I had this on my Amazon wishlist after seeing it reviewed somewhere (maybe ElCicco’s review from 2016?) and promptly forgot about it. Then I went to visit the Dollar Tree (the best dollar store chain in NJ, and you can fight me on that) and what do I see but a very familiar cover. I was surprised to see an actual (hardcover) book in the dollar store that I actually had intended to buy at some point, so I snatched it up!
This is a book of short stories revolving around the theme of keys. It is also not what I was expecting.
“Books and Roses” has a story within a story, and I’m not sure which one I like best. A baby is left at a church with a name and a key and a promise, and one of the three is broken. There is a strange house, and an artist tells the tale also involving a key and her lost(?) lover. There is a secret garden, and mysteries, and murder, and questions left unanswered. (After finishing the book, they never get answered. Boo.)
““Sorry” Doesn’t Sweeten Her Tea” has a mysterious man who asks his friend to take care of his house for him while he is away. The house is full of locks, and doors that are not locked may open themselves. There is a mysterious woman, but we don’t really see her. There is also a singer who went too far, a disenfranchised teenage girl, and revenge delivered but not asked for.
“Is Your Blood as Red as This” is confusing. I have no idea what it is about. There are puppets, and they’re kind of alive, and there is weirdness.
“Drownings” involves a tyrant and a guy just trying to survive. The tyrant likes to drown people he doesn’t like and enjoys the suffering of his people. It doesn’t really turn out well for him.
“Presence” is about a couple trying out a strange procedure which also left me confused. Some of the puppet story people are referenced, though.
“A Brief History of the Homely Wench Society” is a nice break from the other stories. Things are still a bit odd, but in a preppy university odd. It’s fairly normal, all things considered. One of the characters from “”Sorry”” that we didn’t see much is invited to join a secret female society at uni, a group that was formed in response to a boys club. It’s light and fun!
“Dornička and the St. Martin’s Day Goose” is close to a fairy tale, “Little Red Riding Hood” to be precise. But Red Riding Hood isn’t little, she’s an old woman, who still foolishly makes a promise to the wolf.
“Freddy Barrandov Checks…In?” brings characters from other stories together, and a hotel somewhat like the Hotel California, only literally and not a metaphor for drugs or something like that.
“If a Book Is Locked There’s Probably a Good Reason For That Don’t You Think” is the last story in the book. It centers on an office, and a new girl who doesn’t interact much with her coworkers, until something causes a ruckus. It seems fairly normal until the very end, though.
So, after reading this (and powering through it for Bingo) I can’t say that I really enjoyed most of it. I may just not be in the right mindset to get the most out of it, though. Things get weirder than I was in the mood for, I suppose. I think I may know part of why I didn’t like some of this. I started reading The Starless Sea, which also has stories about keys and strangeness, but that is much more to my taste, even if I’m not done with it yet.
There is a lot of representation, though. Different races, genders, languages, and sexualities all find a place here.
This fulfills the CBR11 Bingo square of “The Collection”
Bingo count – Blackout!