Currently reading
See You in the Cosmos
Exploring Space: From Galileo to the Mars Rover and Beyond
The Terranauts: A Novel
A Quiet Kind of Thunder
Gumnut Babies
Progress:
42/264 pages
Highly Illogical Behaviour
Progress:
82/249 pages
Revenger
Progress:
75/425 pages
See What I Have Done
The Dog, Ray
Forgetting Foster
Her Husband's Hands and Other Stories
If you like stories that make you think more closely about the way you view the world,All things have faces even when they don't have faces; the human eye insists on putting faces on them.
this book is for you.
If you like stories that give interesting, apt observations about the way the world and fate work,
The Heavens always favor those who would reduce the heavens to ashes.
this book is for you.
If you like a story full of descriptions given in such a way that you know exactly what the author is talking about, no matter how disturbing you may find them
...but the atmosphere in here was always like a deep whiff of a sweaty sneaker that had been allowed to marinate in rotten bananas and then soaked in a puree made from the contents of a rancid diaper.
this book is for you.
If you like stories that have you entering through the “what the fuck” door, then this collection is definitely for you.
Had I not known from the get go that these stories were written by the same author, I would likely have been shocked when you informed me. Each story was very different from the others, but still had a similar thread running through it. A similar style of writing.
Each story opened right in the middle of the world, leaving the reader to run along after, trying to pick up the pieces and put them together. In some cases, the very point of the story didn’t come about until the last paragraph, or even the last sentence.
The stories looked at abortion, grief, the price we pay for “paradise”, the sins of man, the lengths people will go to to win an argument, and various other things deeply ingrained in our society, descriptive of our nature. Each left the reader feeling disconcerted and squeamish, but unable to stop reading. And, once finished a story, not entirely sure how they felt about it.
Being that I’m not entirely sure how I felt about it, I’m not sure what else to say without spoiling the individual stories. I pretty certain it did make me think things, and feel things, and want to read more by this author, but how do I put this in words that help you decide whether to buy the book? Well, I guess it goes back to the first sentence of my review. If you like not knowing where you’re going, and feeling like the writer could take you anywhere at any time, and still be loyal to the world he’s introducing you to, pick this one up.
If you’re still not sure, I believe the author has stories in various zines and anthologies.
I’ve never read anything by Adam-Troy Castro before, but will definitely be looking into more of his work.
This review is of an advance reader copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.