Reviews

Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson

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she_ena's review against another edition

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fast-paced

3.5

rainey_el's review against another edition

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challenging funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

laura_cat's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced

4.0

dr_dick's review against another edition

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5.0

absolutely loved it. i'm sucha a big fan. here are a collection of stories that are loosely fit together in one way or another. there is humor, fantasy, doom, wit, and charm. what i admire most about this author's work is she is the master of the aside. makes me smile nearly every time. this could have gone on for much longer than it did and i would have been happy.

cvneeley's review against another edition

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3.0

Creative but confusing.

bitterblu's review against another edition

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2.0

The first story in this collection, 'The Void', was what I what I wanted from this reading experience. It was snappy, intriguing, a little creepy. But everything that came after that just didn't hit the same. I don't want to rate it any lower because I do honestly think this isn't an ideal genre for me, but I did find this a little painful to get through.

I really enjoyed the speculative twists, when they happened, and contrary to some other reviewers here I appreciated the authors choice to have all the vignettes in this book interconnect in some way. But the writing was too meandering and the characters weren't interesting enough to justify the amount of time the stories lingered on their upbringings and personal histories. Ultimately I was bored.

I think if what you want from this collection is a leisurely stroll through the mundane moments of modern day life, you will enjoy it much more than I did. But if your expectations lean more towards the bizarre and mysterious you may be disappointed.

Of the eleven stories featured, three are of note. 'The Void' gets a 4 star rating from me, 'Blithe Spirit' a 3.5, and the final short ('What If?') a 3.5 as well. Due to it's placement it can't really be recommended on its own, but I did think it was fun and tied up the overarching narrative nicely. It was probably the most playful.