3 out of 4 stars
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Destiny Comes with Strings Attached by Kim Ekemar is a collection of 12 stories that explore different aspects of life, various cultures, and especially destiny (or perhaps fate in some cases).
I enjoyed reading the stories in this book. There are, of course, some that stand out more than others. My favorite is the story titled “The Curse”. It is set in a little village on the island of Corsica. It tells of a series of events that occur when a woman casts a curse upon the man responsible for her husband and son's death. The story, while simple, ends with a clever twist. The author incorporates twists into several of his other stories as well.
I also really enjoyed “The Eyewash Experience”. This story is about a man who is traveling the Caribbean when he is hired to help one of the islands with tourism. He soon finds out that everything is not as it appears to be. This story is a little more exciting than the others and includes some interesting concepts that I can not go into detail about because of spoilers.
There is one more story that I would like to mention and that is the first one titled, “Homage to a Man of Letters”. Unfortunately, I had difficulty getting through this story. It is twice as long as the other stories and becomes repetitive after a while. On the plus side, I do think the story is cleverly written. I thoroughly enjoyed all the word play that is incorporated into this story. I just wish it was a little shorter.
I love the way the author includes different cultures and historical references into his stories. They are executed very well and it is easy to imagine yourself in that time and place. I was quite surprised that even though the stories take place in different times and places, the author's style of writing is still recognizable. It goes to show that the author is very skilled in his craft.
One thing I didn't like about this collection is that there are very few likable characters. Even though the characters are written well, it is hard to connect or care about them because most of them are selfish or corrupt. I personally like characters that I can root for and I did not find much of that in this book.
I give Destiny Comes with Strings Attached a solid 3 out of 4 stars. It is a good collection, but I could not fully enjoy the characters which is a crucial part of a book in my opinion. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about different cultures or historical fiction.
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Destiny Comes with Strings Attached
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