Pretty Monsters

Kelly Link’s short stories are absolutely amazing. They have a very dream like quality to them at times that makes them so much fun to read and reread. I recommend this book to all of my friends so often that they probably think it’s annoying. There are so many beautiful rich layers to her stories I seriously can’t get enough of them. Read this book, you will not be disappointed.

I'm a big fan of KElly Link and own all of her collections of short stories, so I was dissapointed that three of the stories in Pretty Monsters were recycled from previous books. If you are considering buying the book, you should be aware of that. Had I known I might have choosen to get the book from the library.... but maybe not, because I like to support my favorite authors. However, most of the stories that are new are very good. I can see a real difference in the new stories; they are definitely intended for broader appeal, but I'm okay with that because the stories still have the Kelly Link "weird charm" to them. I lent this book to some of my students and I've turned them into new fans, too. I'd like to see more from Kelly in this new vein, as long as she doesn't stray too far from her original formula.

Each of the stories in this collection is a masterpiece. Together they make for a book that you won't want to put down. Readers of Stranger Things Happen and Magic For Beginners will find a few repeats, but that's OK because Link's stories are so good they deserve to be read more than once. This collection is technically aimed at the young adult market, which only means that the main characters tend to be teenagers. At no time does Link write down to her audience. Adults will easily be drawn in and swept away by each of these stories. Pretty Monsters falls under the broad umbrella of speculative fiction, but that doesn't begin to describe the magic, weirdness and wonder that Link is able to convey in each of her stories. If you've never read any of her stories before, you are in for a treat, and if you have, you know exactly what to expect, and won't be disappointed.

In a dual review of her previous collections, Stranger Things Happen and Magic for Beginners a couple of years ago, I wrote the following about Kelly Link: "...for the last decade, [Link] has demonstrated an unparalleled mastery of the short story form in every sense of that word. In retrospect, to say she has mastered the form is perhaps an understatement: not only has she tamed this particular beast, she's taught it a few new tricks. Her talent and dedication shine through in each and every tale. Link's collections are treasure troves of creative storytelling, each volume a celebration of the power of the imagination, each story a unique, glittering gem worthy of careful and repeated inspection. Combining fantastic concepts with familiar elements of the real world, Link's works reveal there are myriad ways of interpreting and portraying "reality". You'll rarely encounter a writer as warm, adventurous, eclectic and sharp witted as Link. Fearless, there is no place she won't go; empathic, she effortlessly conveys to her audience the nuances of her characters' pain, bewilderment, joy and understanding." I'm pleased to report that Link's latest collection, Pretty Monsters, bears out these words, providing incontrovertible evidence that she is, as Peter Straub once said, "the most impressive writer of her generation." Aimed at the so-called young adult audience, Monsters is a happy blend of older, previously collected tales ("Magic for Beginners," "The Faery Handbag," and "The Specialist's Hat") and other, newer stories written for various theme anthologies which are collected here for the first time ("The Wrong Grave" from The Restless Dead, "The Wizards of Perfil" from Firebirds Rising, "Monster" from Noisy Outlaws, "The Surfer" from The Starry Rift, and "The Constable of Abal" from The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales). All though all are entertaining and rewarding on numerous levels, none compare to the title story, "Pretty Monsters," a bit of literary slight of hand which simultaneously manages to evoke the movies Mean Girls and Ginger Snaps while delivering some authentic chills. As stated in the promotional materials accompanying the uncorrected proof, Link's stories have been Nebula, Locus, British Science Fiction Association, World Fantasy, and Bram Stoker award winners. Her last book, Magic for Beginners, was given Book of the Year Awards from Time Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, and The Village Voice, and was also a Best of BookSense pick for 2005. If you've read her previous collections, or experienced one or more of her stories in their original venues, or in a Year's Best collection, you know why they were so honored. If you have yet to sample any of Link's work, you need to get busy and start enjoying the products of her vivid and expansive imagination. Pretty Monsters would be a great place to start.

Reviewed by Neha Kashmiri (age 14) for Reader Views (9/08) "Pretty Monsters" consists of nine very different stories that have a surreal quality that you don't see very often in writing. You'll never expect what will happen next to her characters, which is the quirk that makes these nine short stories desirable reads. Ms. Link's stories have a great range -- from an enchanted handbag to a boy digging up the wrong grave in order to get his poetry back from his dead girlfriend. I read one of Kelly Link' s stories before (somewhere or other) and when I found out that the story was in this book, I had to have it. Ms. Link's characters are just as unpredictable as her stories, randomly saying or thinking the strangest things. "Pretty Monsters" is the perfect book to read out loud to friends at sleepovers. It has twists and turns that will leave you clutching your stomach. It's an excellent book to read to pass the time on a long flight or car trip. Kelly Link writes with a zany writing style. With the variety of the stories, it is guaranteed that you'll like at least one of them. "Pretty Monsters" is a book that you don't come across very often so it's most definitely recommended to everyone.

I have a confession - I'm an adult who loves so-called YA novels, and especially tales of the supernatural and macabre. Kelly Link 's "Pretty Monsters' seems to be borderline between YA and adult fiction. The stories within this collection of dark, fantastical tales are truly unique and what makes them stand out, besides the imaginative plots and unusual characters are the fact that the stories themselves don't usually resolve themselves in a conventional manner. Among the stories I liked were "Monster", in which a ravenous beast preys on boys at summer camp - and this is an unusual creature indeed, it uses a cell phone. There's the story "The Faerie Handbag"of a girl whose grandma's purse happens to be the living quarters of a fairy village. "The Wrong Grave" is another one that is creepy yet humorous - of a boy named Miles who regrets burying the sole copy of his collection of poems in his deceased girlfriend's casket. These are among the tales that sucked me into a weird,terrifying, and yet humor-tinged world. The other stories in this collection are "Magic for Beginners" in which a teenager finds himself questioning the 'reality' of the TV show he's addicted to, "The Surfer", "The Wizards of Perfil", "The Constable of Able", "The Specialist's Hat" and "Pretty Monsters". This is Kelly Link's third collection of stories, after "Magic for Beginners", and "Stranger Things Happen", and the first collection for young adults. The protagonists in these stories are all teens and despite the strange premises of the stories, the characters themselves seem very real and the emotions they experience as they face their 'realities' are very much human. Highly recommended!