Reviews

Even Greater Mistakes: Stories by Charlie Jane Anders

mj_james_writes's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

5.0

Even Greater Mistakes is a collection of science fiction short stories by Charlie Jane Anders. While I adore Charlie Jane Anders’s adult novels, she really shines with short stories. This collection is brilliant. Each story is well-developed and captivating leaving me in awe after each story. The level of world and character building in so few pages is masterful. This will be a volume that I will reread many times over. 

 

I believe each story is genius, even though I personally did not enjoy each story. The stories are very LGBTQ-centric with a strong emphasis on sexual relationships. They are not romance books, they just include every aspect of human nature. Except, being aro/ace this isn’t nature that appeals to me. I don’t connect with it. But it takes a master to make you care when you do not connect. 

 

To be clear there were stories I adored very much and there are stories that I appreciated even though I did not relate to them. But every story will stick with me forever. These worlds and people are now a part of my soul. 

 

I don’t think everyone will like this book, but I do think everyone should read it.

miniingrid's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Las historias de Charlie Jane a veces duelen, a veces te hacen reír, casi siempre te dejan una chispa de esperanza y siempre vale la pena leerlas

rdpulfer's review against another edition

4.0

I have never been disappointed in a Charlie Jane Anders' book. There's plenty to like here. One tale picks up where "A City in the Middle of the Night" left off, another sees the ultimate value of books. My favorite has got to be "Fairy Werewolf vs. Zombie Vampire" because why not? To me the biggest joy is seeing Anders' postscript before every short story? Some hit deeper than others but nearly every entry works in some way, shape or form.

metafish42's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

heatherjm's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.5

extinctpanda's review against another edition

2.0

I ended up only reading about half the stories in this book. There were so many cool ideas in here, and most of the time I enjoy the voice... but pretty much all the stories fell flat for me. I think from the ones I read there were only two that felt like they ended in the right place - the one with the time travel club, and the one with the different social group aliens.
I really, really like the premise for some of them - especially Ghost Champagne, and the one with the couple that could see the future differently - but they didn't quite hit the mark for me. In both of those stories, which are two examples where I feel like the premise could really be used for a story that made some sort of meaningful statement, I enjoyed the stories right up until they just sort of...ended. It felt like they were over before they really got to the crux of what I assumed they were trying to say. It's like they got 80% of the way and then sort of fizzled.
I ultimately decided not to read all the stories in this for that reason.

chukg's review against another edition

5.0

These were almost all very good -- I don't really resonate with Rock Manning, it's well written but I just don't enjoy the setting or character. The rest of them I read even though I've read many of them before. Several different voices and tones and a good picture of what the author can do, plus cool intros to most of the stories too.

ir85's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.5

onceandfuturelaura's review against another edition

3.0

I have a great deal of affection for Anders, but this collection really brought home for me that I'm not a fan of short stories, at least when I don't already know the characters. Some of the stories in here are quite good. As Good As New is a great twist on the genie in the bottle story. Fairy Werewolf v. Vampire Zombie is a great fairy tale. But overall, I would have vastly preferred to be reading the sequel to Victories Greater Than Death.

arfserra's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0