Disappointed. This book has a great concept but no execution. I expected more humour and wit. Unfortunately, this was not that.

really cool modern illustrations, slightly creepy poems, not sinister enough for me but I definitely think this would be a great way to get teens into reading poetry.

What a bizarre and funny book! It's like reading Shel Silverstein for adults. Many stories were surprising and strange and quite entertaining. I didn't love the illustrations and some of the stories fell a bit flat, but overall a very fun read!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

Weird but very cute short stories. Definitely kept true to its word by every individual story only being 55 words. Was a very surprising treat. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

When these got sinister. And I’m talking sinister with murder and wrongdoings, then this book was great.

However, the “sinister” aspect of it was not as much as one would have expected. Granted that it says “slightly sinister” and not 'fully' and the synopsis points out the inclusion of the non-evil hearted, I still felt there were more light-hearted and missed chances than what the namesake implies. There’s also some that, in my opinion, made no sense at all. Quite often I’d stumble across these and have to reread the passage thinking I maybe missed something but, no – it was just that anticlimactic.

So although I love the idea here, I just wished there were more of the darker ones to align with the sinisterness of the name. Otherwise, it’s really just 55 short stories told in 55 words with illustrations on the side (that were quite lovely actually). The rest of the stories were just okay. Hence the three stars.

Thank you for the early review copy!

Racha Mourtada's flash-fiction book is a dark, fun quick read. 55 Slightly Sinister Stories is a book of 55 stories that are all 55 words long. It contains a quirky illustration for each story too. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital copy.

Wonderful read unique original short snippets of stories. Sinister fun zipped through the pages.Will be gifting to friends.#netgalley#andrewmcneal

MY 55 WORD REVIEW

I loved these 55 words slightly sinister stories by Racha Mourtada. Some were humorous, some full of romance and others were about the philosophy of the failed relationships, death and life. Some were simple, some a bit confusing. Some lines punched above their weights, others failed to impress. Still, pretty adorable stories, I would recommend.

MY FAVOURITE LINES:

"It scared her at first, but she always found her way back…most times with his unwitting help. All it took was a bashful smile."

"The fog rolled in, branch-high and curly thick, like the ancestral ghosts of the tress it enshrouded. A single point glimmered, the port beckoning".

This is such a fun, quick, easy read! I was skeptical as to how one could write 55-word stories that were compelling and complete, but this did not disappoint, with stories of loss, love, grief, sex, passion, attraction, young love, and more.

It is no secret that I love short stories and I also love dark reads. When I saw this one, I knew i had to read it. I enjoyed most of the stories here. They were short, but they also were thought provoking. I often found myself thinking about what I just read in a deeper way. It didn't take me long to devour all of these stories and the illustrations really set off the message each story was trying to convey.

I love flash fiction and I love small creepy stories, so I was really excited about this. I read it two days ago and it's basically all fallen out of my head immediately. I couldn't tell you what a single one of the 55 stories was about. Still, it was enjoyable enough while I was reading it, and I liked the combination of stories and illustrations.

This is my first experience with flash fiction or micro fiction. I'm hooked. This little gem was a perfect read to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea. I flew through it in one sitting. The stories were developed but in 55 words. I'm not sure which I enjoyed more the stories ir the illustrations. The pictures in this book are beautiful. I want them for my home. I highly recommend checking this one out.

I went into this book expecting 55 slightly sinister stories, and the ratio wasn't even half-half. There were, indeed, like 10 stories I really enjoyed and that went with the title, but the rest just seemed like little writings that the author wrote on random slips of paper and decided to gather them up in a short story collection.
Anyhow, the art in the book is phenomenal, I loved it. That and the few stories I actually enjoy made me rate the book at all.
The attempt at reading micro-fiction was, however, worth it. I'm prone to repeating the experience in the future, just not with this book.
I'd recommend it as a coffee table book, because the drawings are really stunning and it's something you can flip through when you got a minute to spare, but sadly nothing more.

55 wonderfully dark micro-stories, each of them bringing a new sinister dimension to life. The accompanying drawings are great ways to try and guess what the next short story will bring.

An interesting set of microfiction pieces that are very hit and miss, this collection provides for some real crackers and others that aren’t quite right. There’s a lot to be said for even attempting a piece of work like this, but the balance is a difficult thing to strike, and I’m not sure that it quite got there. However, this is absolutely something that you’ll enjoy if you’re into poetry and the simplistic art form of creating pieces from so few words.

"Love and loathing presided in her heart in equal measures, mingling and overlapping. She didn't think he would affect her at the molecular level.
She felt porous, thin membranes, leaking tiny emotions. They flooded her body and clouded her judgement.
As much as she tried, she couldn't harden her heart...even though he had his."

This is a spot-on collection based on creating a complete short story in exactly 55 words, no more, no less! Racha is nifty at what she has penned: they might consist only 55 words but they speak volumes. This cannot be stereotyped into a single theme as it explores so many like love, disappointments and even cannibalism, at one point. I loved a few on a very shocking level: some are hilariously weird and some are way too absurd for my taste, some are sarcastic and some are funny but some are powerful and even, beautiful. The illustrations are before each story depicts the essence of the story and are so pretty: most of my reading experience was delightful because of this!

I didn't exactly love this collection but it turned out to be a good read. One can even use these as prompts for finessing their creative writing skills. Others can just skim through this at one sitting, to kill time. This might come off as a creepy at few points but are good ones at that and does everything it promises in the description! I am glad that I gave this one a try.

This book serves as my introduction to flash fiction - such an interesting concept! I enjoyed these short (and yes, slightly sinister) stories very much.

I was fascinated with the concept of 55 stories with 55 words each that too with a sinister twist in the end. It is a 30 min read. Though, you will have to re-read many stories to understand the meaning or to find the sinister twist. Granted, some stories have some display of imagination however the stories do not leave the reader in awe and thought.

Stories do not hook the reader and you are tempted to just glance through the beautiful illustrations after a point in time. As a concept, book is interesting however much more effort should have been put in making the stories more intriguing.

I'm giving this 3 stars as I think that writing a collection of stories, using exactly 55 words every time, is a quirky idea and I'm sure could be quite challenging at times. But, I now know that 'microfiction' is not my personal cup of tea and I unfortunately did not finish this book.

I think the title fits it perfectly: Slightly Sinister Stories because that’s really all that you’re getting—very minimal to zero sinisterness. I really wanted more from this book. I have been a fan of flash fiction ever since I read a collection from our university library ages ago (unfortunately I already forgot the title), and more so now that it’s so popular in social media.

55 SSS, however, was just not satisfying. It was a bit boring and sometimes pointless. There were maybe only 2 or 3 that were cute but the rest are very mundane. I feel bad because there is so much potential with the form. I didn’t feel the kind of impact that I’m used to when it comes to flash fiction. I did like the illustrations. I thought they were all fun and well done.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.