Tag: Short Story Reviews

Story Reviews

The Scar Behind the Story. Commentary on Brecht De Poortere’s “Mango Fly”

Pauline Shen

Brecht De Poortere’s “Mango Fly” is a quick and masterful telling of losing one’s innocence. Besides the troubling realism contained in the opening line itself, you know the plot spells trouble when our young protagonist-narrator sums-up the family’s relationship with character Nepo by saying, “[w]e trusted him because he was handsome and strong as a gun.” If the narrative were a roller-coaster, this is the point at the highest part of the track just before you begin to feel the car tip over the edge. It’s a wild ride, but keep your eyes open.

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Story Reviews

A Piece of the Puzzle. Commentary on Mialise Carney’s “The Hydrangea Fairy”

Pauline Shen

In this first-person narrative, our nameless protagonist experiences an existential crisis personified in the form of a little fairy. This hydrangea fairy appears each night as our narrator is ready to fall asleep and begins nattering incessantly. This disrupts any chance of a full night’s sleep. The consequences are dire; our narrator is visibly wrecked and disheveled.

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Story Reviews

When Your Default Mode is Appeasement. Commentary on Elissa Matthews’s “A Good Man”

Pauline Shen

If you’ve gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelette, then what do you get if you spend your entire life side-stepping eggshells? In Elissa Matthews’s “A Good Man,” the narrator presents this very scenario. We see a man who is known for being, well… good.

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Story Reviews

It’s Not About the Guardrail. Commentary on Desiree Nippard’s “An Early Thaw”

Pauline Shen

In Desiree Nippard’s “An Early Thaw,” the reader witnesses a group of schoolchildren sending lanterns into the sky while playing a send-off tune on recorders. In this ceremony for the deceased, “[y]ou could hear every pause for breath, every off note from the shifting of small fingers as we all allowed the melody to seep into our souls.” (54) This coastal town is grieving, and the narrator reveals the cause with deep sensory descriptions that guide the reader with the right amount of grace and gentleness.

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Story Reviews

Wretched Creature. Commentary on Jennifer Milne’s “Gravy Boat Genie”

Pauline Shen

Writing a story that revolves around an unlikable, nay despicable, protagonist is a bold move. The classic example is Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” However, that protagonist resolves to change by seeing the error of his ways. In Jennifer Milne’s “Gravy Boat Genie,” our protagonist, who serves as narrator, obtains absolution by a different means.

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Story Reviews

Home is Where the Heart is. Commentary on Abigail Oswald’s “Camp for Sad Girls”

Pauline Shen

It’s that overpowering, unshakable feeling that disrupts any possible elation. Even when you’re in the brightest, most sensory-stimulating, and enriching place, homesickness sets in. Oh, summer camp. How we hate to love you. But we all do.

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Story Reviews

And Then There Were Three. Commentary on Miranda Manzano’s “Four Things”

Pauline Shen

Seen, heard, and known. It’s all anyone wants. Meet Stacey. Or, rather, come see the world through her eyes. She’s observing human nature unfold before her whilst working a fast food cashier job. Isn’t that the most likely place to see the very best and worst of humanity—on the front lines? In this case, it’s a Taco Bell.

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Story Reviews

Would it Smell as Sweet? A Commentary on Ace Baker’s “Not Julie… Yet”

Pauline Shen

Meet Julianna, a highly self-conscious and more-than-slightly-awkward high school student looking for love. It’s a story that may at first seem cliché, particularly as the narrative scaffolds on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet while also containing Palahniuk-style rules that serve as calls to action and reflections of lessons learned. However, writer Ace Baker has succeeded in crafting a tale that brings the reader inside Julianna’s world, capturing the reader’s attention and heart in a way that is fresh and exciting.

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Story Reviews

Eyes Half Closed or Half Open? A Commentary on Cecilia Januszewski’s “The Salmon Family Baptism”

Pauline Shen

Meet Bernadette and Moore Salmon, new parents who consider themselves first and foremost puppy parents to their dog, Thomas, rather than growing into their responsibility as human parents to the infant in this scene. In fact, Bernadette spends so much energy detaching herself from motherhood that she appears as a modern-day version of Bernice Pritchard from Steinbeck’s The Wayward Bus. Januszewski’s account of Bernadette’s visualization techniques to the point of obsession with none other than how the pet dog’s bandana looks are spot-on. Never for a moment does the reader lose interest in the story.

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