Reviews

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu

Only show reviews with written explanations

ad1t1s's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

kirajoy's review against another edition

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4.0

interesting short story collection

Interesting short story collection, feels very much like written episodes of black mirror. A bit pessimistic towards the idea of romantic relationships. It was easy to get through, thought I’m not sure that they’ll stories will stick with me, some certainly will.

nikolai_k's review against another edition

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3.0

As these things usually go - a mixed bag, and in that bag - some stories to remember and some I forgot while I was still reading them.

pianoman543's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

mcaitycook's review against another edition

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4.0

A collection of short stories, full of haunting worlds just slightly stranger than our own, exploring themes like desire and becoming and grief, illustrating many of the horrors and shames and joys of modern life. I particularly loved "Twenty Hours" (about a husband who kills his wife over and over again, knowing that her body will be reprinted by the 3-D bio-printer in their basement), "Scissors" (a sexy, kinky short story about dominance amidst an explicit Cabaret act), and "Do You Remember Candy" (a moderately triggering story about an phenomenon where everyone across the world lost the ability to taste all at once, in which a woman creates personalized conceptual art installations to help those who remember taste their favorite foods again). This collection felt not dissimilar in some ways to Animal Wife, which I read last year, but where that book felt like it built upon fairy tales, this one built upon technology.

abitliterate's review against another edition

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4.0

lots of really strong stories in this one! particularly fond of 'the sandman', 'time cubes', 'scissors', and 'june bugs'.

i read an interview with the author and she described being inspired by ted chiang's stories of your life and others, which tickled me bc that was my last read. i think that has influenced my rating, bc there were points (particularly with the last story) where i could feel some of chiang's style elements coming into play, and also chiang's collection was sooooo perfect to me that this just didn't hit the same in comparison.

really great overall though and a pretty good audiobook experience!