Reviews

The O. Henry Prize Stories 2019 by Laura Furman

hippoponymous's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

eileen_critchley's review against another edition

3.0

***½ this year. I read this collection most years, and was thrilled to win a copy in a Goodreads giveaway!

One thing I love about the O. Henry Prize collection each year is the author insights at the back of the book. While this year's collection wasn't un-putdowanable for me, there were a few standout stories that I really enjoyed and all of the stories are well written.

raechel's review

reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I don't read a lot of contemporary fiction, but something about this collection drew me in. I purposefully made myself read it slowly and I think that helped a lot. It gave me room to think about the stories and what they could mean. I think this will be my preferred way to read collections from now on.

dylcoop's review

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad

5.0

joaniehow's review against another edition

3.0

I find it difficult to review anthology collections, because inevitably there were will be stories you enjoy and stories you don’t. Averaged together thIS anthology was probably just okay, but I think that’s an unfair assessment of a collection that had its fair share of gems, duds, and meh’s. I tended to like the stories that had more narrative tension, and were grounded firmly on characters’ relationships. “Omakase” was one of the better ones for that reason, depicting an uncomfortable Omakase date which revealed quite a lot about the dining couple. Some of the other stories I enjoyed were “Funny Little Snake” (the relationships shown here were between mom, stepmom, and daughter, and as the story unfolds you’ll find your heart both breaking and warming) and “Julia and Sunny” (a very cleverly told story, as a couple recounts the dissolution of their friends’ marriage – it was almost gossipy in its tone, but utterly compelling). There were some not so good ones, where I found the style too distracting (“Maps and Ledgers” really could have used more punctuation IMO) or I felt like I was missing the point (“Unstuck” was… a metaphor? A ghost story? Just didn’t land with me). I did appreciate the diversity of the curation though, as the authors and settings came from around the world. I would probably give it 2.5 stars, but I rounded up for the overall experience.

laurynreads's review

3.0

My plan was to finish this before 2019 ended but it took me f o r e v e r to get through Flowers for America and then the last few stories because I just didn't care anymore. For me, all of the powerful and poignant stories lived in the first half of the book. What resonates with me? Women, teen girls, young girls, relationships between women, sex and sexuality. The stories I bookmarked: Funny Little Snake, Julia and Sunny, Unstuck, Bad Girl, Omakase, Prime (maybe my fave?), and The Shrew Tree.