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A review by tobin_elliott
Self-Made Monsters by Rebecca Cuthbert
fast-paced
5.0
Well, this was a lovely little surprise.
Honestly, I probably didn't do this collection justice by swallowing it in one big gulp, but I had such fun with each story, that I kept thinking, just one more...
Cuthbert's writing is spare, yet impactful. Honestly, there's times when the reader can see the end coming, yet it still packs just as much of a punch as it would if it was a total surprise.
It's a fantastic collection overall, with mostly very short stories (some less than a page, which makes me rather jealous, because what I say in eighty pages, Cuthbert says in eighty words...yeah, definitely jealous). There's some standouts here, and the seem to be the same ones most are mentioning...
I'm not a poetry guy, but the opening "No Rest No Relief For You With Me Dead" is amazing.
"With Her" just made me angry...because it was supposed to. Probably my second favourite of the bunch.
"I Won't Call It a Monster" is a damn good story. The amount of pain Cuthbert can wring from a character is breathtaking.
"Beisht Kione, Come Home" is nasty. It's so not a Jack Ketchum story at all, yet I caught a Jack Ketchum vibe from it, all the same.
"The Cliffs At Battery Pointe" was a nailbiter.
But my absolute favourite of the bunch was "The Vultures Remain" because its exploration of grief is so heartbreakingly real. I adored this one.
Great collection. Get it.
Honestly, I probably didn't do this collection justice by swallowing it in one big gulp, but I had such fun with each story, that I kept thinking, just one more...
Cuthbert's writing is spare, yet impactful. Honestly, there's times when the reader can see the end coming, yet it still packs just as much of a punch as it would if it was a total surprise.
It's a fantastic collection overall, with mostly very short stories (some less than a page, which makes me rather jealous, because what I say in eighty pages, Cuthbert says in eighty words...yeah, definitely jealous). There's some standouts here, and the seem to be the same ones most are mentioning...
I'm not a poetry guy, but the opening "No Rest No Relief For You With Me Dead" is amazing.
"With Her" just made me angry...because it was supposed to. Probably my second favourite of the bunch.
"I Won't Call It a Monster" is a damn good story. The amount of pain Cuthbert can wring from a character is breathtaking.
"Beisht Kione, Come Home" is nasty. It's so not a Jack Ketchum story at all, yet I caught a Jack Ketchum vibe from it, all the same.
"The Cliffs At Battery Pointe" was a nailbiter.
But my absolute favourite of the bunch was "The Vultures Remain" because its exploration of grief is so heartbreakingly real. I adored this one.
Great collection. Get it.