Reviews

The Arrival of Missives by Aliya Whiteley

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ruby2sday13's review

mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I loved Whitely’s other books and this was no different. Her work just pulls me in and I love it. It’s thoughtful and interesting and I will once again be recommending her to anyone who will listen

kittyg's review

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4.0

* I was sent this for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review *

This is a 120pg novella which is quite peculiar, yet quite charming too. We follow a young imaginative girl called Shirley who lives in a very small village and is filled with fanciful ideas about escaping her life. Shirley has a passion and an infatuation with the new man in town, Mr. Tiller, who also happens to be her school teacher. She's bright and she's filled with life, but as she learns more about Mr. Tiller and the peculiarities he carries with him, her life starts to change...

Aliya Whitely is clearly a good writer and I definitely want to check out her other book now. I had heard that this was odd and surprising before starting the book, but I didn't realise quite how interesting parts of this novella would be. The end section of this in particular was described so wonderfully it carried my own imagination to a surreal world and moment. Definitely a good little part magical realism, part sci-fi story! 4*s I would certainly recommend this :)

fabulitas's review

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3.0

I'm undecided about this novella. On one hand it's beautifully written and full of brilliant bits, on the other hand the central premise is a bit... coarse, even if it's emulating old-fashion science fiction.

bookscatsandjazz's review

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

chrisscorkscrew's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

It was a relatively easy read, but that is just about all you can say about this novella. It was creepy and unpleasant and I really didn’t like it.

lamisosoup's review

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3.5

ultimately this didn't completely land for me just because the characters felt a little flat, maybe a function of how short this was, but I thought it was a really excellent premise. I didn't expect things to go in the direction they did, and I was pleasantly surprised by it.