A review by shirtypantser
The Trees Grew Because I Bled There: Collected Stories by Eric LaRocca

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The forward over-sold the book, to the point where I almost quit after the first story. Overall, it was interesting though the themes are pretty repetitive. It's interesting and I'd consider reading it again. Many of the stories require a suspension of disbelief and I was on board for most of it. One story in particular took me out of it though, in a way I really hated. I can think of 3 different ways off the top of my head to fix the story, but neither the author nor the editor could be bothered?
A man gives a young girl some shoes. When she puts her foot in them, there is a concealed viper that bites her and she dies. How does she not feel the weight of it when setting her shoes down? Or if it crawled in, how does it not take up the entire shoe? It's a child's shoe! The viper could have been in the father's backpack... if you haven' t read it this will make no sense, but there were better options than a kid's 6.5 size shoe.
It reeks of poor writing and editing.

Never thought I would need it, but there should be an autocannabalism trigger. 
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