Review - Pretty Monsters

Pretty Monsters

Kelly Link

2/5 Stars

I can't bring myself to give this book a one out of five stars – I just can't. Maybe it's because I bought the book based on the absolutely stunning cover. It's so pretty! The pages are even lined in black, which I never see done in the world of fiction. I love looking at it on the shelf – and only a select few know (and now you do, too!) that my copy is both upside down and backwards.

I thought to myself – Neil Gaiman gave the book (or perhaps just Link herself) a positive review – how could I go wrong? A book of odd short stories for the YA audience – sounds great!

Well...it wasn't great. It wasn't even good. It was sort of okay at points...but not even “okay” enough for me to finish all of them. I read through about half of them and just couldn't bring myself to finish the rest of the stories.

The one story I enjoyed – The Wizards of Perfil – was too short. I wanted to know more, I wanted it to continue. The other stories were just boring and not well thought out. It felt as though Link had a grain of an idea but could only expand it far enough to short story range.

But it's so pretty!

Whoa, whoa – slow down. Unless you're looking for an awesome looking book end, please steer clear of this one. Even my husband couldn't bring himself to finish it – and he finishes EVERYTHING – even if he hates it.

In all honesty, the book should be getting a 1 – simply because I couldn't bring myself to finish it. I can't though. Or I won't. The artist in me would yell too much.