Pretty Monsters: Stories by Kelly Link

• 01/15/2014
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Pretty Monsters: Stories
Kelly Link
Viking Juvenile (2008)
ISBN 9780670010905
Reviewed by Neha Kashmiri (age 14) for Reader Views (9/08)

“Pretty Monsters” consists of nine very different stories that have a surreal quality that you don’t see very often in writing. You’ll never expect what will happen next to her characters, which is the quirk that makes these nine short stories desirable reads. Ms. Link’s stories have a great range — from an enchanted handbag to a boy digging up the wrong grave in order to get his poetry back from his dead girlfriend.

I read one of Kelly Link’ s stories before (somewhere or other) and when I found out that the story was in this book, I had to have it. Ms. Link’s characters are just as unpredictable as her stories, randomly saying or thinking the strangest things. “Pretty Monsters” is the perfect book to read out loud to friends at sleepovers. It has twists and turns that will leave you clutching your stomach. It’s an excellent book to read to pass the time on a long flight or car trip.

Kelly Link writes with a zany writing style. With the variety of the stories, it is guaranteed that you’ll like at least one of them. “Pretty Monsters” is a book that you don’t come across very often so it’s most definitely recommended to everyone.