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poisoned_icecream's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism and Gun violence
valent1ne's review against another edition
4.25
There were a couple I wasn’t a huge fan of, but overall I liked it a lot ! Due’s writing style is so neat, the Gracetown stories were definitely my favorites.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Gaslighting
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due is an anthology of short horror and thriller stories, it's Due's first published book in 7 years and it marks a wonderful return for the author.
My only complaint is that the short stories are too short and they leave me wanting more, but that's the point of a short story.
My favorite short stories in this book were; Haint in the Window, a few of The Gracetown Stories, Ghost Ship, Shopping Day, and The Biographer.
I'm giving this 4 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My only complaint is that the short stories are too short and they leave me wanting more, but that's the point of a short story.
My favorite short stories in this book were; Haint in the Window, a few of The Gracetown Stories, Ghost Ship, Shopping Day, and The Biographer.
I'm giving this 4 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Graphic: Police brutality, Abandonment, Racism, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Violence, Car accident, Blood, Gun violence, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail
halfass_reviewer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I enjoyed about 50% of the stories collected here in 'The Wishing Pool'. It seemed like the ones I loved were way too short and the ones I could've done without dragged for hours. Almost all of the stories left me confused at the end except for maybe one or two. Some confused me from beginning to end and caused me to even reread from the beginning thinking I missed vital information for the story. I get this was supposed to be a collection of short stories, but again someone of the stories could've been cut to make others just a little bit longer. All in all, this was a good collection of stories. What I did love about this collection though was every story was connected in some way (mainly by this imagery city in Florida) but also by the ghosts that haunted people, by the plague that changed the world as we know it, by the way, humanity loves and fights and hates no matter the state of the world. Actually, I think that was the best part of the collection. The connectivity of everything.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Police brutality, Murder, Slavery, Racism, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
swalk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
An entrancing collection of short horror stories told from a black viewpoint and all set in the fictional Gracetown, Florida.
The descriptions and storylines are totally believable, the best horror stories are those that are so close to the truth, that they could almost be real and Tananarive Due certainly walks this fine line well. Each story is compelling and well rounded, with thought provoking endings. Some are supernatural in nature and others are just the horrible reality of racism, yet somehow they sit next to each other perfectly. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of horror anthologies.
The narrators were excellent and brought emotion and life to the tales, conveying each character well.
The descriptions and storylines are totally believable, the best horror stories are those that are so close to the truth, that they could almost be real and Tananarive Due certainly walks this fine line well. Each story is compelling and well rounded, with thought provoking endings. Some are supernatural in nature and others are just the horrible reality of racism, yet somehow they sit next to each other perfectly. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of horror anthologies.
The narrators were excellent and brought emotion and life to the tales, conveying each character well.
Moderate: Racism
booktribe's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
If you know me, then you know that Tananarive Due is my favorite author of all time, so I could not wait to read her newest short story collection and I really enjoyed it! I loved that so many of the stories connected to her previous books! We get to revisit Gracetown & a few other stories from Ghost Summer and read a story that was related to her graphic novel, The Keeper. It was exciting to revisit those stories! I also enjoyed the mention of the reformatory from Tananarive Due’s upcoming novel👀
Some of my favorite stories were The Biographer, Haint in the Window, Rumpus Room, and Migration! I will say that several of the stories felt incomplete to me. I think some of the stories should’ve been longer and could’ve had a more fleshed out ending, but overall I really enjoyed this collection! Tananarive Due never disappoints!
Story ratings:
- The Wishing Pool: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Haint in the Window: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
- Incident at Bear Creek Lodge: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
- Thursday-Night Shift: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Last Stop on Route 9: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Suppertime: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Rumpus Room: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Migration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Caretaker: ⭐️⭐️✨
- One Day Only: ⭐️⭐️✨
- Attachment Disorder: ⭐️✨
- Ghost Ship: ⭐️⭐️
- Shopping Day: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- The Biographer: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Average rating: 3.9 stars!
TW: racism, police brutality, animal death
TW: racism, police brutality, animal death
Graphic: Racism and Police brutality
Moderate: Animal death
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