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ClareR (5667 KP) rated Zikora in Books

Nov 8, 2020  
Zikora
Zikora
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | 2020 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Honestly, I would have been happy if this short story had been a full novel. It’s full of Adichie’s view of the world and how women live their lives in it.

When Zikora finds out that she is pregnant, she excitedly tells her boyfriend thinking that he’ll be just as excited. He isn’t. He wants nothing to do with the responsibilities of being a father, and shuts Zikora out completely, even threatening her with legal action when she continues to phone him about the progress of her pregnancy.

This story mainly takes place during Zikora’s labour, as it looks back on all the things that happened before. Her mother is a constant presence during her labour, and Zikora is able to look back on their relationship.

I shouldn’t really say any more, because this is only a 35 page short story. I will say that I listened to this on Audible at the same time as reading it, and the narrator, Adepero Oduye, really brought the story to life for me. Adichie’s storytelling is at its usual high standard, and it was a joy to both read and listen to.
  
Les Escargots (1966)
Les Escargots (1966)
1966 | Animation, Comedy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Attack of the Killer Snails
Wow! I was quite amazed and a bit creeped out by this strange little short! After watching "Fantastic Planet," which was by the same creator and actually came out several years after this short, I was thinking to myself about whether or not I would actually see another animated film that was just as weird as "Fantastic Planet." Well, "The Snails" was definitely just as weird as "Fantastic Planet," although in a different way. "Fantastic Planet" took place on another planet, while "The Snails" takes place on Earth and yet, things get weird midway through the short once the snails appear. I loved the way that the short went in a completely different direction midway through as the short started off lighthearted with the farmer trying to grow his garden, to a bit odd as he used his own tears to make the garden grow and then to pure terror when the snails started growing in size and started terrorizing the people in the city. The animation was quite unique as the characters move in a very jerky way and always have exaggerated expressions on their faces that just adds on to the weirdness of this short. The animation also reminded me a bit of Terry Gilliam's animations in the animated segments of the "Monty Python's Flying Circus" TV series.

The only problem that I had with this short is that there were times where the short sort of dragged on and the pacing was a bit slow at some places that I was hoping that we actually got to the main point of the story much faster. Also, for anyone who does not like nudity, there is one brief scene of a topless woman that might be a bit problematic for some people. Also, I was a bit confused by some of the scenes, although the whole point of this short is to be as weird as possible.


Overall, "The Snails" is truly a treat to watch if you are a huge fan of "Fantastic Planet" and if you wanted to watch an animated short that is similar in tone and style to "Fantastic Planet!"
  
The Monkey's Paw: Short Story
The Monkey's Paw: Short Story
W.W. Jacobs | 2014 | Horror
8
8.0 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>“He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes from it.”</b></i>

Can you believe that I'd never heard of this short before and knew nothing of the plot what-so-ever, before today? Well it's the truth. I think being so ignorant to it made me love it more. I got completely immersed in the story and the lives of our caring and lonely White's.

The panic felt in this book translates to the reader so much so that you find yourself short of breath, praying, hoping, that the front door <i>stays shut.</i>

Excellent horror short, well worth taking 10 minutes out of you day to read.
  
MD
Moon Dust (Two Moons of Sera)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fantasy isn't one of my favorite genre's but this was a short, sweet and fun story to read. The descriptive writing was amazing. I felt like I was seeing everything as it was happening. I felt like I could feel what was going on, the sea, the water, the sand, the people everything. It was a fun, easy read. I enjoyed how not everything was easy for her.. how things were bad.. and things were good.. Overall this was a very enjoyable story and I am excited to see what happenes next.
  
Salvage Trouble (Black Ocean Mission 1)
Salvage Trouble (Black Ocean Mission 1)
J.S. Morin | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fast-paced (0 more)
Almost Firefly fan fiction (0 more)
Firefly Meets Wizards
This book was advertised as Firefly with wizards, and that's pretty much what it is. There is almost a one-to-one correlation between the characters in the book and the characters in Firefly. That being said, I love Firefly and enjoyed the story very much. It's a fast-paced space opera. The story felt a little short to me, more like a TV episode verses a movie. The book was self-published and had some editing problems (specifically typos).
  
Airported to Knowhere
Airported to Knowhere
Mike Bozart | 2015 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A short story-ette of 1700 words relating the strange encounters of Agent 33 when trying to check in at an airport.

Feeling like something of a fever dream, this stream-of-conciousness story is told well with a fast pace and new ideas fizzing off the page.

However, it just didn't gel for me. Perhaps I need to read more of the author's work to give it context, or perhaps I just didn't 'get' it, but the sum of its parts didn't quite make a satisfying whole.
  
The Lonely Drop
The Lonely Drop
Vanessa North | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was a very sweet short-story/novella that follows the story of two friends who lose touch for ten years before meeting again at one of their businesses. They quickly fall back into the friends rolls they used to have and phone each other regularly, meet up whenever they're both in town and flirt with each other.

I really liked it for the romance aspect. It was sweetly sexy with the dancing and the drinking and the flirting and the ending had me smiling like a loony because it was cute.