Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

North American Lake Monsters: Stories by Nathan Ballingrud

2 reviews

snewgoblin's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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readundancies's review against another edition

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

4.0

Coming from the hit that was Ballingrud’s second published horror short story collection Wounds, I had some expectations going into this and while I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped, it was still a solid read. 
It’s a been a hot minute since I read it, but I did manage to keep some notes as I was reading each individual story: 

  • You Go Where It Takes You: 4.25/5 
    • Solid story to kick off a collection. It was strange and dark but profound and gutting all rolled into 17 pages and it doesn’t let up at all. It merely sets the tone for the collection as a whole. And it was wonderfully executed because the dangers that raise red flags are the not the dangers you should be worrying about.
    • It’s a story about the faces we wear and the people who paint them, and the things we do to them when the need to change ourselves from the outside in burns in each and every one of our veins.
    • It’s about the people we leave behind and the chains that bind us to them and them to us and how sometimes finding yourself means losing someone in the process.

  • Wild Acre: 3.75/5 
    • This was pretty unsatisfying in terms of resolution, but I’m okay with it because that kinda fits the bill when it comes to the nature of the story; the sense of loss and listlessness that Jeremy feels.
    • I still wanted to know a lot more about what was going on though, especially when it came down what actually happened during the attack and what creature was responsible.
    • Not fully sold on the plot when it came to the party Jeremy and Tara went to, but I do know that Tim had it fucking coming and I stand by that statement.

  • S.S.: 4/5 
    • Well fuck, Ballingrud really went there.
    • This takes a steep turn like a third of the way through that I feel like I should’ve seen coming, but didn’t. Like, I could tell race was going to be a major theme right from the first page and then it very quickly escalated.
    • The title hits different by the end. And while I don’t think I picked up everything that was going on here, the ending was a real fine sendoff.

  • The Crevasse: DNR/5 
    • So, this story has animal death in it and one of my cats had a stroke and had to be put down recently, so we’re calling this a mental health DNR because there is no way that I was going to come out of this story not depressed as fuck.

  • The Monsters of Heaven: 3/5 
    • That ending was fucked up.
    • And so outta nowhere too.
    • Really dark, kinda bitter and just not my cuppa tea, but it was written well despite it not being my favourite.

  • Sunbleached: 3/5 
    • I feel very mixed-bag towards this story.
    • Part of it has to do with mood: vampires are not the vibes for my 2022 reading.
    • But also, that ending was bleak as fuck and now I’m kind of depressed about it.

  • North American Lake Monsters: 4.25/5 
    • Solid titular story.
    • Really builds well because the characters are flawed - Grady specifically is such a treat because holy shit is he ever an asshole at times.
    • Kind of reminds me of Stephan Graham Jones’ writing in how punchy it can be; there’s a strong narrative voice and something about the tone was really reminiscent of My Heart is a Chainsaw.

  • The Way Station: 4/5 
    • I quite liked this one. The ghost angle was so inventive and unlike anything I’ve come across before.
    • I loved how hopeful the ending was despite not knowing how things shake down for Beltrane.
    • It was a little confusing, a little disorienting and a little bit odd, but it really came together with solid characterization with the MC, a suspect religious pastor, and multiple snapshots of a life that is fragmented but not aimless.

  • The Good Husband: 4.5/5 
    • This was creepy as all get out and I think it was such a solid choice to finish the collection with this short story specifically.
    • It builds kind of slowly despite its short length and it increasingly heightens the sense of unease that is being stockpiled as we get more and more plot panning out.
    • The zombie angle, the tense parent-child relationship dynamics at play, the desperation for things to go back to ‘normal’, the takes on mental health, depression and suicide - all of them are so well executed in conjunction to one another.

Not every story in this collection was a hit for me, but I still enjoyed it as a whole.
 
If you’re a fan of Balligrud’s writing, this delivers if not in heaps, in spades.
 
But then again, if you’re a fan, you knew that already.
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