Reviews

Likes by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum

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libraryinthecountry's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ridgewaygirl's review

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5.0

This collection reminded me of how good a traditional short story can be. The stories aren't themselves old-fashioned at all, but the structure and rigor of them feels a little old school, in the best possible way. These are stories that remind me of why I love short stories.
I found this book when it was a finalist for The Story Prize, which is a great resource for finding excellent collections. (http://thestoryprize.org)

These stories are varied and never felt repetitive. A father worries about his daughter as he watches her instagram feed. A burglar cases a house that he's sure will be empty when he breaks in. A writer spends much of her time at a writers's retreat walking and becomes fixated on one specific house. A trio of girls find the balances in their friendship changing with adolescence. Each story is so well crafted and I could have read an entire novel about any one of them, but each was complete in itself. This is an excellent collection.

jzmiao's review

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5.0

my favs were “many a little makes” and “likes”

thejoyofbooking's review

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Lovely, melancholy and haunting stories about women in relation to themselves and others. I took a break after each story to savor its message, and several times I wished for the story to be novel length. The characters were interesting and fully fleshed, sometimes imperfect, and sometimes unreliable narrators of their own lives. There's so much to savor here.