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Pretty Monsters

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 2,253 ratings · 443 reviews

The crossover literary sensation...now in paperback!

Through the lens of Kelly Link's vivid imagination, nothing is what it seems, and everything deserves a second look. From the multiple award- winning "The Faery Handbag," in which a teenager's grandmother carries an entire village (or is it a man-eating dog?) in her handbag, to the near-future of "The Surfer," whose nar...more

Paperback, 405 pages

Published June 10th 2010 by Speak (first published October 2nd 2008)

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Nov 15, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Breanna F. for TeensReadToo.com

PRETTY MONSTERS is a collection of nine short stories; all of which were quite interesting. Here is a sentence or two about each story...

1. The Wrong Grave - Miles Sperry decides to dig up his dead girlfriend, Bethany Baldwin, to get back some poetry that he wrote for her after she died and wasn't smart enough to make copies of. When he opens the grave, he has discovered that it is the wrong one. Now he's got some strange dead girl following him around...more Reviewed by Breanna F. for TeensReadToo.com

PRETTY MONSTERS is a collection of nine short stories; all of which were quite interesting. Here is a sentence or two about each story...

1. The Wrong Grave - Miles Sperry decides to dig up his dead girlfriend, Bethany Baldwin, to get back some poetry that he wrote for her after she died and wasn't smart enough to make copies of. When he opens the grave, he has discovered that it is the wrong one. Now he's got some strange dead girl following him around all night.

2. The Wizards of Perfil - This is about a boy named Onion and a girl named Halsa. Onion's parents have died and Halsa's mother is watching after him and the other children. While in the market of Perfil, she sells Onion to someone who says they will take him to the Wizards of Perfil. For some reason, they bring Onion right back and take Halsa instead. Once Halsa is there, she discovers that the Wizards are incredibly vain and super lazy. But there is something that neither Onion or Halsa knows about the wizards.

3. Magic for Beginners - A boy named Jeremy Mars and a few of his friends are obsessed with a show called The Library. Jeremy's mother and father have some problems getting along because Jeremy's father is a writer. When his father puts Jeremy in one of his books and then kills him off, his mother insists that she and Jeremy go to Las Vegas to see the wedding chapel she has inherited from her late sister. But Jeremy is afraid that he'll miss the next spontaneous episode of The Library!

4. The Faery Handbag - Genevieve's grandmother, Zofia, has a mysterious handbag that is apparently a family heirloom and over 200 years old. She never lets the bag out of her sight. Zofia tells Genevieve crazy stories about how a whole little village lives in that bag, and a nasty dog, too. If you open it up and aren't careful, you could get sucked into the handbag and not come out for years, even if you are only in the bag for one day. When Zofia dies, Genevieve is to be the keeper of the bag, but once Zofia is gone Genevieve can't find the handbag anywhere.

5. The Specialist's Hat - Samantha and Claire are identical twins who live with their father on the second story of a huge house. Their father is writing the history of the Eight Chimneys where they are currently living. Samantha and Claire have a babysitter who tells them about The Specialist, who apparently goes around the house killing people and that she herself used to live there and has seen The Specialist when she was younger. Things get a little creepy when The Specialist himself shows up that night.

6. Monster - Bungalow 6 has to go on their campout before camp ends for the summer. It's pouring out but they still want to go. The boys from Bungalow 4 say they saw a monster and they are determined to see it. James Lorbick is kind of the loser of the cabin, and Bryan Jones dares him to put on a dress once they've set up camp. He puts it on and ends up wearing it most of the night. When their counselor, Terence, goes down the hill to help out a female camper, the monster shows up...

7. The Surfer - Dorn is kidnapped by his father and taken to Costa Rica to see the elusive Hans Bliss, who was picked up by aliens years before and was told that they would come back to Earth some day. After landing in Costa Rica, they are quarantined because of the flu pandemic that has been killing for quite some time now.

8. The Constable of Abal - After Ozma's mother, Zilla, has killed the constable of Abal, they flee to a place called Brid that Ozma hates. Back in Abal, ghosts were quite the fashion. Zilla made them that way, but in Brid Ozma's mother acts like she despises ghosts and makes Ozma dress as a boy.

9. Pretty Monsters - Lee and her friends Nikki, Maureen, and Bad capture Czigany and (not on purpose) her sister, Parci, for Czigany's "ordeal" which is a ritual in their all-girls school. While on Lee's aunt's farm, Lee keeps pulling out her current book about a girl named Clementine and a boy named Cabell.

I enjoyed each of these stories. A few of them were so far-fetched and crazy! You can definitely tell that Ms. Link has a crazy imagination, which is incredibly awesome. I think my favorite story of the bunch was Monster. The ending of that one was just so strange to me, and also sort of funny. If you're in the mood for some crazy out-of-this-world stories, then this book is definitely for you. This would be a great one to read during the Halloween season because of all the spooky aspects and whatnot. (less)

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Oct 03, 2008 Imogen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

RAD BUT CAVEAT

Y'know how people will be like, 'I don't really listen to rap stuff, but I really liked that Nas album,' or whatever, and then you know that Nas album is probably not super representative of hip-hop? I don't really read fantasy, or sci-fi, but I fuckin love Kelly Link. I'm like, I guess these count as fantasy stories lots of the time, and that's clearly the community Ms Link is coming from, and about which she tends to talk, but still, her stories engage me in a way that genre stuf...more

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Oct 26, 2008 Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This wonderful book gathers 9 of Kelly Link’s stories in her first collection published for teens. Most of the stories have appeared in other books but old fans will welcome having them together and those unfamiliar with Link’s work will surely join the ranks of admirers. Her work is truly unique and blend horror, fantasy, and science fiction. While being extremely funny in a dead pan, sneak-up-on-you way, Link has a very sharp eye for human foibles. Whether she is writing about a handbag that h...more

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Jan 20, 2009 Monica Edinger rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: award-worthy, fantasy

Absolutely superb. I always meant to read me some Kelly Link and am so glad I finally did. I loved each and every completely different story in this collection. Link is clever, witty, imaginative, and remarkable. And she writes like a dream. So many wonderful lines and bits. Here's just a tiny one I thought was hilarious (partly because of a certain writer-of-a-very-famous-boy-wizard's overuse of a certain part of speech): "The goats are sneezing emphatically." (In the title story, page 285.) Th...more

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Feb 23, 2009 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2009, fiction, young-adult

There are nine short stories in Kelly Link's collection, Pretty Monsters. I picked this up without realizing that I'd actually read two of them before, both offered in other YA short story collections I had loved. Unfortunately, those two stories proved to be the best of the lot. There is one other story I liked. The rest have promise but tend to fall a bit flat. Reviews of each are below. Overall, however, 3 good stories out of 9 is not a great record. It's really frustrating because Link is a...more

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Nov 30, 2008 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, short-stories, young-adult, lis567

This collection of fantastical short stories covers a wide range of styles, moods and lengths, but they all include an element of the mysterious, the mythical, or the other-wordly. Some stories feature contemporary teens in odd situations, like the girl in “The Faery Handbag” searching for her grandmother’s handbag which contains another world. Other stories offer high fantasy, aliens, the undead, and bizarre TV shows that you’ve never seen, but “you wish you had.” Each story feels unique and un...more This collection of fantastical short stories covers a wide range of styles, moods and lengths, but they all include an element of the mysterious, the mythical, or the other-wordly. Some stories feature contemporary teens in odd situations, like the girl in “The Faery Handbag” searching for her grandmother’s handbag which contains another world. Other stories offer high fantasy, aliens, the undead, and bizarre TV shows that you’ve never seen, but “you wish you had.” Each story feels unique and uniquely satisfying, and the strength of the writing makes this a wonderful collection. The decorations compliment the stories nicely, opening each one along with a tantalizing quote from the story, making it hard to finish one story without immediately jumping in to the next.

Book talk:

“Jeremy has always wondered about what kind of television shows the characters in television shows watch. Television characters almost always have better haircuts, funnier friends, simpler attitudes toward sex. They marry magicians, win lotteries, have affairs with women who carry guns in their purses. Curious things happen to them on an hourly basis. Jeremy and I can forgive their haircuts. We just want to ask them about their television shows.” That’s from a story called “Magic for Beginners,” in Kelly Link’s new collection, Pretty Monsters. The story is about an episode of a TV show called The Library, and in this episode, the characters – including Jeremy – love to watch The Library. It’s a TV show that’s always on at a different time, on a different channel, and you can get an alert when one of the websites thinks it might be on soon. The main character, Fox, is played by a different actor each time, and all of the action takes place in a giant library, with Forbidden Books and renegade librarians and ghosts. “You’ve never seen The Library,” the story tells us, “but I bet you wish you had.” There are lots of other fantastical stories in this collection, and each one is fascinating and bizarre in a different way. There’s the kid who digs up the wrong grave, the handbag that contains another world, the monster that eats campers, and the girls who may or may not turn into animals at sunset. It’s a great book to read all the way through, or you can flip through and find a story that sounds interesting – and none of them will let you down.(less)

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Dec 03, 2008 Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-books, favorites, older-teens

In a series of 9 stories, I liked 7 a whole bunch, 1 a little bit, and 1 not at all. But as the song goes, 7 1/2 outta 9 ain't bad. Even when I didn't like a story or found it ok, I was awed by Kelly Link's writing. I have read a ton of great books by great writers. Link surpasses every single one of those writers by a mile, at least. She's so compelling readable and every one of her words and thoughts are pitch perfect I just don't know how I haven't read anything by her before. In fact, I'm em...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jane by: Alethea

Shelves: short-stories, young-adult, home-library, yabc

First book of fantasy short stories I've read. It's great! I wished that some of the stories were novels instead.

Stories:

The Wrong Grave - Miles Sperry digs up the wrong grave of his dead girlfriend. The dead girl follows him.

The Wizards of Perfil - I really liked this one. Halsa is sold as a servant to the wizards of Perfil. Many strange things happen. Her wizard never talks to her.

Magic for Beginners - A story centered around a television show called The Library. The show is weird! No one kno...more

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Oct 27, 2008 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: writing teachers

Shelves: young-adult-teen

I'm not sure I like Link's stories as much as I admire them. I like a linear narrative, and Link is non-linear. I like a strong resolution, preferably happy (yes, I read like a 12 year old girl) while most if not all of Link's stories are open-ended. I like my fantasy grounded in reality, while Link's stories are nothing if not surreal. But though I have only read two of these previously published stories before, I was surprised at how many times I went back to see how she constructed characters...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Erik Erickson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anthologies, prose, fantasy, fiction, short-story

This is the second book I've picked up at a dollar store and ended up loving. The first was Double Jeopardy: Car Wars 2, when I was about 13 or 14 years old.

I've had a sample of Kelly Link's Stranger Things Happen on my iPad for over a year. I never got around to reading past the first story, although it wasn't for lack of interest.

When I saw this, her latest collection, in hardback at a dollar store before Valentine's day, I couldn't believe it. So I took it as a sign.

I love this collection....more

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Jan 04, 2009 Roseann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of my favorite collection of short stories...love the time-eating handbag one, you'll have to read it to see about it! Highly recommended!

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Jan 20, 2009 Clickety rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'll have to read this again sometime, because I was kind of 'eh' about it. Bummer. I really thought I'd like it. I guess I like when stories balance out the weird and the ordinary, like they converge and depend on each other. When it's a bunch of meandering weird? not so much.

I'd read The Faery Handbag and ... uh... the one about the dead girlfriend... I think that's all... in other collections. I read the one about the TV show, also, and then I started one other (can't remember which) before...more

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Jan 17, 2009 Anina Ertel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories, teen

I am absolutely in love with this. The stories are a mix of science fiction and fantasy with a little bit of teen romance thrown in. They are waaaay out there but she pulls it off wonderfully. The only criticism I would have of this book is that it's a little nichy, I don't see it having super wide teen appeal. But those who love it will love it. Like me.

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Nov 07, 2008 oriana marked it as to-read · review of another edition

I will read anything by Kelly Link.

Um so if any of my super-cool bookstore / publishing friends stumble upon a proof or arc of this, I'll do something really nice for you in exchange. Like, uh, talk about your awesomeness incessantly.

****

Omigod why haven't I gotten this book yet.

If you, like me, are in the throes of Kelly Link withdrawal, check out this rad interview with her here.

(And I'll just save you the trouble of Wikipedia-ing on the last answer.)

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Dec 11, 2012 Cleo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pretty Monsters is a book of short stories by Kelly Link. Some of them are very grim, and others darkly humorous. The first one, for example. It's about grave-digging, but actually it is funny in a grim sort of way (at least, I thought the ending was.) The second story, The Wizards of Perfil was one I quite enjoyed, about a boy named Onion and distinctly unhelpful wizards. Really, all of the stories have a humorous side to them, but definitely not light humor. Magic for Beginners tells of this g...more Pretty Monsters is a book of short stories by Kelly Link. Some of them are very grim, and others darkly humorous. The first one, for example. It's about grave-digging, but actually it is funny in a grim sort of way (at least, I thought the ending was.) The second story, The Wizards of Perfil was one I quite enjoyed, about a boy named Onion and distinctly unhelpful wizards. Really, all of the stories have a humorous side to them, but definitely not light humor. Magic for Beginners tells of this group of teenagers who are obsessed with a certain TV show, The Library. The Faery Handbag is about a girl whose grandmother has a handbag in which a whole village of people live. The Specialist's Hat is about a mysterious house called Eight Chimneys, once inhabited by a strange poet (but now by a pair of twins and their father) and an undead babysitter. Monster tells of a camp in North Carolina...and a monster. There are three other stories, including the title story, Pretty Monsters, but I won't go into their plots. You want to be surprised a little, right? I think my favorite story was The Faery Handbag; it was really beautiful in a way. My least favorite story was The Surfer, a story about aliens and the flu. It wasn't funny at all, and very, very grim and scary. Too scary. But that's just me. The Surfer is probably the most chilling of them.

I really loved Pretty Monsters. All of the stories were entertaining. I had never read anything of Kelly Link's before, except one short story in her anthology Steampunk. Apparently, she has two other short story collections, which I would love to read. I feel like I'm not doing justice to the mood and quality of her short stories. Whether they're set in the real world, or an imaginary world, there's always something fantastical and also off-kilter about them. That's why I liked them. They also all end without a real-wrap or conclusion, which can be annoying at times, but it was effective, and I think Link succeeded very well in the feeling she was attempting to create. The title pretty much sums it up. Um, hello, they're monsters (or something else equally strange)?! But they're also pretty...somehow. Pretty Monsters is also, of course, one of the short stories, but I think it was the best one to choose for a title.

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Jan 13, 2013 Judith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I used to love short stories. As if words gain in strength when there is less of them (provided they have been put in the right order). Still somehow I lost interest. I got hooked on large volumes with prequels and sequels instead. Until now that is.

Did you ever notice there is always a link between the book you just read and the book you are reading right now? Some quirky detail in both, about a nut allergy or the color of the bathroom tiles? This time, the link is rather blatant. A shameless...more

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May 14, 2012 natalie chin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i liked this book a lot
it made me feel like through language alone other magical worlds could be constructed, where the rules of this reality do not apply
in spite of the 'magical' aspects of the book—witches, nursery rhyme characters, ghosts, aliens, monsters—these creatures existed alongside with human beings, and the point of these books weren't the presence of the spiritual/ghostly, but that in spite of these, humans still experience the same basic emotions, fear/yearning to belong/grief/desi...more i liked this book a lot
it made me feel like through language alone other magical worlds could be constructed, where the rules of this reality do not apply
in spite of the 'magical' aspects of the book—witches, nursery rhyme characters, ghosts, aliens, monsters—these creatures existed alongside with human beings, and the point of these books weren't the presence of the spiritual/ghostly, but that in spite of these, humans still experience the same basic emotions, fear/yearning to belong/grief/desire to love

it was also an easy read
i read this while i was on holiday
and was able to slip back into the 'fantasy' with ease

i liked this quote:

I didn’t fall in love with Jake because he was smart. I’m pretty smart myself. I know that smart doesn’t mean nice, or even mean that you have a lot of common sense. Look at all the trouble smart people get themselves into.

I didn’t fall in love with Jake because he could make maki rolls and had a black belt in fencing, or whatever it is that you get if you’re good in fencing. I didn’t fall in love with Jake because he plays guitar. He’s a better soccer player than he is a guitar player.

Those were the reasons why I went out on a date with Jake. That, and because he asked me. He asked if I wanted to go see a movie, and I asked if I could bring my grandmother and Natalie and Natasha. He said sure and so all five of us sat and watched “Bring It On” and every once in a while Zofia dropped a couple of milk duds or some popcorn into her purse. I don’t know if she was feeding the dog, or if she’d opened the purse the right way, and was throwing food at her husband.

I fell in love with Jake because he told stupid knock-knock jokes to Natalie, and told Natasha that he liked her jeans. I fell in love with Jake when he took me and Zofia home. He walked her up to her front door and then he walked me up to mine. I fell in love with Jake when he didn’t try to kiss me. The thing is, I was nervous about the whole kissing thing. Most guys think that they’re better at it than they really are. Not that I think I’m a real genius at kissing either, but I don’t think kissing should be a competitive sport. It isn’t tennis.

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May 14, 2011 Lightreads rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: collection, fantasy, fiction, science-fiction, young-adult

Kelly Link’s short stories are like other people’s dreams. Except usually when someone pins you down to tell you about a dream they just had because they’re so excited by how weird and meaningful it is, you’re like “…um, okay. Whatever.” Or maybe that’s just me. Other people’s subconsciouses? Boringly impenetrable.

But Kelly Link’s stories are like dreams we’ve all had. There’s something really down deep twisty and disturbing she gets at, some common psychological taproot of cultural metaphor thi...more Kelly Link’s short stories are like other people’s dreams. Except usually when someone pins you down to tell you about a dream they just had because they’re so excited by how weird and meaningful it is, you’re like “…um, okay. Whatever.” Or maybe that’s just me. Other people’s subconsciouses? Boringly impenetrable.

But Kelly Link’s stories are like dreams we’ve all had. There’s something really down deep twisty and disturbing she gets at, some common psychological taproot of cultural metaphor think. Because these stories, they don’t always make sense. They don’t often make sense. I finished several of them and went, “wait . . . what?” Except that they do make sense, somewhere down in the marshes. In a slippery way that’s hard to talk about.

“Magic for Beginners” – My favorite, I think. Which is odd, because it’s the New Weirdest of them all, and I’m not into New Weird. It’s about a fifteen-year-old boy and his friends who watch a TV show that might be from another dimension, and a wedding chapel in Vegas, and a painting, and first kisses and – well, it’s really about how we tell stories about people dying. It’s just awesome and fuckin’ weird, trust me.

“Monster” –An interrogation of the classic horror short story about boys at summer camp, while also being a really good one in its own right. Eek.

“The Surfer” – A kinda scifi kinda coming of age story about a teenaged boy in Costa Rican quarantine while the world waits to see how bad this flu epidemic will be, also aliens and soccer. One of the…younger stories, I think, but still so vivid and psychological.

“Pretty Monsters” – Another one that plays with classic horror tropes, but this time with a neat twist flip at the end to mess you up about who is the victim and who the monster, and to remind you that horror is really a perspective game.

“The constable of Abal” – One of the more obvious stories (an actual explanation and everything!) and so not one of my favorites.

You can’t download this entire collection, but a lot of Link’s work is available under Creative Commons. Though I highly recommend the audiobook of this collection -- it's a great production.
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Apr 10, 2011 Tim Storm rated it 5 of 5 stars

Here's the thing about Kelly Link's writing: even those stories that don't end in a satisfying way still stick with me for a long time. I first experienced this with "The Hortlak," the uber-weird story in Magic for Beginners that ultimately doesn't make much sense and that lacks resolution. But I kept thinking about the story, and eventually re-read it, taking as much or more pleasure in its world-building the second time around, even though I knew how it would (or wouldn't) resolve.

Link is les...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Nesa Sivagnanam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This one is supposed to be a collection of stories for young adults but it's great for adults as well. The tales have untrustworthy wizards, talking corpses, vampiric ghosts and undead babysitters. Here is an America where anything can happen and it usually does.

The book opens with “The Wrong Grave”, in which Miles, a teenage boy, digs up what he believes to be his girlfriend’s grave in an attempt to recover a sheaf of poetry so he can submit it to a contest.

In "Magic for Beginners", Jeremy Mar...more

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Oct 22, 2010 Gemma rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not quite sure why authors are writing stories with no attempts at a storyline, no interesting/likable characters and spewed little sentence fragments, and readers are like 'oh, wow, that's deep and well written'.

No. It's a bunch of shallow, underdeveloped junk that wishes it was well written, but failed. Rather epically, I'd say.

Some of these stories actually were interesting. Magic for Beginners would have made a really interesting novel. The concept of a TV show like the Librarian, and a...more

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Jun 16, 2010 Monster added it · review of another edition

Shelves: something-different-ya, reading-bites-ya

Kelly Link taps into teenagers’ darkest emotions in Pretty Monsters. The selfishness and ego of a boy who attempts to dig up his dead girlfriend’s grave so he can reclaim the poetry he buried with her; the anger and fear at being singled out; the cruelty friends and siblings can visit on each other; ambivalence toward parents; the unhealthy fantasies that shape thoughts and actions. The main characters in these stories aren’t always monsters, and they usually have sympathetic or likable characte...more Kelly Link taps into teenagers’ darkest emotions in Pretty Monsters. The selfishness and ego of a boy who attempts to dig up his dead girlfriend’s grave so he can reclaim the poetry he buried with her; the anger and fear at being singled out; the cruelty friends and siblings can visit on each other; ambivalence toward parents; the unhealthy fantasies that shape thoughts and actions. The main characters in these stories aren’t always monsters, and they usually have sympathetic or likable characteristics, but the stories depend on what’s going on beyond the façade. Her writing packs a powerful punch.

Link frequently uses metafictive devices, speaking directly to the reader from a story, or framing and linking multiple narratives. Although she uses these techniques skillfully, they can be confusing for readers used to linear narratives, and multiple readings can lead to a richer experience. A great example of this is the title story, “Pretty Monsters”, which fits three sets of girls together through books. Link also frequently ends her stories in an abrupt manner, which left this reader with her heart in her throat more than once! Two of my favorite stories, “Monster” and “The Cinderella Game”, used it quite effectively! Her writing is also very evocative. In “The Wrong Grave”, I can tell you exactly what Gloria looked like! There’s humor, too, although for the most part it’s very black.

Pretty Monsters contains stories across genres. Some are clearly set in a fantasy world, and one is even science fiction. I loved “The Wizards of Perfil”, which illustrates that there can be hope even when everything seems like an exercise in futility, but I would say that Link’s strength is in writing about the experiences of contemporary teens, infused with her own sense of the magical, eerie, and bizarre. Much of Link’s award-winning work is contained in this volume, so you get a good representation of what she has accomplished, as well as newer work. The illustrations by Shaun Tan and quotes that precede each story add a different perspective, and the cover design and art are striking.

Readers with a love for the bizarre and a clear memory of the teenage years, as well as the young adult audience these stories are intended for, will fall head over heels for these stories. Although it certainly isn’t for everyone, Pretty Monsters is an original and unique title that ought to be in every young adult collection. Highly recommended.

Contains: gravedigging, mild sexual references and kissing, violence and murder

Review by Kirsten Kowalewski

Kirsten gets a chance to interview Kelly Link, read the interview (http://www.monsterlibrarian.com/Kelly...)(less)

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May 05, 2010 Danielle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I originally picked up Pretty Monsters because of the kick-ass cover, and I actually considered bying it because the inside cover was adorned with glowing blurbs from some of my favorite authors, such as Holly Black, Alice Sebold, Garth Nix and Libba Bray. The summary itself was what sold me. Nine odd, quirky, perhaps a bit morbid tales involving a kid named Onion? I never stood a chance.

Pretty Monsters consists of nine short stories by Hugo award winner Kelly Link. The reviews thus far for them...more

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Jan 06, 2010 C.C. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pretty Monsters is a collection of short stories in which the first three stories made me break into tears at the end. Only halfway through did I notice these were sort of horror stories, and it was only by the end that I noticed they were written for young adults. I picked this up because I read a book of short stories by Joe Hill (Stephen King's brilliant son, who knew?)--then I looked at Joe Hill's website, and he mentioned how much he loved Kelly Link's strange settings and tone. Brilliant b...more

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Nov 18, 2009 Rosie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Stephen King once wrote that a short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger. Well, this book of short stories is like a quick peck on the cheek. Each story is short, pretty enjoyable, and leaves you wanting more. At first I was annoyed that each story did not really have an ending. It left me a little unsatisfied, but then I started thinking about how great this book could be to encourage teens to use their imagination more. If it wasn’t for the occasional curse word, I think som...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Renee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: au, anthology, death-murder, demons-ghosts-zombie, fairies-mermaids-angels, horror, magic, mystery, scifi-fantasy, werewolf, witches-shapeshifters-monsters, ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Okay so all in all this was an interesting read. I actually started it because on our way back from Cedar City and the Shakespearean Festival my boyfriend ~~SQQQUUUUEEE~~ ahem, he read two of these out loud. So I decided to give the book its due and finish it.

There were stories I liked, ones I didn’t care for and ones I was all, “eh.” The biggest issue I had was that a lot of the stories ended either a) abruptly (I don’t know if the author was trying for scary or what, this was mostly a FAIL) or b)...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Kirstyn McDermott rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I hadn't read very much of Kelly Link's work before I picked up this copy of Pretty Monsters. Now I must certainly read more. She writes with such a clear and seemingly simple style -- but of course it's not simple, far from it; that's the enviable trick -- and her stories are rich and magical and always leave you with a very satisfied feeling.

In Pretty Monsters, the stories all revolve around young protagonists and Link write convincingly in their voices, and of their concerns, their anxieties,...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Leanna rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Gene Wolfe's New Sun series, fans of magic and inexplicable but intoxicating stories

Shelves: magic, other-worlds, fantastical-supernatural, covers-i-love, wishlist

A successful book makes you actively take part in reading it - you can't skim through paragraphs and half-read it while watching TV or something. This was that kind of book - (almost) every story was one that gripped me, made me focus on what I was reading (because it was so, so confusing/enthralling/unreal/magical/absurd/nonsensical/gripping), and made me think: I wish I could write like this.

The thought that actually occurred to me while reading this was: I didn't realize you could write like...more

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Dec 12, 2009 rachel rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: abandoned, from-library, 2009, ya, sci-fi-fantasy

One night, I read the first story and thought, "This is fun and original!". I read the second story that same night and thought, "Wow, I may be in love with Kelly Link!". I went to bed, went to work the next day, and recommended this book to everyone who may be interested, antsy to get home and keep reading.

My enthusiasm waned a little bit at the beginning of "Magic for Beginners". I thought, "There's a lot of quirk here for the sake of quirk, and this story is not making a lot of sense. These...more

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Feb 13, 2009 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Before I began this review, I read some other opinions on-line. It isn't that I didn't know my opinion of the stories so far, but I wasn't sure if I was alone. Kelly Link is a good writer. By that I mean Kelly Link is very creative and does write interesting narratives. That being written I don't particularly like these stories. I am a little more than halfway through them and have found only one or two that I can honestly write I enjoyed. The few I have found interesting were also beyond creepy...more

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About Kelly Link

Kelly Link is an American author of short stories born in 1969. Her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: sometimes a combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and realism.

Books by Kelly Link

Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories

The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet

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Quotes from Pretty Monsters: Stories

“Nobody tells her to shut up. It would be pointless. Amy has a large heart and an even larger mouth. When it rains, Amy rescues worms off the sidewalk. When you get tired of having a secret, you tell Amy.
Understand: Amy isn't that much stupider than anyone else in the story. It's just that she thinks out loud.” — 8 people liked it

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