Review of The VD Anthology

[Sonika Coetzee]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The VD Anthology" by Various.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The VD Anthology Vol.2 had my mind reeling in some places. In others places I wanted to give up and stop reading it all together. But I kept reading and must say that it might be tedious, but it gets better. This is a book filled with short stories, snippets of somewhat longer ones and even poems. The stories range from first person storytellers to third person storytellers. Some are full of emotion and others are void of all emotion. A few stories are relatable to me, whereas others are dreary and not at all captivating. It pains me to admit it was not my best choice in a book, but sometimes we push through our borders and endure discomfort.

The short stories I did like were written by Brian Kelly, Elliot Bryter and all the poems following Robert Hennebry. I also like the take on A Herman Melville Cinderella by Alexandra Liedinger. It was refreshing and spoke to the part of me which always wonders about the other people who were involved in the search to find her.

The only reason I did not like some of the short stories was that I could not relate to them. Therefore, they became disentangled from my interests. Apart from that and some errors, the stories are well written and to a point. Some ends on a cliffhanger which might be enraging to a certain group of readers.

There are a few spellings that I feel were errors, but it might just be poetic licensing on the writer’s part. The errors, however, should not stop readers from reading this book. I feel I might have better insights if I would have read volume 1 and that is why I am rating this book 3 out of 4 stars. This is fair to good, despite a few being written about and in view of COVID-19. I believe the virus and lockdown receives far too much attention. Almost as if no other diseases or health issues might exist. But I am becoming too passionate now.

The book, I would say, is more suited to an older, more mature reading audience. Although some would say that the age group might even start from the late teenage/young adult phase and up. The book may contain scenes of inappropriate behaviors and violence. Scenes of indicated rape and descriptive abuse is depicted. There are also use of profane and vulgar language, not suited for younger or sensitive readers.

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The VD Anthology
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