Reviews

Das Alphabet der Puppen by Camilla Grudova

mrwilliams's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 / Odd, twisted, and funny little (fairy-esque?) tales.

jenrosy's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

4.0

lanieq's review against another edition

3.0

Mixed bag. Some stories were brilliant, others were just gross. I got up to a scene in one story where sailors killed fish by masturbating with them and decided I had enough.

brisingr's review against another edition

3.0

i lowkey dnf-ed this with 50 pages left bc i got bored.

gingermojito's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

izasballad's review against another edition

3.0

The author creates a grotesque world with her words, making her stories strange and captivating.  My favorite stories were "Unstitching," "The Mouse Queen," and "Waxy." I enjoyed the first half of the book. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of the latter part of the book. While I do commend the author's writing, I think the latter stories aren't just for my liking. I found them bland compared to the first half. The other stories are missing the weird, strange elements that I find compelling. I'm not sure if it's because of my mood, or if the book just started too strong for me."Waxy" has been stuck in my thoughts since I finished it (and maybe that's why I can't focus on the other stories lol). Overall, I would still recommend this book. It is a collection of dystopian, disturbing, and unsettling stories with a dash of magic realism. So if that is right up your alley, pick this up!

subdue_provide75's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

3.0

Solid! An heir to Angela Carter is a good take that I agree with.

insomniacsun's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

Una lettura con cui ho affrontato viaggi in treno nebbiosi e bui, direi in sintonia con atmosfera lugubre creata dall'autrice, molto adatta alla stagione.

Questa raccolta di racconti è unita da un senso di claustrofobia fisico ed esistenziale che danna le varie donne incontrate, costrette ad una vita soppressa. 
Il mondo descritto assume un'aria viscida e pesante, pieno di oggettistica varia che riduce gli spazi già mostrati molto stretti.

Nonostante questa atmosfera la lettura è risultata molto scorrevole...forse troppo. Mi aspettavo un'esperienza con più frizione visto i temi trattati. 
Inoltre, vista la brevità dei racconti, ho trovato che la voce dell'autrice sia stata soffocata da altri autori che l'hanno sicuramente ispirata (vedo molto Kafka, Jackson, e Atwood), un po' come se questo libro fosse una vetrina da soggiorno colma che Grudova ci stia guidando ad ammirare. 
Anche qui, non saprei se fosse intenzionale, vista l'immagine creata molto in tema.

faircloughliv's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I found waxy particularly enjoyable, and wasn’t surprised to learn it was the story from this collection that was published first. But on the whole I found a lot of these stories rather bland and uninteresting, felt like it would have had much more of an impact on me if it was 4/5 more fleshed out stories instead of 13 mixed tales

rm14's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.5