This is a review of Learning to Fly by Rachel Elizabeth Cole for the Indie-Fever Reading Challenge brought by b00k r3vi3ws.
I won this book in a LibraryThing Member Giveaway.
Learning to Fly is
a book of short stories with characters that are well developed, relatable and
oh so real. They are stories that tell of a difficult moment in people’s lives.
In Fallen Leaves, there is the
widowed mother who must consider taking in a difficult, elderly mother-in-law. The
question is why? Listen to the Rain,
is about a young pregnant couple who must learn whether it’s worth surviving
past the chapter in their lives when neither of them says what they mean to and
end their days in arguments. The character I related to most was the mother in Caring for Lily who is trying to find a
daycare for her baby so she can return to work – truly that’s what she wants,
right? Then there’s the blogger in For
Good or For Bad, who has a good husband and two children, but can’t stop
thinking about the one who got away. Finally, there’s Is This Seat Taken? where a young pregnant woman at a bus station
meets a young college guy. Are they both lost or looking to find their own way?
As I stated above, the characters are real and the book is
well written. What was most amiss for me was that they weren’t short
stories, but excerpts of longer pieces. None of them was a complete story.
It seemed to be what the author intended, but I was always of the belief that a
short story has a beginning, middle and end. These all lacked an ending, some
more than others. The last story was the most mystifying, though it wasn’t a
mystery. It was unknown what the conflict was and why the pregnant woman was at
the bus station. At least with the other stories, you could think of how the
stories could turn out and dream up possible endings. For the last one,
however, since it’s unsure what the conflict was, you have no idea what might
happen.
Furthermore, as this is a fairly short book, I initially thought
it was one short story and it took me a while to realize that the next chapter
was indeed a whole new story since they are in the first person and you don’t
know who the narrator is until the name is finally mentioned. This confusion could
have been because I had a pdf version of the book without the cover. Looking at the
cover later, it does state that these are a collection of short stories. A
Table of Contents or a logline on the cover page could have helped, however.
Still, Rachel Elizabeth Cole is a very good writer who is
great at character development, something I admire in a writer. I would be
interested in reading a complete novel by her to see how she does finalize
stories.
She has published eight books and her work has appeared in various publications.
Click on the links below to find Learning to Fly and to learn more about Rachel Elizabeth Cole.
Book Info:
Pages 51
Cost $2.99 Kindle edition
solid review! glad i stopped by =)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tara. :)
DeleteLove the honesty in your review.
ReplyDeleteJust by what you wrote... I really need to know the pregnant woman's story. I can't deal with open-ended books, or movies, I need to know. I will think and think and lose sleep over the many posibilities... I guess that's why I write? lol
Thanks SK. Does that mean you want to read it or that you wouldn't be able to read it without going crazy?
DeleteHmm - there's nothing worse than a book missing the satisfaction factor!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, but again, the characters were memorable.
Delete