Kelly Link

In a Nutshell: Too bizarre for my liking. For a collection of fairy tale retellings, there isn’t enough fairy tale content in any story. Might work for those who enjoy speculative fiction that’s on the weirder side of the logical spectrum.


This collection contains seven stories, though most of them are way too long to be considered ‘short’ stories. They touch the bottom range of novella-length fiction.

The seven tales are all retellings of classic fairy tales or lore, the name of the original being mentioned under the title of each story herein. Most of the retellings are set in the contemporary world, and have characters that could have been memorable had they been written differently. That said, the characters are diverse, and their personality ranges from vulnerable to manipulative, one plus point of the book.

For a change, I knew every single one of the original tales, and this increased my excitement at first. After all, the fun of reading a retelling comes from recognising how the author has twisted the original work and given it a fresh spin. Alas! Most of these retellings are as different from the base story as Salem (Tamil Nadu, India) is from Salem (Massachusetts, USA). The only one that comes close to retaining the essence of the original is the first story, ‘The White Cat’s Divorce’ (based on the French fairy tale named ‘The White Cat’), which is, not surprisingly, the best story of the book.

Honestly, this collection left me feeling as if I was not clever enough to understand it. The stories were either too outlandish or too weird. The endings were too abrupt in most cases, leaving me with a strange kind of restlessness. More importantly, the stories felt quite random in their flow, almost as if they were meandering for the sake of it. There’s no rhyme or reason to the events being narrated, nor is every question answered.

The only story I read with unbroken interest from start to end was the first one. The last story, ‘Skinder's Veil’ (based on the German fairy tale ‘Snow-White and Rose-Red’) was another decent story. The rest were mostly duds for me.

I have heard a lot about this author, but this makes me wonder if I will ever read her works again. I guess we aren’t exactly a match made in book heaven – I love logic too much and her stories defy logic.

As always, I rated each story individually, but except for the above two stories (4.5 and 3.5 respectively), none touched even the 3 star mark.

The logical side of me rebelled against this collection. The emotional side of me didn’t understand the point of this collection. The whole of me felt depressed at how badly this went. However, if you are fond of bizarre stories that are more about the writing than the ending, you might still like this. After all, this was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, so what do I know!

Better if you aren’t reading this as a retelling collection but as a speculative fiction anthology.

2.4 stars, based on the average of my rating for each story.


My thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Random House and NetGalley for the DRC of “White Cat, Black Dog”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this worked out so badly.




———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
… (plus d'informations)

The Book of Love is ostensibly a highbrow teen drama about four students who return from the dead. The story is heady and cerebral, eschewing entertainment in favor of weirdness, which is fine. Stories don't need to be exciting if they have something else to offer. This one most certainly offers a lot, including a wonderful surrealist setting, which is the perfect blend of mysterious and uncanny to explore themes around death and grief. However, while compelling, the atmosphere alone is not enough to justify the book's length.

Unfortunately nothing in this book really justifies its length. The prose might be sharp, but it sometimes gets stuck on minutiae, which grows tedious after a while; the plot is meandering, repetitive, and hinged on silly decisions; and the characters are so lifelike that they can be infuriating. Technically these flaws are features, not bugs. Individually they can't ruin a story. Some of them should instead elevate a story. However, when taken collectively, these features compound on each other to create a narrative that is paced terribly.

On the bright side, The Book of Love is a debut, and the author has potential. This particular story should have been tightened, but all future novels from Kelly Link might be good.… (plus d'informations)

The Book of Love was a fantasy magic novel. That’s not usually the genre I read. But I was quickly entranced by the storyline and the unfolding of the plot. Daniel, Laura, Mo and Bowie come back from the dead but are ordered to find the key for evil Malo Mogge. There are many intricate details about how things interrelate and work. It’s very complex but I was compelled to keep reading. Some concepts got repetitive and the book could have been a little shorter. I got weighed down in the middle.… (plus d'informations)

I don't know how to review a Kelly Link book. Things written by Kelly Link will make you scared and sad and glad to be a human. They will make you think and feel and want to stretch farther than you currently are, to be more than you currently are. They are too much and just enough. They remind you why it's good to be a human even while they're reminding you why it's so very hard to be a human.

This one has magic (they all have magic) and music (they don't all have music) and tigers (not a main plot point but worth a mention).… (plus d'informations)