Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe by Gwendolyn Kiste

1 review

vlrieg's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5 stars. Some fun stories in here, but they all felt underdeveloped to me. Like, she's going for an ethereal, dreamlike sort of vibe but everything feels too literal for the mood to really take. It's hard to keep from comparing this collection of short stories to those by Samanta Schweblin and Silvina Ocampo, which maybe isn't fair since they're both GOAT in my book. I kept waiting for any one story to really grab my heart and give it a good yank, but none did. Some stories were fun, like "Something Borrowed, Something Blue" and "The Man in the Ambry", but by the end it felt like a lot of tropes were being heavily recycled. Also, I feel like it must be possible to write about abuse of women as a main theme without it becoming as gratuitous as some of these stories felt to me.
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