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lucyduller's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a short story collection I’ve had gathering dust on my shelf for about a year, possibly even longer.
There are eleven short stories in this book by Katherine Heiny, the first book I’ve read by her.
I am usually quite keen on short stories as they can feel like vignettes into different lives and stories. I found it hard to get stuck into this one, I really wanted to lose myself in a book about one story and the first two stories I found boring, so it sat on my bedside table for a few weeks.
However, there are some real gems in this book. My particular favourites were
- Twist and Shout
- Turn Back, Turn Back
- 561
Twist and Shout is a story about a woman who now has to look after her aging father and starts with him eating his hearing aid because he thinks its a cashew. She resents her father as they have very different political views, he is a Fox News watching climate change denier, and she is not. However, the last page is on the third slide and it was so special.
Turn Back, Turn Back took me on a rollercoaster and I think was my favourite story out of all of them. It’s about mother discovering her husband’s affair by her daughter’s reaction to a fairytale. It felt like I was right there with her.
561 is about a woman having to bond with her husband’s ex-wife, and how they had spent some significant life moments with one another, despite hating each other.
I loved how all of the stories had interweaving themes and links and you could probably draw a diagram linking them all. Overall, they were good stories, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Death of parent
aileron's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Infidelity
Moderate: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Alcohol, Drug use, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Eating disorder, Abortion, Death, Death of parent, and Dementia
aliciawithoutkeys's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Eating disorder and Alcohol
bjlinard's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide
Minor: Fatphobia and Eating disorder
bella_cavicchi's review
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Katherine Heiny's writing is like chocolate for the literary soul: rich and sweet and something I could easily devour for days. Save for the last story (which landed on a weird note for me!), this collection is utter perfection, capturing the many varied layers to love and life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Drug use and Fatphobia
rusereviews's review
dark
emotional
funny
4.0
Games and Rituals by Katherine Heiny is a collection of eleven literary fiction short stories.
Relationships in their many iterations form the heart of this collection. Found friendships, complicated relationships with exes, illicit liaisons, and the love between generations are explored with dry humor expertly blended with seriousness.
The collection was very compulsively readable, relatable, and the prose is wonderful. It wasn't super long, clocking in at under 250 pages. The stories are slice of life, and often feature characters who are morally gray at best. Many of the stories have open endings.
This was my first book by the author, but since the writing was great I'm definitely going to read more from them in the future.
I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
Relationships in their many iterations form the heart of this collection. Found friendships, complicated relationships with exes, illicit liaisons, and the love between generations are explored with dry humor expertly blended with seriousness.
The collection was very compulsively readable, relatable, and the prose is wonderful. It wasn't super long, clocking in at under 250 pages. The stories are slice of life, and often feature characters who are morally gray at best. Many of the stories have open endings.
This was my first book by the author, but since the writing was great I'm definitely going to read more from them in the future.
I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Death
sidekicksam's review against another edition
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
w o w. Katherine Heiny really knows how to write intricate, detailed characters in just a few pages. Reading these stories is like opening a window in the mind of your fellow train passengers, and you get a glimpse of their daily lives outside of that train. Incredibly vivid, credible stories of actual people.
There were more depictions of infedelity in here than I am comfortable reading about, but even those are written with a nuance from several perspectives that it is nothing short of (pun intended) a great collection of stories.
Here are some thoughts on the individual stories:
Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented
I swear my driving instructor also always let me drive through the McDrive for a coffee and a McEgg!!! Incredibly realistic.
Damascus
A tale as old as Damascus, of parent trying to prevent kid from making the same mistakes as her.
Twist and Shout
Buckets of tears. Incredible writing, and an incredibly painful but all too recognizable depiction of a father-daughter relationship.
Turn Back, Turn Back
Hauntingly depressing. A fairytale nightmare I felt chilled by.
Games and Rituals
I love how life actually is a series of games and rituals, and this was the 'holding up a painfully accurate mirror game'.
CobRa
Probably my favourite tale, as this is exactly what I hope the love of my life will come to realize after a marriage that long too!! (Though I hope not to be as sexless OR ever threaten to get rid of books. Horrible perimenopausal woman.)
561
ANOTHER FUCKING NIGHTMARE, but then from the perspective of the nightmare herself. I never hope to be such a vindictive bitch but I can totally see why Barbara sticks to the 561 nickname.
Pandemic Behaviour
A relatable fucking pandamic tale if I ever saw one.
Bridesmaid, Revisited
This might be my favourite too. She did Rhonda dirty but I am here for it. Hilarious.
King Midas
Ugh, Oscar is the worst.
Sky Bar
Surprisingly funny with a hint of desperation. Enjoyable story to conclude the collection!
There were more depictions of infedelity in here than I am comfortable reading about, but even those are written with a nuance from several perspectives that it is nothing short of (pun intended) a great collection of stories.
Here are some thoughts on the individual stories:
Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented
I swear my driving instructor also always let me drive through the McDrive for a coffee and a McEgg!!! Incredibly realistic.
Damascus
A tale as old as Damascus, of parent trying to prevent kid from making the same mistakes as her.
Twist and Shout
Buckets of tears. Incredible writing, and an incredibly painful but all too recognizable depiction of a father-daughter relationship.
Turn Back, Turn Back
Hauntingly depressing. A fairytale nightmare I felt chilled by.
Games and Rituals
I love how life actually is a series of games and rituals, and this was the 'holding up a painfully accurate mirror game'.
CobRa
Probably my favourite tale, as this is exactly what I hope the love of my life will come to realize after a marriage that long too!! (Though I hope not to be as sexless OR ever threaten to get rid of books. Horrible perimenopausal woman.)
561
ANOTHER FUCKING NIGHTMARE, but then from the perspective of the nightmare herself. I never hope to be such a vindictive bitch but I can totally see why Barbara sticks to the 561 nickname.
Pandemic Behaviour
A relatable fucking pandamic tale if I ever saw one.
Bridesmaid, Revisited
This might be my favourite too. She did Rhonda dirty but I am here for it. Hilarious.
King Midas
Ugh, Oscar is the worst.
Sky Bar
Surprisingly funny with a hint of desperation. Enjoyable story to conclude the collection!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
christinesreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
lcg527's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This collection of short stories examines everyday relationships of friends and families. The characters of each are drawn extremely well by the author. This collection was funny, sad, and entertaining but I’m not sure any one of them stood out as particularly memorable. Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
natalieba's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I am so happy to have read an early copy of Games and Rituals by Katherine Heiny. I loved Early Morning Riser and really enjoy reading short stories, so I had high hopes for this collection. I was not disappointed! I think I enjoyed reading every single story, which must be some kind of new record for me - that never happens. I particularly enjoyed the first story (Chicken Flavored and Lemon Scented) about a woman whose job is to test new drivers for their licenses (yikes!) as well as the story titled 561, which is both humourous and heartbreaking - something I've found Heiny executes so well. All of her characters are so real - they all have flaws (many have LOTS of flaws - ha!), but all are sympathetic or relatable in some way. And her side characters are just a delight, which was something I really enjoyed about Early Morning Riser. I can't wait for others to pick this up and will be recommending it to all my short-story-loving friends.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Suicide