November 2022 monthly read: J.A.W. McCarthy's Sometimes We're Cruel

[Bill]

"When Your Ghost Comes In" is the funniest thing I've read in many weeks. McCarthy is obviously having so much fun with horror and teen highschool tropes, twisting them to the breaking point. It's all relentless and over-the-top, and I was laughing through most of it, while flinching at Beau's matter-of-fact "solutions" to her predicament. (I was surprised by what she planned for poor Tommy, but I did see Curtis' maneuver coming.) So good, and so different from most of the other stories in the collection.

Which made "Contrition (1998)" an even greater disappointment. It's been decades since I read any Stephen King, and I don't have nice things to say about his prose, sorry; not sure I recall enough to make connections here. I have a soft spot for "cursed film" narratives, but "Contrition" is all over the place. I thought there were too many unnecessary characters, and the dialog and action were sprawling.

[Bill]

Vanessa wrote: "I wasn't that into "The Flames That Take." I do like that it has more dialogue than the other stories. I think the author writes really good dialogue between friends."

The consensus here (which is rather remarkable so far) seems to be "Flames..." is one of weaker stories in the collection. There's also great dialog (mostly in fragments) in "When Your Ghost Comes In".

[Bill]

Vavita wrote: "Something all the girls want.
This was creepy! The grandma and the doll were too much."

I agree. And I liked Maya's ambivalence regarding Grandma and the doll. But I felt it lacked a little something. Were each of the little dolls supposed to be connected to specific external events, like the fourth one?

[Charlene (Char)🍁☕️📚]

@Schalka yes! I’ll have to check out the link! I honestly seen the post and really didn’t give it a second thought.

[Vanessa]

I didn't love "You Are the Arm." (view spoiler)[I liked all the scenes with the landlady and Theda's characterization. The twist of her giving Paul to the house didn't really work for me. (hide spoiler)]

With "When Your Ghost Comes In," (view spoiler)[I liked that there wasn't any resolution about if Natalie reciprocated Beau's feelings. (hide spoiler)]

[Vanessa]

Vavita wrote: "Contrition

To be honest, this story sounded a bit like Stephen King. I cannot pinpoint which book it reminded me of. I liked it very much."

I did not think of it while I was reading the story, but it does remind me a bit of Needful Things.

I think I would have liked the story more if it was novella length. The plot is interesting, and I like the characters, even if I had a hard time keeping track of a few of them. I felt rushed.

[Schalka]

Contrition

Same as Bill and Vanessa I had some issues with this one. I didn't like it very much but I couldn't point my finger on it. Maybe too many characters in there was a reason. In general I am not a fan of stories with a huge number of characters...

[Charlene (Char)🍁☕️📚]

With you as my anchor- now this story I did enjoy it really reminded me of a codependency relationship. I would have loved if there were a few more pages in the story.

[Bill]

"Girls Tied to Trees" was impressive. The popular girls clique seemed innocent enough, and we got small dark misleading hints of what's coming. But I was again surprised by the reveals in the last couple pages. Maybe the treatment could have been tightened a little, but I'll remember this one for awhile.

I read this as an e-book, but like it a lot and will get a paper copy ASAP.

[Charlene (Char)🍁☕️📚]

Hellos!
Black doves not really my favorite

Those who made us now this storyline was good but had an extra layer of complexity.

[Bill]

Has everyone finished the book yet? This has been one of our most active monthly reads this past year; thanks to everyone who participated!

What shall we do for December? I have an idea:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Vavita]

It was a great book!

[Vanessa]

Bill wrote: "Vavita wrote: "Something all the girls want.
This was creepy! The grandma and the doll were too much."

I agree. And I liked Maya's ambivalence regarding Grandma and the doll. But I felt it lacked ..."

(view spoiler)[My thought was that each of the dolls represented a member of the family. I think that aspect could have been more clear. Maya and the stepfather were the only two that had big hints. I thought the one doll sounded more like the grandmother than the other remaining doll, but the mother's doll was just the one that wasn't someone else. (hide spoiler)]

I liked "Girls Tied to Trees" a lot. I feel like the author did a good job of writing characters at that age and using how weird they are to add to the horror.

This collection is going to get 5 stars from me. November ended up being an unexpectedly busy month for me, but I kept wanting to get back to these stories. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

[Charlene (Char)🍁☕️📚]

Hi! I’m still reading it’s hard trying to read plus working 10 hour work days
The flame that takes was a good sorry ! I liked how there was a lot of mystery to it but still good.
You are the arm I’m up in the air about this one but I wish it could’ve been longer
Currently reading exactly as you are

[Bill]

December's poll is up!
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Please vote by Friday 12/2.

If you vote for a book and it wins, you are committing to participate in the conversations by posting at least one message.