Scan barcode
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
3.0
So this is a short story collection that I am rating 2 stars personally but it's NOT a bad 2 stars so I rounded it up to 3 stars here because I think the book is fine, I liked the idea behind it but I just don't really enjoy reading short story collections personally and as much as I enjoy Kealan Patrick Burke's writing in general I feel like I am always a little disappointed in the endings. They have so much potential but never get there for me.
I might try another of his longer form books or novellas since I do enjoy his writing but I dont know, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
I might try another of his longer form books or novellas since I do enjoy his writing but I dont know, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
bbrown0526's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve yet to read anything by Kealan that doesn’t hit the mark...and this is no exception. My only regret is that it wasn’t a blizzard outside while I was reading it.
It started off with a bang with Snowmen, which played into my fear that I’ve never quite gotten over after watching the horror version of Jack Frost as a child. Other highlights include Doomsday Father Christmas and Visitation Rights, which give a much needed twist of Christmas time after reading too much Debbie Macomber.
The only complaint I ever with a Kealan Patrick Burke book is I don’t want it to end!
It started off with a bang with Snowmen, which played into my fear that I’ve never quite gotten over after watching the horror version of Jack Frost as a child. Other highlights include Doomsday Father Christmas and Visitation Rights, which give a much needed twist of Christmas time after reading too much Debbie Macomber.
The only complaint I ever with a Kealan Patrick Burke book is I don’t want it to end!
kassiebetweenpages's review against another edition
5.0
I have read scary stories to tell in the dark growing up, and this gives off that exact vibe only for adults.
This is a book of seven grim short stories all centered around Holiday or winter like themes the stories carry elements of fear and grief among other emotions.
Oh my gosh was visitation rights is probably the one that caught me off guard the most at the end of it. There’s one with Santa Claus, but I think my favorite would have to be The quiet. there were so many different stages and types of grief and past trauma wrapped up in one story. The ending was so dang good!
If I had to order them by favorites it would be:
1. The Quiet
2. Visitation Rights
3. Snowmen
4. Doomsday Father Winter
5. They Know
6. Home
7. Black static
nessa74475's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
em_harring's review against another edition
4.0
[3.5 stars rounded up]
All in all, this is a fun wintery horror collection. Burke's writing is pretty clear and straightforward; not too unique but also not boring, which is great for this type of quick short story collection. Definitely a fun collection to read while there's a blizzard raging outside.
Below will be my individual ratings for each story and some quick thoughts I wrote down after reading.
* "Snow man" : 3/5. Built some decent tension--very Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. This story felt nostalgic to me.
* "Doomsday Father Christmas" : 1/5--this just didn't work for me. Interesting concept, I guess, but like just go to therapy, Santa. Although, I too hate capitalism. I feel you there.
* "Black Static" : 1/5--too short; not really enough substance for me to enjoy this in any way.
* "Visiting Rights" : 3.5/5--this was fun! Bit predictable, but overall a good time. Men really out here men-ing.
* "Home" : 3.5/5--pretty sad. I dug it.
* "The Quiet" : 3/5--Very much a horror story with a strong moral, which usually isn't my thing. Interesting elements in it made it less egregious in its overt sentimentality.
* "They Know: : 4/5--my favorite out of the collection. The first 75% were so good for those of us that love 'it's a blizzard out and we're stuck outside' horror. The ending didn't quite land for me, but still a good time.
All in all, this is a fun wintery horror collection. Burke's writing is pretty clear and straightforward; not too unique but also not boring, which is great for this type of quick short story collection. Definitely a fun collection to read while there's a blizzard raging outside.
Below will be my individual ratings for each story and some quick thoughts I wrote down after reading.
* "Snow man" : 3/5. Built some decent tension--very Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. This story felt nostalgic to me.
* "Doomsday Father Christmas" : 1/5--this just didn't work for me. Interesting concept, I guess, but like just go to therapy, Santa. Although, I too hate capitalism. I feel you there.
* "Black Static" : 1/5--too short; not really enough substance for me to enjoy this in any way.
* "Visiting Rights" : 3.5/5--this was fun! Bit predictable, but overall a good time. Men really out here men-ing.
* "Home" : 3.5/5--pretty sad. I dug it.
* "The Quiet" : 3/5--Very much a horror story with a strong moral, which usually isn't my thing. Interesting elements in it made it less egregious in its overt sentimentality.
* "They Know: : 4/5--my favorite out of the collection. The first 75% were so good for those of us that love 'it's a blizzard out and we're stuck outside' horror. The ending didn't quite land for me, but still a good time.
fearnerd's review against another edition
3.5
This is the second book with this title that I've read this winter (the first one was the Darcy Coates thriller). This is a winter/Christmas-based short stories collection that I would say is quite heavy on the despair. I'm not sure that I read one story in this collection where I didn't feel miserable afterward, lol. It's not a complaint, but it did take me a little longer to get through just because I felt like Kealan Patrick Burke was using my gut as a punching bag for the entire time I was reading it.
Still, this was a solid collection with "Snowmen" and "They Know" as my favorite stories. I would recommend this collection just because KPB's writing is quite good. However, just be aware that many of these stories are downright depressing.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 out of 5. Fear Nerd says, "Check it out!"
Still, this was a solid collection with "Snowmen" and "They Know" as my favorite stories. I would recommend this collection just because KPB's writing is quite good. However, just be aware that many of these stories are downright depressing.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 out of 5. Fear Nerd says, "Check it out!"
sarahlopod's review against another edition
3.0
This review can also be found on my blog.
This was my first time reading Kealan Patrick Burke and in all honesty, I was pretty disappointed. This collection had an average of 4.2 on Goodreads, so I was expecting something rather spectacular. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it certainly fell short of what I was hoping for. This is a rather short book (only 96 pages!) containing 7 short stories. I think that part of the issue for me is that it’s difficult to fully develop a story in so few pages. Some stories did remarkably well considering their length, but others just didn’t do much for me.
My ratings for each story are as follows:
Snowmen 3.5/5
Doomsday Father Christmas 2/5
Black Static 2/5
Visitation Rights 4/5
Home 4.5/5
The Quiet 3/5
They Know 4/5
Which comes to an average of 3.29. Like I said, not a bad rating by any means. My favorites, as you can probably tell, were Visitation Rights, Home, and They Know. In particular, Home went in a direction I wasn’t expecting and really hit me in the gut, as did Visitation Rights. They Know was the longest story in the collection and its length allowed for a lot more development of the story and the characters. A couple of the stories have tugged at the back of my brain in the couple days since I’ve finished the book, which I always take to be a good sign as well.
I have to wonder if this was just a poor introduction to Burke’s work for me, and think that may be the case. When I love short story collections, I really love them, but others can fall flat easily. This unfortunately settled into the latter category. I had a similar reaction to Paul Tremblay’s book of short stories recently, but I love his novels from what I’ve read. So I’ll definitely be picking up more of Burke’s work, even if this set of stories didn’t work very well for me personally.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
This was my first time reading Kealan Patrick Burke and in all honesty, I was pretty disappointed. This collection had an average of 4.2 on Goodreads, so I was expecting something rather spectacular. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it certainly fell short of what I was hoping for. This is a rather short book (only 96 pages!) containing 7 short stories. I think that part of the issue for me is that it’s difficult to fully develop a story in so few pages. Some stories did remarkably well considering their length, but others just didn’t do much for me.
My ratings for each story are as follows:
Snowmen 3.5/5
Doomsday Father Christmas 2/5
Black Static 2/5
Visitation Rights 4/5
Home 4.5/5
The Quiet 3/5
They Know 4/5
Which comes to an average of 3.29. Like I said, not a bad rating by any means. My favorites, as you can probably tell, were Visitation Rights, Home, and They Know. In particular, Home went in a direction I wasn’t expecting and really hit me in the gut, as did Visitation Rights. They Know was the longest story in the collection and its length allowed for a lot more development of the story and the characters. A couple of the stories have tugged at the back of my brain in the couple days since I’ve finished the book, which I always take to be a good sign as well.
I have to wonder if this was just a poor introduction to Burke’s work for me, and think that may be the case. When I love short story collections, I really love them, but others can fall flat easily. This unfortunately settled into the latter category. I had a similar reaction to Paul Tremblay’s book of short stories recently, but I love his novels from what I’ve read. So I’ll definitely be picking up more of Burke’s work, even if this set of stories didn’t work very well for me personally.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
kindaspooky_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
The first story to this book got my blood pumping. Short stories are my favorite- and with 7 of these stories. this book just hit the spot.
ɪ ᴀʟsᴏ ᴀᴘᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋs ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴅs.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬.
@kealanpatrick I am forever entangled.
ɪ ᴀʟsᴏ ᴀᴘᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋs ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴅs.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬.
@kealanpatrick I am forever entangled.