To novella, or not to novella, that is the question.Hopefully, I have the answer.
Book Rating: Up All Night'er
OK. I've read several novellas now and I'm developing quite a strong opinion about them. *oh dear* But before I divulge that, let me talk about this particular collection as a whole.
It's nice to see these authors that we love getting together to write shorter stories with a similar theme. I thought that was fun. I enjoyed seeing Neill, especially, since I'm always a HUGE fan of Karen's. The plots of the various novellas were enjoyable with varying degrees of excitement and drama, and it was a very easy read.
Do I recommend this book? Absolutely....
Will you be sorry you bought it? No way....
*do you sense a "but" coming?*
But (there it is!) for me, these stories didn't feel natural--or they didn't feel like they flowed naturally out of the authors brains like a lot of the novels we read. For me--and this might just be me--I sensed the publisher in the background saying something like, "Hey, we've got an idea for a novella collection we want you to be a part of and we want to do it this way." Do you know what I mean? Maybe I'm just being way too picky. This is the real reason why I've shied away from these collections in the first place, and now my fears are realized. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION. There are tons of raving reviews about these types of collections, so obviously there's a real market for them. For me it's a no-go.
Now, as for my overall opinion of novellas generally.... I'm not a fan. They are delightful little stories, but that's it. They don't stick with me, they don't have meat. In fact, sometimes I read them and think, "Shoot! Why didn't they make this into a full novel, it would have been great!" And I just end up feeling jipped. Has that ever happened to you?
In the end, yes, this book does deserve my second highest rating, but that's all. And will I be tempted to pick up any more novellas or novella collections? I don't think so. *frown*
If you read this, let me know what you think and if you LOVE novellas, tell me why!
*Thank you to Bethany House for my free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*
Happy Reading!
Buy it!
I agree with you, Amber. I tend to not enjoy novellas that much, with a exceptions here and there. Oddly enough, I love a good short story.
ReplyDeleteHey Beth!! I'm with you, short stories can be fun, but I'm gettin' pretty pick these days. LOL So happy to have you drop by, Beth! Happy New Year!
DeleteI agree give me a novel most any day, however I did enjoy writing mine it was a whole lot less to wrangle with to get the story right, it was a refreshing breather in between writing longer pieces.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, honestly, yours is really the only novella that I thoroughly enjoyed. The others are just ok. I bet it was a refreshing change from novel writing! LOL
DeleteI've been wanting to read this book. I have enjoyed some novellas more than others. When I read "Smitten" by Denise Hunter, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt and Colleen Coble I noticed that each novella was ten or eleven chapters. That's a pretty good length. My sister read some that were only five or six chapters long. Their novella collections worked because each story was about friends living in the same town. Each author included the characters from the other stories as minor characters in their novella. All four authors worked together to match their stories in one time period and in one town. Another thing I have noticed. Novellas only work when the couple already knows one another. The story is too short for the couple to reasonably meet, get to know one another and then fall in love in only six to ten chapters.
ReplyDeleteYes, if they have known each other for a while that makes all the difference. That's why I enjoyed Melissa Jagear's novella so much. Glad you stopped by Sylvia!!!
DeleteI'm not a big novella person either, Amber. I might read them if they're free, but I've never, ever paid for one. I usually feel like they don't give me long enough to enjoy the story and the characters. That said, it seems like authors who write free novellas before introducing a book series usually see that series sell fairly well. So I might one day end up writing a novella even though I rarely read them myself. Some people certainly seem to like them, though.
ReplyDeleteI agree, like what Melissa did. That was awesome! And kind of in relation to what Sylvia was talking about above, Melissa's characters had known each other for a while before her story started which made it more plausible for me. Whereas in A MATCH MADE IN TEXAS they all just meet and fall in love within a few days, which is indeed romantic, but not very believable.
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