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A review by lingfish7
So We Can Glow: Stories by Leesa Cross-Smith
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I really didn't like the first few short stories and maybe it's because the theme and style took a little adjusting to. After the first 100 pages the stories seemed to resonate more with me (as seen in my list below where all 7 of my top favorites are after page 115).
The theme is essentially women: all of our emotions, thoughts, obsessions, desires, and impulses. The stories range from innocent and sweet to seductive and foolish. Some stories really resonated with me and I soaked up every word; other stories just didn't do it for me. But I guess that's probably normal for short story books.
I still love Leesa Cross-Smith. I've read all of her books and I will keep reading all of her works because of her beautiful prose, emotionally depth characters, and satisfying happy endings. Leesa doesn't shy away from the tough, important topics and themes and I admire her for her authenticity.
My favorite short stories from this book (in order):
1. California, Keep Us (pg. 199)
2. And Down We Go! (pg. 158)
3. Dark and Sweet and Dirty (pg. 115)
4. Two Cherries Under a Lavender Moon (pg. 181)
5. Crepuscular (pg. 171)
6. Teenage Dream Time Machine (pg. 125)
7. Get Faye & Birdie (pg. 140)
Also, another unique thing is that three of the short stories carry on later in the book. So there are 3 stories that start at a certain time period and then reappear later in the book years later with the same characters and you get see how they "turned out" or just additional info about them. I kind of liked this because it brought a deeper closure to some of the earlier short stories, which is why at first the earlier short stories didn't resonate as much. It's because she was planning on closing the loop later on.
The theme is essentially women: all of our emotions, thoughts, obsessions, desires, and impulses. The stories range from innocent and sweet to seductive and foolish. Some stories really resonated with me and I soaked up every word; other stories just didn't do it for me. But I guess that's probably normal for short story books.
I still love Leesa Cross-Smith. I've read all of her books and I will keep reading all of her works because of her beautiful prose, emotionally depth characters, and satisfying happy endings. Leesa doesn't shy away from the tough, important topics and themes and I admire her for her authenticity.
My favorite short stories from this book (in order):
1. California, Keep Us (pg. 199)
2. And Down We Go! (pg. 158)
3. Dark and Sweet and Dirty (pg. 115)
4. Two Cherries Under a Lavender Moon (pg. 181)
5. Crepuscular (pg. 171)
6. Teenage Dream Time Machine (pg. 125)
7. Get Faye & Birdie (pg. 140)
Also, another unique thing is that three of the short stories carry on later in the book. So there are 3 stories that start at a certain time period and then reappear later in the book years later with the same characters and you get see how they "turned out" or just additional info about them. I kind of liked this because it brought a deeper closure to some of the earlier short stories, which is why at first the earlier short stories didn't resonate as much. It's because she was planning on closing the loop later on.