📖 Overview
Pretty Monsters is a collection of nine short stories that blend fantasy, horror, and contemporary young adult fiction. The stories feature teenage protagonists navigating supernatural occurrences and otherworldly situations.
The tales range from a group of girls who attend a mysterious summer camp, to a boy searching for his girlfriend's ghost, to children who discover a TV show that predicts the future. Each story establishes its own distinct reality while maintaining threads of magic realism throughout the collection.
The narratives explore adolescent experiences of first love, friendship, and loss against backdrops that shift between the mundane and the extraordinary. Link's stories inhabit the space between genres, combining elements of ghost stories, folk tales, and coming-of-age narratives.
The collection examines themes of transformation and liminality, highlighting moments when characters cross boundaries between childhood and adulthood, reality and fantasy, the familiar and the unknown. These stories suggest that the true monsters may not be the supernatural beings, but the complexities of growing up and facing change.
👀 Reviews
Readers note the collection's unconventional blend of fantasy, horror, and teen experiences. The stories feature unexpected endings and layers of meaning that reward rereading.
Readers appreciate:
- Unpredictable plots that subvert genre expectations
- Complex, realistic teenage characters
- Dark humor and subtle wit
- Rich, detailed writing style
- Original takes on supernatural themes
Common criticisms:
- Stories can feel unresolved or confusing
- Writing style too dense for some YA readers
- Some stories drag in pacing
- Collection feels uneven in quality
Ratings:
Goodreads: 3.8/5 (5,800+ ratings)
Amazon: 4.2/5 (90+ ratings)
Reader quotes:
"Each story feels like a puzzle box" - Goodreads reviewer
"Beautiful writing but sometimes too clever for its own good" - Amazon review
"Not typical YA fantasy - requires patience and attention" - LibraryThing user
"The stories stick with you long after reading" - BookBrowse review
📚 Similar books
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
Interconnected stories blend reality with fantasy through tales of teenagers encountering haunted houses, television shows that blur into real life, and mythical creatures living in suburban neighborhoods.
Stranger Things Happen by Aimee Bender Short stories transport readers between worlds where a woman gives birth to her own mother, a man with keys for fingers unlocks doors to other dimensions, and children discover portals in their backyards.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Karen Russell A collection weaves together elements of folklore and contemporary life as characters navigate swampland theme parks, ghost-filled sleep therapy centers, and werewolf colonies.
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado Stories merge horror, feminism, and magical realism through narratives about a woman with a green ribbon around her neck, a retail store existing between dimensions, and a reimagining of Law & Order episodes.
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi Tales connected by the theme of keys and locks follow characters through enchanted libraries, puppet theaters, and hidden gardens where the boundaries between reality and fantasy dissolve.
Stranger Things Happen by Aimee Bender Short stories transport readers between worlds where a woman gives birth to her own mother, a man with keys for fingers unlocks doors to other dimensions, and children discover portals in their backyards.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Karen Russell A collection weaves together elements of folklore and contemporary life as characters navigate swampland theme parks, ghost-filled sleep therapy centers, and werewolf colonies.
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado Stories merge horror, feminism, and magical realism through narratives about a woman with a green ribbon around her neck, a retail store existing between dimensions, and a reimagining of Law & Order episodes.
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi Tales connected by the theme of keys and locks follow characters through enchanted libraries, puppet theaters, and hidden gardens where the boundaries between reality and fantasy dissolve.
🤔 Interesting facts
🎭 Kelly Link won a MacArthur "Genius Grant" in 2018, recognizing her innovative contributions to fantasy and short fiction.
📚 "Pretty Monsters" blends multiple genres including fantasy, horror, and magical realism, often within the same story - a technique Link calls "genre-bending."
🌟 The collection includes "The Wizards of Perfil," which was nominated for the World Fantasy Award and showcases Link's signature mix of the mundane and magical.
🎨 The book features distinctive illustrations by Shaun Tan, an Oscar-winning artist known for his surreal and haunting work.
🔄 Several stories in the collection play with nested narratives - stories within stories - including the title story "Pretty Monsters," which follows teenagers reading about teenagers reading about teenagers.