Amanda’s Reviews > Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart: And Other Stories > Status Update
Amanda
is on page 237 of 261
A Haunted Calendar: This is, again, a huge case for needing an introduction to give your stories context. In watching a video with the author I found out that this story began as a series of tweets for the month of October. This explains the format and the limitations it creates, and while I think writing tweet ghost stories is an interesting idea, it didn’t really work for me. A few had promise, overall 3 stars.
— Jun 26, 2024 04:31PM
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Amanda’s Previous Updates
Amanda
is on page 254 of 261
The Plums at the End of the World: I thought this one was sad, but effective. I liked how this one developed and how the chapters unfolded different sections of the story. Not my favorite, but fairly solid. 4 stars.
— Jun 26, 2024 07:00PM
Amanda
is on page 229 of 261
Homebody: This one just wasn’t for me. I get what it’s doing (it’s a pretty clear and direct metaphor) but I just didn’t enjoy it. I’m probably not the target audience for this one as I’ve never been in this situation myself. It was fine, just not one that’s going to stick with me. 3 stars
— Jun 24, 2024 11:13PM
Amanda
is on page 211 of 261
Possessions: I wish there were a bit more to this story, but I can see why there isn’t. And I know the “but then what happened?” isn’t the point of the story, but I still want to know. Still pretty satisfying, 4 stars.
— Jun 24, 2024 10:39PM
Amanda
is on page 195 of 261
Dear Henrietta: I love how this story unwinds itself as you go. The realizations grow along with an effective sense of creeping dread. 4 stars. Quite effective.
— Jun 24, 2024 01:40AM
Amanda
is on page 184 of 261
A Lily is a Lily: I feel like this story did exactly what it set out to do. Sometimes we love the idea of a person more than the actual person. 4 stars
— Jun 24, 2024 01:18AM
Amanda
is on page 170 of 261
Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart: This is a tough one. Again, I think I wanted to like the story more than I did. I loved the idea of weaving the story of the florists through the entries, but I don’t think it was in enough entires to be fully developed. There were 3 or 4 creatures I really loved, but all the entries were too short to really flesh out the beasts and it wasn’t internally consistent. 3 stars?
— Jun 23, 2024 11:46PM
Amanda
is on page 101 of 261
The Autumn Kill: I’m definitely missing something on this one. It’s fine, but I wish there were authors notes about the inspiration of some of these stories. I’m just not sure what this one was trying to say. 3 stars
— Jun 22, 2024 01:49AM
Amanda
is on page 92 of 261
Drowning Lessons: I’m seeing some parallels to addiction but also to chronic illness as well as how those things affect a family. Strong themes of isolation and being stuck. I liked this one, but I don’t think it will stick with me like some of the others. 3 stars
— Jun 22, 2024 01:01AM
Amanda
is on page 73 of 261
The War of Fog: Yup, I loved pretty much everything about that! I really appreciate how this one unfolded slowly, playing with expectations and then, once the reader realizes what’s going on, it all comes together beautifully. Easy 5 stars
— Jun 21, 2024 08:31PM
Amanda
is on page 59 of 261
Fox Jaw: I just spend the better part of an hour deconstructing this story to my husband and I think I’ve decided it’s a 3 star I really wanted to be a 4. I don’t think it works well in this collection and I simply may not be the best audience for this one. I get what this story was going for and it is, at times, beautiful, but it gets a little lost in its own preponderance of metaphor.
— Jun 21, 2024 02:38PM
