Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Office of Historical Corrections

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

74 reviews

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Office of Historical Corrections is a collection of short stories about, fittingly, histories. The familial, the personal, the buried, the rewritten, and the ugly. It reflects on the history of Blackness in America—specifically, being a Black woman in America—and all the grief that comes with it. This left me tender and raw, but most importantly, I felt seen. I will be sure to seek out Evans’ writing in the future, and will likely revisit these stories often.

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lifewithlexx's review against another edition

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challenging sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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billyjepma's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was really, really good in a way that snuck up on me. Each story is good on its own, but when linked together in the collection their shared thematics, anxieties, and ideals evolve into something far richer and toothier. Evans’ writing is excellent; not flashy, but measured and lovely and naturalistic. I wish the endings for the short stories weren’t quite as abrupt as they are, admittedly. However, even that abruptness (mostly) aligns with Evans’ presentation of the motivations and consequences that carve the women in her stories into the people they are. The characters make this the powerhouse it is, too. Evans has an impeccable knack for getting into the weedy, thorny interior lives of her characters, letting (forcing) her readers see why they make the choices they do, why they face the consequences they do, and, often, why the world they live in didn’t give them any choice in the first place.

This is almost a 5-star read for me, and upon reflection, might eventually climb up to it. But the final short story—the titular one—ends on a note I didn’t love. In a series of stories that felt familiar yet intimately unique, this one concludes with a bigger dramatic push that almost felt out of place. I see why Evans ended up with the ending she did, but I wanted and hoped to see her do something different, to take the roadmap of tensions she had laid out for us and show us a different outcome. All of this is undoubtedly a “me problem,” but closing the book with this specific ending left me with a sense of discontent I’m still feeling the following day. Still, this is an excellent, worthwhile read that I will be keeping on my shelf and recommending to others.

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mdwsn27's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.75

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mcmontgomery's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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helhas3letters's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This collection of short stories is well written, although I found a lot of the content quite depressing. I most enjoyed the story 'Why Won't Women Just Say What They Want'.

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