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A review by heykellyjensen
The Collectors: Stories by A.S. King
Like with any anthology, some stories resonated more than others for me. Overall, though, it is an incredibly strong array of entries from a wide range of authors, all with the premise of what a collection is–or is not. The missive is that in addition to exploring the idea of "collection," the authors were invited to experiment with style, format, and storytelling. Those who ran with it did, I think, have some of the strongest stories.
Among the standouts for me were Play House by Anna-Marie McLemore (beautiful, lyrical, engrossing writing), Take it From Me by David Levithan (the idea of giving things away was a clever take!), Museum of Misery by Cory McCarthy (the illustrative format of a museum was brilliant), A Recording for Carole Before It All Goes by Jason Reynolds (sweet and sorrowful all at once), and my hands-down favorite, Pool Bandits by G. Neri (skateboard boys in the 1970s trying to prove themselves cool by honing their wheel skills in pools they drained was not just clever but just so very teen). I was less impressed with King's entry, but even as the least exciting one for me as a reader, I read it thoroughly and didn't skip it.
It's a tight ten stories. Does it fulfill the missive in the introduction? Certainly, it goes into the exploding of format in some cases. But to capture the idea of collections, it does–and it doesn't. That's likely a point in and of itself.
Among the standouts for me were Play House by Anna-Marie McLemore (beautiful, lyrical, engrossing writing), Take it From Me by David Levithan (the idea of giving things away was a clever take!), Museum of Misery by Cory McCarthy (the illustrative format of a museum was brilliant), A Recording for Carole Before It All Goes by Jason Reynolds (sweet and sorrowful all at once), and my hands-down favorite, Pool Bandits by G. Neri (skateboard boys in the 1970s trying to prove themselves cool by honing their wheel skills in pools they drained was not just clever but just so very teen). I was less impressed with King's entry, but even as the least exciting one for me as a reader, I read it thoroughly and didn't skip it.
It's a tight ten stories. Does it fulfill the missive in the introduction? Certainly, it goes into the exploding of format in some cases. But to capture the idea of collections, it does–and it doesn't. That's likely a point in and of itself.