Rapid Review: Short Stories I’ve Read Recently

Audiobooks have been a lifesaver for me this month, and I’ve been squeezing the juice out of all my Scribd subscription and my remaining credits on Audible. Aside from the big chonks (yes, I love the words chonk and chonky) that I listened and followed along with my eyes, I’ve also read a few novellas and short stories that I’ve had in my both in my physical and Kindle TBRs for a very long time. I also noticed that a couple of them are science fiction novellas, and I think I might be finally in my science fiction phase already that I’ve been waiting for a very long time to come.

So here are some quick fire reviews of the short stories I’ve read recently.

Memento by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman

 

The Illuminae Files is probably still my most favorite YA science fiction series AND audiobooks to-date, and Memento is no exception. While this novella can be read before Illuminae, it actually makes more sense and I appreciated it more after finishing the books.

Now I know why and how my beloved moral-conscious artificial intelligence became the way he is in the series. Ugh it was just so good, especially listening to him contemplating about everything. I did appreciate the role the main characters played in this novella, but it really is AIDAN who rules here.

And a lot of very familiar names also made appearances here! It just makes me want to reread and relisten to the entire series again!

Rating: 5/5 🌟

Goodreads

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The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

This is a book that everyone must read at least once in their lifetime. Even though it was written by a young teenage girl, it encompasses a lot of things that makes one human.

I am so glad that I’ve picked this book up after many years, and secretly pleased that it wasn’t a required school reading for me (or else it would have ruined the entire experience for me). I’ve always been a sucker for any books with topics regarding the World Wars, particularly World War II. This personal account of a Jewish girl with her family and friends forced into hiding in Amsterdam speaks not just about the hardships of their situation, but also Anne Frank’s personal intimate thoughts about everything. It’s brimming full of life and fear, and also hope in the darkest times. It’s really an eye-opening read, and I was impressed on some thoughts and arguments she has made that might be a result of her being forced to grow up in their situation.

To say that I am sad about how things ended for them is an understatement. But I’m am full of joy that at least some of Anne Frank’s dreams and wishes were able to come true after that nightmare, and that her legacy still continues to live on until now.

Rating: 4/5 🌟

Goodreads

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All Systems Red by Martha Wells

When I finally picked up this book, I did not expect that a sulky, very pessimistic mass murdering artificial intelligence robot who hates people and all kinds of human interaction and loves to binge-watch tv series would be my new spirit animal.

The first book within this new series definitely delivered to what it has promised – a quick and fun science fiction read that can entertain you immensely. Understandably that it’s a novella series, there were obviously a lot of key concepts in its creative writing aspects, such as in the world-building and over-all plot progression, I think it did a pretty good job in providing enough information to its readers to build something in their minds. I just do hope that it gets more expounded and explored on in the next books. It might not be mind-blowing, but it sparked enough interest in me to continue on with the rest of the series.

I’m definitely going to pace myself with this series and use it as a short fun read in between any heavy and hard-hitting books. I can’t wait to see what other antics Murderbot has in store.

Rating: 3.5/5 🌟

Goodreads

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