Love is Hell

Love is Hell is the follow-up to the hideously-named short story anthology Prom Nights from Hell, though with different authors and, in case you didn't guess, a different theme. Five authors (Laurie Faria Stolarz, Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestier, Gabrielle Zevin, and Melissa Marr) have contributed supernatural love stories, to varying degrees of success. Let's get started, shall we?


Sleeping with the Spirit by Larie Faria Stolarz
Girl moves into haunted house and begins having dreams about a boy. Girl realizes boy is a ghost. Girl and boy embark on strange and badly-paced romance. Ghost Boy helps girl deal with pain from sister dying. Girl helps Ghost Boy move on. Fin.
Why they chose to begin the book with this story is beyond me. It is by far the worst of the five—boringly written, oddly paced, and entirely unconvincing (Girl goes from being scared of Ghost Boy to loving him in the space of about five nanoseconds). Sleeping with the Spirit almost put me to sleep, and I don't usually do puns, so you know I'm serious.
Bottom of the pile.


Stupid Perfect World by Scott Westerfeld
Set, unsurprisingly (at least if you've read anything else by Scott Westerfeld), in a future world reminiscent of the one from Feed by MT Anderson but without the creepy distopian flavoring. Stupid Perfect World is the story of two teenagers taking a "Scarcity" class in which they learn how their ancestors lived. For their final project, each student must choose to do something like their ancestors did, whether it's having a cold or only using physical transportation (instead of teleportation, of course). Maria decides to suspend her hormonal balancers, and Kieran tries this oldfangled thing called "sleep".
Stupid Perfect World is a great story, probably my favorite of the five. But I'd rather it was a book than a story. I wanted to see the world and characters fleshed out more, and I wanted to see the dark side of things-- there was a lot of creepy stuff that wasn't really dealt with. (I mean, hormone balancers?) There's a darker side to the world in Stupid Perfect World that was left unexplored, and I wanted to see it.¹
Near the top of the pile.


Thinner than Water by Justine Larbalestier
Jeannie lives in a village that rejects modernity in favor of the traditions of the past. Jeannie, however, wants to go to the city to become a doctor. In the meantime, she must "handfast"—a sort of trial marriage—to one of the boys in the village. What unfolds is a story of superstition, love, and faeries.
Thinner than Water is a lovely story, but better in concept than in execution. The story should have been more haunting, and Jeannie should have been more interesting, but instead the story is flat, with a wonderful plot but mediocre writing. Okay, well, good writing, but not great writing. It's worth reading, but it could have been much better.
Middle of the pile.


Fan Fictions by Gabrielle Zevin
I won't tell you what this one's about, because it's the kind of story where you really don't find out until the end, but suffice to say that it's a) quite good, and b) very relevant to these Twilight-saturated times. Creepy, mysterious, and very intriguing. Gabrielle Zevin is one of those authors that have really interesting ideas and who can execute them with competence, a surprisingly rare combination.
Near the top of the pile.


Love Struck by Melissa Marr
A selchie chooses his mate, but she wants nothing to do with him. Various complications ensue.
I love Melissa Marr, but I'm not a huge fan of this story. It felt like a novel that had been drastically cut down to fit into 40 pages, and I ended up feeling sorry for the poor thing. The plot was strangely constructed and minimal, while the characters were barely fleshed out. However, Melissa Marr is still a great writer, which salvages the story, if only a bit.
Middle of the pile.



In Love is Hell, we find five short stories by people accustomed to writing novels, and it shows. Every single one of these stories could, and often should, have been a full-length book. Five good ideas had by five good writers have been turned into five mediocre stories.

The final verdict: put it in the middle of your pile.


Disappointedly yours,
Eli

Other Reviews:
Teen Book Review

1. Basically, what I'm saying is that I want Scott Westerfeld to write the Uglies trilogy again. Then again, don't we all?