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musingswithmiranda's review against another edition
5.0
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my favorite authors of all time. So far, I have read this book, Gods of Jade and Shadow, Untamed Shore, and Mexican Gothic. I honestly trust her as a author so much now that I will automatically buy anything she releases. I do not know how she does it, but every book I have read so far has been five stars.
Love and Other Poisons is a wonderful collection of eighteen different speculative short stories. They follow a darker fantasy theme, but each story is unique. The author combines many different elements throughout this collection: gothic, ghost stories, fantasy, science fiction, etc.
I am always amazed at Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing. Her works are not only well-written but are typically very atmospheric as well. Her writing style is one of my favorites I have ever read. It is very immersive and typically has more of a slow build, which I really enjoy. I appreciated how some stories seemed to talk to her other books that I have read. Certain quotes definitely made me think of specific things from her other books, but to avoid spoilers, I will not go into too much detail about that.
As I was working on this review, I really wanted to talk about some of my favorite stories before realizing that I genuinely loved all of them. It was incredibly difficult to narrow down my list, but some of my favorites are Variations of Figures Upon the Wall, Man in Blue Overcoat, Enchantment, and A Handful of Earth.
Love and Other Poisons is a very unique and intriguing collection of stories. Fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia should definitely try to get their hands on this at some point, but I know it may be difficult as it is currently out of print. I really hope this can reprinted one day because I would love a physical copy too!
Love and Other Poisons is a wonderful collection of eighteen different speculative short stories. They follow a darker fantasy theme, but each story is unique. The author combines many different elements throughout this collection: gothic, ghost stories, fantasy, science fiction, etc.
I am always amazed at Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing. Her works are not only well-written but are typically very atmospheric as well. Her writing style is one of my favorites I have ever read. It is very immersive and typically has more of a slow build, which I really enjoy. I appreciated how some stories seemed to talk to her other books that I have read. Certain quotes definitely made me think of specific things from her other books, but to avoid spoilers, I will not go into too much detail about that.
As I was working on this review, I really wanted to talk about some of my favorite stories before realizing that I genuinely loved all of them. It was incredibly difficult to narrow down my list, but some of my favorites are Variations of Figures Upon the Wall, Man in Blue Overcoat, Enchantment, and A Handful of Earth.
Love and Other Poisons is a very unique and intriguing collection of stories. Fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia should definitely try to get their hands on this at some point, but I know it may be difficult as it is currently out of print. I really hope this can reprinted one day because I would love a physical copy too!
gelert's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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
4.0
Some really great stories in here. With moments that will stick with me
dami_96's review
3.0
I really liked these short stories, love the author works but I give it three stars because the stories were a little slow and it took me awhile to get into it.
littlemissparadox's review
2.0
I’ve become, slowly, a big fan of Moreno-Garcia. I am also a fan of short story collections. This one, however, did not do it for me as I read it on my plane rides from Toronto to Chicago to Duluth. A few of the more off beat stories spoke to me, specifically I recall one about an animatronic(?) man that I enjoyed. However most of the time I felt bored or confused. These stories were well-written but generally did not do it for me. I had a hard time sinking in the narratives as I did with Gods of Jade and Shadow (probably my favorite book of the year) or Mexican Gothic.
Not terrible just not what I was looking for.
Not terrible just not what I was looking for.
the_discworldian's review
Playing Cards Challenge: 2 of Spades
I actually have 52 unread books that I own in either print, Kobo or iPhone format, so I decided to assign each of them a playing card to start reading them. We aren't off to a great start.
DNF at 30%. I couldn't really distinguish between the stories, which were all about 90-99% atmosphere, with lots of blues and greens and water and things maybe happening but maybe not. I"m sure if you're into gothic and ambiguous short stories you'd like this book, but that's just not my jam.
I actually have 52 unread books that I own in either print, Kobo or iPhone format, so I decided to assign each of them a playing card to start reading them. We aren't off to a great start.
DNF at 30%. I couldn't really distinguish between the stories, which were all about 90-99% atmosphere, with lots of blues and greens and water and things maybe happening but maybe not. I"m sure if you're into gothic and ambiguous short stories you'd like this book, but that's just not my jam.
marmarta's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
anna_hepworth's review
4.0
This is a beautifully written collection of love, relationship, and romance stories situated in the liminal spaces between science fiction, fantasy and horror. Probably leaning closer to horror. The stories are fascinating, complex, disturbing, and ultimately I didn't quite engage with them. As a collection (and for some individual stories) the stories are quite alienating, and I don't think this is due to the cultural differences between the author and myself. More I think it is because so many of the protagonists are alienated within the story. I would love to read commentary by Moreno-Garcia on any or all of the stories, and their intent.
For me there are echoes of Like Water for Chocolate, but I suspect that this has to do with that being the most recent book by a Mexican author (other than Moreno-Garcia) that I've read, and that the echoes would be cultural and historical details I'm not familiar with.
There are any number of dark themes - including but not limited to suicide, depression, being dragooned for the losing side, horrible friends/relatives being horrible people.
For me there are echoes of Like Water for Chocolate, but I suspect that this has to do with that being the most recent book by a Mexican author (other than Moreno-Garcia) that I've read, and that the echoes would be cultural and historical details I'm not familiar with.
There are any number of dark themes - including but not limited to suicide, depression, being dragooned for the losing side, horrible friends/relatives being horrible people.
camille_catterpillar's review
5.0
I rarely read short stories but this was a great collection, an exploration of many facets of gothic horror - evoking classic figures such as Poe, taking inspiration from folklore, a dip in body horror, some gothic poetry, a more fantasy-leaning turn ; it has it all!
I found my appreciation of the short stories to be fairly equal but if I had a favourite it would probably be the one about The Stranger in The Blue Overcoat... probably because it was a re-telling of a folk tale of my childhood that fascinated and terrified me in equal parts. I really enjoyed Moreno-Garcia's take on body horror in Live Sho. The River Hag was a great longer story; the classic "quest" type story. Like Kissing Frost was deliciously macabre. Ok now I'm pretty much just naming them all in random order. You get what I'm saying.
This is my second book by Moreno-Garcia and I still very much enjoy her style; the right balance of lyricism and modernity, dynamic, engaging.
I found my appreciation of the short stories to be fairly equal but if I had a favourite it would probably be the one about The Stranger in The Blue Overcoat... probably because it was a re-telling of a folk tale of my childhood that fascinated and terrified me in equal parts. I really enjoyed Moreno-Garcia's take on body horror in Live Sho. The River Hag was a great longer story; the classic "quest" type story. Like Kissing Frost was deliciously macabre. Ok now I'm pretty much just naming them all in random order. You get what I'm saying.
This is my second book by Moreno-Garcia and I still very much enjoy her style; the right balance of lyricism and modernity, dynamic, engaging.
tftbah's review
4.0
3.75 collection of stories - I truly enjoyed the Mexican and mythical influences from throughout the book, and some definitely deserve a 5 star. A few others just leave me hanging and wondering what’s the point. Loved the Vampire clan one at the end and the Cthulhu influenced one gave me the creeps reading it at 1 am at night!!
Read for the 2021 bingo challenge - Latinx author
Read for the 2021 bingo challenge - Latinx author