole book.
The Home For Broken Dolls – The longest piece in the collection offering a nuanced look at women’s bodies in society (how they’re treated, inhabited, discarded, seen and not seen) and the associated emotional responses and coping mechanisms from hiding within expectations, to avoidance, to flat-out rage.
Worth a look even for those who wouldn’t normally consider a horror collection.
Each story in the collection takes a different angle on violence against or involving women. While this makes some of the scenes and material confronting it’s not gratuitous and delves into the natural horror in the ideas and themes McDermott is using as the basis for these stories. She’s not afraid to make you really look at what is more commonly overlooked or dismissed.
The stories are also all adept at zigging when you expect them to zag and in completely different tonal and content directions to what had been signalled and set up. The stories are sad, lonely, angry, cruel, hopeful and lonely and the unexpected shifts between these really make the collection.
It was a short collection, so I feel I can make a quick comment on each of the stories individually (somewhat vaguely to avoid spoilers – I’d recommend coming into all of these as blind as you can).
What Amanda Wants – The best sort of surprise and a really strong opening piece. The mystery provides a good hook that leads you to a vicious little heart.
Horn – This one was probably my least favourite of the collection. Dealing with unicorns, loss and the life of a successful writer, I found it really bleak.
Caution: Contains Small Parts – Creepy – possessed toys always are! – this one has a really lonely feel to it, looks at an often overlooked type of abuse within relationships, and includes one of the most interesting emotional turns in the whole book.
The Home For Broken Dolls – The longest piece in the collection offering a nuanced look at women’s bodies in society (how they’re treated, inhabited, discarded, seen and not seen) and the associated emotional responses and coping mechanisms from hiding within expectations, to avoidance, to flat-out rage.
Worth a look even for those who wouldn’t normally consider a horror collection.
adrianav28's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
thiefofcamorr's review
5.0
Caution: Contains Small Parts, is the ninth book in the Twelve Planets series, released by Twelfth Planet Press, which showcase the talent of female Australian authors. There is now to be a thirteenth in the series, but that's a review for another time. The brief given to authors was to write 4 short stories of up to 40,000 words in total. The stories could be separate, discrete narratives or linked through character, setting or theme.
This collection contains four short stories that aren't connected other than the same dark tone of their nature, and the mild horror elements - you can tell it's Kirstyn's writing throughout, but each is totally individual and unique, showing her versatility and why Australia is so lucky to have such a strong speculative fiction base.
What Amanda Wants
Helen is a councillor at a crisis centre, and it’s here she meets Amanda Fisher. The girl comes in to see her once, twice… and what she says or more importantly, what she doesn’t say, leads Helen compelled to discover the rest of this girl’s story. Helen’s heard and seen it all throughout her career and has a canny ability to draw correct conclusions from the barest of details… but from Amanda, she gets nothing. And eventually, she discovers that there’s a very good reason for that.
This short story was so easily read that the pages just flew by. This is a short story of forgotten and cold lunches as you ignore it – despite how hungry you may be – to read on. McDermott manages to introduce you to characters both simply and in-depth, and it’s glorious to read, even as it involves disgusting and horrid details of some truly awful lives. The plot is balanced perfectly, and you can’t help but feel entirely guiltily satisfied at the outcome.
Horn
A fantasy author struggles to cope because he feels his status as an author is the reason why his life has taken such a terrible turn. We see him struggle through life, struggle to keep his life somehow continuing what with various commitments, and the annoying fan letters he still receives from possibly well-meaning and yet still insensitive ‘fans’. With a similar name as Kirstyn (Dermott Mack being the name in the short story), one has to wonder what Kirstyn is hinting at, as well as using the title of Horn like the novella by Peter Ball (also published by Twelfth Planet Press) and the many references to the unicorns, being usually feminine creatures, being masculine through their use of their horns for bloody sports. There’s a lot to think deeper on for this one, but it’s also just too depressing for me to want to spend much longer on it.
Caution: Contains Small Parts
One of the creepier tales, a man received a wooden toy in the post with no clue who it came from, or why it's been sent to him. With a slightly eerie bob to its head and a chewed section that looks like wherever it came from, it had serious teeth, he doesn't give it much thought other than to get it out of his house as soon as possible... only for it to return that very night, in the dark, as he's woken by a strange sound and overcome with thirst.
The plot is a slightly overdone tale - the creepy, possessed child's toy - but McDermott wrestles it into something entirely her own, and wins completely. It's the right amount of creepy - utterly believable and yet you can see why those around him think he's over-reacting or going insane - from the outside it seems harmless yet to actually live it would be completely unnerving.
The ending of this one is possibly, somehow, even more satisfying than the first short story in the collection, which I really loved.
The Home for Broken Dolls
The last piece in this collection is novella length, and takes up almost half of the book. Jane has a home for broken dolls, like the title says. One morning she comes across another new arrival that's been left against her agapanthus, crushing the not-yet-bloomed buds. As I read this one I realised I'd read it before, though I can't remember if it was from the launch where McDermott read an excerpt, or through reading for Ditmas voting... either way, this story is still creepy and packs a punch as it unfolds. The research McDermott put into this story shows, and it works effectively to make you need a good shake and some daylight for a while.
McDermott is certainly one of our stronger authors in the Australian Speculative Fiction gang, and this collection is the perfect place to start if you're new to her work.
This collection contains four short stories that aren't connected other than the same dark tone of their nature, and the mild horror elements - you can tell it's Kirstyn's writing throughout, but each is totally individual and unique, showing her versatility and why Australia is so lucky to have such a strong speculative fiction base.
What Amanda Wants
Helen is a councillor at a crisis centre, and it’s here she meets Amanda Fisher. The girl comes in to see her once, twice… and what she says or more importantly, what she doesn’t say, leads Helen compelled to discover the rest of this girl’s story. Helen’s heard and seen it all throughout her career and has a canny ability to draw correct conclusions from the barest of details… but from Amanda, she gets nothing. And eventually, she discovers that there’s a very good reason for that.
This short story was so easily read that the pages just flew by. This is a short story of forgotten and cold lunches as you ignore it – despite how hungry you may be – to read on. McDermott manages to introduce you to characters both simply and in-depth, and it’s glorious to read, even as it involves disgusting and horrid details of some truly awful lives. The plot is balanced perfectly, and you can’t help but feel entirely guiltily satisfied at the outcome.
Horn
A fantasy author struggles to cope because he feels his status as an author is the reason why his life has taken such a terrible turn. We see him struggle through life, struggle to keep his life somehow continuing what with various commitments, and the annoying fan letters he still receives from possibly well-meaning and yet still insensitive ‘fans’. With a similar name as Kirstyn (Dermott Mack being the name in the short story), one has to wonder what Kirstyn is hinting at, as well as using the title of Horn like the novella by Peter Ball (also published by Twelfth Planet Press) and the many references to the unicorns, being usually feminine creatures, being masculine through their use of their horns for bloody sports. There’s a lot to think deeper on for this one, but it’s also just too depressing for me to want to spend much longer on it.
Caution: Contains Small Parts
One of the creepier tales, a man received a wooden toy in the post with no clue who it came from, or why it's been sent to him. With a slightly eerie bob to its head and a chewed section that looks like wherever it came from, it had serious teeth, he doesn't give it much thought other than to get it out of his house as soon as possible... only for it to return that very night, in the dark, as he's woken by a strange sound and overcome with thirst.
The plot is a slightly overdone tale - the creepy, possessed child's toy - but McDermott wrestles it into something entirely her own, and wins completely. It's the right amount of creepy - utterly believable and yet you can see why those around him think he's over-reacting or going insane - from the outside it seems harmless yet to actually live it would be completely unnerving.
The ending of this one is possibly, somehow, even more satisfying than the first short story in the collection, which I really loved.
The Home for Broken Dolls
The last piece in this collection is novella length, and takes up almost half of the book. Jane has a home for broken dolls, like the title says. One morning she comes across another new arrival that's been left against her agapanthus, crushing the not-yet-bloomed buds. As I read this one I realised I'd read it before, though I can't remember if it was from the launch where McDermott read an excerpt, or through reading for Ditmas voting... either way, this story is still creepy and packs a punch as it unfolds. The research McDermott put into this story shows, and it works effectively to make you need a good shake and some daylight for a while.
McDermott is certainly one of our stronger authors in the Australian Speculative Fiction gang, and this collection is the perfect place to start if you're new to her work.
rivqa's review
4.0
Definitely not night-time reading for horror wusses (like me). In the clear light of day I can say that this is a wonderful little collection, finely written and delightfully quirky, that most definitely did not freak me out at all. Not at all.