Deborah Willis (2)

Deborah Willis has crafted one lovely group of stories in The Dark and Other Love Stories.

This collection is full of humor and intriguing content. No, seriously. I was thoroughly impressed by not only Deborah's incredible writing style but the imagination behind these stories. Some of them were just wild! The weirdest yet most interesting was a girl falling in love with a man who wants her to be a bird. Like... what? How does one come up with THAT idea? Impressive.

My favourite was the story about a woman going behind her boyfriend's back and trying to go to Mars. It was funny and yet really moving. My heart ached for the poor man as we watched the scenario unfold. But my gosh, so good! It's hard to get emotions like that for a book!

I would highly recommend this book. Not only is it not your typical anthology full of love stories and dark and twisted humor, but it's also just really well written. Deborah has a real talent and it'd be a waste for this book not to find a bigger audience (also, she's Canadian. Represent!).

I do think this book may fit into a niche category for some readers, since it's not purely about love and romance. This book is not a romance book, it is a contemporary novel written with love themes. That being said, if you go into it understanding that this isn't a romance novel and it's purely based on theming and creative stories, you'll love it. I sure did! I thought it was a fun ride and I'd love to pick up more by Deborah in the future.

Overall, I'm thoroughly impressed by this book. I will continue to recommend it until my dying days, because it's a real, secret, Canadian gem!

Four out of five stars!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.… (meer)

2.75 stars

A book of short stories… I’ve said it before – I’m not usually a fan of short stories, and I wasn’t here, either. There was one that I liked; there were a few more that were ok – I wouldn’t say I liked them, but at least they held my attention; the others, I just wasn’t interested in and didn’t even manage to follow.

I hate writing a bad review about a book by a Canadian author, but I’ve actually also met this author a couple of times (and my book is a signed copy). I did like that some of the stories were set, not only in Canada, but in my city (Calgary – where the author lives, or did the last I knew), and in another city I’ve visited a couple of times (Victoria), so it’s always nice to recognize the places mentioned/described.… (meer)

What Willis accomplishes in three pages will leave you spellbound and mesmerized. The well crafted characters found in these thirteen stories are all on the edge of the unknown danger that keeps the reader enthralled in suspense. What would you do if your girlfriend was planning on moving to Mars or if a man approached your teen daughter claiming that he teaches girls to fly? Stories sharp in detail and strange in the twists of love; these tales will haunt you in the journey taken and where they will leave you.… (meer)