Reviews - Vampires in the Lemon Grove

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1.21k reviews for:

Vampires in the Lemon Grove

Karen Russell

3.65 AVERAGE

kdhanda's review against another edition

2.0

Hit and miss. Some stories are amazing and others leave one baffled.

katiezew's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 34%

First few stories were good. Lost interest after awhile with all the changes. Might pick up again in the future.

maybemikaila's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny mysterious

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

One of the best short story collections I’ve ever read. This is certainly going on my permanent shelf!

spookyemily's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

rbz39's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 60%

Really tried to finish this anthology of short stories but they were so middling. Decent ideas just fizzled out and led nowhere unfortunately.

misssusan's review against another edition

3.0

hmmmmm. it's...alright? okay look, i liked these stories well enough while reading. didn't love them but was interested enough to keep turning pages. and that's enough for me to give this a decent rating except the thing is when i describe them they sound stellar so i just have to wonder how russell managed to make such excellent premises so meh. 3 stars

erinray82's review against another edition

4.0

This was a very solid collection of otherworldly stories. It had some of the same creative gusto you might find in an Aimee Bender novel, though I wouldn't say it was executed it quite the same beautifully bewitching fashion. But overall this collection of short stories had a thread of the over-the-top bizarre, which I tend to enjoy. It had a creative audacity to it that I valued throughout. It was occasionally jarring, and hauntingly strange. And I appreciate a savvy story, one that takes risks, and this batch had more than a couple. Though the title story, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, was amusing and cheekily clever, it wasn't the best of the bunch. A few of my favorites were Reeling for the Empire, The New Veterans, and the Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis. These stories reached out and gave me a bit of an emotional shake. They disturbed me in a very human way, ripe with human issues, even as they carefully strummed the threads of reality. I appreciate a writer with the balls to mess with the fabric of existence, and Karen Russell wove herself quite a fashionable ensemble.