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A review by giulay
Feral Youth by Shaun David Hutchinson, E.C. Myers, Robin Talley, Tim Floreen, Stephanie Kuehn, Susanne Young, Marieke Nijkamp, Justina Ireland, Brandy Colbert, Alaya Dawn Johnson
4.0
"We are people. We are real. And we will not be ignored."
Mini Reviews
TW: sexual abuse, homophobia, suicide, homicide, rape, self-harm, drugs.
The Butterfly Effect by Marieke Nijkamp: 3.5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: girl with traumatic past loves fire. Something burns. Her past and present are presented and it isn’t really a pretty picture. Things aren’t clear.
Ridiculously short personal comment: I am…confused? But still very much intrigued? I liked the writing style and the mysterious atmosphere of the story. Only major complain: what the actual fuck? What happened? I mean, I can imagine but…when the story was over I honestly thought that the ending was missing from my Kindle Edition - hence the mysterious atmosphere. And it was so frustrating because I was incredibly into the plot and the characters - hence my fascination with the story. Dunno, I’m torn. But this was a very bizarre yet captivating beginning.
A Ruthless Dame by Tim Floreen: 3 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: young boy has a summer romance with another boy. Latter dude stops keeping in touch and reappears with a girlfriend. Main character plans then his revenge. It involves butter.
Ridiculously short personal comment: This was…strange? But I liked how strange it was? Also, kinda enjoyed the whole revenge based on a psychological plan and the presence of religion as an undertone throughout the story. Overall, though, I was not blown away by it and, in the end, I found it rather dull, as it did not really have a bite or a twist.
Look Down by Robin Talley: 3.5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: scary stories told during camp turn out to be something more. Moral of the story: don’t go to the bathroom in the dead of night.
Ridiculously short personal comment: Here me out: I am a chicken. I do not read horror stories. I’m not saying that this was one, by any means, but…yeah, for my standards, it was close. And I’ll be damned but I liked it: it was atmospheric and creepy. Very simple in the creepy aspect, the plot was predictable and the setting was rather cliché but very effective for my chicken-mind. Not bad, really.
Big Brother, Part 1 and Part 2 by E. C. Myers: 1 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: tbh, I fucking refuse to even write down a short synopsis. With all the dues respect, this story was disgusting and sick.
Ridiculously short personal comment: what…the…actual…fucking fuck? What did I just read? What was this fuckery? You made me read it with my very own two eyes. No. Did not like this. My god, it was disgusting.
The Subjunctive by Alaya Dawn Johnson: 2 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: girl with fire-breath comes back and meets sister who can call the wind. Together they go look for their coyote-brother (you wish I was making this up)
Ridiculously short personal comment: I didn’t like this one. It was magical realism and it didn’t make sense in the slightest. I didn’t understand the relationship (and therefore thought they were unnatural) and didn’t see the whole point of the story. The writing style too was not really my taste :/ Confusing. This story was simply confusing.
A Cautionary Tale by Stephanie Kuehn: 5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: a party during the equinox takes and unpredictable turn when a tale about a mass murderer is shared.
Ridiculously short personal comment: Oh. My. God. This was good. Just simply and plainly GOOD.
Jackie’s Story by Justina Ireland: 3 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: three brothers move to the city and establish a close-knitted “Cosa Nostra”. Beware the enemies, though.
Ridiculously short personal comment: Oh, I really enjoyed this one! I liked how it started fan-fiction like and then developed and became basically a retelling of The Three Little Pigs. It was clever; I liked it!
Self-portrait by Brandy Colbert: 4.5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: during gal’s first day in a new school, she meets two brothers who are going to influence her future.
Ridiculously short personal comment: this was such a simple contemporary but oh so good. I liked the writing style; I loved Sunday as a character and her decisions and her strength were inspiring. I’d love to read the whole novel, thank you very much :)
A Violation of Rule 16 by Suzanne Young: 5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: girl fights her school when she gets yet another day in detention because of the clothes.
Ridiculously short personal comment: YES!!! HOLY HELL THIS WAS PHENOMENAL! The feminist read that everybody needs to read. Short and straight to the point: beautiful. Fantastic. Spectacular. Stellar. Amazing.
The Chaos Effect by Marieke Nijkamp: 4.5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: Continuation and ending of the first short story. The fire burns even brighter.
Ridiculously short personal comment: I am shooketh. I loved it. this was the continuation of the first story and HOT DAMN it was fantastic. Now all the confusion dictated by the first part of the story has been completely erased and a unflinching, brutal and phenomenal short story was created. Wow, just wow.
Overall
Actual rating: 3.5 ⭐ rounded up because the ones I loved I seriously loved.
So, this was a rollercoaster.
First, it is important to know that, relatively randomly, I am a huge fan of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and of dysfunctional (and morally-gray) characters. So this anthology was literally created for me. And I have to admit that I was not disappointed.
I particularly enjoyed the diversity in genre (from simple contemporary, to mystery, to horror, to fable, to sci-fi. Everything was present), the diversity in sexualities (bi-, gay, lesbian) and the diversity in race. Moreover, the fact that the majority of the stories had religious undertones (specifically Christianity) was something I was not expecting but that I actually appreciated.
Another aspect I liked was the “filler-voice”. In fact, the narrator and his point of view were straightforward and no-nonsense. And that is something I adore.
As always, the good stories were GOOD™️ and the bad stories were BAD™️ but the overall experience was a surprisingly pleasant one.
"Our parents see us as these problems to solve, delinquents to deal with.
But we’re more than that."
Mini Reviews
TW: sexual abuse, homophobia, suicide, homicide, rape, self-harm, drugs.
The Butterfly Effect by Marieke Nijkamp: 3.5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: girl with traumatic past loves fire. Something burns. Her past and present are presented and it isn’t really a pretty picture. Things aren’t clear.
Ridiculously short personal comment: I am…confused? But still very much intrigued? I liked the writing style and the mysterious atmosphere of the story. Only major complain: what the actual fuck? What happened? I mean, I can imagine but…when the story was over I honestly thought that the ending was missing from my Kindle Edition - hence the mysterious atmosphere. And it was so frustrating because I was incredibly into the plot and the characters - hence my fascination with the story. Dunno, I’m torn. But this was a very bizarre yet captivating beginning.
A Ruthless Dame by Tim Floreen: 3 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: young boy has a summer romance with another boy. Latter dude stops keeping in touch and reappears with a girlfriend. Main character plans then his revenge. It involves butter.
Ridiculously short personal comment: This was…strange? But I liked how strange it was? Also, kinda enjoyed the whole revenge based on a psychological plan and the presence of religion as an undertone throughout the story. Overall, though, I was not blown away by it and, in the end, I found it rather dull, as it did not really have a bite or a twist.
Look Down by Robin Talley: 3.5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: scary stories told during camp turn out to be something more. Moral of the story: don’t go to the bathroom in the dead of night.
Ridiculously short personal comment: Here me out: I am a chicken. I do not read horror stories. I’m not saying that this was one, by any means, but…yeah, for my standards, it was close. And I’ll be damned but I liked it: it was atmospheric and creepy. Very simple in the creepy aspect, the plot was predictable and the setting was rather cliché but very effective for my chicken-mind. Not bad, really.
Big Brother, Part 1 and Part 2 by E. C. Myers: 1 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: tbh, I fucking refuse to even write down a short synopsis. With all the dues respect, this story was disgusting and sick.
Ridiculously short personal comment: what…the…actual…fucking fuck? What did I just read? What was this fuckery? You made me read it with my very own two eyes. No. Did not like this. My god, it was disgusting.
The Subjunctive by Alaya Dawn Johnson: 2 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: girl with fire-breath comes back and meets sister who can call the wind. Together they go look for their coyote-brother (you wish I was making this up)
Ridiculously short personal comment: I didn’t like this one. It was magical realism and it didn’t make sense in the slightest. I didn’t understand the relationship (and therefore thought they were unnatural) and didn’t see the whole point of the story. The writing style too was not really my taste :/ Confusing. This story was simply confusing.
A Cautionary Tale by Stephanie Kuehn: 5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: a party during the equinox takes and unpredictable turn when a tale about a mass murderer is shared.
Ridiculously short personal comment: Oh. My. God. This was good. Just simply and plainly GOOD.
Jackie’s Story by Justina Ireland: 3 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: three brothers move to the city and establish a close-knitted “Cosa Nostra”. Beware the enemies, though.
Ridiculously short personal comment: Oh, I really enjoyed this one! I liked how it started fan-fiction like and then developed and became basically a retelling of The Three Little Pigs. It was clever; I liked it!
Self-portrait by Brandy Colbert: 4.5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: during gal’s first day in a new school, she meets two brothers who are going to influence her future.
Ridiculously short personal comment: this was such a simple contemporary but oh so good. I liked the writing style; I loved Sunday as a character and her decisions and her strength were inspiring. I’d love to read the whole novel, thank you very much :)
A Violation of Rule 16 by Suzanne Young: 5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: girl fights her school when she gets yet another day in detention because of the clothes.
Ridiculously short personal comment: YES!!! HOLY HELL THIS WAS PHENOMENAL! The feminist read that everybody needs to read. Short and straight to the point: beautiful. Fantastic. Spectacular. Stellar. Amazing.
The Chaos Effect by Marieke Nijkamp: 4.5 ⭐
Ridiculously short synopsis: Continuation and ending of the first short story. The fire burns even brighter.
Ridiculously short personal comment: I am shooketh. I loved it. this was the continuation of the first story and HOT DAMN it was fantastic. Now all the confusion dictated by the first part of the story has been completely erased and a unflinching, brutal and phenomenal short story was created. Wow, just wow.
Overall
Actual rating: 3.5 ⭐ rounded up because the ones I loved I seriously loved.
So, this was a rollercoaster.
First, it is important to know that, relatively randomly, I am a huge fan of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and of dysfunctional (and morally-gray) characters. So this anthology was literally created for me. And I have to admit that I was not disappointed.
I particularly enjoyed the diversity in genre (from simple contemporary, to mystery, to horror, to fable, to sci-fi. Everything was present), the diversity in sexualities (bi-, gay, lesbian) and the diversity in race. Moreover, the fact that the majority of the stories had religious undertones (specifically Christianity) was something I was not expecting but that I actually appreciated.
Another aspect I liked was the “filler-voice”. In fact, the narrator and his point of view were straightforward and no-nonsense. And that is something I adore.
As always, the good stories were GOOD™️ and the bad stories were BAD™️ but the overall experience was a surprisingly pleasant one.
"Our parents see us as these problems to solve, delinquents to deal with.
But we’re more than that."