Based on the jacket description, I thought this would be a book of short stories delving into different aspects of the human soul and psyche, both dark and light. That is not what I found and certainly not how I would sell this book.
A dreamy affair, this book traverses the boundary between reality and the hyper-real with breathtaking skill. The storylines are often unimportant, taking a back seat to the prose, which flows and twists with great dexterity and poetry.
A Bit Unusual. This is a rather interesting fantasy collection but it is not for everybody.
Dark nectar distilled from the dream consciousness
I read Margo Lanagan's novel 'Tender Morsels' about four years ago in a Youth Services class I took as an elective for my MLIS degree and had never read anything like it in my life. It was one of the most bizarre and original novels I've ever read.
I picked this up after reading an article about YA literature that would appeal to adults. The article had a list of the top ten YA authors for adults, and Margo Lanagan was listed - and the only author I hadn't read.
The collection is odd and strong overall, though the four star rating is primarily to honor one story - 'Singing My Sister Down' - which is a haunting, strange, perfect thing.
Someone else is waiting for it, so I'll let it go this time. I think probably I'll finish it someday.
Although not all the stories in this collection are 5-star stories, I'm rating it 5-stars because of how unforgettable I found "Singing My Sister Down". Brilliant, heart-rending story, one of the top five short stories I've ever read.
This is a book of short stories unlike any other. At times beautiful, at times sad and at other times just plain weird.
This book was just too strange for me.
Allow me to issue this disclaimer first- As a general rule, I do NOT like short stories. At all.
"Black Juice" is the first adult book that I have reviewed since I mainly reviewed many children's books. So, the format for any reviews that I do for adult books will be a little more different than how I reviewed children's books since I will be reviewing the adult books from my own perspective instead of towards the general audience that I usually do for children's books.
Black Juice by Margo Lanagan is a collection of ten short stories with a science fiction or fantasy bent. The book is oddly, as the SF Site Review notes, classified as juvenile fiction.
A bunch of nicely written short stories, some made sense and others didn't. I have plans to reread it, but so far has done nothing for me.
