Book Review: Vacations from Hell
I will preface this by saying that I generally dislike short stories. You don't have enough time in so few words to latch onto the characters, the plot, AND the prose. Generally at least one of the three will suffer.
I'm happy to say, however, that this is not ALWAYS the case. There are a few incredibly gifted authors that manage to pull it off!
My favorite in this collection (not surprisingly) was the story penned by Cassandra Clare: The Mirror House.
This story is told in first person present tense, and that worked unbelievably well! (My list titled "Authors who Successfully Use Present Tense" is now a whopping TWO names long!!!) I'm not going to go too much into the plot of these stories, but I will say that if you liked Jace/Clary...this story has a little something in it for you. ;) The story itself was haunting and I LOVED the ending, but it is always so hard for me to decide if I enjoy the story or the prose better in works by Cassie. I love them both so much it's impossible to tell. The way she manipulates the English language, and the vivid, constant use of descriptive simile makes me green with author envy. This short story alone was well worth the price of the book!
"I try to read, but the words dance on the page like the sunlight dances over the pool water. This kind of weather makes everything dance."
Seriously. There are no words to describe my love.
Also really enjoyable was the story by Libba Bray (who, in case you were wondering, is the other author on that list titled "Authors who Successfully Use Present Tense")
This quote alone should make you want to read this story. "Dude," Baz whispered in my hear, his white-boy dreads tickling the side of my face. "Did the creepy old lady just say 'bump asses with evil?'"
It was really fun to read something so DIFFERENT from Libba. I'm in love with her Gemma Doyle trilogy, but it's nice to see that she can pull off something completely different as well! Such a talented lady!
I also loved Maureen Johnson's story. If you aren't following Maureen online, you really should be. As funny as her blogs are, this story read much the same way. It was such a refreshing read, and I couldn't put it down!
Claudia Gray and Sarah Mlynowski both wrote fun stories as well. All in all, this entire collection is well worth the read!
I'm happy to say, however, that this is not ALWAYS the case. There are a few incredibly gifted authors that manage to pull it off!
My favorite in this collection (not surprisingly) was the story penned by Cassandra Clare: The Mirror House.
This story is told in first person present tense, and that worked unbelievably well! (My list titled "Authors who Successfully Use Present Tense" is now a whopping TWO names long!!!) I'm not going to go too much into the plot of these stories, but I will say that if you liked Jace/Clary...this story has a little something in it for you. ;) The story itself was haunting and I LOVED the ending, but it is always so hard for me to decide if I enjoy the story or the prose better in works by Cassie. I love them both so much it's impossible to tell. The way she manipulates the English language, and the vivid, constant use of descriptive simile makes me green with author envy. This short story alone was well worth the price of the book!
"I try to read, but the words dance on the page like the sunlight dances over the pool water. This kind of weather makes everything dance."
Seriously. There are no words to describe my love.
Also really enjoyable was the story by Libba Bray (who, in case you were wondering, is the other author on that list titled "Authors who Successfully Use Present Tense")
This quote alone should make you want to read this story. "Dude," Baz whispered in my hear, his white-boy dreads tickling the side of my face. "Did the creepy old lady just say 'bump asses with evil?'"
It was really fun to read something so DIFFERENT from Libba. I'm in love with her Gemma Doyle trilogy, but it's nice to see that she can pull off something completely different as well! Such a talented lady!
I also loved Maureen Johnson's story. If you aren't following Maureen online, you really should be. As funny as her blogs are, this story read much the same way. It was such a refreshing read, and I couldn't put it down!
Claudia Gray and Sarah Mlynowski both wrote fun stories as well. All in all, this entire collection is well worth the read!