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jce's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
5.0
A book of quick, quirky, queer short stories that reminded me why I love short stories.
This was so fun to read and kind of startlingly excellent all around. I all out loved almost every story and enjoyed all of them. There's such a range of tone and style and it was a joy to read all of them. I read this as part of my "spooky reads" for October because there are a few stories with paranormal elements. Most of them had happy endings, many made me laugh and a couple made me cry. All were surprising in the way great writing can be. Really can't recommend this enough. I read it through Scribd but bought my own copy because this is getting a reread at some point for sure.
This was so fun to read and kind of startlingly excellent all around. I all out loved almost every story and enjoyed all of them. There's such a range of tone and style and it was a joy to read all of them. I read this as part of my "spooky reads" for October because there are a few stories with paranormal elements. Most of them had happy endings, many made me laugh and a couple made me cry. All were surprising in the way great writing can be. Really can't recommend this enough. I read it through Scribd but bought my own copy because this is getting a reread at some point for sure.
mindforbooks's review
5.0
Well now. Sure that was only awesome!!
Sometimes you just want a book of short stories and this weekend was such a time. Some are like super duper short and absolutely beautiful.
Some are a nice length and enthralling, I'm looking at you 'Hellfire'. Or sad, 'Dorothy and Nora'. Or flat out can't stop laughing, 'Falling (On My Arse) in Love'. And there are a few that will probably stay with you for a while, 'Gepetto's Son' has kind of ruined me and I can't stop thinking about it.
The sausage will make sense once you get to 'The Trogan Project'. That story has also given me a new game to play in meetings. They might not feel so freakin' neverending now!!
I kind of feel that the name works for this book not only because of the short story it's called after but also because with that cover there may be some judging about what's inside and just like a Trojan horse what you find inside is very surprising!!
I'll be dipping in to read a few of these again and again. This is just a nice book to have on my kindle.
kjcharles's review
5.0
This is fantastic. It is, in fact, as fantastic as the cover is not, and that's saying something. (If ever there was a case of 'do not judge by', this is it.)
It's gay fiction/romance/ghost short stories, contemporary, many pure romance, a few supernatural tales, some teetering on that delightful point in between horror and romance. The voices of the stories are outstanding: so many different characters and situations so well drawn in such a short space. It goes from an adorable slow burn affair to nail-chewing sinister tension to an epically hot and warped little tale of a Bullingdon Club type initiation gone weird, to a heart-melting tale of a very unexpected haunting, and finishes off with a very funny, sweet romance that will bring joy to office drones everywhere. (I have done the thing in The Trojan Project myself and recommend it.)
And SO WELL WRITTEN. This is what good writing looks like: no fluff, no blether, clear voices.
And it's properly edited! I now will not buy books issued by two queer romance presses because their editing is so consistently bad. I consider this an insult to author and reader alike. If you're charging for the book and taking the lion's share of the profits, you earn it by editing, and I will not support presses who don't bother. And with self pubbing of this quality out there, publishers seriously need to raise their game if they are to justify their existence. /rant ends/
I can't recommend this strongly enough, so much so that I have broken with my no-starring rule on this occasion. Honestly the best thing I've read in m/m in months.
It's gay fiction/romance/ghost short stories, contemporary, many pure romance, a few supernatural tales, some teetering on that delightful point in between horror and romance. The voices of the stories are outstanding: so many different characters and situations so well drawn in such a short space. It goes from an adorable slow burn affair to nail-chewing sinister tension to an epically hot and warped little tale of a Bullingdon Club type initiation gone weird, to a heart-melting tale of a very unexpected haunting, and finishes off with a very funny, sweet romance that will bring joy to office drones everywhere. (I have done the thing in The Trojan Project myself and recommend it.)
And SO WELL WRITTEN. This is what good writing looks like: no fluff, no blether, clear voices.
And it's properly edited! I now will not buy books issued by two queer romance presses because their editing is so consistently bad. I consider this an insult to author and reader alike. If you're charging for the book and taking the lion's share of the profits, you earn it by editing, and I will not support presses who don't bother. And with self pubbing of this quality out there, publishers seriously need to raise their game if they are to justify their existence. /rant ends/
I can't recommend this strongly enough, so much so that I have broken with my no-starring rule on this occasion. Honestly the best thing I've read in m/m in months.
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