There is a feeling inside every S.E. Reid story and I don’t know how to describe it.
Reviewstack.
It’s something I often strive to bring out in my own stories, to some degree, but she does so masterfully well, especially in each of these Orchard Hound tales. It’s like your story is walking on a fence, abyss on both sides, and the balancing rod is weighted with fear and terror teetering on one end, respect and beauty on the other. If you don’t balance these things just right, the story falls into either the abyss of being preachy and pretty, or scary and simple. It’s a tough balance to hit for me, but Reid nails it with this collection. [Warning: these are opinions and not a full stop wholesale truth (also there’s nothing wrong with stories that fall fully on one side of the abyss, I’m simply talking about my stories and in my mind, Reid’s stories)] Some stories are weighted more to one side while others balance it in the other direction. The book closes with two short stories and one storyline, and it really drives home this intriguing balance. This book is excellent, because it is filled with excellent stories, and because it is a superb example of how to organize a collection of stories into a book. Buy it, read it, love it. Review it.
Also side note, Ivy and Ixos is available now, fresh out the oven and hot off the press (I bought the eBook and will post a Reviewstack but I just finished this collection, so stay tuned) losersfiction.substack.…
Read original Note here.
