Beautiful Sorrows is a short story collection from Mercedes M. Yardley.
There is a place where sorrows pile up like snow and rest in your hair like cherry blossoms. Boys have wings, monsters fall in love, women fade into nothingness, and the bones of small children snap like twigs. Darkness will surely devour you—but it will be exquisitely lovely while doing so.
Mercedes M. Yardley’s Beautiful Sorrows is an ephemeral collection encompassing twenty-seven short tales full of devastation, death, longing, and the shining ribbon of hope that binds them all together.
Beautiful Sorrows is a collection of short stories and flash fiction from Mercedes Yardley. The stories in Beautiful Sorrows are the kind of short stories that capture moments in people's lives. They aren't the kind of stories that contain an unfolding plot, they are more like moments plucked out of time.
Beautiful Sorrows is carried by Yardley's writing. This is the first book I've read by Yardley, and her writing has a quality I really love.
I have to admit I almost dnf'ed Beautiful Sorrows. I try my best to avoid books with child abuse, and the first two stories had too much for me. After marking it on Goodreads, it dawned on me I was reading an anthology. I decided to skip ahead in the collection and give it another try. I'm glad that I did.
Overall, I enjoyed Beautiful Sorrows. I don't think I have a single friend on Goodreads that gave it less than five stars. The writing was beautiful, and there was so much imagination to the stories. If I could have one wish right now it would be a middle grade dark fantasy written by Mercedes Yardley. The fact that this isn't getting a higher rating from me is purely subjective. I don't feel like I require plot in my short stories, but over the length of an entire book I probably do.
6/10: Good Read
I'm glad you skipped ahead and ended up enjoying it. I might have given up on that subject matter too.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. The rest of the stories were very different.
DeleteHa love that Women in Horror logo. :) I like short stories (I mean they're always hit or miss but they're nice for a quick read) and I'm new t flash fiction but I like it! Nice little snippets. This definitely sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteI like flash fiction, too. I've seen some cool things done with the tiny format.
DeleteOooo definitely adding this! Sounds way too interesting to pass up.
ReplyDeleteLet me know if you get a chance to read it!
DeleteI can't really read anthologies on my Kindle so I'll have to see if my library will get a physical copy of this. I don't know about the child abuse aspect of it though. I worked in that field for 14 years and saw pretty much everything imaginable and I really don't know if I want to relive those days. Great review.
ReplyDeleteWow, I imagine that was a very difficult field. I'm pretty sure it's just the first two you need to watch out for. The rest should be fine.
DeleteI have read some of Yardley and she isn't afraid to go to tough places. That is a cool logo up top.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first Yardley. I will definitely read more. Each year I try to grab the official logo from the "Women in Horror Month" website's press kit. They always have neat logos. :)
DeleteGlad to hear you gave the rest of the stories a shot and that they paid off
ReplyDeleteThanks. Me, too!
DeleteChild abuse is something I also try to avoid reading about (same with animal abuse) but I'm glad this still ended up working out for you. :)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting take. I think I would require plot as well. I can appreciate the good writing by recommending it to others but pass on it myself. I think that is what I will do.
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