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drakken's review against another edition
3.0
Got some enjoyment out of this collection of short stories, though they didnât stick with me or resonate as much as those by my favs (Ted Chiang and Ken Liu). âScissorsâ was a standout, though (and quite unexpected).
cathleenrenee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
glitterpricked's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
these stories were so interesting! i generally stick to short stories that are literary fiction, but one of my favourite reads of last year was spirits abroad, which was also a fantasy collection. short stories are actually such a great way to capture the strange and magical: they allow reflections of human nature through a mysterious and intriguing lens, with much less need to explain why certain things are happening. worldbuilding does not matter so much as the themes on the page. as with a lot of collections, it's difficult to give this a higher rating, but 3.5* is good for short stories in my opinion! i would definitely recommend this.
(disclaimer: i skipped the story june bug because the descriptions of bugs were triggering my anxiety. i got 11/37 pages into it. to make it fair, i did not take it into account in my rating.)
(disclaimer: i skipped the story june bug because the descriptions of bugs were triggering my anxiety. i got 11/37 pages into it. to make it fair, i did not take it into account in my rating.)
book_darner's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
ezrasupremacy's review against another edition
3.0
finally finished.
i think i would’ve probably enjoyed this much more if i wasn’t in a massive reading slump, since stuff like this is right up my alley, but i unfortunately didn’t get to enjoy this as much as i probably could’ve.
i can’t think of any of these short stories that particularly stood out to me, apart perhaps from the very first one, even tho conceptually a lot of them were very interesting. i think the execution just didn’t fully land for me, but again, i cannot judge how objective that judgement is given my current state.
i think i would’ve probably enjoyed this much more if i wasn’t in a massive reading slump, since stuff like this is right up my alley, but i unfortunately didn’t get to enjoy this as much as i probably could’ve.
i can’t think of any of these short stories that particularly stood out to me, apart perhaps from the very first one, even tho conceptually a lot of them were very interesting. i think the execution just didn’t fully land for me, but again, i cannot judge how objective that judgement is given my current state.
neni's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
cloudcastle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.0
maryftay's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5