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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Just got really bored and realized I wasn't absorbing anything I read.
challenging
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really only connected with the last two stories (and that could be because I just read them). Otherwise, reading this kinda felt like a slog, and I already don’t remember what the other stories were about! Maybe I just wasn’t in the right headspace for this book.
some stories were quite good but others were odd - l'm afraid they didn't weave together as great as the author seemed to have intended at times
These stories are quite lovely. I guess short stories just aren't my thing though, because as soon as I get invested the story is ending.
Halfway through this book, I turned to my husband and said, "I think I've fallen in love with the author of my book." Such is Helen Oyeyemi's writing. It is magic, witchery, sorcery, and alchemy. Her words are like breadcrumbs leading you into a deep forest, where you would happily be consumed by a crone in a gingerbread house as long as you could finish this book first.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not for me™
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
No rating, I just wanted to re-read the first short story, which is one of my absolute favorites ever. I didn't care for the rest though.
mysterious
"Icarus Girl" was my introduction to Oyeyemi, and so I think I will approach all of her works with a slight sense of terror. This book is not like that, though again she paints a world that is deeply strange, sometimes in mad, dangerous ways, but she does so with such casualness and ease you sometimes doubt yourself and your sense of normalcy. It's quite remarkable in this way.
The short stories do not, exactly, form a single narrative. It's more like they are all set in the same universe, and so sometimes intersect. This creates a curious effect - the main character of one story may be a random passerby in the next. I suppose in this way, it is an examination - or the experience - of sonder.
The short stories do not, exactly, form a single narrative. It's more like they are all set in the same universe, and so sometimes intersect. This creates a curious effect - the main character of one story may be a random passerby in the next. I suppose in this way, it is an examination - or the experience - of sonder.