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A review by cranberry__sauce
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman
3.0
3.5 stars rounded down
"A Study in Emerald"
rating: 3.5/5
"The Fairy Reel"
rating: 3/5
"October in the Chair"
rating: 4/5
"The Hidden Chamber"
rating: 3/5
"Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire"
rating: 3.5/5
"The Flints of Memory Lane"
rating: 3/5
"Closing Time"
rating: 4.5/5
"Going Wodwo"
rating: 3.5/5
"Bitter Grounds"
rating: 3/5
"Other People"
rating: 4.5/5
"Keepsakes and Treasures"
rating: 4/5
"Good Boys Deserve Favors"
rating: 2.5/5
"The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch"
rating: 2.5/5
"Strange Little Girls"
rating: 2/5
"Harlequin Valentine"
rating: 4/5
"Locks"
rating: 3.5/5
"The Problem of Susan"
rating: 3/5
"Instructions"
rating: 4/5
"How Do You Think It Feels?"
rating: 3.5/5
"My Life"
rating: 2.5/5
"Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot"
rating: 2.5/5
"Feeders and Eaters"
rating: 4.5/5
"Diseasemaker's Croup"
rating: 3/5
"In the End"
rating: 3/5
"Goliath"
rating: 5/5
"Pages from a Journal Found in a Shoebox Left in a Greyhound Bus Somewhere Between Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Louisville, Kentucky"
rating: 3.5/5
"How to Talk to Girls at Parties"
rating: 4/5
"The Day the Saucers Came"
rating: 3/5
"Sunbird"
rating: 5/5
"Inventing Aladdin"
rating: 3.5/5
The Monarch of the Glen
a sequel novella to American Gods
rating: 5/5
Overall
Overall, Neil Gaiman's collection of short stories and poems contains many hits but just as many—if not more—duds. I disliked many of the pieces in Fragile Things; many I thought were underbaked and not ready to be published. However, I did have a few that I liked. My personal favorite pieces in the collection were "Goliath", a story set in the universe of The Matrix film; "Sunbird", a story about a food club who have eaten everything except the mysterious Sunbird; and The Monarch of the Glen, a sequel novella to Gaiman's novel American Gods.
"A Study in Emerald"
rating: 3.5/5
"The Fairy Reel"
rating: 3/5
"October in the Chair"
rating: 4/5
"The Hidden Chamber"
rating: 3/5
"Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire"
rating: 3.5/5
"The Flints of Memory Lane"
rating: 3/5
"Closing Time"
rating: 4.5/5
"Going Wodwo"
rating: 3.5/5
"Bitter Grounds"
rating: 3/5
"Other People"
rating: 4.5/5
"Keepsakes and Treasures"
rating: 4/5
"Good Boys Deserve Favors"
rating: 2.5/5
"The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch"
rating: 2.5/5
"Strange Little Girls"
rating: 2/5
"Harlequin Valentine"
rating: 4/5
"Locks"
rating: 3.5/5
"The Problem of Susan"
rating: 3/5
"Instructions"
rating: 4/5
"How Do You Think It Feels?"
rating: 3.5/5
"My Life"
rating: 2.5/5
"Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot"
rating: 2.5/5
"Feeders and Eaters"
rating: 4.5/5
"Diseasemaker's Croup"
rating: 3/5
"In the End"
rating: 3/5
"Goliath"
rating: 5/5
"Pages from a Journal Found in a Shoebox Left in a Greyhound Bus Somewhere Between Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Louisville, Kentucky"
rating: 3.5/5
"How to Talk to Girls at Parties"
rating: 4/5
"The Day the Saucers Came"
rating: 3/5
"Sunbird"
rating: 5/5
"Inventing Aladdin"
rating: 3.5/5
The Monarch of the Glen
a sequel novella to American Gods
rating: 5/5
Overall
Overall, Neil Gaiman's collection of short stories and poems contains many hits but just as many—if not more—duds. I disliked many of the pieces in Fragile Things; many I thought were underbaked and not ready to be published. However, I did have a few that I liked. My personal favorite pieces in the collection were "Goliath", a story set in the universe of The Matrix film; "Sunbird", a story about a food club who have eaten everything except the mysterious Sunbird; and The Monarch of the Glen, a sequel novella to Gaiman's novel American Gods.