Reviews

Outsiders by Alice Slater

Only show reviews with written explanations

elizabethjstewart's review

Go to review page

medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

shelfobsessed's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I devoured this collection, on so many different types of outsiders and each so unique. If pressed, I think my perso al highlights were Skin (how is this Lena Mohammed's first published piece?), Wendigo by Julia Armfield which was surreal and took me in unexpected directions and made me want to rush out and buy Salt Slow, and Interval Training by Lara Williams, which was full of so many delicious sentences. Highly recommend if you want to spend a few hours losing yourself in a myriad of lives and stories.

jayme's review

Go to review page

4.0

The diversity of stories these authors managed to write within the single theme of outsiders was impressive. My favourites included:

- Sarvat Hasin's The Lady's Not for Burning, which was a great, spooky take on the haunted house.

- Anna Wood's Francine isn't a style of story that would normally stick with me, but I really liked what it was trying to say about how we fit into society and was definitely a perfect story for an outsiders collection.

- Lena Mohamed's Skin was by far my favourite piece. Exactly my brand of abstract, sci-fi weird.

- Heather Perry's The Curse is either genius or insane, maybe both. I don't even know how to describe it.

Another solid short story anthology. This year is either the year of the short story or the poetry collection...I'm undecided.

tina94's review

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

Strong character development? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

laurenbowes's review

Go to review page

inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

sophiahumber's review

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

mawaridi's review

Go to review page

4.0

Always hard to review an anthology, but the thing I love most about Outsiders is how different the stories are. Surreal, fantastical, realist and introspective all mixed in together with a single theme in common, those who feel or are forced to be or choose to be somehow on the outer, distanced from everyday people. It means you’re bound to find something wonderful, whatever your taste.

Because the collection is so diverse, there were a couple of stories that didn’t speak to me, but I won’t list them because ymmv. Instead I will say that my standout favourite was Skin, and I’m impressed that this is Lena Mohamed’s first publication; I would love to read more from her. I also loved Wilgefortis by Eley Williams, The Lady’s Not For Burning by Sarvat Hasin, Sinkhole by Emma Hutton, and To Peel an Orange by Beverley Ho (another debut!)