Recent Reads: Hardened Hearts by Various

Source: From one of the authors in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Hardened Hearts by Eddie Generous (Editor),  Gwendolyn Kiste, Tom Deady, Meg Elison , John Boden, Somer Canon, Calvin Demmer, Theresa Braun, J.L. Knight, Madhvi Ramani  Scott Hallam, Robert Dean, Leo X. Robertson, Jennifer Williams, Laura Blackwell, Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi , Sarah L. Johnson, James Newman
Publisher: Unnerving
Publication Date:  December 3, 2017

 

Format:  Paperback

Rating:


 



Goodreads Synopsis: 

17 stories of difficult love, broken hearts, lost hope, and discarded truths. Love brings pain, vulnerability, and demands of revenge. Hardened Hearts spills the sum of darkness and light concerning the measures of love; including works from Meg Elison, author of The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (Winner of the Philip K. Dick Award), Tom Deady, author of Haven (Winner of the Bram Stoker award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel), Gwendolyn Kiste, author of And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe and Pretty Marys All in a Row, and many more.

Hardened Hearts dips from speculative, horror, science fiction, fantasy, into literary and then out of the classifiable and into the waters of unpinned genres, but pure entertainment nonetheless.

Review: 
I am a little behind on a few book reviews in my stack - this is one of those. I had intended to read this and review it around Valentine's Day but it got lost in the shuffle of life - so instead I decided to pick it up around my anniversary. I am so glad I got to read it and the timing was perfect. 

This is a collection of love stories some painful, some strange,  all of them great reads! They vary in length and content and are perfect for reading straight through or one at a time randomly. 

I really love short story collections - they are a wonderful break from novels and you have perfect stopping points because each is only so many pages - quick and simple.

Some of the stories that really stuck out were The Pink Balloon, The Heart of the Orchard and Meeting the Parents. The first was about a young girl and a clown - can't give away more than that, but it was creepy and disturbing on a few levels. The Orchard had a wonderful build up to it and the suspense was wonderful, and Meeting the Parents had a more playful feel too it but has a fun twist. 

Even though the stories were all different and I had differing emotions with all of them - I enjoyed the whole book. It was a great read - best to be had if you need an alternative view on love.