Customer Reviews

So This Is Love

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I am not a short story reader. I read ravenously and thus prefer to consume entire novels as they seem to pass so quickly, but SO THIS IS LOVE, made me fall in love with short stories. Each one is so unique, and the prose so beautifully written, you can't help but want to stay in one of Reid's many worlds forever. I could go on for paragraphs abou thow much I love this collection, instead I prefer to say one thing--you will not regret purchasing, borrowing, or reading this collection, just get your hands on it. It's too exquisite not to have on your shelf.

This nine story collection provides a wide look at love, but not from a romance novel's perspective. Each tale is interesting, but the best are those involving love that comes out of the ashes of hatred and misery like the haunting first story "Pavilion 24", which the audience will read twice and stop for the night because it is haunting. War plays a matchmaking role in several of the contributions as Gilbert Reid makes the case that out of the seeds of dissension and strife love can still blossom (think Romeo and Juliet), but loss can also follow. A couple of the tales turn too literary for this compilation; this makes them seem like they do not belong as the sense of a wretched place is lacking though ironically they are well written. However, for the most part readers will peruse several times these fascinating tales of love out of the ruins of hate and despair even when there is no happily ever after.

Harriet Klausner