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pukusuns's review
3.0
This review and others can be also found on A Lazy Squirrel's Reading Guide.
Overall, the collection was okay. I can’t say I loved it, but it had some stories that I liked, while some really dragged for me.
My favourite was the one about the couple getting a divorce. I'm neither married nor a divorcee, but something still struck me there. I'd say because the divorce wasn't the main point of that story.
Some of the stories were quite bonkers. Especially the one called A Blind Date for Bonkers ;)
Most of the stories happened each in a different world, therefore each of them required some getting used to, and that wasn’t easy, since there wasn’t much time and space for that, given that they are short stories. It’s not really a negative thing, but I didn’t particularly like it either. But that is more my problem, I guess short stories aren’t really my favourites cup of tea. Though sometimes they can be enjoyed.
Taking into account the fact that some stories sort of bored me, while others were really enjoyable, I give this short story collection 3 stars. It’s not something that really wowed me. I’m not planning to reread it or anything. But I did really enjoy some of the stories, and the worlds in each of the stories were unique and quite interesting (even though some I didn’t enjoy). I mean, overall, I did like it.
Overall, the collection was okay. I can’t say I loved it, but it had some stories that I liked, while some really dragged for me.
My favourite was the one about the couple getting a divorce. I'm neither married nor a divorcee, but something still struck me there. I'd say because the divorce wasn't the main point of that story.
Some of the stories were quite bonkers. Especially the one called A Blind Date for Bonkers ;)
Most of the stories happened each in a different world, therefore each of them required some getting used to, and that wasn’t easy, since there wasn’t much time and space for that, given that they are short stories. It’s not really a negative thing, but I didn’t particularly like it either. But that is more my problem, I guess short stories aren’t really my favourites cup of tea. Though sometimes they can be enjoyed.
Taking into account the fact that some stories sort of bored me, while others were really enjoyable, I give this short story collection 3 stars. It’s not something that really wowed me. I’m not planning to reread it or anything. But I did really enjoy some of the stories, and the worlds in each of the stories were unique and quite interesting (even though some I didn’t enjoy). I mean, overall, I did like it.
crystalmethany's review
2.0
I'm struggling between two stars and three stars here. In fact, I'm struggling to simply pull my thoughts together on how I feel about this collection.
THE GOOD
• Creativity. If this collection of short stories is anything, it's creative. Most have a sci-fi/futuristic/alternate world sort of theme to them. There's a lot of variety in the worlds and situations created by the author.
• Some strong stories. Some of these stories were really, really good. You just wanted more of the worlds and characters.
THE OKAY
• Writing. Fine, but not remarkable. Seems very plot based with difficulty injecting much emotion into the situations.
THE BAD
• Spelling/grammatical errors. Sorry, but I find these sorts of errors quite inexcusable in any published book, which should have gone through the right amount and level of editing.
• Lack of diversity and character distinction. Almost all (if not all?) of the main characters of each story were male. Female characters were in the minority and almost always used as a plot device or were romantic interests. Secondly, most of these male characters didn't feel hugely different from the last nor the next. I realise a short story doesn't give much space to develop everything in much detail, but most of these characters differed in their goals and names, but not, or so I particularly felt, in their personalities. In a short story collection, I would want much more diversity in characters.
• A fair handful of the stories were just boring. This is not an all-round strong collection. Some are very good, some are good, some are instantly forgettable. In the dozen stories in this, I can now recall the basis of six - and I only just finished reading it.
THE GOOD
• Creativity. If this collection of short stories is anything, it's creative. Most have a sci-fi/futuristic/alternate world sort of theme to them. There's a lot of variety in the worlds and situations created by the author.
• Some strong stories. Some of these stories were really, really good. You just wanted more of the worlds and characters.
THE OKAY
• Writing. Fine, but not remarkable. Seems very plot based with difficulty injecting much emotion into the situations.
THE BAD
• Spelling/grammatical errors. Sorry, but I find these sorts of errors quite inexcusable in any published book, which should have gone through the right amount and level of editing.
• Lack of diversity and character distinction. Almost all (if not all?) of the main characters of each story were male. Female characters were in the minority and almost always used as a plot device or were romantic interests. Secondly, most of these male characters didn't feel hugely different from the last nor the next. I realise a short story doesn't give much space to develop everything in much detail, but most of these characters differed in their goals and names, but not, or so I particularly felt, in their personalities. In a short story collection, I would want much more diversity in characters.
• A fair handful of the stories were just boring. This is not an all-round strong collection. Some are very good, some are good, some are instantly forgettable. In the dozen stories in this, I can now recall the basis of six - and I only just finished reading it.
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