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dreamgalaxies's review against another edition
5.0
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I really enjoyed this book of short stories. 4.5 stars. Highly atmospheric and creepy. There's often a moment toward the end where it seems the story is going to capsize into magical realism, but they mostly hang around the edges of reality. Characters' voices are highly developed despite in some cases very limited page counts, and these stories have wonderful structure.
There's a simmering menace in the background in the form of alienation, misogyny, violence, and economic decay. However, van den Berg keeps it subtle enough that there is no tendency toward the didactic. In fact, I think I see growth here in terms of making things a little less subtle; the other book I've read by her, [i]Third Hotel[/i], makes its themes too subtle and remote.
There are some common elements in these eleven stories: alienated/isolated young women, strained sibling relationships, grief upon losing a family member, substance abuse...but despite the repetition, I didn't get bored of any of them. I'll definitely be reading van den Berg's other work.
I really enjoyed this book of short stories. 4.5 stars. Highly atmospheric and creepy. There's often a moment toward the end where it seems the story is going to capsize into magical realism, but they mostly hang around the edges of reality. Characters' voices are highly developed despite in some cases very limited page counts, and these stories have wonderful structure.
There's a simmering menace in the background in the form of alienation, misogyny, violence, and economic decay. However, van den Berg keeps it subtle enough that there is no tendency toward the didactic. In fact, I think I see growth here in terms of making things a little less subtle; the other book I've read by her, [i]Third Hotel[/i], makes its themes too subtle and remote.
There are some common elements in these eleven stories: alienated/isolated young women, strained sibling relationships, grief upon losing a family member, substance abuse...but despite the repetition, I didn't get bored of any of them. I'll definitely be reading van den Berg's other work.
saraaikman's review against another edition
4.0
A true 3.8⭐️s, the author does a great job of setting an unsettling mood and I love an insane woman forever and ever and ever. The short stories were fun and I loved getting through them quickly. Overall I wish I would’ve gained a bit more from the stories but I defs highlighted some wonderfully written parts and I liked the storytelling overall.
sarahlopod's review against another edition
4.0
Auribus teneo lupum and all that.
disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for review consideration. All of the opinions presented below are my own. Quotes have been taken from the advanced copy and are subject to change upon publication.
It may be the first work I've read by Laura van den Berg, but this collection absolutely gutted me. Almost every story was devastating to some extent, often in ways I wasn't expecting. The stories all feel properly connected and seem like they are occurring in the same universe, happening to similar people. van den Berg allows the women she writes to be flawed human beings and doesn't pull any punches. They do and think bad things, but they're always sympathetic -- and fascinating to read about. There's a lot of commentary on grief, trauma, and gender, and I urge readers to tread lightly and to look up content warnings if necessary. I've included an incomplete list below. On the whole, I was incredibly impressed by this collection and will be looking to read more of van den Berg's work.
-Last Night, 3.5 stars
-Slumberland, 5 stars
-Hill of Hell, 4 stars
-Cult of Mary, 2 stars
-Lizards, 4 stars
-The Pitch, 4 stars
-Volcano House, 3.5 stars
-Friends, 4 stars
-Karolina, 4 stars
-Your Second Wife, 4 stars
-I Hold a Wolf by the Ears, 3.5 stars
average: 3.77 stars, rounded up to 4
content warnings: sexual assault; loss of a loved one; domestic abuse; mass shootings; miscarriages; kidnapping; attempted suicide.
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patriciareedreads's review against another edition
4.0
The stories after the first couple were amazing
othersideoftherain's review against another edition
5.0
A spectacular accomplishment -- in these stories, dark subversion pairs itself with dry humor. Clear-eyed and terse, these tales are of women on the edge, on the verge, blind-folded in deep pits (sometimes of their own making; sometimes not) reaching for the crumbling dirt walls with nimble, capable fingers.
wordsmithreads's review against another edition
4.0
She told us that evil rarely looked like evil when it first arrived.
I have now read a few different collections of short stories, though I still consider myself a reader who is novel-focused. I say this because I think if I had come to Laura van den Berg first, I would have become a voracious short story reader. They're like miniature horror stories.
There are 11 stories in this collection, and the titular story, which closes the collection, was actually my least favorite, along with Lizards, though I found myself relating to the woman in it a tad too much.
The stories are unsettling, something always seeming just a little bit off, but I found them endlessly compelling.
My favorites: Slumberland, Volcano House, Your Second Wife. (notably, these are all in first person, while some of the other stories are not.)
I can't say much more about these other than they feel dream-like and interesting enough that I would read a whole volume more of any of my three favorite ones, though some of the others are equally suitable to be long, drawn-out campfire stories to set your teeth on edge.
A collection of my favorite lines:
-... this is the problem with translating experience into fiction, the way certain truths read like lies.
- The lodgers, mostly women.... tended to look either like they had just arrived on earth or like they had been stuck in this motel for all eternity.
- That was how things went in these big apartment complexes; they were a kind of purgatory where we docks until our souls were called elsewhere.
- I have learned that one must be very carful about the desperate wishes cast out into the ether because perhaps someone is listening, someone all too willing to grant us exactly what we have asked for and maybe even what we deserve."
- I thought about how few things were more ancient than the bartering of souls."
- If nature loves symmetry then why is symmetry so cruel?
- ... she feels so angry she's surprised surfaces don't ignite when she touches them.
- I didn't understand yet that refusing one kind of narrative could activate another.
- I've always thought of her as the anchor: predictable, stationary. A point on the map I could return to.
- A wind shakes the branches. I find myself listening for the crack of a gun.
- ... but what about the things that can't be quantified, like the difference between kindness and cowardice, or the meaning of life?
I have now read a few different collections of short stories, though I still consider myself a reader who is novel-focused. I say this because I think if I had come to Laura van den Berg first, I would have become a voracious short story reader. They're like miniature horror stories.
There are 11 stories in this collection, and the titular story, which closes the collection, was actually my least favorite, along with Lizards, though I found myself relating to the woman in it a tad too much.
The stories are unsettling, something always seeming just a little bit off, but I found them endlessly compelling.
My favorites: Slumberland, Volcano House, Your Second Wife. (notably, these are all in first person, while some of the other stories are not.)
I can't say much more about these other than they feel dream-like and interesting enough that I would read a whole volume more of any of my three favorite ones, though some of the others are equally suitable to be long, drawn-out campfire stories to set your teeth on edge.
A collection of my favorite lines:
-... this is the problem with translating experience into fiction, the way certain truths read like lies.
- The lodgers, mostly women.... tended to look either like they had just arrived on earth or like they had been stuck in this motel for all eternity.
- That was how things went in these big apartment complexes; they were a kind of purgatory where we docks until our souls were called elsewhere.
- I have learned that one must be very carful about the desperate wishes cast out into the ether because perhaps someone is listening, someone all too willing to grant us exactly what we have asked for and maybe even what we deserve."
- I thought about how few things were more ancient than the bartering of souls."
- If nature loves symmetry then why is symmetry so cruel?
- ... she feels so angry she's surprised surfaces don't ignite when she touches them.
- I didn't understand yet that refusing one kind of narrative could activate another.
- I've always thought of her as the anchor: predictable, stationary. A point on the map I could return to.
- A wind shakes the branches. I find myself listening for the crack of a gun.
- ... but what about the things that can't be quantified, like the difference between kindness and cowardice, or the meaning of life?
opldxblqo's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Eerie, and phantasmic, full of subtle misogyny, and violence. These stories capture the sound of womens' voices dissipating into the aether.
Last Night: 3/5
Slumberland: 5/5
Hill of Hell: 5/5
Cult of Mary: 2/5
Lizards: 4/5
The Pitch: 2/5
Volcano House: 5/5 (a standout)
Friends: 3/5
Karolina: 5/5
Your Second Wife: 4/5
I Hold a Wolf By the Ears: 3/5
= 74.5, so 3.7 stars rounded up to 4
Last Night: 3/5
Slumberland: 5/5
Hill of Hell: 5/5
Cult of Mary: 2/5
Lizards: 4/5
The Pitch: 2/5
Volcano House: 5/5 (a standout)
Friends: 3/5
Karolina: 5/5
Your Second Wife: 4/5
I Hold a Wolf By the Ears: 3/5
= 74.5, so 3.7 stars rounded up to 4