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Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories
An exquisite collection of haunting, magical stories from Newbery Medalist Kelly Barnhill
When Mrs. Sorensen’s husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate in “Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch.” In “Open the Door and the Light Pours Through,” a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved. “Dreadful Young Ladies” demonstrates the strength and power—known and unknown—of the imagination. In “Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake,” a witch is haunted by the deadly repercussions of a spell. “The Insect and the Astronomer” upends expectations about good and bad, knowledge and ignorance, love and longing. The World Fantasy Award–winning novella “The Unlicensed Magician” introduces the secret magical life of an invisible girl once left for dead—with thematic echoes of Barnhill’s Newbery Medal–winning novel, The Girl Who Drank the Moon .
With bold, reality-bending invention underscored by richly illuminated universal themes of love, death, jealousy, and hope, the stories in Dreadful Young Ladies show why its author has been hailed as “a fantasist on the order of Neil Gaiman” ( Minneapolis Star Tribune ). This collection cements Barnhill’s place as one of the wittiest, most vital and compelling voices in contemporary literature.
When Mrs. Sorensen’s husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate in “Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch.” In “Open the Door and the Light Pours Through,” a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved. “Dreadful Young Ladies” demonstrates the strength and power—known and unknown—of the imagination. In “Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake,” a witch is haunted by the deadly repercussions of a spell. “The Insect and the Astronomer” upends expectations about good and bad, knowledge and ignorance, love and longing. The World Fantasy Award–winning novella “The Unlicensed Magician” introduces the secret magical life of an invisible girl once left for dead—with thematic echoes of Barnhill’s Newbery Medal–winning novel, The Girl Who Drank the Moon .
With bold, reality-bending invention underscored by richly illuminated universal themes of love, death, jealousy, and hope, the stories in Dreadful Young Ladies show why its author has been hailed as “a fantasist on the order of Neil Gaiman” ( Minneapolis Star Tribune ). This collection cements Barnhill’s place as one of the wittiest, most vital and compelling voices in contemporary literature.
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 20, 2018
353 people are currently reading
6916 people want to read
About the author
Kelly Barnhill
54 books4,216 followersKelly Barnhill is an author and teacher. She won the World Fantasy Award for her novella The Unlicensed Magician, a Parents Choice Gold Award for Iron Hearted Violet, the Charlotte Huck Honor for The Girl Who Drank the Moon, and has been a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award, the Andre Norton award, and the PEN/USA literary prize. She was also a McKnight Artist's Fellowship recipient in Children's Literature. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her three children and husband. You can chat with her on her blog at www.kellybarnhill.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 510 reviews
April 10, 2018
Click here to watch a video review of this book on my channel, From Beginning to Bookend.
Magical, mystifying, and comprised of lurid prose. Barnhill’s sorrowful short story collection demands to be savored. The only thing dreadful about this wonderfully weird book is that it’s over too quick, lingers on the tongue, and incites cravings for more. Every book that follows pales in comparison.
Magical, mystifying, and comprised of lurid prose. Barnhill’s sorrowful short story collection demands to be savored. The only thing dreadful about this wonderfully weird book is that it’s over too quick, lingers on the tongue, and incites cravings for more. Every book that follows pales in comparison.
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March 30, 2024
‘See them and see yourselves.’
With Power-hungry mayors, evil stepmothers stealing husbands, a boy made of poems, magicians, ghosts and even a comedy of manors about a sasquatch, Kelly Barnhill’s Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories is a raucous delight. This collection of rebellious women and fantastical tales is right at home alongside the works of Angela Carter, Neil Gaiman or even the Grimms, but Barnhill has such a charm of her own that shines through, blending sweetness with sinister, and coziness with fury across these eight stories and one novella. Fans of Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon will find a similar vibe here, with an endearing heart of gold at the center although here the stories read as more grown up and edgier. Full of powerful messages about challenging the status quo and resisting the oppressions of misogynists and despots, side by side with lessons about believing in a better self and having the bravery to attain it, Barnhill’s short stories are a fantastical foray into darkness in order to bring back the light.
‘I dream of a garden overripe and wild. Of a woman gathering the sea into her hands and letting it fall in many colored petals to a green, green earth. I dream of words on a page transforming to birds, and birds transforming to children, and children transforming to stars.’
Barnhill has a knack for grasping what makes fairy tales such an infectious yet also terrifying experience. The combination of dread and eerie atmosphere with an aim towards possibilities that leave you awestruck and a message to mull over and take to heart. This, coupled with her searingly poetic language, makes this a collection to sink into and let engulf you in its dark beauty. In her afterword, Barnhill writes about the importance of storytelling and it is just as moving and powerful as stories:
The miracle of storytelling to connect, inform and inspire is alive and well in her hands, and I went into this already smitten with her Newbery Award Winning book The Girl Who Drank the Moon. As mentioned earlier, these are much more grown-up stories that share a similar message as her book for young readers, though there does not seem to be a clear target age here, being something that can be enjoyed by readers of any age. While I tend to enjoy this style, which mostly works here, there are times when the stories might feel too adult or not adult enough, making the collection feel a bit uneven at times. That said, it is still delightful and could be enjoyed by anyone and the narrative voice is so strong and compelling it will be hard to set down. When you do, it will haunt you until you pick it up again.
‘Each night she saw a boy made of paper—scribbled eyes, a lettered mouth. She saw a body that formed and unformed as the wind blew, and a mind that insisted on revising itself—words written and unwritten, arranged and scattered, a poem that would never be finished. And somewhere inside that paper boy, a flesh heart quivered, and swelled, and pumped, and beat, beat, beat, beat.’
The stories are both quite varied yet also a bit repetitive, feeling like variations on a theme. Which works because Barnhill certainly has a point to make but she comes at you through the collective abstraction rather than employing a heavy handedness. Stories creep into you, such as the epistolary Open the Door and the Light Pours Through, which explores grief and trauma through a young soldier writing poems to his wife, gone to live safely in the countryside as Nazis drop bombs on London. The soldier is coming to terms with his sexuality while the wife is slowly realizing she may already be dead. Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake, one of my favorites that drags you through gruesome details with an unrelenting tension that will keep you on the edge of your seat, slowly combines examinations of womanhood, motherhood and the darkness of jealousy in a narrative chock full of magic and sinister fairy tale vibes. The opening story, Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch, reveals itself to be less about the fantastical elements and more about how ill-suited society is for receiving anything beyond its narrow interpretation of normal. It is a comedy of manners and marriage, like a twisted Jane Austen, that shows the fairy tale as a looking glass to the self and society.
Power and those who seek it and abuse it are frequent targets of criticism in this collection. Such as the taxidermist mayor who keeps the town under his thumb in order to produce his ethically questionable experiments. The longest, The Unlicensed Magician, which was the winner of the World Fantasy Award, tells of a murderous dictator who seeks out children born into magic and drains their powers for his own. The sole survivor of his magical genocides grows up with the help of a found family of resistors but finds she doesn’t wish to destroy him but save him. ‘She loves him. So much. She can't help it,’ Barnhill tells us, ‘he is broken. And the world broke with him.’ It is a reminder that even the most wicked are people and, not despite all the righteous rage in the collection but alongside it, that love can conquer evil.
‘It is our flaws that make us beloved by heaven. It is our scars and handicaps and lack of symmetry that prove that we are-or once were-alive.’
While a bit uneven, Dreadful Young Ladies is a fun ride. There are such magical stories and even a queer love story involving an insect, and always a clear aim to moral lessons that uplift and inspire. At times I wanted more and the longer stories tend to work better, with the shorter ones feeling more like half-formed ideas with dialogue than fully fledged narratives. That said, it does feel more like a collection for younger readers than necessarily an adult audience. Overall, this is a wicked good time that is both sentimental and scary. Also that cover slaps.
3.5/5
‘The dead have buried the dead, and the living scramble and struggle as best they can. They press their shoulder against the rock and urge forward, even when all hope is lost.’
With Power-hungry mayors, evil stepmothers stealing husbands, a boy made of poems, magicians, ghosts and even a comedy of manors about a sasquatch, Kelly Barnhill’s Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories is a raucous delight. This collection of rebellious women and fantastical tales is right at home alongside the works of Angela Carter, Neil Gaiman or even the Grimms, but Barnhill has such a charm of her own that shines through, blending sweetness with sinister, and coziness with fury across these eight stories and one novella. Fans of Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon will find a similar vibe here, with an endearing heart of gold at the center although here the stories read as more grown up and edgier. Full of powerful messages about challenging the status quo and resisting the oppressions of misogynists and despots, side by side with lessons about believing in a better self and having the bravery to attain it, Barnhill’s short stories are a fantastical foray into darkness in order to bring back the light.
‘I dream of a garden overripe and wild. Of a woman gathering the sea into her hands and letting it fall in many colored petals to a green, green earth. I dream of words on a page transforming to birds, and birds transforming to children, and children transforming to stars.’
Barnhill has a knack for grasping what makes fairy tales such an infectious yet also terrifying experience. The combination of dread and eerie atmosphere with an aim towards possibilities that leave you awestruck and a message to mull over and take to heart. This, coupled with her searingly poetic language, makes this a collection to sink into and let engulf you in its dark beauty. In her afterword, Barnhill writes about the importance of storytelling and it is just as moving and powerful as stories:
‘There is, at its center, something immutably miraculous about the substance and process of reading stories. We read because we hunger to know, to empathize, to feel, to connect, to laugh, to fear, to wonder, and to become, with each page, more than ourselves. To become creatures with souls. We read because it allows us, through force of mind, to hold hands, touch lives, speak as another speaks, listen as another listens, and feel as another feels. We read because we wish to journey forth together. There is, despite everything, a place for empathy and compassion and rumination, and just knowing that fact, for me, is an occasion for joy. That we still, in this frenetic and bombastic and self-centered age, have legions of people who can and do return to the quietness of the page, opening their minds and hearts, again and again, to the wild world and the stuff of life, pinned into scenes and characters and sharp images and pretty sentences--well. It sure feels like a miracle, doesn't it?’
The miracle of storytelling to connect, inform and inspire is alive and well in her hands, and I went into this already smitten with her Newbery Award Winning book The Girl Who Drank the Moon. As mentioned earlier, these are much more grown-up stories that share a similar message as her book for young readers, though there does not seem to be a clear target age here, being something that can be enjoyed by readers of any age. While I tend to enjoy this style, which mostly works here, there are times when the stories might feel too adult or not adult enough, making the collection feel a bit uneven at times. That said, it is still delightful and could be enjoyed by anyone and the narrative voice is so strong and compelling it will be hard to set down. When you do, it will haunt you until you pick it up again.
‘Each night she saw a boy made of paper—scribbled eyes, a lettered mouth. She saw a body that formed and unformed as the wind blew, and a mind that insisted on revising itself—words written and unwritten, arranged and scattered, a poem that would never be finished. And somewhere inside that paper boy, a flesh heart quivered, and swelled, and pumped, and beat, beat, beat, beat.’
The stories are both quite varied yet also a bit repetitive, feeling like variations on a theme. Which works because Barnhill certainly has a point to make but she comes at you through the collective abstraction rather than employing a heavy handedness. Stories creep into you, such as the epistolary Open the Door and the Light Pours Through, which explores grief and trauma through a young soldier writing poems to his wife, gone to live safely in the countryside as Nazis drop bombs on London. The soldier is coming to terms with his sexuality while the wife is slowly realizing she may already be dead. Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake, one of my favorites that drags you through gruesome details with an unrelenting tension that will keep you on the edge of your seat, slowly combines examinations of womanhood, motherhood and the darkness of jealousy in a narrative chock full of magic and sinister fairy tale vibes. The opening story, Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch, reveals itself to be less about the fantastical elements and more about how ill-suited society is for receiving anything beyond its narrow interpretation of normal. It is a comedy of manners and marriage, like a twisted Jane Austen, that shows the fairy tale as a looking glass to the self and society.
Power and those who seek it and abuse it are frequent targets of criticism in this collection. Such as the taxidermist mayor who keeps the town under his thumb in order to produce his ethically questionable experiments. The longest, The Unlicensed Magician, which was the winner of the World Fantasy Award, tells of a murderous dictator who seeks out children born into magic and drains their powers for his own. The sole survivor of his magical genocides grows up with the help of a found family of resistors but finds she doesn’t wish to destroy him but save him. ‘She loves him. So much. She can't help it,’ Barnhill tells us, ‘he is broken. And the world broke with him.’ It is a reminder that even the most wicked are people and, not despite all the righteous rage in the collection but alongside it, that love can conquer evil.
‘It is our flaws that make us beloved by heaven. It is our scars and handicaps and lack of symmetry that prove that we are-or once were-alive.’
While a bit uneven, Dreadful Young Ladies is a fun ride. There are such magical stories and even a queer love story involving an insect, and always a clear aim to moral lessons that uplift and inspire. At times I wanted more and the longer stories tend to work better, with the shorter ones feeling more like half-formed ideas with dialogue than fully fledged narratives. That said, it does feel more like a collection for younger readers than necessarily an adult audience. Overall, this is a wicked good time that is both sentimental and scary. Also that cover slaps.
3.5/5
‘The dead have buried the dead, and the living scramble and struggle as best they can. They press their shoulder against the rock and urge forward, even when all hope is lost.’
May 8, 2018
This is a beautiful collection of eight short stories and one novella by Kelly Barnhill. And you will very quickly learn that their writing is lush, lyrical, and absolutely haunting. But sometimes the speculative fiction felt a little too speculative for my personal tastes. But if you like lyrical prose and speculative writing? You will love this collection.
I'm going to break down each short story with my thoughts, opinions, and individual star rating!
➽ Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch - ★★★
Never did I ever think I would read a story about a Sasquatch wearing a fedora, but here we are. But this was a wonderful story about what it means to be happy and how everyone has a different idea of what happiness is. And how some people will live their entire lives living other’s happiness and never their own. After the death of Mrs. Sorensen’s husband, she is in search of the happiness she was ignoring while she was married. And even though her husband was a good man, he wasn’t the right man for her and she was never able to accomplish her dreams. And now she has a chance to live her life for herself and her own happiness, regardless of what a judgmental town of people think. And this entire story is told from the point of view of the town’s priest, who is also questioning his life and his happiness.
➽ Open the Door and the Light Pours Through - ★★★★
Wow, this impacted me super hard at the end. At first, I wasn’t so sure I was going to enjoy this one, and then it turned into something so very beautiful. This story is about a solider questioning his sexuality while he is writing letters to his wife back home. This story also heavily showcases grief and trauma. But this book also heavily talks about how love is genderless, and it was able to evoke so many beautiful emotions from me.
➽ The Dead Boy’s Last Poem - ★★★
This one was so very beautiful, but it was also so very short. And because it was so short, I feel like it didn’t pack the punch I really needed to connect with it. But it is a love letter to artists everywhere, that you will always live on through the art you create. Again, super beautiful, I just had a really hard time connecting.
➽ Dreadful Young Ladies - ★★
This hurts my heart to say this, but this was probably my least favorite in the collection, even though it is the title story. These are four quick tales about “dreadful” young ladies, and what gives them that title. Maybe this just went over my head? Maybe there is some really gorgeous metaphor that I completely missed?
➽ The Taxidermist’s Other Wife - ★★
I didn’t love this one either, sadly. I did like the creepy aesthetic! I mean, this is a story about a Taxidermist who is very questionable, but something just made it so that I never connected.
➽ Elegy to Gabrielle—Patron Saint of Healers, Whores, and Righteous Thieves - ★★★★★
This was beyond words beautiful. Seeing these two women, everything they went through, everything they were forced through. Seeing the father, only get the pieces that he was given. Seeing that a woman can be everything, absolutely everything, but still have people try to make them feel like nothing. I felt like I was in this village, or on this ship, and experiencing the magic. This was so beautifully told, expertly crafted, and completely immerseful.
➽ Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake - ★★★★
This was so intelligently crafted in little glimpses that make up such a larger story. I know I said this above, but I felt like maybe this was a little too speculative for my personal tastes, and maybe I missed a few key tie ins, but I still loved the adventure of this story coming together. But, for me, this story was about being a woman, being a mother, being a daughter, being lonely, being free, and what each of these things mean in retrospect to the others. I think this was expertly crafted.
➽ The Insect and the Astronomer: A Love Story - ★★★
Don’t get me wrong, I’m here for all queer love stories, even between insects, but this one just really didn’t work for me. I just feel like this one was too over the top. I really loved the footnotes, because that’s just something I always personally love in books, but the story itself felt a little too thick for me to read through. I kept finding myself skimming and having to reread passages. But I do believe we all have wings.
➽ The Unlicensed Magician - ★★★★★
This won the World Fantasy Award for long fiction in 2016, and it was so deserving. I loved this with every bone in my body. This reads like a dystopian fantasy, where in this world every quarter century magical children are born and the Minister’s people collect them and take them to the Tower where they will work until they die. And we follow Sparrow, who died before the collection. Or did she? This story switches perspective from past and present constantly, and it just makes it an even more haunting and powerful piece that expertly comes together in the end. And seeing this magical girl grow, is something I don’t even have words for. This novella completely made the collection for me.
I gave Dreadful Young Ladies 4 stars overall, because out of a possible 45 stars (5 stars possible for each of the 9 stories) this collection accumulated 31 stars (~69%). But if you love speculative fiction, and some of the most beautiful prose you will ever read, I completely recommend this collection with my whole heart.
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Buddy read with Kaycee! ❤
February 27, 2022
Niestety te opowiadania okazały się dla mnie wielkim rozczarowaniem. Nie zachwycił mnie ani klimat, ani styl pisania. Po prostu żadne z nich nie wywołało we mnie większych emocji.
February 22, 2018
Thank you so much to Algonquin Books for providing my free copy of DREADFUL YOUNG LADIES AND OTHER STORIES by Kelly Barnhill - all opinions are my own.
This is a dazzling collection of eight short stories and one novella that make for a fantastic read! The writing is beautiful, poetic, dark, disturbing, and speculative. I would describe it as magical literary fiction. I’m not sure if that’s right but that’s how it felt when I was reading it. I didn’t know what to expect when I started as fantasy/short stories are a new territory for me but it absolutely blew me away! I appreciate the collection’s wide variety of topics as it covers everything from love to greed to death to magic to taxidermy! Barnhill did a phenomenal job writing vivid descriptions with original characters that have so much depth, the stories came alive in my mind. Each and every story is gorgeously written, incredibly unique, and they all completely captivated me. I could not put this book down!
The standouts for me are Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch, Dreadful Young Ladies, Elegy to Gabrielle, Notes of the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake, and The Unlicensed Magician. I have to mention that Dreadful Young Ladies is eerily creepy. Love, love, love... highly recommended!
This is a dazzling collection of eight short stories and one novella that make for a fantastic read! The writing is beautiful, poetic, dark, disturbing, and speculative. I would describe it as magical literary fiction. I’m not sure if that’s right but that’s how it felt when I was reading it. I didn’t know what to expect when I started as fantasy/short stories are a new territory for me but it absolutely blew me away! I appreciate the collection’s wide variety of topics as it covers everything from love to greed to death to magic to taxidermy! Barnhill did a phenomenal job writing vivid descriptions with original characters that have so much depth, the stories came alive in my mind. Each and every story is gorgeously written, incredibly unique, and they all completely captivated me. I could not put this book down!
The standouts for me are Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch, Dreadful Young Ladies, Elegy to Gabrielle, Notes of the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake, and The Unlicensed Magician. I have to mention that Dreadful Young Ladies is eerily creepy. Love, love, love... highly recommended!
May 19, 2018
I was really excited to read this collection, mainly because of the title.
I had an idea that dreadful young ladies would be the theme of these stories, with some sass and subversion and lightheartedness.
But this book is really none of those things. The theme of all the stories is death, and the style is mostly magical realism, with some poignancy, some sweetness, and some downright gruesomeness. (For instance, the dreadful young ladies of the title story really are dreadful, with no tongue-in-cheek amusing use of that word.)
The stories aren't bad, and if they were spread out in one's reading -- say, one a month -- they're probably very good. They're definitely very creative, and the writing is gorgeous. I enjoyed the first three very much. But after that, they had a certain same-y-ness in their mood and feel, a bit too much pretty gloom and a bit too little substance.
So, this collection just wasn't for me, or at least wasn't for me as a library book with a due date so I had to read all the stories quickly. I suspect that under different circumstances in my life, with me in a different mood, I might have appreciated them all much more.
So, don't let me dissuade anyone from reading these! There's no predicting how anyone else will react to the combination of macabre and magical elements woven into these tales.
I had an idea that dreadful young ladies would be the theme of these stories, with some sass and subversion and lightheartedness.
But this book is really none of those things. The theme of all the stories is death, and the style is mostly magical realism, with some poignancy, some sweetness, and some downright gruesomeness. (For instance, the dreadful young ladies of the title story really are dreadful, with no tongue-in-cheek amusing use of that word.)
The stories aren't bad, and if they were spread out in one's reading -- say, one a month -- they're probably very good. They're definitely very creative, and the writing is gorgeous. I enjoyed the first three very much. But after that, they had a certain same-y-ness in their mood and feel, a bit too much pretty gloom and a bit too little substance.
So, this collection just wasn't for me, or at least wasn't for me as a library book with a due date so I had to read all the stories quickly. I suspect that under different circumstances in my life, with me in a different mood, I might have appreciated them all much more.
So, don't let me dissuade anyone from reading these! There's no predicting how anyone else will react to the combination of macabre and magical elements woven into these tales.
March 13, 2021
This collection is a prime example of why I’m always on the fence about short story collections. They typically turn out to be only a few gems thrown in amongst the stinkers. And that’s exactly how this collection turned out! With 8 stories featured, I only REALLY thoroughly enjoyed 2 stories and that’s not a great average. The rest left me feeling either indifferent or bored out of my mind and wanting to skip through them. That’s a lot of stories to feel indifferent about and I was definitely disappointed. I always hope to discover new authors when reading a collection of short stories, it’s usually a good into to their other work but after this one, I won’t be racing to read anything else by Barnhill.
April 22, 2019
3.5 stars
"It is our flaws that make us beloved by heaven. It is our scars and handicaps and lack of symmetry that prove that we are-or once were-alive."
Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories drew my attention with its stunning cover and the promise of whimsically dark stories, with more than just surface level themes. With 8 short stories and a novella, this was also a perfect introduction to Kelly Barnhill’s writing for me.
Shortstory-collections are always a little difficult to review for me. I tend to judge the stories individually, but also try to say something about the overall feel and coherence of the collection. The latter was great in the case of Dreadfull Young Ladies. The collection has a very distinct, fairytale-esque quality to it, and is thematically and atmospherically coherent. The writing is quite simple, but the imagery Barnhill evokes with her writing is beautiful enough, that it doesn’t need anymore lyricism.
The stories themselves were a little mixed for me: some of them worked really well, others fell a little flat for me personally. My favorites were Open the Door and The Light Pools In, The Taxidermists Other Wife and The Unlicensed Magician.
Rating per story, and a short description of each story as written by the author:
- Mrs Sorensen and the Sasquatch: 2/5 stars
When Mrs. Sorensen’s husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate
- Open the Door and the Light Pools in: 4/5 stars
a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved.
- A Dead Boys Last Poem: 3/5 stars
- Dreadful Young Ladies: 3/5 stars
about the strength and power—known and unknown—of the imagination
- The Taxidermists other Wife: 4/5 stars
- Elegy to Gabrielle: 3/5 stars
- Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake: 2/5 stars
a witch is haunted by the deadly repercussions of a spell.
- The Insect and the Astronomer: 2/5 stars
upends expectations about good and bad, knowledge and ignorance, love and longing.
- The Unlicenced Magician: 4/5 stars
introduces the secret magical life of an invisible girl once left for dead—with thematic echoes of Barnhill’s Newbery Medal–winning novel, The Girl Who Drank the Moon
When tallied up they score 3.1 stars on average, which fits my feeling about the collection as a whole pretty well. Although not a bad rating at all, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed, as I was really hoping to love this.
Possible factors that hindered my enjoyment were the fact that I haven’t had much time to read recently, and therefore may have been rushed a little whilst reading it. If I can give you one piece of advice before picking this up, it’s that this is a collection to savour, not to devour. Taking your time to let the stories sink in will probably really help get the most out of them.
"It is our flaws that make us beloved by heaven. It is our scars and handicaps and lack of symmetry that prove that we are-or once were-alive."
Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories drew my attention with its stunning cover and the promise of whimsically dark stories, with more than just surface level themes. With 8 short stories and a novella, this was also a perfect introduction to Kelly Barnhill’s writing for me.
Shortstory-collections are always a little difficult to review for me. I tend to judge the stories individually, but also try to say something about the overall feel and coherence of the collection. The latter was great in the case of Dreadfull Young Ladies. The collection has a very distinct, fairytale-esque quality to it, and is thematically and atmospherically coherent. The writing is quite simple, but the imagery Barnhill evokes with her writing is beautiful enough, that it doesn’t need anymore lyricism.
The stories themselves were a little mixed for me: some of them worked really well, others fell a little flat for me personally. My favorites were Open the Door and The Light Pools In, The Taxidermists Other Wife and The Unlicensed Magician.
Rating per story, and a short description of each story as written by the author:
- Mrs Sorensen and the Sasquatch: 2/5 stars
When Mrs. Sorensen’s husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate
- Open the Door and the Light Pools in: 4/5 stars
a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved.
- A Dead Boys Last Poem: 3/5 stars
- Dreadful Young Ladies: 3/5 stars
about the strength and power—known and unknown—of the imagination
- The Taxidermists other Wife: 4/5 stars
- Elegy to Gabrielle: 3/5 stars
- Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake: 2/5 stars
a witch is haunted by the deadly repercussions of a spell.
- The Insect and the Astronomer: 2/5 stars
upends expectations about good and bad, knowledge and ignorance, love and longing.
- The Unlicenced Magician: 4/5 stars
introduces the secret magical life of an invisible girl once left for dead—with thematic echoes of Barnhill’s Newbery Medal–winning novel, The Girl Who Drank the Moon
When tallied up they score 3.1 stars on average, which fits my feeling about the collection as a whole pretty well. Although not a bad rating at all, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed, as I was really hoping to love this.
Possible factors that hindered my enjoyment were the fact that I haven’t had much time to read recently, and therefore may have been rushed a little whilst reading it. If I can give you one piece of advice before picking this up, it’s that this is a collection to savour, not to devour. Taking your time to let the stories sink in will probably really help get the most out of them.
November 14, 2019
These are beautifully written stories, sharp-edged, humourous, melancholic.
-Mrs Sorensen and the Sasquatch: 4 stars. Read this before, and liked the humour.
-Open the Door and the Light Pours Through: 4 stars A bit of a mystery story, at first, of a husband and wide writing to each other and not telling each other certain things, which transforms into something quite sad.
-The Dead boy's Last Poem: 3 stars. Not sure what to make of this one.
-Dreadful Young Ladies: 4 stars. A story of a several deaths. Nicely scary.
-The Taxidermist’s Other Wife: 3 stars. Creepy!
-Elegy to Gabrielle--Patron Saints of Healers, Whores and Righteous Thieves: 4.5 stars. Loved this magic-filled story.
-Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake: 3 stars. Found it confusing.
-The Insect and the Astronomer: 3.5 stars. Wasn't really clear on what the story was about but I enjoyed it.
-The Unlicensed Magician: 5 stars. Loved this one. Dystopic, with an nicely building tension and sadness about a young, magical woman living in hiding from a leader stealing the magic from babies.
-Mrs Sorensen and the Sasquatch: 4 stars. Read this before, and liked the humour.
-Open the Door and the Light Pours Through: 4 stars A bit of a mystery story, at first, of a husband and wide writing to each other and not telling each other certain things, which transforms into something quite sad.
-The Dead boy's Last Poem: 3 stars. Not sure what to make of this one.
-Dreadful Young Ladies: 4 stars. A story of a several deaths. Nicely scary.
-The Taxidermist’s Other Wife: 3 stars. Creepy!
-Elegy to Gabrielle--Patron Saints of Healers, Whores and Righteous Thieves: 4.5 stars. Loved this magic-filled story.
-Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake: 3 stars. Found it confusing.
-The Insect and the Astronomer: 3.5 stars. Wasn't really clear on what the story was about but I enjoyed it.
-The Unlicensed Magician: 5 stars. Loved this one. Dystopic, with an nicely building tension and sadness about a young, magical woman living in hiding from a leader stealing the magic from babies.
December 19, 2018
This is one of those books that I put on my to-read list, then let out an audible squeal when I saw it among the new books at the library. I mean, LOOK AT THAT COVER! But, as it turns out, this book and I did not get along so well. The fact that I eagerly started reading on October 18, and finally finished out of a sense of obligation two months later says it all. Looking back at titles of the stories, I can't remember any of them. Not a one - even the one I finished today.
I see lots of five-star reviews for this one, so I admit defeat. It's not you, Kelly. It's me.
Next!
I see lots of five-star reviews for this one, so I admit defeat. It's not you, Kelly. It's me.
Next!
March 1, 2022
Kelly Barnhill tworzy światy, gdzie realność miesza się z fikcją. Gdzie nadprzyrodzone wkrada się do codzienności i miesza zmysły. Istoty z legendy istnieją, zmarli wciąż są obecni a kobiety obdarzone są mocą. Trudno odróżnić fikcyjne pogłoski od prawdziwych czarów, a machina propagandy niszczy każdego na swojej drodze. Ludzie chętnie odwracają wzrok, ale równie chętnie pomagają. Chętnie uciekają i chętnie stawiają opór. Powietrze przesycone jest magią, a fabuły skrzą kolorami.
Wszystko to literacko robiło wrażenie i sprawiało, że moje serce drgało przez zgrabne zdania. Autorka często snuła swoje opowieści niczym baśnie dla dorosłych, ale brakowało w nich puenty, do których zwykle się dąży. Teksty były dobre, momentami nawet piękne, ale często puste. Ich poziom bywał nierówny i jedynie garstka mgliscie odbiła się w mojej pamięci, choć po skończeniu książki odczułam przyjemne drżenie.
„Straszliwe młode damy i inne osobliwe historie" to tytuł, którego jednoznacznie ocenić nie potrafię. Kilka opowiadań było bardzo dobrych, a reszta nie do końca wykorzystała swój potencjał, choć czytanie ich wciąż było przyjemne. Kelly Barnhill najwyraźniej jest autorką bardzo moją, a prawdopodobnie po prostu w krótszych formach nie zawsze sobie radzi. Pozostaje mi zapoznać się z resztą jej twórczości (powieści dla młodszych, czyli to, co lubię najbardziej) i sprawdzić tę teorię, bo wyczuwam w jej prozie ogromny potencjał. Póki co jednak z rozpaczą muszę zawołać: „przeciętniak".
przekł. Katarzyna Makaruk
Wszystko to literacko robiło wrażenie i sprawiało, że moje serce drgało przez zgrabne zdania. Autorka często snuła swoje opowieści niczym baśnie dla dorosłych, ale brakowało w nich puenty, do których zwykle się dąży. Teksty były dobre, momentami nawet piękne, ale często puste. Ich poziom bywał nierówny i jedynie garstka mgliscie odbiła się w mojej pamięci, choć po skończeniu książki odczułam przyjemne drżenie.
„Straszliwe młode damy i inne osobliwe historie" to tytuł, którego jednoznacznie ocenić nie potrafię. Kilka opowiadań było bardzo dobrych, a reszta nie do końca wykorzystała swój potencjał, choć czytanie ich wciąż było przyjemne. Kelly Barnhill najwyraźniej jest autorką bardzo moją, a prawdopodobnie po prostu w krótszych formach nie zawsze sobie radzi. Pozostaje mi zapoznać się z resztą jej twórczości (powieści dla młodszych, czyli to, co lubię najbardziej) i sprawdzić tę teorię, bo wyczuwam w jej prozie ogromny potencjał. Póki co jednak z rozpaczą muszę zawołać: „przeciętniak".
przekł. Katarzyna Makaruk
May 3, 2022
Zbiór jest bardzo różnorodny. Wszystkie opowiadania trzymają wysoki poziom, ale różnią się między sobą drastycznie. Część to współczesne baśnie, część to horrory, część skierowana jest do młodszych czytelniczek, część jest zdecydowanie dla dorosłych ze względu na treść i przekaz, część to fantastyka, a część ociera się o tzw. realizm magiczny, czy fantastykę bez określonych z góry zasad odnośnie magii ;)
"Pani Sorensen i Sasquatch" zbiło mnie z tropu od samego początku, bo to cudowna apoteoza monsterfuckerstwa? Nie spodziewałam się tego, nie wiedziałam, co z tym zrobić, kiedy to dostałam, ale wiecie co? Dobrze dla pani Sorensen. Dawaj, laska. Kochaj Sasquatcha, ucieknijcie do lasu, żyjcie długo i szczęśliwe poza tą nieszczęsną cywilizacją. Opowiadanie dało mi dużo pozytywnych uczuć.
"Otwórz drzwi, a wleje się światło" to cudowna, gotycka opowieść o duchach i nawiedzeniu, tęsknocie i miłości, przyjaźni i związkach na całe życie, to i następne. Miałam dreszcze z emocji i intelektualnie mogę rozłożyć opowiadanie na dyskursy o sztuce i spirytualizmie typowe dla II WŚ, więc druga fala dreszczy gwarantowana. Sama przyjemność.
"Ostatni wiersz zmarłego chłopaka" początkowo nie zrobił na mnie wrażenie, a potem pomyślałam, że poeta jest tu villainem, który nie chce odpuścić i miałam takie feministyczne "oooooh". Bardzo sprytny tekst.
"Straszliwe młode damy", czyli opowiadanie tytułowe jest o bardzo subtelnej, bo emocjonalnej, a nie fizycznej, kobiecej potworności. Znowu, dreszcze emocjonalne i intelektualne, tekst, do którego trzeba wielokrotnie wracać i za każdym razem odkrywać coś nowego. Co czyni kobietę/ dziewczynkę potworną i straszliwą? Jak niewiele do tego trzeba.
"Druga żona wypychacza zwierząt" - niesamowity horror o żałobie i przemijaniu, znaczeniu śmierci i śmiertelności dla ludzkiej natury. Perełka.
"Elegia dla Gabrielle" - zaraz po obejrzeniu "Our flag means death" to strzał w dziesiątkę, opowieść o piratce z magicznymi mocami, córce czarownicy, która ratuje Afrykańczyków przewożonych na statkach, rozmawia z ptakami i jest obiektem kolonialnej nienawiści? Poproszę 600 stronicową powieść na ten temat. Natentychmiast.
"Uwagi na temat przedwczesnej śmierci Ronii Drake" to jakby postscriptum do "Straszliwych młodych dam".
"Owad i astronom. Historia pewnej miłości":
"Owad nigdy nie był zakochany. Astronom nigdy nie był żywy. Ważne, żebyście to zrozumieli".
Jeśli to nie jest genialne pierwsze zdanie to nie wiem już, co nim jest. Kolejne opowiadanie, które można czytać wciąż i wciąż od nowa, dla samego brzmienia słów, ich rytmu. Zaczynam myśleć, że Branhill to czarownica i rzuca zaklęcia na czytelniczki.
"Magiczne dziecko". Gdybym nie znała "Dziewczynki, która wypiła księżyc", zrobiłoby to na mnie większe wrażenie. Ale tu są wszystkie te same elementy: estetyka studia Ghibli, podoba historia walki nastolatki z opresyjnym systemem, szalona matka, piękne przedmioty używane jako broń. Tylko na mniejszą skalę. Wciąż dobra lektura.
"Pani Sorensen i Sasquatch" zbiło mnie z tropu od samego początku, bo to cudowna apoteoza monsterfuckerstwa? Nie spodziewałam się tego, nie wiedziałam, co z tym zrobić, kiedy to dostałam, ale wiecie co? Dobrze dla pani Sorensen. Dawaj, laska. Kochaj Sasquatcha, ucieknijcie do lasu, żyjcie długo i szczęśliwe poza tą nieszczęsną cywilizacją. Opowiadanie dało mi dużo pozytywnych uczuć.
"Otwórz drzwi, a wleje się światło" to cudowna, gotycka opowieść o duchach i nawiedzeniu, tęsknocie i miłości, przyjaźni i związkach na całe życie, to i następne. Miałam dreszcze z emocji i intelektualnie mogę rozłożyć opowiadanie na dyskursy o sztuce i spirytualizmie typowe dla II WŚ, więc druga fala dreszczy gwarantowana. Sama przyjemność.
"Ostatni wiersz zmarłego chłopaka" początkowo nie zrobił na mnie wrażenie, a potem pomyślałam, że poeta jest tu villainem, który nie chce odpuścić i miałam takie feministyczne "oooooh". Bardzo sprytny tekst.
"Straszliwe młode damy", czyli opowiadanie tytułowe jest o bardzo subtelnej, bo emocjonalnej, a nie fizycznej, kobiecej potworności. Znowu, dreszcze emocjonalne i intelektualne, tekst, do którego trzeba wielokrotnie wracać i za każdym razem odkrywać coś nowego. Co czyni kobietę/ dziewczynkę potworną i straszliwą? Jak niewiele do tego trzeba.
"Druga żona wypychacza zwierząt" - niesamowity horror o żałobie i przemijaniu, znaczeniu śmierci i śmiertelności dla ludzkiej natury. Perełka.
"Elegia dla Gabrielle" - zaraz po obejrzeniu "Our flag means death" to strzał w dziesiątkę, opowieść o piratce z magicznymi mocami, córce czarownicy, która ratuje Afrykańczyków przewożonych na statkach, rozmawia z ptakami i jest obiektem kolonialnej nienawiści? Poproszę 600 stronicową powieść na ten temat. Natentychmiast.
"Uwagi na temat przedwczesnej śmierci Ronii Drake" to jakby postscriptum do "Straszliwych młodych dam".
"Owad i astronom. Historia pewnej miłości":
"Owad nigdy nie był zakochany. Astronom nigdy nie był żywy. Ważne, żebyście to zrozumieli".
Jeśli to nie jest genialne pierwsze zdanie to nie wiem już, co nim jest. Kolejne opowiadanie, które można czytać wciąż i wciąż od nowa, dla samego brzmienia słów, ich rytmu. Zaczynam myśleć, że Branhill to czarownica i rzuca zaklęcia na czytelniczki.
"Magiczne dziecko". Gdybym nie znała "Dziewczynki, która wypiła księżyc", zrobiłoby to na mnie większe wrażenie. Ale tu są wszystkie te same elementy: estetyka studia Ghibli, podoba historia walki nastolatki z opresyjnym systemem, szalona matka, piękne przedmioty używane jako broń. Tylko na mniejszą skalę. Wciąż dobra lektura.
May 13, 2019
Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch ★★
Open the Door and the Light Pours Through ★★★
The Dead Boy’s Last Poem ★★★
Dreadful Young Ladies ★★★
The Taxidermist’s Other Wife ★★
Elegy to Gabrielle, Patron Saint of Healers, Whores, and Righteous Thieves ★★★★
Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake ★★
The Insect and the Astronomer: A Love Story ★
The Unlicensed Magician ★★★
I rated these stories on the author's skill, not on my enjoyment. I must admit, apart from Elegy to Gabrielle, I truly enjoyed none of them.
I felt like all the pretty words were only there for the aesthetic, and that the narrative was not tight enough, which in short stories is an unforgivable sin to me.
But just because I didn't like it doesn't mean it's not good. It simply wasn't my cup of tea.
February 5, 2022
RECENZJA: https://www.wybrednamaruda.pl/2022/02...
Uwielbiam sięgać po książki, które czymś mnie zaskoczą – czy to plot twistem fabularnym, czy nietypowym formatem. Doceniam oryginalność i właśnie ona jest główną zaletą zbioru opowiadań dla dorosłych, Straszliwe młode damy i inne osobliwie historie stworzonego przez Kelly Barnhill, autorkę do tej pory kojarzoną głównie z literaturą dla dzieci ("Dziewczynka, która wypiła księżyc").
Tak naprawdę "Straszliwe młode damy..." trudno jest zakwalifikować do jakiejkolwiek kategorii, jakiegokolwiek gatunku, polecić konkretnej grupie osób. Mam wrażenie, że autorka płynnie porusza się po ich granicach delikatnie łamiąc drobne schematy lub dołączając do swojej historii coś, co na pierwszy rzut oka nie ma żadnych elementów wspólnych z jej tytułem. Dlatego też trudno będzie ten tytuł ocenić – wiele zależeć będzie od osobistych preferencji czytelnika i tego, jak to szalone połączenie, te niespodziewane rozwiązania, wpasują się w jego gust.
Mamy tu bowiem zbiór krótkich i pełnych metafor opowiadań z elementami fantastycznymi, mrocznymi i krwawymi, w których w większości głównymi bohaterkami są kobiety, tytułowe straszliwe młode damy. To często kobiety zranione, zmęczone, skrzywdzone, ale też pełne siły, mocy, chęci władzy czy zemsty. W jednej historii poznamy damę, którą kochają wszyscy – ona jednak oddała serce najbardziej niedostępnemu zwierzęciu wioski; w drugiej poznamy dziewczynę pełną tęsknoty, której wciąż towarzyszy dusza kochanka. Opowiadania są zrealizowane w taki sposób, że jeden czytelnik potraktuje je bardzo dosłownie, jako magię i stwory przeniesione do naszego świata, często mało logiczne i z niedokończonymi wątkami, inny jako poetyckie przedstawienie kłębiących się w każdym z nas emocji, czasem wyolbrzymione, czasem ukryte pod postacią zwierzęcia czy przedmiotu. Mimo że w każdym opowiadaniu towarzyszymy danej postaci tylko przez chwilę, to w pojedynczych, metaforycznych i poetyckich zdaniach dzieje się tule dwuznacznych wydarzeń, że nie zawsze na pierwszy rzut oka dostrzeżemy, w jakiej sytuacji ta postać się znajduje (przy opowiadaniu z Astronomem sama poczułam, jakbym dostała obuchem w głowę, gdy dotarło do mnie, o czym czy też o kim faktycznie może pisać autorka). Stąd pewna jestem, że jedni fabułą i formą będą zachwyceni, inni negatywnie zaskoczeni, niejako skołowani i rozczarowani. Możliwe też, że każdy z nas zrozumie przesłanie inaczej, lub nie zrozumie go wcale.
Przenikanie do sfery fantastycznej jest w narracji na tyle płynne, że niejednokrotnie trudno będzie jednoznacznie stwierdzić, czy dzika natura lub niezwykłe wydarzenia będą faktycznymi elementami paranormalnymi, czy tylko poetycką metaforą, jaką posługuje się autorka, by coś nam przedstawić. Przykładowo, gdy jedna z postaci umiera w wypadku, nie powie nam się tego bezpośrednio – przeczytamy za to o dźwiękach metalu, o krwistoczerwonych różach z benzyny kwitnących na asfalcie i o duszy szybującej do gwiazd. Styl pisania jest tu bardzo bliski do poezji, więc może stanowić dobry prolog do rozpoczęcia przygody z typowymi tomikami poezji
Straszliwe... zaskakują na każdym kroku. Autorka zabiera nas w niezwykle baśniowy i surrealistyczny świat pełen stworów czy dzikich zwierząt, jednak wciąż są to opowiadania skierowane do dorosłego odbiorcy – pełne brutalności, śmierci, krwi i uniwersalnych tematów, takich jak miłość, nadzieja czy władza. Co ważne, to nie jest literatura prosta czy oczywista w swoim przekazie. Piękny, poetycki język, którym posługuje się Barnhill, ukrywa między wierszami i pod rozbudowanymi metaforami trudne historie i okrutne prawdy, a niejednokrotnie są one przemycone w taki sposób, by dotarły do nas dopiero po zakończonej lekturze.
Uwielbiam sięgać po książki, które czymś mnie zaskoczą – czy to plot twistem fabularnym, czy nietypowym formatem. Doceniam oryginalność i właśnie ona jest główną zaletą zbioru opowiadań dla dorosłych, Straszliwe młode damy i inne osobliwie historie stworzonego przez Kelly Barnhill, autorkę do tej pory kojarzoną głównie z literaturą dla dzieci ("Dziewczynka, która wypiła księżyc").
Tak naprawdę "Straszliwe młode damy..." trudno jest zakwalifikować do jakiejkolwiek kategorii, jakiegokolwiek gatunku, polecić konkretnej grupie osób. Mam wrażenie, że autorka płynnie porusza się po ich granicach delikatnie łamiąc drobne schematy lub dołączając do swojej historii coś, co na pierwszy rzut oka nie ma żadnych elementów wspólnych z jej tytułem. Dlatego też trudno będzie ten tytuł ocenić – wiele zależeć będzie od osobistych preferencji czytelnika i tego, jak to szalone połączenie, te niespodziewane rozwiązania, wpasują się w jego gust.
Mamy tu bowiem zbiór krótkich i pełnych metafor opowiadań z elementami fantastycznymi, mrocznymi i krwawymi, w których w większości głównymi bohaterkami są kobiety, tytułowe straszliwe młode damy. To często kobiety zranione, zmęczone, skrzywdzone, ale też pełne siły, mocy, chęci władzy czy zemsty. W jednej historii poznamy damę, którą kochają wszyscy – ona jednak oddała serce najbardziej niedostępnemu zwierzęciu wioski; w drugiej poznamy dziewczynę pełną tęsknoty, której wciąż towarzyszy dusza kochanka. Opowiadania są zrealizowane w taki sposób, że jeden czytelnik potraktuje je bardzo dosłownie, jako magię i stwory przeniesione do naszego świata, często mało logiczne i z niedokończonymi wątkami, inny jako poetyckie przedstawienie kłębiących się w każdym z nas emocji, czasem wyolbrzymione, czasem ukryte pod postacią zwierzęcia czy przedmiotu. Mimo że w każdym opowiadaniu towarzyszymy danej postaci tylko przez chwilę, to w pojedynczych, metaforycznych i poetyckich zdaniach dzieje się tule dwuznacznych wydarzeń, że nie zawsze na pierwszy rzut oka dostrzeżemy, w jakiej sytuacji ta postać się znajduje (przy opowiadaniu z Astronomem sama poczułam, jakbym dostała obuchem w głowę, gdy dotarło do mnie, o czym czy też o kim faktycznie może pisać autorka). Stąd pewna jestem, że jedni fabułą i formą będą zachwyceni, inni negatywnie zaskoczeni, niejako skołowani i rozczarowani. Możliwe też, że każdy z nas zrozumie przesłanie inaczej, lub nie zrozumie go wcale.
Przenikanie do sfery fantastycznej jest w narracji na tyle płynne, że niejednokrotnie trudno będzie jednoznacznie stwierdzić, czy dzika natura lub niezwykłe wydarzenia będą faktycznymi elementami paranormalnymi, czy tylko poetycką metaforą, jaką posługuje się autorka, by coś nam przedstawić. Przykładowo, gdy jedna z postaci umiera w wypadku, nie powie nam się tego bezpośrednio – przeczytamy za to o dźwiękach metalu, o krwistoczerwonych różach z benzyny kwitnących na asfalcie i o duszy szybującej do gwiazd. Styl pisania jest tu bardzo bliski do poezji, więc może stanowić dobry prolog do rozpoczęcia przygody z typowymi tomikami poezji
Straszliwe... zaskakują na każdym kroku. Autorka zabiera nas w niezwykle baśniowy i surrealistyczny świat pełen stworów czy dzikich zwierząt, jednak wciąż są to opowiadania skierowane do dorosłego odbiorcy – pełne brutalności, śmierci, krwi i uniwersalnych tematów, takich jak miłość, nadzieja czy władza. Co ważne, to nie jest literatura prosta czy oczywista w swoim przekazie. Piękny, poetycki język, którym posługuje się Barnhill, ukrywa między wierszami i pod rozbudowanymi metaforami trudne historie i okrutne prawdy, a niejednokrotnie są one przemycone w taki sposób, by dotarły do nas dopiero po zakończonej lekturze.
dont-want-to-read
December 11, 2020I haven't read this book, but I wanted to just make a note here. My daughter has read at least one other book by this author, and she presumed that the author writes only middle-grade fiction. So for this collection of short stories to be called "Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories" and described on the cover as "a playful witchy collection of addictive tales" illustrates an utter failure to reach the correct audience. My daughter spent around $15 of her own money on this book, eagerly purchasing this and a few more books by this author. I wish she had told me sooner. I may have been able to get her a refund by returning it within Amazon's 30 day return policy.
As a middle-grade author using my name to write books for differently-aged audiences, I would hope that I would have more wisdom than to title my book "Dreadful Young Ladies" and not find it in the hands of tweens or teens. I really sympathize with my daughter. She approached me recently to say that she had a book to get rid of, but couldn't think of what to do with it. I think she said something like, "I want to burn it." I've skimmed a few pages. This is not a book for kids. I don't want it. I'm not sure what to do with it myself. It appears like it would be a - I'm not going to say good - book to read around Halloween.
This is why I am personally such a supporter of authors using different pseudonyms for different genres and audiences. Either that or to clearly label the cover somehow. However, I don't expect to see "A book for adults who enjoy the dark side of fantasy" or some such thing on the cover. I'm angry. Can you tell?
If anyone from Goodreads wants it and will pay for shipping, I'll mail it to them.
As a middle-grade author using my name to write books for differently-aged audiences, I would hope that I would have more wisdom than to title my book "Dreadful Young Ladies" and not find it in the hands of tweens or teens. I really sympathize with my daughter. She approached me recently to say that she had a book to get rid of, but couldn't think of what to do with it. I think she said something like, "I want to burn it." I've skimmed a few pages. This is not a book for kids. I don't want it. I'm not sure what to do with it myself. It appears like it would be a - I'm not going to say good - book to read around Halloween.
This is why I am personally such a supporter of authors using different pseudonyms for different genres and audiences. Either that or to clearly label the cover somehow. However, I don't expect to see "A book for adults who enjoy the dark side of fantasy" or some such thing on the cover. I'm angry. Can you tell?
If anyone from Goodreads wants it and will pay for shipping, I'll mail it to them.
August 29, 2018
Most of these were "okay." Interesting, but not real stand-outs, for me. The only one that I couldn't make it through was "The Insect and the Astronomer," which just didn't engage me at all. But the Last story, and, I believe, the longest is Wonderful! "The Unlicensed Magician" is utterly lovely and memorable.
August 10, 2020
GR's blurb is the best part of this grim little collection of morbid fragments pretending to be short stories.
there's nothing wrong with fragments as long as they're meaningful
there's nothing wrong with fragments as long as they're meaningful
November 14, 2017
I received an ARC of this to review for Booklist, so my official review will be published there first, but this short story collection was creepy good.
April 21, 2022
niestety miłości nie było. opowiadania nie obroniły się klimatem ani ich treścią.
ale okładka cudna 😅
ale okładka cudna 😅
April 6, 2022
Having only read one book by Barnhill previously (and a middle-grade book, at that), I can say I wasn't nearly prepared for the strangeness of her fiction. Each story is full of bizarre creatures that are not quite fully formed - you only get a hint of what it is you're actually reading. I guess that's just part of the whimsical/psychotic style she prefers, and by that I mean as you read each story, you feel the narrator is somehow a bit cracked, not to be trusted, but even more so, they seem like they're experiencing some sort of psychotic break with reality.
Some of the stories are pure fantasy, others are more magical realism (more magical than real, though), and the point of each story is a bit hard to define, though with some stories it's more clear than others. I can't say I had a favorite amongst these stories, but I can say I had a least favorite. Most of the stories are pretty forgettable - they're weird, creepy, or off in some way, but most don't really stick because they don't seem to have a particular point to them. I can see strong ties between "The Unlicensed Magician" and her book that I had read, "The Girl Who Drank the Moon." She seems to have a very particular vision of what magic is and how it manifests itself. In the end, though, I end each story wondering "What have I just read?"
I don't regret reading this collection of short stories, but I don't think I'd recommend it very freely. I think this book is best reserved for those who really enjoy short stories, but particularly of the kind that are ethereal or of the bizarre. Barnhill does have a knack for descriptive prose and some of the visions she creates are quite lovely, but I will definitely proceed with caution the next time I consider reading one of her books.
Some of the stories are pure fantasy, others are more magical realism (more magical than real, though), and the point of each story is a bit hard to define, though with some stories it's more clear than others. I can't say I had a favorite amongst these stories, but I can say I had a least favorite. Most of the stories are pretty forgettable - they're weird, creepy, or off in some way, but most don't really stick because they don't seem to have a particular point to them. I can see strong ties between "The Unlicensed Magician" and her book that I had read, "The Girl Who Drank the Moon." She seems to have a very particular vision of what magic is and how it manifests itself. In the end, though, I end each story wondering "What have I just read?"
I don't regret reading this collection of short stories, but I don't think I'd recommend it very freely. I think this book is best reserved for those who really enjoy short stories, but particularly of the kind that are ethereal or of the bizarre. Barnhill does have a knack for descriptive prose and some of the visions she creates are quite lovely, but I will definitely proceed with caution the next time I consider reading one of her books.
April 15, 2022
Uważam, że są to po prostu słabe opowiadania. Nic z nich nie zapamiętam, nie ma nawet jednego, które by mi zapadło w pamięć. Katarzyna Makaruk jest świetną tłumaczką, i widać, że robiła, co mogła, ale no po prostu ta powtarzalność, która po polsku brzmi naprawdę źle, a która po angielsku jakoś ujdzie, strasznie mnie spowalniała w czytaniu. Autorka bardziej skupia się na przedstawianiu czytelniczkom i czytelnikom jakiejś fantastycznej (i czasem serio ciekawej) wizji czy pomysłu, ale potem go nie realizuje. Wszystko pozostaje w dopowiedzeniach, świat przedstawiony jest niedopracowany, czasem autorka jest tak tajemnicza i wszystko tak ukrywa, że dopowiadanie sobie wszystkiego było męczące. No i tytułowe „Straszliwe młode damy” to nie motyw przewodni tego zbioru.
December 31, 2017
I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection. I mean who wouldn't enjoy a book that starts put with a story about a woman and a sasquatch in a relationship. The magical realism was done well throughout. My only complaint is with the first few stories not being divided enough. I got confused without a clear starting and stopping point between each story. If you enjoy Barnhill or fantastical stories that both intrigue and occassionaly scare you, then this book is one I would recommend.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced EARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced EARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.
June 2, 2018
I'm not quite sure what was going on in any of the stories and I am disappointed because I wanted to add another stellar book to the list of awesome short story collections that are coming out. Unfortunately I wasn't sure what I was reading, then I thought maybe the first story didn't tickle my fancy, then started in on the second. That one didn't get any better and I couldn't bear to try the next, giving up instead.
The narrative just tried to be too cryptic in its delivery and my patience was thin to wait for an understanding of the characters, their situation, and their motivations, and the conflict.
The narrative just tried to be too cryptic in its delivery and my patience was thin to wait for an understanding of the characters, their situation, and their motivations, and the conflict.
December 9, 2017
Kelly Barnhill's Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories is a real treat for those who love lushly imagined weird worlds. Barnhill's style reminds me of early Jeanette Winterson ( i.e. Sexing the Cherry; The Passion) with their blend of magic realism and folklore. Though I found some of the stories a little too long, others linger in my mind like vivid dreams. Recommended for fantasy lovers.
I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
February 22, 2018
I am someone who always wants to enjoy short story collections but I never do. Usually, I find that collections have one good or great story and then everything else is ehh, or the author tries to do magical realism but the stories are just weird.
Dreadful Young Ladies, however, is full of well written magical stories that are dark and/or fun and I enjoyed every single one.
If you're interested, this book just came out on Tuesday!
Dreadful Young Ladies, however, is full of well written magical stories that are dark and/or fun and I enjoyed every single one.
If you're interested, this book just came out on Tuesday!
March 4, 2018
4.5 stars
So I didn't even know this book existed until I somehow found myself at the bookstore and I saw it and I was like, "Kelly Barnhill wrote a book of short stories, at least one of which is gay?!?", and then I somehow found myself at the checkout and somehow found myself taking it home. Strange how these things happen.
Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch ☆☆☆☆
This is the perfect story to start off the book! It's weird and flowery, but it lets you dip your toe into the book before you're completely submerged. I love how it's told from the point of view of the priest rather than, say, Mrs. Sorensen herself. You're let in on her secrets slowly, making it hard to tell who you're supposed to be rooting for. As usual, Barnhill's writing is sublime, and I think -with this entire collection- she's able to let it flow free and get flowerier than ever.
Open the Door and the Light Pours Through ☆☆☆☆☆
This is one of my favorites, the story that really does submerge you into the insanity of it all. This story was also, incidentally, the story marketed as "a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved." So, I was here for the gay. But I actually had to question how John's sexuality was portrayed. But in the end, I don't think it's necessarily harmful. It's not ideal in terms of representation, but I don't think it's Overall, this story is incredibly haunting and beautiful. The writing style kind of reminds me of The Yellow Wallpaper for some reason.
The Dead Boy's Last Poem ☆☆☆.5
This one is a little too short, I think, for me to fully grasp what she was getting at, but I can appreciate how the boy's existence was poetry, and how he literally lived on in his work. And it, um, has pretty words...
Dreadful Young Ladies ☆☆
...This one just went right over my head, honestly. I mean, it's kind of... interesting? But, I just don't get how any of these stories are connected, and they're so short that I guess I kind of missed the point. I don't know, maybe it will make more sense if I reread it. *rereads it* Uhh, nope. I am still so puzzled. I mean, I can tell there's some meaning there, but I just don't get it.
The Taxidermist's Other Wife ☆☆☆☆
Whoo! *dusts off hands* This one is creeeepy! It comes right after the fairly creepy Dreadful Young Ladies and just ups the creep factor x10000000000. I hate, hate, HATE taxidermy, looking at it, smelling it, it just makes me want to throw up. So this story was, pretty much my worst nightmare. But um, it's good?
Elegy to Gabrielle: Patrin Saint of Healers, Whores, and Righteous Thieves ☆☆☆☆.5
Oh good, this one's hardly creepy at all! I got to read some more beautiful words talking about birds and the ocean, and- and- Oh, it was good. I love pirate stories, and Gabrielle was one badass pirate lady. Like with Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch and The Taxidermist's Other Wife I enjoyed the unique POV of Gabrielle's father, getting only the information he would have access to.
Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake ☆☆☆☆
You get a creepy story! And you get a creepy story! Everybody gets a creepy story! This is a really good story, though. I love how the story is organized, taking little snippets of plot here and there to make it all (at least, sort of) fit together. As with almost all of these, I love how there's this theme of harmony with nature, and bending reality. This is speculative fiction falling off the deep end. This is where reality goes to die.
The Insect and the Astronomer: A Love Story ☆☆☆☆☆
Oh look! More gays! And there are absolutely no representation issues here. I love how this story doesn't even blink at the fact that both the insect and the astronomer are male. So what? It is a beautiful, complicated, weird love story. (My only complaint is that I didn't quite understand why that one scene with the elderly couple was there, since it didn't end up doing anything except increasing the tension, but maybe I'm just missing something.)
The Unlicensed Magician: ☆☆☆☆☆
If you didn't like this story, you probably didn't like the book much. This is an actual novella, with all of Barnhill's signature strangeness running wild. I adored it, and it really pulled the whole book together for me. All the applause. All the applause.
So I didn't even know this book existed until I somehow found myself at the bookstore and I saw it and I was like, "Kelly Barnhill wrote a book of short stories, at least one of which is gay?!?", and then I somehow found myself at the checkout and somehow found myself taking it home. Strange how these things happen.
Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch ☆☆☆☆
This is the perfect story to start off the book! It's weird and flowery, but it lets you dip your toe into the book before you're completely submerged. I love how it's told from the point of view of the priest rather than, say, Mrs. Sorensen herself. You're let in on her secrets slowly, making it hard to tell who you're supposed to be rooting for. As usual, Barnhill's writing is sublime, and I think -with this entire collection- she's able to let it flow free and get flowerier than ever.
Open the Door and the Light Pours Through ☆☆☆☆☆
This is one of my favorites, the story that really does submerge you into the insanity of it all. This story was also, incidentally, the story marketed as "a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved." So, I was here for the gay. But I actually had to question how John's sexuality was portrayed. But in the end, I don't think it's necessarily harmful. It's not ideal in terms of representation, but I don't think it's Overall, this story is incredibly haunting and beautiful. The writing style kind of reminds me of The Yellow Wallpaper for some reason.
The Dead Boy's Last Poem ☆☆☆.5
This one is a little too short, I think, for me to fully grasp what she was getting at, but I can appreciate how the boy's existence was poetry, and how he literally lived on in his work. And it, um, has pretty words...
Dreadful Young Ladies ☆☆
...This one just went right over my head, honestly. I mean, it's kind of... interesting? But, I just don't get how any of these stories are connected, and they're so short that I guess I kind of missed the point. I don't know, maybe it will make more sense if I reread it. *rereads it* Uhh, nope. I am still so puzzled. I mean, I can tell there's some meaning there, but I just don't get it.
The Taxidermist's Other Wife ☆☆☆☆
Whoo! *dusts off hands* This one is creeeepy! It comes right after the fairly creepy Dreadful Young Ladies and just ups the creep factor x10000000000. I hate, hate, HATE taxidermy, looking at it, smelling it, it just makes me want to throw up. So this story was, pretty much my worst nightmare. But um, it's good?
Elegy to Gabrielle: Patrin Saint of Healers, Whores, and Righteous Thieves ☆☆☆☆.5
Oh good, this one's hardly creepy at all! I got to read some more beautiful words talking about birds and the ocean, and- and- Oh, it was good. I love pirate stories, and Gabrielle was one badass pirate lady. Like with Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch and The Taxidermist's Other Wife I enjoyed the unique POV of Gabrielle's father, getting only the information he would have access to.
Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake ☆☆☆☆
You get a creepy story! And you get a creepy story! Everybody gets a creepy story! This is a really good story, though. I love how the story is organized, taking little snippets of plot here and there to make it all (at least, sort of) fit together. As with almost all of these, I love how there's this theme of harmony with nature, and bending reality. This is speculative fiction falling off the deep end. This is where reality goes to die.
The Insect and the Astronomer: A Love Story ☆☆☆☆☆
Oh look! More gays! And there are absolutely no representation issues here. I love how this story doesn't even blink at the fact that both the insect and the astronomer are male. So what? It is a beautiful, complicated, weird love story. (My only complaint is that I didn't quite understand why that one scene with the elderly couple was there, since it didn't end up doing anything except increasing the tension, but maybe I'm just missing something.)
The Unlicensed Magician: ☆☆☆☆☆
If you didn't like this story, you probably didn't like the book much. This is an actual novella, with all of Barnhill's signature strangeness running wild. I adored it, and it really pulled the whole book together for me. All the applause. All the applause.
July 2, 2018
I've only read the first story so far. It's about a widow who starts dating Bigfoot. It made me weep, it was so beautiful. I'm not kidding.
April 11, 2018
It’s hard to assign one rating to a collection of short stories. There were definitely a few in here that stood out to me as exceptional, and some I didn’t love as much. But overall Kelly Barnhill’s imagination and expression are lovely.
April 25, 2018
The ladies in
Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories
aren't dreadful so much as they are: rebellious, powerful, magical, revolutionaries, ghosts, lovers, and saints.
My favorite story was Elegy to Gabrielle, in which a magical daughter is borne out of the sinful coupling between a clergyman and a gifted woman. I loved the religious and subtle feminist undertones, reminiscent of stories I used to read about Catholic saints, minus the more horrific torturous aspects.
In Open the Door and the Light Pours Through, a young man writes love letters to his beloved, while at the same time struggling to understand his own sexuality, displaying through his prose that love is genderless and in letting go of your fears means letting go of conformity and doubt.
Overall, I enjoyed aspects of all of the stories though some were too vague and short and I craved more details and exposition.
Also, and I don't know what this says about me (no, wait, I do) but I was hoping for more darkness, revenge and power, from these ladies and the havoc and passion they are capable of wreaking.
I noticed a recurring theme in most of these stories in which birds and flowers appear in the presence of these otherworldly females. A bit corny and cliche, but maybe its because I don't like flowers and the only birds I like are the smart ones who can talk like African Greys and cockatoos.
I've never read any of the author's previous books but I think I'll check them out now.
My favorite story was Elegy to Gabrielle, in which a magical daughter is borne out of the sinful coupling between a clergyman and a gifted woman. I loved the religious and subtle feminist undertones, reminiscent of stories I used to read about Catholic saints, minus the more horrific torturous aspects.
In Open the Door and the Light Pours Through, a young man writes love letters to his beloved, while at the same time struggling to understand his own sexuality, displaying through his prose that love is genderless and in letting go of your fears means letting go of conformity and doubt.
Overall, I enjoyed aspects of all of the stories though some were too vague and short and I craved more details and exposition.
Also, and I don't know what this says about me (no, wait, I do) but I was hoping for more darkness, revenge and power, from these ladies and the havoc and passion they are capable of wreaking.
I noticed a recurring theme in most of these stories in which birds and flowers appear in the presence of these otherworldly females. A bit corny and cliche, but maybe its because I don't like flowers and the only birds I like are the smart ones who can talk like African Greys and cockatoos.
I've never read any of the author's previous books but I think I'll check them out now.
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