Review: J.L Is Master Of Her Craft
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 18, 2011
My Reading ExperienceI loved this book so much for so many reasons, some of which I will try to articulate. It took me a while to even sit and write this review because I was so unsettled after reading the book.I find myself at very odd times thinking about the characters in those stories and wondering what was going on in the author's mind when she wrote that. How do you explain how you enjoyed a book so emotionally dark and disturbing. Don't get me wrong, it is not heavy or violent in anyway but the stories did affect me emotionally and have definitely had a lasting impact on my mind.After all, abusive relationships are not lighthearted topics, this book makes you think and wonder about those around you who for example, like Celia in Conditional Surrender, are trapped in loveless, abusive relationships as a result of their own ill-informed choices and even worse the choice she makes to exact get justice feels like anything but justice (which just broke my heart) or the two little girls in Sudden Emancipation, victims of the selfish and amoral acts of those meant to protect them.I commend J.L for her uncanny ability of capturing life around her in such wonderful detail that in transposing it to " paper" she has you feeling as though it is you experiencing what the characters are going through.I found Don't Get Mad...Get Even to be a thoroughly engaging read and an imperative addition to any library worth mentioning. Let me also say that as short as the stories in this collection are, they are in my opinion the personification of this well known adage: Dynamite comes in small packages.