3 out of 4 stars
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In my honest opinion, I thought the initial appeal of the book was very enticing. The title of the book was something that caught me immediately as it intrigued me greatly. The simplicity of the front cover was also very appealing - not too much and not too little. However, I found the beginning of the quite confusing. There were 13 pages of miscellaneous notes before I even got to the original story. The 6 reviews were also something that I didn’t find particularly necessary, especially at the start of the book.
I was caught out a little by A Second, Less Capable Head as I wasn’t aware that it was a compilation of short stories. I don’t recall seeing anything in the description, title or book cover to indicate that but I do apologise if there is something there may only critique would be to make that a little more obvious to readers.
Initially I found the first story (the book title) an amazing read if you will. I thought initially it was very captivating and upon reflection I relate to some of the topics that were mentioned in the book. I believe there are a few key issues in the plot which many people will notice are a factor in today’s society therefore bringing the short story some sort of connection to many (if not most) readers. I throughly enjoyed the linear narrative in which the plot followed and I was very satisfied with the plot twist at the end - I for one don’t not see it coming.
Even though I do feel that some of the back story could be developed a little for example; how the two main characters got the the point where we first picked up with them as well as getting to witness how Trixie and Alf’s relationship panned out, I do think that the time span of the plot works well.
I picked up on one single spelling mistake during A Second, Less Capable Head - Vergil I stead of Virgil on page 11.
What I liked about the continuation of the short stories was how they all followed together - whether that be through genre, plot or type of narrative. This gives a very easy flowing feel to the reader and allows them to read on without taking time to bounce into a new story. The only negative I would have to add to this is that sometimes I found the short stories which are further into the novel a little harder to read due to long descriptive paragraphs with not a lot of dialogue to break them up. Perhaps this would be a problem for other readers. As a result I would have to go ahead and say that stores like Fruits and Honey Bunny were easier read as they were a little more broken down this way.
Finally, the last thing I would say is that on the PDF format of the ebook, the layout to some of the books have huge gaps between when the different stories start. Although it does not really bear a huge burden on the reading of the book I can at times make following I got the different stories a little bit harder.
In conclusion, I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The reasons above indicate why the book lost the last star. Although that aside this ebook really out done any expectations I had and surprised me in all of the best ways. I enjoyed the vast majority of the stories in the book but I would have to say that Jimmy Likes Mermaids, The Guest and A Second, Less Capable Head were my favourites.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read such a great piece of literature and I sincerely hope that you continue writing in the future.
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A Second, Less Capable Head
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