SuitabookLove is hell
Melissa Marr
- Reading
- Read one story at a time and pause between them. Compare each story’s rules, mood and ending, then check in after the more disturbing tale rather than assuming every supernatural romance will feel alike.
- Themes
- Love and supernatural otherness: The collection places love alongside ghosts, immortals, a selchie and other supernatural circumstances. The stories appear to test what love means when one person or the surrounding situation is not ordinary, but the collection’s overall judgement is unclear.
- Imperfection and human experience: In a futuristic setting, students study the difficult conditions of the past and undertake a project involving experiences removed by technology. The reported story presents imperfection as potentially beautiful and treats the students’ discoveries as meaningful.
- Freedom against restrictive tradition: A girl living in a strict village wants further education and to become a doctor, while her family’s rules include leaving school at fifteen and marrying her at sixteen. The protagonist’s wish to study and leave suggests conflict with the village’s expectations, but the story’s final judgement is not clear.
- Worth knowing
- The strongest pause points are the creepy and disturbing tone of “Fan Fictions”, a ghost romance, a murder-solving premise, and a story involving strict family rules and marrying a daughter at sixteen.