KP Sanchez

I loved most of the stories but some just didn't do it for me but I guess that's the beauty of short stories collection. I love how Shirley Jackson writes, the way she builds up gloom and terror and the way she describes the setting makes it easy to really imagine the place. 

A very funny dark comedy/thriller. I feel sorry for Julie tho. It's like her mind just filters out any interactions that are real attempts at meaningful connection and deliberately chooses people who will not commit to her. It's very interesting as I know this kind of thing really happens IRL. 

Very powerful story. No reprieve. And what's wonderful is that it's still relevant—81 years since it first published. Every character in the story represents someone very real in where I live. It's heartbreaking. When will we ever learn?

Wtf??? I loved the plot twist and appreciated the mystery and the open ending. But it was wild ride, I enjoyed it. 

Great collection of short stories! It's the right amount of horror with social commentary. I still think about the plot of most of the stories in it. I particularly loved the Our Lady of the Quarry, The Well, Rambla Triste, and Kids Who Come Back. 

Interesting short stories. They don't have any destinations, they don't have any easily distinguishable point but fun read. I love how the author used the stories to show some different ways of presenting fiction. 

Good writing. Highsmith mastered the art of creating suspense. However, towards the end, the plot just felt hollow and somehow grasping. Still, looking forward to read other Highsmith masterpieces. 

Meh. Entertaining although the plot was predictable. 

Very emotional read. Tackles the dark reality that many of the abused don't speak up bc they blame themselves for what happened to them. Very insightful and bold in trying to depict the nuances of abuse. It's never really just between the abuser and the abused, there's the family, the loved ones, the people who judge, the people who want to understand, and the people who know but choose to turn a blind eye. One of the most compelling reads for me this year. 

Strong social commentary but very challenging prose. 

This book is a delightful surprise. It seemed slow at first but the twist at the end was a welcome surprise for me. I will reread this for sure. 

Fun and easy read. The premise of the story really enticed me to read it and I say with conviction that Otessa Moshfegh is a damn good writer. The story is darkly humorous and very human—the thoughts and insecurities of the protagonist aren't too hard to imagine bc they embody real thoughts and insecurities of women caught in between youth and adulthood. We all wanna be something, take up space, weigh more, socially. But we also wanna be left alone sometimes for fear of finding out that people may have never really wanted us around in the first place. Very well-written. 

However, plot-wise, this just didn't deliver what it seemed to be building up to. Many times, the story pointed to this one great thing that happened in the past. When we came to it, it just did not seem to be the type that warrants that level of warning and foreshadowing. 

Ambitious book. The premise was intriguing but poorly executed. There were so many points in the book where things didn't make sense and seemed reaching just to make the pictures relevant, as that's the whole point of the book. Still, I'd say entertaining but really didn't deserve the hype. 

Super dense writing. The story is great and is very compelling morally. But boy was this a hard read. There is an entire chapter dedicated only to describing things in painfully obscure words that I couldn't even get past 2 pages without checking the dictionary. Really killed my vibe to read more classics. 

it is not offering any substantive information on brainwashing and its history; i've read the note to the reader, the long-ass preface, and now I am almost done with chapter 1 and all those are looking more like a really long introduction on how the term “brainwashing” is being used and how it can be a new word for something that's always been there or a new word for a new phenomenon altogether, many times a way of term usage in an industry or by a different personality is mentioned and the next few pages are all about dissecting that usage

no factual presentation of brainwashing throughout the years and the different forms it had taken and how people were susceptible to it before and from which angle it may come at us now; these are acknowledged but not really discussed

although idk maybe these are premature observations and it'd get better in the end but thank god Goodreads reviews are public lol

Uninteresting stories that didn't seem to offer any sense. Much like Modern Times by Cathy Sweeney but this was more painful as each chapter nets a lot of pages only for the ending to have basically no rhyme or reason whatsoever.