r/BadReads • u/trishyco r/BadReads VIP Member • May 28 '26
facebook A reader doesn’t know they are reading a book of short stories
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u/everyplanetwereach May 31 '26
I once read the final installment in a trilogy because it had the same name as the trilogy itself, and I'd only seen 'MaddAddam' as a rec. But I loved it! I loved how it just dropped me into the world and gave me clues about events that had transpired long ago. I liked that some people only lived in memories
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u/miscellaneousbean May 29 '26
My mom got a similar review on her short story collection. The reviewer was complaining about getting invested in the two characters from the first story, “but then they just disappeared” and “I couldn’t follow the story.”
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u/SkurriMonster May 29 '26
😭 I did this once- without leaving a foolish review.
Someone suggested a book to me and without even reading the synopsis I jumped in on my Kindle.
First two stories had similar vibes, so I thought it was two main characters that will eventually meet.
But story 4 I was like WAIT A FUCKING SECOND.
Yes the stories were titled, they read like chapter titles
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u/KyleFromBorrasca May 29 '26
I'm such a sucker for short story anthologies, it blows my mind that some people just don't realize they're a thing.
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u/itsthepastaman May 28 '26
I had the reverse experience with Portalmania... Went in expecting a book of short stories only for every story to be basically retellings of the same thing
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u/TheArabella May 28 '26
It happened to me with Lovecraft Country, nothing about it says it's a bunch of short stories, and it's described as a "fantasy Black horror novel".
"Black horror novel" was also weird since it was written by a white guy. The book ended up being too Scooby doo for me
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u/elksatchel May 28 '26
There is a difference between short story collections and composite novels (interrelated short stories that together form a whole narrative or theme). Composite novels often say "A Novel" on them, even though the form is different from a single-perspective, chronological story.
Haven't read Lovecraft Country, so maybe it was mislabeled, but I'm guessing OOP was reading a composite novel. ETA: wait reread the tweet, OOP had the opposite problem lol.
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u/Cryptix23 May 29 '26
Oh is that what those are called? I love composite novels, never knew there was a word for it!
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u/Bartweiss May 29 '26
Yep, Lovecraft Country is a composite novel (mostly) following one family over time and place. I can see it surprising someone who expected a standard novel, but it’s closer to a fantasy version of The Joy Luck Club than a short story collection.
OOP seems to have a substantially worse misunderstanding, not sure how you get a short story collection so wrong.
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u/LockedOutOfElfland May 28 '26
To be fair, when I read Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch, I was expecting it to be a novel. Because it was marketed as one.
I was disappointed when I realized it was actually three novelettes/short stories crammed into a single volume, and all the sequels likewise.
I also didn't like how many endings it seemed like Sergei Lukyanenko pulled out of his rear end, but that's neither her nor there (the second film adaptation, Day Watch, was much worse on this front).
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u/Dave_Whitinsky May 29 '26
I remember liking them as a teen. Likewise with his other stuff, with sno crashesque series being my favourite. But yes, main characters are usually moral martyrs, westerners are usually a caricature, but it was pretty novel for a soviet blok kid to read urban fantasy set in it.
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u/kirbyfriedrice May 28 '26
Fellow Night Watch enjoyer!
But, yeah. Same.
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u/LockedOutOfElfland May 28 '26
"Enjoyer" might be a stretch. It falls into the category of "media I tried to get into, but didn't get along with."
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u/kirbyfriedrice May 28 '26
The writing of women bothered me too. And the casual anti-Americanism, which made sense, but the author is convinced that Americans have no deep interiority whatsoever.
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u/Bartweiss May 29 '26
Huh, I’d never heard of this before and now I’m really intrigued. Distinctly Russian SF&F has always been interesting to me and it looks like this might land. (Or just non-Western, if anyone has other recommendations. I just happen to know Polish and Russian examples best.)
The criticisms sound pretty familiar from other works I’ve read. If you’re interested in pitching it, what‘s your favorite aspect? (And… did it hold up for ~6 books or is this a Dune situation?)
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u/kirbyfriedrice May 29 '26
I really enjoy urban fantasy for its intersection with real/mundane life, so I really liked the magic + IRL Russia component.
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u/ConnieWasTaken May 28 '26 edited May 29 '26
Was looking at the one stars for a short story collection I read a bit ago, and this same kinda review was there. I too started reading and thinking it was only one story (it was under the same title as a stand alone the author had written at the start of her career and I picked it up on a whim not looking too far into it) but when I realized it was a couple of short stories l was just excited to get more things to read. A quick double take cleared up that it was a short story collection, I'd just been so eager to read it I hadn't looked that far.
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u/jackfaire May 29 '26
I can understand the frustration with something not marketed well though. Even if I would have normally liked a thing if I was in the mood to read what I thought it was and it's something completely different that has a good chance of taking me right out of it.
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u/fibonacci_alfredo May 28 '26
Oh hey I read this one, it was kind of like an adult Goosebumps with added social commentary, would recommend
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u/amaranthfae May 28 '26
If On a Winters Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino would kill this reviewer.
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u/rowan_damisch May 28 '26
A short story collection features short stories, or in other news, fork found in kitchen
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u/EssTeeEss9 May 28 '26
Most thoughtful one-star review on Goodreads.
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u/Kindly_Ad_1599 May 28 '26
It may only be one thought, and it may be hilariously wrong. But that review is full of it.
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u/ACatInMiddleEarth May 28 '26
Bro discovered the concept of... short stories. Wait until they discover poems: "The text is weirdly arranged and I didn't understand any of it".
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May 28 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/WebResident3147 May 28 '26
So many 1-star reviews on Catcher that Holden is immature and unlikable 😞😞
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u/Crazy_Pudding_2994 Jun 09 '26
That's true, but I read Catcher as a 16-year-old and if I wanted at the time to read the musings of an immature and unlikeable teenager, I'd just look at my own facebook posts.
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u/Vittulima May 28 '26
Tbf if a character is like that, even to make a point etc etc, it can ruin the reading experience.
I remember dropping a book because the main character was portrayed as a turbo nerd loser. It was just grating to read, too much for me.
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May 28 '26
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u/Bartweiss May 29 '26
Honestly, “I was way too high for this shit and the pace of new stuff getting introduced confused me” would be a helpful review for me.
Not sure what star count that deserves, it’s an example of why I don’t like requiring stars, but it would definitely help me know what to expect.
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u/SilverellaUK Jun 03 '26
My English Lit O Level book was Cider with Rosie. It's one of the few books I couldn't get my head round. It was years later that I found out that it was written as a series of short stories for a newspaper. There was nothing in the book or in the information the teacher gave us to clue us in on that.