Anoka - Review

Author: Shane Hawk

Genre: Shorty Stories

Format: Paperback

Pages: 140

This is one hundred percent a Bookstagram made me read it to book. It was one of those things where I saw it once, and then randomly one day it was all over my dash. So I figured I'd give it a shot. The stories in Anoka start off pretty tame but each story builds in creep and weird factors as you go. My four-star rating is based on all six stories. While not all of them creeped me out, they were well written and weird in their own right. I enjoyed all six stories and Shane Hawk is an author I'd read more books from. 

Soilborne - This was my favorite of all six stories, as well as the shortest. In just a few pages Shane Hawk gives the full heartbreaking story of this family's struggle and then creeps us right out. (4 Stars)

Wounded- This was probably my least favorite story. It's not that I didn't enjoy the story, I thought it had real potential. I'm always down for a creepy book you should never read from. Especially one that is like the one in Wounded. My biggest issue with this one was that I wanted the story to be longer. I wanted to see just how dangerous the book could be, I wanted it to get weirder and darker. (3 Stars)

Orange - This is the saddest story in the book. It's also a pretty short story, but in those few pages, Shane Hawk puts so much emotion into those pages. It personally left me with a lot of mixed feelings because one hand this guy made a lot of bad choices, but on the other, it sort of felt like those choices weren't really made by him. I think it takes a huge talent to pull all those emotions out in just a handful of pages. (4 Stars)

Imitate - Creepy children always give me the shivers. For me personally, this is probably the second creepiest story in the book. But, it's probably the one I loved the most. Doppelgangers, changelings, etc those sort of things for me are creepy, and the struggle for which one is which. To be the only one who notices something is different. Hands down my favorite of the six stories. (5 Stars)

Dead America - This was a whole bunch of nope for me but in the best creepy way possible. Spiders are on those things in real life, and in horror, I hate. And, this story hit all the reasons why I hate them, every single thing that makes me cringe. I sat on my couch and gagged in places because I could not. All that being said, it's also a really good story, and loved the sort of lesson that was weaved into the nightmares. (5 Stars)

Transfigured - I really liked the non-binary take on our main character's transformation into a wolf. The opening scene on this one was really good with the wolf hunting. While this was a great little shot at this person's life as a wolf, it's another that I would have loved to get more of. The cliffhanger was awesome, but I would have loved to see they handled the deer hunter. (4 Stars)

I'm so glad I decided to give in to peer pressure on this one! I really enjoyed this book, and will be on the lookout for me Shane Hawk's writings!

HAPPY READING!!