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A review by sophiesometimesreads
Cool. Awkward. Black. by Karen Strong
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75 was roughly the average of all the ratings I gave the individual stories, and that seems like a nice place to sit. This was my first short story collection that I read, though, so keep that in mind when reading my review and looking at my rating.
This was a mixed bag of stories, in terms of enjoyment (in my personal opinion), genre and topics. There were some standouts for me, including Nina Evans, in the Round by Kalynn Bayron, Corner Booth by Leah Johnson, Cole's Cruise Blues by Isaac Fitzsimmons, High Strangeness by Desiree S Evans and Requiem of Souls by Terry J Benton-Walker. There were also a few that didn't do much to me.
I felt that a lot of these could've done with more. Maybe that's a feeling I'm supposed to get from a short story but multiple times, particularly in the more fantastical stories, I was left feeling like the background or the story was incomplete. I felt a few would've made excellent novellas, just to have that bit more detail and exploration of themes and world building.
Overall though, I did enjoy my experience with this anthology and look forward to reading a more in the future, as well as some full-length novels from authors in this collection.
This was a mixed bag of stories, in terms of enjoyment (in my personal opinion), genre and topics. There were some standouts for me, including Nina Evans, in the Round by Kalynn Bayron, Corner Booth by Leah Johnson, Cole's Cruise Blues by Isaac Fitzsimmons, High Strangeness by Desiree S Evans and Requiem of Souls by Terry J Benton-Walker. There were also a few that didn't do much to me.
I felt that a lot of these could've done with more. Maybe that's a feeling I'm supposed to get from a short story but multiple times, particularly in the more fantastical stories, I was left feeling like the background or the story was incomplete. I felt a few would've made excellent novellas, just to have that bit more detail and exploration of themes and world building.
Overall though, I did enjoy my experience with this anthology and look forward to reading a more in the future, as well as some full-length novels from authors in this collection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism