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1.07k reviews for:
Krótka historia Stowarzyszenia Nieurodziwych Dziewuch i inne opowiadania
Helen Oyeyemi
3.76 AVERAGE
1.07k reviews for:
Krótka historia Stowarzyszenia Nieurodziwych Dziewuch i inne opowiadania
Helen Oyeyemi
3.76 AVERAGE
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a book! Every single story required and deserved rapt attention. The stories all made me feel like my hair was falling out & growing in, ad infinitum. A wonderfully strange collection.
I adore Oyeyemi's imagination and the beauty of her voice. This is a labyrinth of a fairy tale with thorns and roses and birds and blood and foxes at each turn of the path.
I want the puppet school story to be a full book. also the the first story about the library. Her style translates so well into short stories.
This is such a delight to read! Oyeyemi's style creates a whimsical, intriguing setting. I really loved every story!
What a beautiful, gorgeous, bizarre book. What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours was recommended to me by a librarian after expressing interest in reading some lesser-known books with LGBTQ+ characters. My library, as always, did not disappoint. This book reminded me of The Starless Sea and This Is How You Lose the Time War in its unique strangeness, making you feel like you’ve stumbled into Wonderland before you truly understand what’s going on.
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours is a collection of stories that tie together in incredibly creative and unique ways, characters popping up from previous stories in subsequent chapters and threads weaving their ways through every story to tie them together. Chapters start without little pretense or backstory, feeling like you’ve been just pushed into the deep end of the pool without any warning. It’s confusing, a little jarring, and wholly addictive for someone like me, who loves the strangeness of books that don’t quite make sense until the end.
Even though each story itself is short compared to the overall book, you fall in love with the characters as they are fleshed out in full color, given life and breath through Oyeyemi’s beautiful prose. And speaking of prose, damn. She really knows how to write.
It’s a real shame that I went this long without even hearing about this book, and was so close to returning it to the library without reading it first. It was worth the late fine I got for returning it a few days late, unable to part with it until I had finished it. It’s one of those rare, beautiful books that sticks with you long after you’ve put it down, trying to figure out what just happened.
If you like books like House of Leaves, Starless Sea, and This Is How You Lose the Time War, you’ll like this. I promise.
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours is a collection of stories that tie together in incredibly creative and unique ways, characters popping up from previous stories in subsequent chapters and threads weaving their ways through every story to tie them together. Chapters start without little pretense or backstory, feeling like you’ve been just pushed into the deep end of the pool without any warning. It’s confusing, a little jarring, and wholly addictive for someone like me, who loves the strangeness of books that don’t quite make sense until the end.
Even though each story itself is short compared to the overall book, you fall in love with the characters as they are fleshed out in full color, given life and breath through Oyeyemi’s beautiful prose. And speaking of prose, damn. She really knows how to write.
It’s a real shame that I went this long without even hearing about this book, and was so close to returning it to the library without reading it first. It was worth the late fine I got for returning it a few days late, unable to part with it until I had finished it. It’s one of those rare, beautiful books that sticks with you long after you’ve put it down, trying to figure out what just happened.
If you like books like House of Leaves, Starless Sea, and This Is How You Lose the Time War, you’ll like this. I promise.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
These stories are beautifully written, but I confess that I didn’t get all of 5hem, and I skipped a couple because they just didn’t click for me. It’s possible that I’m not the person for short stories. Or maybe I didn’t pay enough attention in my college English classes to give these stories the justice they deserve.
This collection of short stories is probably either a hit or a miss for the reader.
For me it was the right kind of everything. The right kind of wonder, the right kind of realistic yet magical story components, the right kind of protagonists and familiar yet foreign settings.
The stories are all intertwined without building on each other and give the reader little glimpses into the larger world - never showing him the whole picture. Every short story felt complete yet left some sort of mystery open to the imagination. To me it felt like an assortment of small desserts, each with its own interesting flavour.
I can imagine though that this is not for everyone. Especially so since I also read a collection of short stories the other day that all ended in the completely wrong spot for me. Here, too, the reader can be left wondering if there really is a bigger reveal that he is barely just missing.
For me it was the right kind of everything. The right kind of wonder, the right kind of realistic yet magical story components, the right kind of protagonists and familiar yet foreign settings.
The stories are all intertwined without building on each other and give the reader little glimpses into the larger world - never showing him the whole picture. Every short story felt complete yet left some sort of mystery open to the imagination. To me it felt like an assortment of small desserts, each with its own interesting flavour.
I can imagine though that this is not for everyone. Especially so since I also read a collection of short stories the other day that all ended in the completely wrong spot for me. Here, too, the reader can be left wondering if there really is a bigger reveal that he is barely just missing.