A review by mmarlborough
Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld

emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thanks so much for the ARC NetGalley! I love a great short story collection and truly need to read more of them. This one was excellent, every single story was incredible (well one was very good, more on that below.)

This collection of 12 stories mainly revolve around middle aged female protagonists who seemingly have it all, but are a flawed mess at their core. If I had to choose, my favorites were: “The Richest Babysitter in the World” (the protagonist babysits for an internet mogul before he’s famous), “White Women LOL” (a white middle aged protagonist is trying to get herself uncancelled after she made a racist bad call), and “The Marriage Clock” (a woman tries to convince a famous self help author to include a same sex couple in the film adaptation of his book.)

Every story resonated with me in some way because Sittenfeld creates such real characters. I enjoyed the exploration of relationships, fame equating success, and female friendship. My least favorite story was “Lost But Not Forgetten” - which is a follow-up of Lee from Sittenfeld’s famous book “Prep,” coming back for her 30th reunion. I think this didn’t affect me as much because I haven’t read “Prep” yet! This story seems to be a lot of readers favorite.

Highly recommend this for fans of short stories!

✨Content Warnings: Classism, Bullying, Child Death, Emotional Abuse, Mental Illness, Misogyny, Racism, Adult/Minor Relationship, Grief, Sexual Harrassment

✨Themes: Privilege, Relationships, Success

✨You May Like This If You Enjoyed: 
-Five Tuesdays in Winter (Lily King)
-Magical Thinking (Augusten Burroughs)