Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories by Kelly Barnhill

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

Short stories about the creepy and the unusual...count me in! If it's eerie and weird it's usually right up my alley, so I couldn't wait to dive into this collection of short stories. Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories by Kelly Barnhill features a collection of 5 magical tales that aim to set the reader on a journey of weirdness and wonder.

This book ended up being very middle of the road for me, with a mixed bag of stories that I either really liked or didn't enjoy at all. It was a quick read and I breezed through it in a couple of hours. While some stories I really enjoyed (I'm looking at you "Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch' and "Dreadful Young Ladies"), others left something to be desired ("The Insect and the Astronomer" and "Open the Door and the Light Pours Through"). The novella at the end, "The Unlicensed Magician," has won the World Fantasy Award, and I can see why...it was well thought out, contained just enough to tell a full story, and was completely fascinating! I also have to note that the cover is absolutely stunning.

This was my first experience with Kelly Barnhill's works, and I've heard that The Girl Who Drank the Moon is quite good, so I may pick that up and give it a try even though it's a middle grade novel. I thought there was a lot of potential in this collection of stories, but something was missing overall that just might be there in a novel-length work.

Since there were 5 stories and I enjoyed 3 of them, this rating may very well be the easiest one I've ever done!

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Thank you to Algonquin Books for sending me a copy of this short story collection to review! Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories releases on February 20, so if this sounds up your alley make sure to pick up a copy!