A review by theaceofpages
Cool. Awkward. Black. by Karen Strong

emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Short story collections are always a bit tricky to rate since they are always such a mixed bag. Some stories hit hard while others are a miss. I'm glad to say that I enjoyed a lot of these more than I typically do in short story collections (I only DNFed two of them and the others were mostly enjoyable). Some were still better than others of course! I think my favourites were The Book Club (which follows a girl who has a book speak to her) and Intuitive Check (which follows a DnD adventure). I also loved the humour in Cole's Cruise Blues ("Hi, I'm leaving" is such a great line!). While not all of the stories worked for me, the diversity means that there is likely something for everyone although I do think it is worth noting that a decent chunk of the stories are fantasy or related to fantasy so if you hate that genre you might have more misses (although I think there are enough non fantasy stories that you won't be fully disappointed!)
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