Reviews

Small Kingdoms and Other Stories by Charlaine Harris

Only show reviews with written explanations

alexandradk3's review

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4.0

A quick collection of stories from an author I used to really enjoy! So glad I noticed it sitting on the library shelf.

roadtripreader's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

A very unexpected revelation. I had never read a Charlaine Harris book but her name sounded so familiar when I saw this book I couldn't quite place it. Sure enough at around midday three days later, in the middle of a meeting, "Soookieee" rang in my ears and I burst out laughing remembering. Aha! HBO's True Blood. To be blunt, I had gotten bored by season 3 and abandoned the tv show altogether - no amount of Viking hotness in the form of Alexander Skarsgard could keep me tuned in.

This book did not disappoint, in fact it was a welcome surprise.

I am totally taken by Twyla Burnside/Anne Dewitt and I am a new Harris fan without a doubt (not enough to watch True Blood but enough to read the Stackhouse books in the future). The character of Anne is so steadfast, firm and postured that I enjoyed the "campaign against Anne Dewitt" because I really wanted to see her reaction and ultimate resolution of the situation. Underneath the veneer of calm is another layer of ruthless calm - and I dig that.

So, what's in the book?

1.Clandestine agents
2.Assassinlike skills
3.Tinge of Personal Drama
4.Old worlds and New Worlds colliding
5. High School and Watercooler Gossip
6. Manipulators and Manipulations

what's not to like?

This has been an utterly enjoyable read!

libraryrobin's review

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4.0

Always enjoy her characters and always hoping for more.

nitabee's review against another edition

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3.0

I’m a pretty big fan of Charlaine Harris’ work. This was a collection of short stories all featuring the same main character, Anne DeWitt. Anne lives a quiet, unassuming life as a high school principal in North Carolina, but it turns out it’s all just a cover. In her former life, she was a trainer at an elite school for undercover agents. It stands to reason that training for that sort of job would be intense, and she usually lost one student a year. That was all good until that one student was the daughter of a senator, which is when “Anne” was relocated. That’s her basic back story. I enjoyed the stories, and it was a quick read.

crystalroses68's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

scylla87's review

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And I have my first DNF of the year, sadly. I had really hoped to be able to push through this one, especially since it is so short (less than 200 pages), but I just couldn’t do it. I was familiar with Charlaine Harris from her Southern Vampire series, which I had mixed feelings about, and when I came across this short story collection I was intrigued to see what she’s been up to post Sookie Stackhouse. But this was just… I’m actually not sure what this was. The main character, Anne DeWitt, is one of the most bland, uninteresting protagonists I have ever come across. The first story begins with a man breaking into her apartment and her being forced to kill him and dispose of his body which makes her late for work, but the whole thing is handled in such a bland way that all of the tension, drama, or even potential dark comedy of the whole thing falls flat. Every single character in this is boring and a cardboard cutout of a human being with no more attempt to flesh them out other than their role within the story. No depth, no dimension. And I have no clue what Harris was going for here. The whole: deep dark secret from the past coming back to haunt her aspect seems to be pointing to a tense narrative where the protagonist has to stay ahead of those hunting her, but the set up of: the woman’s primary concern about having to kill this man and get rid of his body (along with the author’s note at the beginning about how the idea came to her while realizing she has a set routine she follows when getting ready every day and what would happen to a person whose routine was suddenly thrown out of wack) is that this is going to make her late for work could have possibly been a bit of a dark comedy (at least that was what I was thinking this was when I first read the synopsis). And of course there are ways to balance both: like Harris did with Sookie Stackhouse, but for some reason she just missed to mark here. I couldn’t make it past the first story, so maybe there is something I missed. Or maybe this is just not the story for me. Not sure but a hard pass.

yankeebk's review against another edition

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2.0

Started off good but lost interest by the last story.

annarella's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm happy I requested this ARC because it was an entertaining and engaging read.
I like Charlaine Harris characters and I think she's a very good storyteller and the stories in this book are no exception.
The stories are fun to read, the characters fleshed and well developed.
I liked how they grow story after story and I liked the stories. Anne DeWitt is a strong woman and it was a lot of fun to read of the different aspect of her life.
I look forward to reading other story with Anne DeWitt.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.