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An entertaining read that was fun and went quick, but didn't break a lot of new ground for me.

I can't help but compare this to the movie (which was also pretty average) and ultimately think the choices the movie made worked better. Leonard's personality also came through much more in the film.

The prose showed occasional flashes, but was ultimately pretty straightforward. The author tried some innovative things with point of view, including narrating the last chapter in third person plural, but I don't think they really paid off in a significant way.

I enjoyed the writers notes at the end about particular symbols and the writer's process, and I wish more books would do that.

If this were a Stephen King book, it would be in about the 40th percentile of Stephen King books.

(Reviewed together with the companion volume All Aunt Hagar's Children)

What struck me the most about these books were Jones' ability to write believably and memorably across different ages, genders, classes and time periods. His characters are only united by race and place, but they have distinct yet harmonious voices.

Jones gives very specific, granular detail for where in Washington DC his stories happen, down to frequently giving intersections and street addresses, and as someone who knows and loves the city, it added an extra layer to me to imagine the stories happening in specific places I'd been and could visualize. I don't know if this would add anything for non-residents, but it worked for me. Refreshing to book about DC that rarely mentioned the Capitol or the Monuments or the Smithsonian.

Favorite story from this collection: Young Lions

(Reviewed together with the companion volume Lost in the City)

What struck me the most about these books were Jones' ability to write believably and memorably across different ages, genders, classes and time periods. His characters are only united by race and place, but they have distinct yet harmonious voices.

Jones gives very specific, granular detail for where in Washington DC his stories happen, down to frequently giving intersections and street addresses, and as someone who knows and loves the city, it added an extra layer to me to imagine the stories happening in specific places I'd been and could visualize. I don't know if this would add anything for non-residents, but it worked for me. Refreshing to book about DC that rarely mentioned the Capitol or the Monuments or the Smithsonian.

Favorite story from this collection: The Root Worker

My third Courtney Summers book, and it's become clear to me that her biggest strength is creating complex, difficult protagonists that are easy to relate to, but you want to rescue at the same time. Another great protagonist, story was fairly conventional and ended a little flat, but I really enjoyed the journey.

A fairly conventional love story with a lot, lot of violence that makes the protagonist very hard to relate to. It can be effective to involve a character in a war, but Eelyn kills dozens of people, which is just cartoonish. Story doesn't cover a lot of ground and is generally predictable.

The prose is generally very well done.

Really enjoyed this one for the villain and the insight into cults. Lev felt like a cross of Jim Jones and a Junior Hannibal Lecter.

It was creepy but sympathetic to read about the cult manipulation tactics used on the characters. Lo as a main character wasn't as interesting as Sadie, but still a good point of view.

Quick, breezy read, where I very much enjoyed the character's individual voices. Tracy was kind of sad, Mr. M was enjoyably hateable, and Tammy was relatable.

Nearly every character was incredibly horny, and I hope that high school teachers don't talk about girls like that in real life.

Aside from the ending, the movie was the most direct adaptation I've ever seen.

Can't wait to start the sequel.