Scan barcode
perfectplaces's review against another edition
3.75
“We would sometimes wonder to each other: if our grandparents had never been run out of their homes like cockroaches, would we have been neighbours? Would our personalities have been different without this weight inside our souls? What would it have felt like, to have a home and to belong to that home unquestionably?”
-
this was such an insightful and interesting collection of ideas - while some were better than others, as it always goes when reading short story collections, all of them at least felt conceptually strong.
if you’re going to read this, keep an eye out for ‘The Key’, ‘Digital Nation’, ‘The Association’, ‘Vengeance’, and my personal favourite, ‘Song of the Birds’ (quoted above). but all the stories had something of importance to say and i felt enriched in some way by reading them.
-
this was such an insightful and interesting collection of ideas - while some were better than others, as it always goes when reading short story collections, all of them at least felt conceptually strong.
if you’re going to read this, keep an eye out for ‘The Key’, ‘Digital Nation’, ‘The Association’, ‘Vengeance’, and my personal favourite, ‘Song of the Birds’ (quoted above). but all the stories had something of importance to say and i felt enriched in some way by reading them.
kateybellew's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
3.5
As with all anthologies, this has some hits and misses but overall I enjoyed the concept. The Key was the absolute standout for me and was genuinely moving and atmospheric. A psychological thriller/ghost story based on the fact that many Palestinians were forced to leave their homes thinking it would only be for a short time. Many years later they still have the keys to the homes that have now been occupied by Israeli settlers. Potent and eerie. Just wow.
More...