Another collection, much in the vein of Magic for Beginners (which is included here for some reason). I really enjoy Link's characters and auctorial voice, but the similarities across stories makes her collections a bit challenging for me. The final story, Pretty Monsters, is original to this collection. The fantastic element is held off for quite a while. I enjoyed The Surfer the most, I think because it was very different from the others -- more SFnal and less fantasy -- even though fantasy is her strength.

Recommended. ( )

Loved it. Absolute story-telling magic.

I'm usually, at best, an occasional short fiction-reader. I can dip into a collection for one or two stories, and then I want a novel. But I couldn't stop reading the stories in Pretty Monsters.

I'd read one of Link's stories in a Best American anthology, so I had an idea of her style. The stories blend fantasy and science fiction and realism--the kids call this 'slipstream'--and they're wildly creative and surprising. The stories tend to stick with you, too, because she plants seeds in your brain and avoids the too tidy conclusion. Some of these stories keep going, except you go from being the reader to being the writer.

My favorite piece was the title story, Pretty Monsters. Awesome. ( )

Kelly Link is one of the most imaginative and skilled writers I've ever encountered. As soon as you start one of her stories you are hooked and helpless to keep reading.

The ideas she has are so unique and quirky and strange, but somehow they all feel exactly right, as if they were just waiting for the right person to tell them. Her skill with dialogue is wonderful. Her writing just makes everything come alive in your mind's eye, no matter how whimsical or strange the story may be. It just envelopes you into its reality and I want to know what is going to happen next, because the one thing her stories (and characters) are not is predictable.

My only complaint is that I want more. I want every story in this book to become a novel, or a series of novels. I want to know what happens after the story ends. I miss the characters! Why did Fox ask for Germ to steal the three library books? Will he see Talis again? I want to know more about the strange tv show they all watch and the Las Vegas wedding chapel his family inherited.

I want to know where Zofia's purse disappeared to? Who has it now, and does Genevieve ever find Jake again? And what about the twins with grey eyes? Are they dead or Dead? And did they ever meet The Specialist?

The stories will linger in your imagination and thoguhts long after reading. Highly recommended. ( )

I can see why these stories are categorized as YA but they certainly aren't immature. I'd say this is my favorite of Link's collections that I've read. A variety of genres (horror, magical realism, fantasy, science fiction) that showcase Link's many strengths. Favorite stories: The Wizards of Perfil, The Constable of Abal, The Surfer, Magic for Beginners. ( )

teen/adult fiction; short stories (various monsters/paranormal beings). Clever, strange and magical--this is one collection to be consumed slowly over many moonless nights. ( )