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A review by motherhorror
Wither and Other Stories by Sonora Taylor
4.0
"Wither and Other Stories” tells four tales of the choice to partake. In the end, the choice may not need to be made. For when we ask ourselves, “Should we or shouldn’t we,” the answer is always yes."
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Having recently read Sonora Taylor's collection, LITTLE PARANOIAS (5 stars, highly recommend) I was eager to read more. I was given a digital copy of WITHER AND OTHER STORIES by the author for review consideration and I didn't waste any time getting into it.
There are four stories here, two are what could be considered flash fiction and then two longer pieces. The title story, WITHER is 50% of the book and my favorite piece.
Taylor did an excellent job setting the story up and deftly leading the reader down a well-formed path to discovery. What I've learned about Sonora's writing style is that she inherently trusts her audience. She doesn't telegraph anything--maybe just a few breadcrumbs here and there to create doubt or curiosity but there's a lot of showing and very little telling--which I love. It allows the reader the freedom to imagine or speculate without being spoon-fed information.
WITHER is the story of a young girl living with her parents off the grid; totally apart from society. They feed off the land--whatever can be foraged but for our growing protagonist, it's just not enough.
She's hungry.
I loved where this story took me and all the feelings I got to feel and process while reading it.
I also quite enjoyed the last story, I think it's called "SHOULD WE OR SHOULDN'T WE". This time, Sonora engages her audience through dialog and wordplay between the two main characters. As a romantic, sexually charged drama unfolds I kept wondering if Sonora was practicing the art of distraction--if you read this one, let me know what you think. I found this story to be clever and unsettling. Loved it.
My only feedback here would be that the two bookend stories could have been filled out a little more and then packaged as two novellas--giving both stories equal footing and leaving the two other stories for a full collection of short fiction (Like PARANOIAS). I felt like the length, quality and development of the longer pieces made the other two look "less than" or just filler between the two. Just my take.
I'm definitely a fan. Sonora Taylor is one to watch.
__
Having recently read Sonora Taylor's collection, LITTLE PARANOIAS (5 stars, highly recommend) I was eager to read more. I was given a digital copy of WITHER AND OTHER STORIES by the author for review consideration and I didn't waste any time getting into it.
There are four stories here, two are what could be considered flash fiction and then two longer pieces. The title story, WITHER is 50% of the book and my favorite piece.
Taylor did an excellent job setting the story up and deftly leading the reader down a well-formed path to discovery. What I've learned about Sonora's writing style is that she inherently trusts her audience. She doesn't telegraph anything--maybe just a few breadcrumbs here and there to create doubt or curiosity but there's a lot of showing and very little telling--which I love. It allows the reader the freedom to imagine or speculate without being spoon-fed information.
WITHER is the story of a young girl living with her parents off the grid; totally apart from society. They feed off the land--whatever can be foraged but for our growing protagonist, it's just not enough.
She's hungry.
I loved where this story took me and all the feelings I got to feel and process while reading it.
I also quite enjoyed the last story, I think it's called "SHOULD WE OR SHOULDN'T WE". This time, Sonora engages her audience through dialog and wordplay between the two main characters. As a romantic, sexually charged drama unfolds I kept wondering if Sonora was practicing the art of distraction--if you read this one, let me know what you think. I found this story to be clever and unsettling. Loved it.
My only feedback here would be that the two bookend stories could have been filled out a little more and then packaged as two novellas--giving both stories equal footing and leaving the two other stories for a full collection of short fiction (Like PARANOIAS). I felt like the length, quality and development of the longer pieces made the other two look "less than" or just filler between the two. Just my take.
I'm definitely a fan. Sonora Taylor is one to watch.