Review: Into Shadow Collection

"The Garden" by Tomi Champion-Adeyemi

Genre: Fantasy

Description: "In this dreamlike short story told in alternating prose and verse, number one New York Times bestselling author Tomi Champion-Adeyemi weaves a tale of a young woman’s journey to find her mother and uncover her secrets.

Fifteen years ago, Lęina’s mother, Yuliana, went searching for a mythical place called the Garden and never returned. Determined to learn the truth about what happened, Lęina travels to Brazil to search for the hidden realm, with Yuliana’s journal and a local tour guide leading the way. But Lęina soon begins to wonder if she’s looking for answers—or if what she truly wants to find is herself."

Read Time: 1 hour

Rating: 1.25 stars

Review

I did not like this. The plot was practically non-existent, the writing was trying too hard to be mysterious and intellectual (and failed on both counts), the main character was insufferable, the poetry was terrible, and while I sometimes like an ending that leaves things up to the reader's imagination, it did not work in this story.

I want to focus on the last two points in particular. First, the poetry was very bad. Now, I do understand that poetry is difficult to write. I have struggled quite a bit with poetry, especially with poetry written to complement a story. However, when poems are at the center of your narrative, your poetry has to be somewhat good. On top of that, if you are claiming your poems are written by different people - in this case, some poems are written by the main character, some by her mother - the poems absolutely have to be in different voices. The easiest way to do this is by writing poems in different styles. Unfortunately, in this story, the poems were written in the same voice - the author's voice - and the fact that they were more or less all written in the same style made their identical voices very, very conspicuous.

Now onto the ambiguous ending. I actually really like a well-done ambiguous ending. There's something really fun and interesting about finishing a story and having to think about the ending and what it means and how the character goes forward. In this case, the ambiguous ending is when the main character leaves her guide to go off alone to find the Garden. We're meant to ask ourselves if the Garden really exists, and what will she find in the Garden? The problem with this ambiguous ending is that these are the same questions the character has been asking for the entire story. There are no other questions left to ask. So after asking only two questions the entire story, the reader actually wants answers. Or if we're going for ambiguity, have her find this miraculous garden and have the reader guess at what she finds. But don't leave things so ambiguous that we don't even have new questions to think about.

Overall, this was by far the weakest of the stories in this collection. It does not make me likely to read anything else by this author.

"Persephone" by Lev Grossman

Genre: Fantasy

Description: "A teenage nobody crosses a line that will change her life forever in this short coming-of-age story by number one New York Times bestselling author Lev Grossman.

Ever since her dad disappeared five years ago, Persephone has quietly walled off the feelings she’d rather not feel. There’s no room for pain or anger when you’re just trying to get through the hell that is high school. But one day, the crush of taunts and disappointments is finally too much—and a power breaks loose inside her that she never knew was there."

Read Time: 1 hour

Rating: 2 stars

Review

I liked this a little better than the previous story, but I still didn't like it. The characters were frankly a little annoying, and while some I think were meant to be annoying, the others - namely the main characters - weren't. The story was also very predictable: students with dangerous superpowers are taken away by the government to a special school. Of course that school is actually a prison. And surprise! (Not really) Persephone's dad was also in this prison. And in the end, the super special kids take out the government agents (who deal with super-powered people all the time but still can't take on two kids who just got their powers) and run away together. I feel like I've seen this plot in the X-Men or Agents of SHIELD or something.

"The Six Deaths of the Saint" by Alix E. Harrow

Genre: Fantasy

Description: "The Saint of War spares the life of a servant girl so she can fulfill her destiny as the kingdom’s greatest warrior in this short story of love and loyalty by New York Times bestselling author Alix E. Harrow.

Always mindful of the debt she owes, the girl finds her worth as a weapon in the hand of the Prince. Her victories make him a king, then an emperor. The bards sing her name and her enemies fear it. But the war never ends and the cost keeps rising—how many times will she repeat her own story?"

Read Time: 1 hour

Rating: All-Time Favorite

Review

This was such an incredible short story. I actually read this collection because of a YouTuber review of this exact story (the YouTuber said this was her favorite of Alix E. Harrow's works) and I'm so glad I did, just because it meant that I got to read this story.

I'm always impressed by second-person POV stories (see "Emergency Skin" by N. K. Jemisin), and on top of that, the story was just incredible: a girl gets reborn over and over again, becomes a prince's ultimate war machine, before allowing the cycle to start all over again until finally, she gives up. The character growth is quite good, the premise is so interesting, and again, the character work is just so impressive. I am incredibly glad the story has a hopeful ending, although to be completely honest, if there hadn't been, I would have been as impressed with the story.

It's hard to put into words how much I liked this story, and what exactly made it so incredible. But it was truly great. I think it's definitely an all-time favorite short story for me. I can't wait to read other stories by this author.

"What the Dead Know" by Nghi Vo

Genre: Fantasy, historical fiction, horror

Description: "A woman posing as a medium who can channel the spirit world comes face to face with the truth in this short historical fantasy by Hugo Award–winning author Nghi Vo.

The Fogg River Seminary, a girls’ school in a small Illinois town, is supposed to be just another stop on Maryse and Vasyl’s endless travels. They’ve made lucrative use of Maryse’s “foreign” looks in their melodramatic séance act—and an act is all it is. Then, during their performance, a blizzard sweeps in and cuts them off from town completely. In the freezing halls, there’s a voice speaking the secrets of the dead, and Maryse has no choice but to listen…because this time, the voice is real."

Read Time: 1 hour

Rating: 4.25 stars

Review

This was also quite a good story, if not a little confusing at first. It took me a while to figure out that the two were actually faking their séances. I thought that they actually could talk to the dead, but were playing up the theatrics. I only figured out they weren't when the ghost actually possessed Maryse to send her message.

I did like that the scariest part of this story was not, in fact, the ghost, but the human man who killed the ghost and planned to kill Maryse. It's maybe a bit of a cliché, but it's still a good reflection of society in general. And of course, I also liked that the man who murdered one woman and would have killed the other got what he deserved in the end.

"Undercover" by Tamsyn Muir

Genre: Fantasy, horror

Description: "When a stranger comes to town, secrets are sure to come out. New York Times bestselling author Tamsyn Muir spins a twisty—and twisted—short story of revenge and survival.

A fresh-faced newcomer arrives in an isolated, gang-run town and soon finds herself taking a job nobody else wants: bodyguard to a ghoul. Not just your average mindless, half-rotted shuffler, though. Lucille is a dancer who can still put on her own lipstick and whose shows are half burlesque, half gladiator match. But the stranger is no stranger to this particular ghoul. Both women are undercover in their own way. And both have something to lose if their connection comes to light."

Read Time: 1 hour

Rating: 5 stars

Review

This was another very interesting story with a good premise and not one, but two twists. One was easier to see (and revealed early on). The other really took me by surprise. The signs were all there, obviously, but I only put them all together after the fact.

There were a few things that confused me, like what the hell it was that these creatures were, or why the characters could only suck ice during the day and couldn't drink water during the day. I never got that. But everything else was super interesting, and like I said, I loved, loved, loved the twist at the end. I'm also glad the two main characters - the narrator and the "Type 6" both get away from the horrible situation. Despite being bloodthirsty monsters, they were both good, surprisingly likeable characters.

Overall, this story is definitely going to make me have to read Gideon the Ninth.

"The Candles Are Burning" by Veronica G. Henry

Genre: Fantasy

Description: "Amid the modern trappings of 1950s Savannah, an ancient evil threatens a young widow and her daughter in this chilling short story by award-winning author Veronica G. Henry.

When her husband dies unexpectedly, Maggie Royal is struck with sinister visions that foretell danger for her and for her five-year-old daughter. Her mother and grandmother were said to have “the sight,” but it was never like this. With no one alive to turn to, Maggie must move quickly to uncover the meaning of her visions before her candle is snuffed out."

Read Time: 1 hour

Rating: 4 stars

Review

The story was a little slower than I expected, but it picked up after a while. It didn't impact me the same way a few of the other stories did, but it was still enjoyable. I really liked the main character, especially since she did so much work to support herself and her daughter, and with the exception of the shed at the church, she worked for everything she got - including her own life.

So again, not the most impactful story of this collection, but still a very solid, enjoyable story with a good ending.

"Out of the Mirror, Darkness" by Garth Nix

Genre: Fantasy, historical fiction

Description: "A cynical “fixer” for a silent-film studio must confront the shadows behind the bright lights in this noir-tinged short story by New York Times bestselling author Garth Nix.

It’s business as usual on the set of another cheap sword-and-sandal production by Pharos Pictures—until the lead actress suddenly falls into a deep, mysterious sleep. Jordan Harper can talk down high-strung starlets and knock sense into stuntmen, but this…this is the kind of uncanny problem that he’d usually bring to Mrs. Hope. Unfortunately, the preternaturally capable secretary is on a business trip with the studio head. Harper must get to the bottom of the mystery on his own before another cast member succumbs—or worse, they blow the budget."

Read Time: 1 hour

Rating: 4.25 stars

Review

This was a very interesting premise and a well-written story. First, I do want to say that the dog ends up fine, as does the kid (although frankly, I was more worried about the dog). And again, the mystery is very compelling and it was interesting to see this fixer guy try to figure out how what the hell is going on and how to fix it, while thinking about his girlfriend/the real fixer and how she would actually know how to fix it.

That being said, I do kind of wish the girlfriend hadn't come onto the scene. I thought I would see this guy figure out how to fix this big problem without relying on the super-secretary who can fix anything. I really thought that would be the challenge of the story. Instead, at the last minute, the secretary flies in to save the day, and I found that just a little disappointing.

But overall, the story was engaging and interesting and mysterious enough to keep my interest to the end. I enjoyed reading it, and I might even be tempted to pick up more books by this author.

Overall

Overall, this was a very solid collection. It started off shaky, with two very, very weak stories, but starting with the third story, the collection was excellent. I've had mixed success with these Amazon Original stories, but some of these have really impressed me, including an all-time favorite short story in this very collection.