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spencerwanders's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
emmaleanne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
tarajdactyl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
mothmancommunitycenter's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
jeffrey_rid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
westcdf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I think this is a really fantastic anthology of short stories. Margret is a fantastic writer, and the stories were engaging even while being very short. I just want to note one thing, and I've noted it in the other books she's written: Margret does this thing where she identifies non-white characters by their race, but doesn't do the same for white characters. Whenever a characters race is described, it is always as non-white. The rest of the time characters races aren't discussed, and I'd assumed them to be white. It's just a little weird, and I appreciate that she has marginalized characters in her work, I just wish she would identify white characters the same way.
alchemicbones's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
bookshelfmonkey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.75
I don't normally enjoy short story collections, but this absolutely surpassed all my expectations. Each of the individual stories was amazing, and worked really well as short stories (a lot of short stories I've read either felt like they should have been longer or lacked any kind of direction/purpose). Some were thrilling adventures, some were interesting critiques on society and humanity, and some were heartfelt stories of human connection. Many of them hit me so hard that I'd have to take break before reading on. They also worked really well as a collection, with many themes stretching across many or all of the stories. How someone comes up with this many amazing ideas is beyond me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Police brutality, Gore, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Transphobia, War, Animal death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Alcohol, and Rape
zabouncer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0