Book Review: Strange Weather by Joe Hill

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy of this collection of short novels by Joe Hill (release date is later in the year). For those interested in a brief synopsis of each story... keep reading. If not, skip ahead! The first story, Snapshot, is about a young boy's encounter with a villain who robs his victim's memories by taking Polaroids of them. The second, Loaded, tells the story of a mall security guard who is believed to have stopped a mass shooting, but his story quickly unravels... Aloft, the third story, is a unique tale about a skydiver who lands on a very strange cloud in the sky. Finally, the last story, Rain, tells of an apocalypse wherein literal nails fall from the sky as rain. Pretty interesting collection of stories!

"When movie stars grieve in the tragic third act of a love story, they always make mourning look a lot more beautiful than it really is."

I do enjoy a short story or a short novel... as Joe Hill himself says, it's all killer, no filler. However, I wish that could be said for these stories. I loved being back with Joe Hill, but ultimately felt like some of these stories just dragged on a little bit?

The first story, Snapshot, was one of my favourites. A really strong opener for the collection. It was the perfect length with the perfect message. Emotionally charged too!

As for Loaded... I have mixed feelings. It started really strongly, I was loving it... but it just kept going on and on. And the main protagonist was just a really hateful person. Then the ending straight-up pissed me off. I do however appreciate what Hill is trying to say with this story with regards to gun violence in America.

The third story, Aloft, was so unique and original! A really enchanting and intriguing idea from Hill. But again, really felt like I lost some interest in the middle.

The final story, Rain, was a terrifying concept. Nails literally fall from the sky as rain... destroying everything in its path. I was revelling in his descriptions of the post-apocalyptic world. Hill even admits in the afterword that it's a spoof of his own work - I do love when an author can poke fun at themselves.

Overall, I did really enjoy this collection, I love Hill's style of writing and pop culture references. He also can write a sex scene so much better than his father! But I did feel like some stories perhaps could have been trimmed slightly. Although, I wonder if this is because I read this collection on my kindle, and I'm really not a fan of reading on my kindle. Maybe I would have enjoyed some of the stories slightly more if I was reading a physical copy. I'd give this collection 4 stars out of 5! Some really fresh ideas in here. I'm happy to have new Joe Hill!

Johann

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