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A review by kaliaddy
Deceit and Other Possibilities by Vanessa Hua
4.0
The stories all contain deception in one way or another and I enjoyed how you didn’t really quite know what the deception always was in the beginning of the story. Although second hand embarrassment is very real here (because you really can’t “enjoy” deceit). In a lot of ways, I felt sad for many of the characters. Their deception is often tied to finding some sense of worth or trying to please others, but the cost is often pretty damn high.
Two observations that made me really like this collection:
1) the writing is deceptively simple - the stories are quick and easy to read but so much is going on in them. So I found myself wondering if that deceptively simple writing was intended. Did the author think about how she was writing a simple, complicated story? I think she’s brilliant if she did.
2) the stories often end abruptly - just as a revelation is made or something big is about to happen or you want to see if the main character can pull off their next desperate attempt. Sometimes I hate that tactic, but it works well here in the setting of deceit because you never know what’s next when you’re in a nebulous situation
Two observations that made me really like this collection:
1) the writing is deceptively simple - the stories are quick and easy to read but so much is going on in them. So I found myself wondering if that deceptively simple writing was intended. Did the author think about how she was writing a simple, complicated story? I think she’s brilliant if she did.
2) the stories often end abruptly - just as a revelation is made or something big is about to happen or you want to see if the main character can pull off their next desperate attempt. Sometimes I hate that tactic, but it works well here in the setting of deceit because you never know what’s next when you’re in a nebulous situation