3 out of 4 stars
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The book entitled Illustrated Short Fiction by William H. Coles is a compilation of stories that revolves on one particular thing and that is hardships. The story shows in a very engaging way on how people cope with the struggles and hardships that they encounter in their lives.
Upon reading the title of the book, you might expect that it is quite short but on the contrary, it is quite a very long book. It contains thirty-four short stories in which two were rewritten as a graphic novel. Due to this, the book is able to touch a wide range of topics regarding the hardships in life that it is almost impossible for you not to relate with the characters.
What I like about this book is its ability to evoke the emotion of its readers to the point wherein just reading the first page of the story will leave you in turmoil. Another thing that I really like about this book is that it is not a one sided story. The writer not only presented the emotions of the main characters but also those who have interacted with him. Therefore, this has given the readers the whole picture since the reason behind some of the actions that other characters did were given context.
The downside of this book is that some stories are so short that often times I was not able to connect with the characters. What disappoints me most is that there are some stories that really hooks me but ends so quickly that it leaves me hanging. Another downside with this book is that given that it has too many stories readers tend to get overloaded with information such as the names of the characters.
Given this I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I did not rate it as four due to some grammatical errors contained in the story. Another reason is that as I mentioned some stories are too short that you would be shocked that it is already the end of the book. This is because sometimes the story ends so abruptly that I cannot help but feel unsatisfied. However, that is not always the case in all the stories in the book and that is why I cannot give it a rate of two as well. Most of the stories are well written and truly resonates with the reader that you cannot keep your eyes off it.
I recommend this to readers who enjoys stories with drama. If ever you feel like reading something heart wrenching this book is the one to go and with lots of stories packed into one book, you will never get bored with it.
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Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016
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