Review: The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls

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Book information:


Title: The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls


Author: Angela Sylvaine


Where to buy: Amazon, Apple Books and Barnes & Noble.



This review includes spoilers, read at your own risk.



'Bars are very sad places filled with people trying too hard to have fun, trying too hard to forget, and trying too hard to kill themselves, albeit slowly.'

- Emi (Sorry We're Open short story)


'A poetry of tastes that she wanted to share with me alone.'


- Tessa (Starved short story)



*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*


Inormation:

Cover: Gloomy, fits the book.

Table of content: Yes, well-arranged. 

Content warning: Yes, necessary, at the end of the book.


Likes: 

The book covers a huge variety of words. There is almost no repetition of any words and if so they are spread so that one doesn't notice it. Every kind of happiness and pain is described and the way blood is described left me want to read more. 


Description of surroundings even if it's short stories. Many forget to describe things when they write a short story and just focus on the story itself, but not it's surroundings, not what is around the protagonist. Just 'cause it's a short story doesn't mean one can leave that open. One must describe it. And the book did. 


'Playing Tricks' was my favourite short story out of this book (properly 'cause it's about mental health). + the ending was unexpected.


After 'Playing Tricks' I liked 'If Heard, Please Call' and I think it's worth making a full story out of this. The idea is so interesting and I think quite original and I really would look forward to reading a longer version of this short story.


It felt like each character got their own voice as the narrator forms (first and third person) changed for each story. That gave the effect that one is actually listening of a story of someone else.


Dislikes:

Unrealistically possessive over a dress, even after an accident happened 'cause of it, doesn't even let her boyfriend take it 'He is going to try and take the dress, but I can't let him. I have to protect it.' Only good reasoning for the boyfriend is the wedding, but still a bit over the top with the 'I need to protect that dress'. (The Bride story).


If she wanted to have the dress so desperately then why does she worry if it fits her? Didn't she look at the size before even considering buying the dress? That's a bit unlogical.


Grammatical mistake 'I have ever lied to her, but I have no choice' instead of 'I have never lied to her, but I have no choice'. At least that makes more sense. (Page 32). 


The end is always predictable of the short stories. 


The word cringe has been used too often and sometimes it didn't fit the situation. 


No blanket? Why no blanket? Why did the character not have a blanket? It costs less than renting an apartment so why wasn't she using a blanket? (The Bride story)


The genre 'LGBT' was there, I don't read LGBT stories, not 'cause I dislike people that are in that community, but 'cause I have no interest in reading it (unless it's manhwa). It wasn't labeled as a genre in the book before I read it.


Deliah (Antifreeze and Sweat Peas story) was punishing everyone who became evil, but not herself, which doesn't make sense for me. She saw only the evil in others, but not herself. That narcissistic behaviour of hers got on my nerves. 


Trigger warning for cannibalism was forgotten for the 'Return of the Wilderness Girls' story.



How it works: Only everything that is lower than 9 gets reduced from the final rating. Depending on how strong it inflicted the overall enjoyment of reading it affects differently. 


[ Story 6 / 10 ] -


[ Characters 8 / 10 ] -


[ Triggering 4 / 10 ] -


[ Topic/Genre 9 / 10 ] +


[ Writing style 9 / 10 ] +


[ Grammatic and spelling 9 / 10 ] +


[ Ending 9 / 10 ] +


Final Rating


3/5


If the short story 'The Bride' and 'Antifreeze and Sweat Peas' wasn't there then I think I actually would have rated the book a bit higher. They don't change the fact that some other's were boring, but these two stories made an great impact on my rating and I wished it wouldn't have as I really liked certain stories. I think the author made a great effort writing this book and I am glad I read it and found a few short stories that inspired me. 




Started the book: 03. March 2024

Finished the book: 04. March 2024

Wrote the review: 04. March 2024

Hi I'm Mika! Reviewer of ARC's but I also review published books. My favourite genres are horror, fantasy and graphic novels. I tend to be a strict reviewer, but my average rating for small presses is 3.7

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