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zoemig's review
3.0
After adoring her first collection when it was released in 2010, I was really looking forward to The Dark and Other Love Stories by Deborah Willis. While I also enjoyed these stories, they have a quiet elegance and emotion to them, I found them less consistently magical than the previous collection. Still, Willis' take on love in its many forms are often beautiful and subtle at the same time, in particular those that deal with coming-of-age, which, while not always feeling realistic, have a dark and surreal beauty to them.
In the title story, The Dark, two girls at summer camp sneak away at night, while in Welcome to Paradise, two teenage best friends start breaking into houses during a boring summer. There are some weird stories, like Girlfriend on Mars about a guy whose girlfriend applies for a reality show where she will be sent to Mars, but they still manage to work. There was some repetition in theme: best female friends doing things they aren't supposed to, a teenage girl with an uncomfortable relationship with an older male, but the stories felt different enough. It is also always special to read stories set in Canada.
I didn't care as much for the historical fiction, like Last One to Leave, about a woman who works at a rural newspaper and a Ukrainian immigrant, or most of the stories with older men, like Hard Currency, about a novelist who revisits his homeland of Russia, and Steve and Lauren: Three Love Stories, three short stories that tie together to tell important moments in the relationship of a relationship. I think the issue with these stories is that despite the lovely writing, I really do not care about the characters, and they weren't dark and mysterious enough to intrigue me either. That said, throughout The Dark and Other Love Stories, Willis' writing is thoughtful and beautiful, the words feel sharp and carefully placed, so although this collection was uneven for me, I am still glad that I read it.
In the title story, The Dark, two girls at summer camp sneak away at night, while in Welcome to Paradise, two teenage best friends start breaking into houses during a boring summer. There are some weird stories, like Girlfriend on Mars about a guy whose girlfriend applies for a reality show where she will be sent to Mars, but they still manage to work. There was some repetition in theme: best female friends doing things they aren't supposed to, a teenage girl with an uncomfortable relationship with an older male, but the stories felt different enough. It is also always special to read stories set in Canada.
I didn't care as much for the historical fiction, like Last One to Leave, about a woman who works at a rural newspaper and a Ukrainian immigrant, or most of the stories with older men, like Hard Currency, about a novelist who revisits his homeland of Russia, and Steve and Lauren: Three Love Stories, three short stories that tie together to tell important moments in the relationship of a relationship. I think the issue with these stories is that despite the lovely writing, I really do not care about the characters, and they weren't dark and mysterious enough to intrigue me either. That said, throughout The Dark and Other Love Stories, Willis' writing is thoughtful and beautiful, the words feel sharp and carefully placed, so although this collection was uneven for me, I am still glad that I read it.
la_lela's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
exurbanis's review
5.0
4.5 stars
THE DARK and Other Love Stories by Deborah Willis (Fiction, Canadian, Short Stories)
What an incredible range of characters and POVs! - and not a romance in the bunch ;-)
Just some:
THE DARK about two girls at summer camp who dare each other to go out in the dark when everyone is asleep.
THE GIRLFRIEND ON MARS- weed grower & dealer & his live-in. She decides to sign up for a reality show on which the winning couple mans the first flight to Mars. He narrates what he sees on the show but all he says is not accurate.
(FORGET THE TITLE) A middle-aged American man visits the site of his late grandmother’s apartment in St. Petersburg and, not wanting to go alone, he hires a prostitute to go with him.
LAST ONE TO LEAVE is a very touching story of two survivors of different events who find each other but are eventually parted by death.
I liked best - TODD about a recovered addict just starting out in a new life, wanting his 10-year-old daughter to live with him, and in the meantime living with Todd, a crow that finds its way into the apartment through an open window.
FLIGHT: a teenaged girl runs away from her home in Victoria and hits the streets of Vancouver. She meets Eddie – that saves her from prostitution and drugs. She eventually returns home & carries on with her life. Years later, on the Sky Train, Eddie recognizes her and she denies knowing him.
THE ARK: Leanna and Toby as kids hate each other. We follow them from age six to adulthood in just a few pages.
THE HOLE and THE NAP touch on the fantastical.
THE DARK and Other Love Stories by Deborah Willis (Fiction, Canadian, Short Stories)
What an incredible range of characters and POVs! - and not a romance in the bunch ;-)
Just some:
THE DARK about two girls at summer camp who dare each other to go out in the dark when everyone is asleep.
THE GIRLFRIEND ON MARS- weed grower & dealer & his live-in. She decides to sign up for a reality show on which the winning couple mans the first flight to Mars. He narrates what he sees on the show but all he says is not accurate.
(FORGET THE TITLE) A middle-aged American man visits the site of his late grandmother’s apartment in St. Petersburg and, not wanting to go alone, he hires a prostitute to go with him.
LAST ONE TO LEAVE is a very touching story of two survivors of different events who find each other but are eventually parted by death.
I liked best - TODD about a recovered addict just starting out in a new life, wanting his 10-year-old daughter to live with him, and in the meantime living with Todd, a crow that finds its way into the apartment through an open window.
FLIGHT: a teenaged girl runs away from her home in Victoria and hits the streets of Vancouver. She meets Eddie – that saves her from prostitution and drugs. She eventually returns home & carries on with her life. Years later, on the Sky Train, Eddie recognizes her and she denies knowing him.
THE ARK: Leanna and Toby as kids hate each other. We follow them from age six to adulthood in just a few pages.
THE HOLE and THE NAP touch on the fantastical.
with_coffee_n_cream's review
2.0
As I've seen a few other people point out, these stories had a penchant for pairing grown men with precocious young girls. Actually, these stories had a preoccupation with big age differences in general. It made me really uncomfortable. Many of the stories were just downers, I felt hopeless when I finished them, and rather frustrated. They just seemed like they were supposed to have a lot of meaning, they were written like they had a lot of meaning, but I just found a lack of meaning. I don't know. Mostly I was confused, bored, frustrated, depressed, etc. I considered dropping it quite often.
"Last One to Leave" was cute, though.
Oh, and for a bunch of stories centered around all the different forms of love, there sure weren't enough queer relationships.
"Last One to Leave" was cute, though.
Oh, and for a bunch of stories centered around all the different forms of love, there sure weren't enough queer relationships.
briarsreviews's review against another edition
4.0
Deborah Willis has crafted one lovely group of stories in The Dark and Other Love Stories.
This collection is full of humor and intriguing content. No, seriously. I was thoroughly impressed by not only Deborah's incredible writing style but the imagination behind these stories. Some of them were just wild! The weirdest yet most interesting was a girl falling in love with a man who wants her to be a bird. Like... what? How does one come up with THAT idea? Impressive.
My favourite was the story about a woman going behind her boyfriend's back and trying to go to Mars. It was funny and yet really moving. My heart ached for the poor man as we watched the scenario unfold. But my gosh, so good! It's hard to get emotions like that for a book!
I would highly recommend this book. Not only is it not your typical anthology full of love stories and dark and twisted humor, but it's also just really well written. Deborah has a real talent and it'd be a waste for this book not to find a bigger audience (also, she's Canadian. Represent!).
I do think this book may fit into a niche category for some readers, since it's not purely about love and romance. This book is not a romance book, it is a contemporary novel written with love themes. That being said, if you go into it understanding that this isn't a romance novel and it's purely based on theming and creative stories, you'll love it. I sure did! I thought it was a fun ride and I'd love to pick up more by Deborah in the future.
Overall, I'm thoroughly impressed by this book. I will continue to recommend it until my dying days, because it's a real, secret, Canadian gem!
Four out of five stars!
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This collection is full of humor and intriguing content. No, seriously. I was thoroughly impressed by not only Deborah's incredible writing style but the imagination behind these stories. Some of them were just wild! The weirdest yet most interesting was a girl falling in love with a man who wants her to be a bird. Like... what? How does one come up with THAT idea? Impressive.
My favourite was the story about a woman going behind her boyfriend's back and trying to go to Mars. It was funny and yet really moving. My heart ached for the poor man as we watched the scenario unfold. But my gosh, so good! It's hard to get emotions like that for a book!
I would highly recommend this book. Not only is it not your typical anthology full of love stories and dark and twisted humor, but it's also just really well written. Deborah has a real talent and it'd be a waste for this book not to find a bigger audience (also, she's Canadian. Represent!).
I do think this book may fit into a niche category for some readers, since it's not purely about love and romance. This book is not a romance book, it is a contemporary novel written with love themes. That being said, if you go into it understanding that this isn't a romance novel and it's purely based on theming and creative stories, you'll love it. I sure did! I thought it was a fun ride and I'd love to pick up more by Deborah in the future.
Overall, I'm thoroughly impressed by this book. I will continue to recommend it until my dying days, because it's a real, secret, Canadian gem!
Four out of five stars!
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
katiemanring's review against another edition
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mossiscoolerthaniam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tsmi11's review against another edition
At this point I've read 6 out of the 11 (13?) stories in this book and am pretty sure I won't be finishing it, but there's a chance I may revisit it and update this review.
I read this book because it was on the Evergreen award shortlist this year. I'm not typically interested in short stories so this was very outside my box. Its hard to form an "overall" rating for a book of short stories since I loved some and some not so much. I really enjoyed the stories Last One to Leave and Hard Currency. Last One to Leave was written in an interesting way that I enjoyed, contrasting the lives of the 2 characters. I liked Hard Currency because it was thought-provoking and everyone can relate to visiting a place from your past and finding it different and hard to face.
I'm not a deep thinker who understands all the symbolism and such in stories like this and it might be what caused me to dislike some of them. I didn't like some of the vulgar phrases (i'm not a prude, I'm totally fine with sex in books but certain descriptions here made me cringe). I was also entirely creeped out by the story The Passage Bird please enlighten me about what I'm missing: to me it seemed like the "Hawk Man" was either a pedophile or murderer. Either way a massive creep
Basically it wasn't for me, but I know there is a large audience of people who would really appreciate this collection of stories.
Edit: I went back and read Todd since a couple reviews mentioned it as being good. I didn't like it.
I read this book because it was on the Evergreen award shortlist this year. I'm not typically interested in short stories so this was very outside my box. Its hard to form an "overall" rating for a book of short stories since I loved some and some not so much. I really enjoyed the stories Last One to Leave and Hard Currency. Last One to Leave was written in an interesting way that I enjoyed, contrasting the lives of the 2 characters. I liked Hard Currency because it was thought-provoking and everyone can relate to visiting a place from your past and finding it different and hard to face.
I'm not a deep thinker who understands all the symbolism and such in stories like this and it might be what caused me to dislike some of them. I didn't like some of the vulgar phrases (i'm not a prude, I'm totally fine with sex in books but certain descriptions here made me cringe). I was also entirely creeped out by the story The Passage Bird
Basically it wasn't for me, but I know there is a large audience of people who would really appreciate this collection of stories.
Edit: I went back and read Todd since a couple reviews mentioned it as being good. I didn't like it.
olivias's review against another edition
4.0
"I am less in need of [my father] now that I know Ken, my sponsor at AA. For awhile there, Ken phoned every morning and every night to check in on me...Ken's getting older now and he has a bad heart, so these days I'm the one who calls to check in. I wish he didn't smoke so much and he wishes he'd been there when his daughter was a kid. Neither one of us talks about God or anything of that nature, neither one of us uses the word love. But before we hang up we say to each other, "Have a good day, buddy," and that always helps."
So I didn't really put this together when I was reading the collection, but I guess these stories are about all the ways we love each other. The damaged ways, the temporary ways, the obsessive infatuations, the ways we remember loving each other, even if we didn't know it at the time. I'm always hesitant to read short stories, and feel like I don't like them, but then I love them.
These are really good, interesting stories. I didn't love the first one, for which the book is named, but most of the other ones were very good. Going back to pick a quote, I ended up picking one from a story I barely remembered, and feel like I didn't really appreciate. I think these are beautiful little stories about life as a human. They are occasionally surreal, but mostly realistic. She does a great job of capturing feelings, like the exact feeling of being a teenage girl in a hot summer with nothing to do except make bad choices, in "Welcome to Paradise". Some of the stories reference each other or are about the same characters, others are unrelated. Weird and sad and nice. My favourite.
So I didn't really put this together when I was reading the collection, but I guess these stories are about all the ways we love each other. The damaged ways, the temporary ways, the obsessive infatuations, the ways we remember loving each other, even if we didn't know it at the time. I'm always hesitant to read short stories, and feel like I don't like them, but then I love them.
These are really good, interesting stories. I didn't love the first one, for which the book is named, but most of the other ones were very good. Going back to pick a quote, I ended up picking one from a story I barely remembered, and feel like I didn't really appreciate. I think these are beautiful little stories about life as a human. They are occasionally surreal, but mostly realistic. She does a great job of capturing feelings, like the exact feeling of being a teenage girl in a hot summer with nothing to do except make bad choices, in "Welcome to Paradise". Some of the stories reference each other or are about the same characters, others are unrelated. Weird and sad and nice. My favourite.