Thursday, November 19, 2020

(2) Short Story Reviews - Snowflakes; Ruth Ware and Treasure; Oyinkan Braithwaite

 I've long been an Amazon Prime member but, I've never really taken advantage of all the freebies being a subscriber affords: free eBooks, free movies and free music downloads and, I'm sure there are other benefits as well.  I decided to try some eBook downloads (10) maximum at one time and was pleasantly surprised by the (2) short stories I read.  What I loved about these short stories was that one was 37 minutes and the other 43 minutes so, it was perfect before bed reading on (2) consecutive nights.

(a collection of 6 brief political mysteries and psych thrillers)

Snowflakes was a fast an engrossing read that I was able to finish in about  (35) minutes.

A father who seems to be obsessed with guns seems to be quickly losing grips with reality. He forces his children (2) boys (2) girls to gather huge stones to build a tall wall around the property because of something bad that is about to happen.  A gun shot and a shout-out by the father that "their coming" and suddenly the family, minus the mother, escapes by boat with some essentials. What happened to the mother? What has really happened here? 

A dark story that was well-written and left me pleasantly surprised overall. Told from the POV of Leah an older daughter.   4 stars

                                                       Book # 2 Hush Series

Treasure is a young girl who lives in Nigeria obsessed with becoming an Instagram influencer with a huge following. She shows off expensive clothing and accessories with a background of her opulent, gated community.

@Sho4Sure is a mechanic; he is obsessed with Treasure and flirts with her online. He is obsessed with meeting her in person and, he eventually finds a way to make that happen - think "stalker".

An eye-opener and warning to those who pretend to be people they are not.  A surprise ending too. This was described as darkly comedic. I found it dark, indeed, comic? not so much.  The author of this one has also written My Sister the Serial Killer, it's one book I had meant to try but never did.  I plan to remedy that soon. 4 stars

12 comments:

  1. No comments about your book reviews, but wanted to say I like your new Blogger photo of the kitty wearing a mask!

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  2. I am a fan of short stories. These sound like good ones!

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  3. I am going to try find Treasure. I loved My Sister, the Serial Killer, which can also be seen an dark comedy so I guess I can anticipate what type of themes will be present in Treasure.

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  4. I get a lot of books here. Sometimes, I'm really lucky and find the beginning of a series or an author I've read and enjoyed. Other times, I take pot luck with assorted outcomes! :)

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  5. Ruth Ware now writes short stories?

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  6. The Ruth Ware story kind of surprised me, I guess because it was the first thing (and only thing) I read of hers. Her reputation is one of a crime/mystery/thriller writer, so I don't know how representative it is of her style, etc. I didn't expect this kind of story from her, but did enjoy the twists and turns it took.

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  7. I've been an Amazon Prime member for quite a few years and have read the free ebooks, but haven't watched any of the movies or listened to the music. I haven't read the Hush stories. I plan to now thanks to your reviews :)

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  8. Honestly, I wasn't even aware that there were freebies for Prime members, so you are ahead of me!

    These two short stories both sound intriguing and thought-provoking. I always mean to read more short stories but rarely do.

    Thanks for the reviews ... and for the heads up!

    Sue

    Book By Book

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  9. I think I have also missed out on Prime freebies. I didn't even know they were a thing so I'll have to check them out.

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  10. I’ve got the kindle unlimited freebie on just now and I’m the same I don’t think I make the most of it, I’ll definitely have a look for these though!

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