Reviews

RUIN by Cara Hoffman

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Not all of the stories in here worked for me, but I loved the ones that did, and even the ones that didn't work did so in interesting ways. Extremely vibes based, more about giving you a picture of a character or characters and their situation than a full "story arc." I want more like this.

skiznitz's review

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5.0

I'm not typically a huge fan of short stories and for the most part that is true of this collection as well. However I really enjoyed the story "Childhood", which is what I'm leaving this five-star review for. :)

dougawells's review

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4.0

Wow - gritty, hard-edged, brilliant short stories. Not for the feint of heart, but so much to appreciate in the writing. I look forward to reading more.

amessyperfection's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Loved that this book felt both appropriate to read as surface level stories but also held so many details to go deeper. You know, given the physical time, mental space and emotional place.

mjkienbaum's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

simonenoelle1126's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

cebolla's review

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challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

Sometime around a decade ago, when I was living in Boulder and delivering parts for a living, I was rear ended and got concussed. I was slightly more confused than usual and things that would normally make sense, didn't make sense. It wasn't a good feeling. Reading this book brought me back to that place. It was written in English, but damned if I knew what the hell Hoffman was trying to say. There wasn't a single story that I can say I liked at all. I almost wish the book was longer, because than I would have probably given up about 50 pages in; but by the time I had reached that point I was already halfway done and felt like I had to finish.

I get that short stories are different, that they have to fit a lot into a short amount of space, and that they often end abruptly. That's fine, and definitely not the reason I didn't like this book. In fact, I can't really say why I didn't like it because I'm still so confused and angry that I had to spend a couple days of my ever-shortening life trying to read it.

If I get invited to a birthday party for someone I don't like, but I feel like I should go cause a bunch of my friends will be there, and everyone else is bringing a gift, I'd probably buy them this book.

On another note, this book was published by PM Press. I've been reading a big percentage of everything they publish for the past 17 years. This might be the first book of theirs that I straight up did not like.