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Liked It “Kelly Link is an incredible writer.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Generally speaking, I enjoy "odd" books. This book of short stories had pockets of brilliance, but then finished poorly. I only liked one of the stories ("The Faery Handbag"). Not exactly sci-fi or fantasy in nature the stories really had potential. I was just disappointed. This book has...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Generally speaking, I enjoy "odd" books. This book of short stories had pockets of brilliance, but then finished poorly. I only liked one of the stories ("The Faery Handbag"). Not exactly sci-fi or fantasy in nature the stories really had potential. I was just disappointed. This book has been very well reviewed, however; maybe I wasn't in the mood. I really wanted to love it.
Quilter wrote this review 2 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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0 of 1 members found this review helpful“I caught a reference to this book on an article, added it to a wish list, and lo, I got it for Christmas, only had completely forgotten about it. It was a very nice surprise to discover it is great!
Angel wrote this review Tuesday, January 22, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I've seen some negative reviews on this site, where people complain about the "unfinished" feel of the endings to these stories. In fact, I think that very feel is one of its virtues. Link provides us with glimpses of rich, detailed worlds full of fascinating characters. I always wonder about those writers who choose the short story as their medium, especially when each one feels like a fully rendered universe. It's like they're seasoned travellers who have gone so far and seen so many wonderful places they can't just sit and write ONE novel about them. No, they need to give us a taste of all these different places they saw, all those people they met, while the memory is still fresh in their minds.
True, the endings often leave the protagonists in uncertain situations, but that's where the reader's imagination has to start working. Like snapshots of fantasy universes, we don't get to see what's beyond the frame, but we know it's there. We don't know what exactly happened after the photograph was taken, but we do feel things went on. More stuff happened.
It's a sign of how great these stories are that you always feel sorry when they end, and an even clearer sign that you immediately fall under the spell of the next one. Until the book ends, and you want to wail, because the voyage is over... for now. ”
“Started on December 19th and finished on January 26th.
Patricia wrote this review Saturday, January 26, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
It started off not so bad. In The Wrong Grave, I found the storytelling a little poor but I'm not used to young adult stories so I thought that might be the reason. But then, towards the end, I was thinking that it wasn't so bad actually. But the other stories were pointless. There was no punch at the end, nothing that made me thought that I had read those pages for a reason. "What's up with you and Talis? … Elizabeth told Amy that she likes you. Bla bla bla." Come on. I was so frustrated with Magic For Beginners' end. There is actually no end! You made me read all those pages, you told me so much about those characters for absolutely nothing! You're making me lose my time! It was the exact same thing with Pretty Monsters. What is wrong with the author? Why is she doing this? Is it because she doesn't know how to end a story so she just leaves it that way? Basically, The Wrong Grave and The Magician's hat were just okay and all the rest was a frustrating waste of time. They don't even deserve one star. Towards the end of the Pretty Monsters story, there's a part that says "This book they chose for the cover. Except you can't judge a book by its cover". How ironic. ”
“I started this book looking forward to reading these stories. However, I soon realized that they weren't capturing my attention all that much. To start with, pretty much all of the stories were 60 pages or around that. Hardly any held my interest for that long. All of theses stories had elements of the paranormal involved in them. I liked the ideas of some, but I don't think I would read this again.”
Courtney J wrote this review Sunday, April 8, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“quite a vivid imagination... stories are nice, but some could have endings that were less abrupt..”
ryanreader wrote this review Tuesday, March 13, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“this book is awesome!!! this book is wonderful for people who never want to have a relaxing break from the real world.”
Mya wrote this review Monday, February 27, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I wasn't really overly impressed with any of these stories. I guess I'm not really a short story person. Most of the stories were written well and for most part, I enjoyed them. Then they would abruptly end and I would be thinking... what the heck? With most of the short stories she spent a long time describing to us what was going on, getting to know the characters, etc and then it would just end. I guess I'm more into long stories. I wanted more for the ending then a lot of these had. The only story out of all of these in which I felt sated was The Constable of Abal. It went through a thorough story and stopped with a complete ending. I'm not sure if I'll read any of Kelly Link's other books. They all seem to be short stories and I just don't think I'm into it. I would like to see a full length book from her on one story. I think she writes very well.”
M. Bennett wrote this review Thursday, September 15, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Kelly Link is an incredible writer.”
Sorcha wrote this review Sunday, May 29, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“the stories were dark and depressing.”
Inma Leonard wrote this review Tuesday, April 12, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Great example of a short story collection. Make sure to enjoy these stories as their own individual entities as opposed to reading this like a novel.”
Ms. Palmieri wrote this review Monday, April 11, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
