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Pretty Monsters: Stories (2008)

by Kelly Link(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0670010901 (ISBN13: 9780670010905)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Viking Juvenile

review 1: These stories are like longish dreams, littered with odd details that often take the plot into unexpected directions. Also like dreams, the endings are abrupt, and not particularly satisfying. You wake up, and while you enjoyed the journey up to that point, you expected a resolution that never came. My favorite was the title story, about a group of late teenage girls initiating a friend with an "ordeal." As it is happening, one of the girls reads a book about unrequited love. The story intermittently shifts to that narrative, which becomes more real than the initiation. The book is labelled YA, I suppose because the main characters are young, but all the stories have an edge and break many standard rules, which make me believe they're more appropriate for adults. Recommend... moreed, if you want something a little different.
review 2: "The Faery Handbag" was my favorite story of the collection. The title and final story, "Pretty Monsters," was a perfect way to end the book. I found the narrator's voice in the first three stories a little confusing and unclear. It distracted me from the stories which were entertaining and interesting. Then my favorite story came up fourth. I loved the characterization of the grandmother and the idea that a village lived inside her handbag. The story played on the stereotype that old people tell outrageous stories but in this case, the grandmother was telling the truth. "Monster" was a great story as well and captured that feeling of youth and being trapped with people and not knowing how to fit in. The gruesome turn the story takes fit perfectly with the violence of adolescence and bullying. Wonderful stories that allow the reader to escape while also touching on realistic themes and challenges of being young. I know many people who are Kelly Link fans and now I am one too. less

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