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Collins Classics: The Selected Works of Edgar Allan Poe
8.0
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HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'True! Nervous,...
Travel Bites
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Travel Bites is a collection of short stories that criss-cross the globe. It is the first work by...
Sara Cox (1845 KP) rated You Won't Remember This in Books
Sep 23, 2019
I spent a long time thinking about what to write about this book. Let me start by describing it. This book is full of very short stories. Stories with no ending. As if they are a collection of chapters from different stories. Each story was a snippet of the intricacies of relationships, marriages (or break down of marriages) for the most part. I wasn't sure if I liked it. They seemed to have no end. It felt incomplete. But then one evening I found myself lying in bed, having just finished one of these snippets, wondering what would happen next with these characters that I found myself relating to and interacting with so quickly. Before I knew it I was creating their ending, be it happy and idealistic or completely magical and unrealistic. I think I may just go back and reread to make up some endings for the first few
Tales of Bryant
8.0
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Four Seasons. Two Men. One Love. For struggling film student Isamu Taylor, life's refrain is...
Contemporary MM Romance
The Pensive Gentleman
10.0
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The Pensive Gentleman is a thrilling and erotic short story collection that explores themes of lust,...
erotica romance
Pet Shop Story™
Games and Entertainment
App
Create a Pet Shop like no other! Build a fun place for all your favorite lovable pets to share with...
Merissa (12066 KP) rated Gifts for the Season: Winter & Christmas MM Charity Anthology in Books
Nov 6, 2020 (Updated Aug 14, 2023)
Gifts for the Season is a warm-hearted collection of seasonal madness, from new love to old, it's all here. Each one gives you a short story, some with new couples, some with old, but all full of Christmas spirit.
I will admit, I preferred the ones that were new stories but that is because I really don't like reading stories where I think I may have missed out on something!
For me, my favourites were The First Snow of Winter by Joanna Chambers and Driving Home for Christmas by Annabelle Jacobs. The first because it's a historical romance which stands out from the contemporary/paranormal rest and the second because junction 10 on the M42 is well known to me so it gave me a feeling of familiarity.
As with all anthologies, some I enjoyed more than others, but every story is a winner in my book. Absolutely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 6, 2020
I will admit, I preferred the ones that were new stories but that is because I really don't like reading stories where I think I may have missed out on something!
For me, my favourites were The First Snow of Winter by Joanna Chambers and Driving Home for Christmas by Annabelle Jacobs. The first because it's a historical romance which stands out from the contemporary/paranormal rest and the second because junction 10 on the M42 is well known to me so it gave me a feeling of familiarity.
As with all anthologies, some I enjoyed more than others, but every story is a winner in my book. Absolutely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 6, 2020
Amy Curtis (49 KP) rated Four: A Divergent Collection in Books
Jan 12, 2019
The follow-on we all needed
The novel contains 5 short stories set in Tobias Eaton’s (Four’s) perspective. Some of the stories are events that you have seen from Tris’ point of view during the Divergent series. Throughout the series, he is quite a mysterious character and the only thing you really know is the small bits of information that he decides to reveal to Tris.
Free Four: Tobias Tells the Divergent Knife-Throwing Scene is the first story of the book and it recaps events that have already been told to those that have already read the trilogy. The second story, The Transfer, begins to give you a bit of a backstory into Four’s past who has always been somewhat of an enigma to readers. It shows you how he became a part of Dauntless and explains more about his character.
The third short story is one of my personal favourites as you are introduced to Eric and you begin to see the vendetta that he held against Four and why. Just like Tris, Four is a Divergent and contains traits of more than one faction. When Four begins his Dauntless training he is able to recognise reality from fictions during the tests and has to be careful that it is not discovered as a Divergent.
The last two stories are titled The Son and The Traitor describing more recent events of how Tobias knew that his mother was alive and recaps how he becomes closer to Tris. It is a heart-warming collection that makes you feel like the Divergent series lives on. I was absolutely heart-broken when I finished the trilogy so once Roth brought out a follow-on for it, I couldn’t read it quick enough.
Roth does well to switch from character’s perspectives particularly when she has already told some of the story in a different person’s point of view. This was the series that I wasn’t ready to put down and I can’t wait to read it again.
Free Four: Tobias Tells the Divergent Knife-Throwing Scene is the first story of the book and it recaps events that have already been told to those that have already read the trilogy. The second story, The Transfer, begins to give you a bit of a backstory into Four’s past who has always been somewhat of an enigma to readers. It shows you how he became a part of Dauntless and explains more about his character.
The third short story is one of my personal favourites as you are introduced to Eric and you begin to see the vendetta that he held against Four and why. Just like Tris, Four is a Divergent and contains traits of more than one faction. When Four begins his Dauntless training he is able to recognise reality from fictions during the tests and has to be careful that it is not discovered as a Divergent.
The last two stories are titled The Son and The Traitor describing more recent events of how Tobias knew that his mother was alive and recaps how he becomes closer to Tris. It is a heart-warming collection that makes you feel like the Divergent series lives on. I was absolutely heart-broken when I finished the trilogy so once Roth brought out a follow-on for it, I couldn’t read it quick enough.
Roth does well to switch from character’s perspectives particularly when she has already told some of the story in a different person’s point of view. This was the series that I wasn’t ready to put down and I can’t wait to read it again.
In the Not Quite Dark
8.0
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Following her prize-winning collection Break Any Woman Down, Dana Johnson returns with a collection...
Contemporary Short Stories Los Angeles
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Strange Weather in Books
May 16, 2018
Strange Weather is the first bit of fiction I’ve managed to snare by Joe Hill. I heard some pretty great things about his work, but it’s possible I took those praises a little too much to heart. Rating this book doesn’t come easily. To quote what I told a friend on Twitter, reading Strange Weather felt like an attempt at chewing the gristle on steak. That is, wrong and uncomfortable, but not in a good way. I’ve decided to divvy my review up based on each storry.
SNAPSHOT
“Snapshot,” though a bit lacking in style, is one of two stories in this small collection that I found myself capable of tolerating. I figure it’s because this short tale embodies a sort of Twilight Zone and Night Gallery feel. It read the quickest out of the four stories and I found myself nearly in tears at its conclusion, so the best I can say about it is that I either felt something, or my emotions went bonkers again.
LOADED
The second shorty story in Hill’s collection, “Loaded,” is a bunch of driveling bullshit, for lack of a better word. I’m all about our Second Amendment Rights; I even have a cup that says “Don’t ban guns, ban idiots,” but this story encompasses the stereotypical idea that every gun owner or enthusiast is a batshit crazy blowhard that’s just looking for a reason to go off. I have friends and family that appreciate this machinery, that agree people should under go background and mental wellness checks prior to purchase of a fire arm, but this? This story just adds fuel to a fire that seeks kindling via blame on inanimate objects, rather than the person behind them. The main guy of “Loaded” shows us exactly how restricting gun ownership will fail so hey, better hurry and make it entirely illegal right? Oh, and let’s not get started with the over-saturation of Social Justice Warriorness in this piece. I’m all for equality, but this? This just reeks of extremism in a way that I almost abandoned the book as a whole.
ALOFT
“Aloft” is by far the best in this collection of short stories. An embodiment of the collections title, the main character encounters something unusual while fulfilling a dead friend’s promise and from there, things really take a turn for the bizarre. While I feel Hill gives us a bit too much exposition in this tale, there are many things about it that I feel should be appreciated. For instance, the next time anyone asks me what it’s like to have ulcerative colitis, I’ll probably ask them if they’ve read “Aloft”‘ by Joe Hill, because let’s face it: the torment Aubrey goes through gastrically (is that even a word?) in this story is a pretty damned accurate depiction of the suffering people with Crohn’s and Colitis endure.
RAIN
The final story in Hill’s collection seemed like it could have had a loft of potential. “Rain” further supports the title of the collection when a torrent of crystal nails fall from the sky to impale poor, unexpecting citizens. So what’s the problem then? “Rain” is so fundamentally flawed that it’s just… no. First, Hill is more obsessed with making fun of Trump in this story than the events that occur. This isn’t a bad thing – I absolutely loathe Trump, especially considering his policies may very well shorten my lifespan significantly. “Rain” is more a mockery than the story it could be. At least the twist at the end was fairly amusing, but by that point all I could do is roll my eyes in frustration.
CONCLUSION
Joe Hill’s Strange Weather is probably a poor choice for first time introduction to his work. In fact, it’s almost a deterrent considering it’s the first book by him that I read and I was ecstatic about receiving a review copy. It is with a bit of a heavy heart for the sake of disappointment that I am forced to conclude my review with a largely poor rating. Part of my compliance with FTC guidelines as a reviewer requires that I disclose when I read a free book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. In this case, I’d like to thank Edelweiss and HarperCollins/William Morrow for this opportunity.
SNAPSHOT
“Snapshot,” though a bit lacking in style, is one of two stories in this small collection that I found myself capable of tolerating. I figure it’s because this short tale embodies a sort of Twilight Zone and Night Gallery feel. It read the quickest out of the four stories and I found myself nearly in tears at its conclusion, so the best I can say about it is that I either felt something, or my emotions went bonkers again.
LOADED
The second shorty story in Hill’s collection, “Loaded,” is a bunch of driveling bullshit, for lack of a better word. I’m all about our Second Amendment Rights; I even have a cup that says “Don’t ban guns, ban idiots,” but this story encompasses the stereotypical idea that every gun owner or enthusiast is a batshit crazy blowhard that’s just looking for a reason to go off. I have friends and family that appreciate this machinery, that agree people should under go background and mental wellness checks prior to purchase of a fire arm, but this? This story just adds fuel to a fire that seeks kindling via blame on inanimate objects, rather than the person behind them. The main guy of “Loaded” shows us exactly how restricting gun ownership will fail so hey, better hurry and make it entirely illegal right? Oh, and let’s not get started with the over-saturation of Social Justice Warriorness in this piece. I’m all for equality, but this? This just reeks of extremism in a way that I almost abandoned the book as a whole.
ALOFT
“Aloft” is by far the best in this collection of short stories. An embodiment of the collections title, the main character encounters something unusual while fulfilling a dead friend’s promise and from there, things really take a turn for the bizarre. While I feel Hill gives us a bit too much exposition in this tale, there are many things about it that I feel should be appreciated. For instance, the next time anyone asks me what it’s like to have ulcerative colitis, I’ll probably ask them if they’ve read “Aloft”‘ by Joe Hill, because let’s face it: the torment Aubrey goes through gastrically (is that even a word?) in this story is a pretty damned accurate depiction of the suffering people with Crohn’s and Colitis endure.
RAIN
The final story in Hill’s collection seemed like it could have had a loft of potential. “Rain” further supports the title of the collection when a torrent of crystal nails fall from the sky to impale poor, unexpecting citizens. So what’s the problem then? “Rain” is so fundamentally flawed that it’s just… no. First, Hill is more obsessed with making fun of Trump in this story than the events that occur. This isn’t a bad thing – I absolutely loathe Trump, especially considering his policies may very well shorten my lifespan significantly. “Rain” is more a mockery than the story it could be. At least the twist at the end was fairly amusing, but by that point all I could do is roll my eyes in frustration.
CONCLUSION
Joe Hill’s Strange Weather is probably a poor choice for first time introduction to his work. In fact, it’s almost a deterrent considering it’s the first book by him that I read and I was ecstatic about receiving a review copy. It is with a bit of a heavy heart for the sake of disappointment that I am forced to conclude my review with a largely poor rating. Part of my compliance with FTC guidelines as a reviewer requires that I disclose when I read a free book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. In this case, I’d like to thank Edelweiss and HarperCollins/William Morrow for this opportunity.