Reviews with content warning for Gore - Anoka: A Collection of Indigenous Horror

Some really interesting ideas for short stories that were either a bit too short to be effective or started really good but did not nail the ending. Which led to this collection being just okay overall. However, this is definitely an author I want to read more from in the future. Especially, since certain parts of the author’s writing really hit for me at times.

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mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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aubzilla's review

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challenging reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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booksandcourt's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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readerette's review

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

There's a decent peek into some aspects of indigenous/Native culture in these stories, and they're incredibly short, so even the ones that don't speak to a given reader will go quickly. No happy endings here. Some classic horror vibes for sure. My favorite was the werewolf story.

The writing is a little distracting in some of them: no variety in sentence lengths, or a "tell don't show" method of exposition, or characters who don't make sense in the story.

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zarap's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

Definitely a first book of short stories, and there are some bits that noticeably would've benefited from a professional editor. However, there were bits I enjoyed and I definitely want to keep an eye on what Shane Hawk does in the future.

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notthatlibrarian's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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mmccombs's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

2.0

I’m really sad but this collection did nothing for me. I found the writing to be ineffective and a bit forced, and the stories lacked depth and punch. There were some really unnerving/gross/creepy ideas (yuck, spiders! Ah, creepy copy of your kid!) that I think could have worked with a bit more finesse. I also wished that the idea of place was explored a bit more, the intro made me thing that each story was intrinsically linked with Anoka as a town, but in reading the stories they really could have been happening anywhere had the town name not been mentioned. I didn’t see the “history” the author was talking about really until reading his notes afterwards. I think had the collection been more grounded in place/in history, this would have been more successful.

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