This was a quirky little collection of short stories that I thoroughly enjoyed – especially “The Narcissist’s Library”! As is almost always the case with short story collections, some were great and some just didn’t really interest me.

I think people who generally like morbid and dark short stories (from authors like Kelly Link) will enjoy this one as well.

This was a DNF for me.
It is a short novella but it just did not keep my attention. The first story alone I couldn't get past the first couple of pages and it just was bland.
If you're into short story novellas, this is for you but just because I didn't enjoy it doesn't mean someone else will. I will attempt to read it again but overall, I probably won't.

The title is very strange. But I think it's interesting because everybody has a story to tell. I like the first one a lot. Because this woman named Dakota Moves in with this man named zayn who is a real estate broker. The story had a lot of plots and twisted in turns. But it really got interesting when she found out in his office. There's a picture of other women and the description he gave to them so she got really angry and she did a lot of crazy stuff. They all lived in the same apartment building which was kind of strange but at the end of the story. It was really interesting and eye-catching. Everybody had a story about their past or futures and it seemed everybody was tied into this. It didn't matter what story you reading this book. It was really interesting. But it experienced loss or tragedies. But they told their story in a very positive way. You can find your way anywhere in the world by connecting with other people or talking with other people. The theme of the book was really good too. Because you could see certain stories we're at different levels of people's imagination.

Thank you NetGalley and Impspired Press for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review! This book is a collection of 7 short stories, so I've decided to comment on each of the stories separately first, and then give some final comments on the collection as a whole at the end.

1: The Narcissist's Library - 22 pages
Without spoiling anything, Dakota moves in with her new boyfriend Zayden, and then discovers a secret. She stages a performance to expose him with help from other people, including her next door neighbour, elderly Mr Bernstein, and the story takes a hilarious twist! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5, loved this one!

2: The Mirror - 14 pages
A middle aged dermatologist discovers the mirror in his den makes him look younger day by day, and proceeds to determine every other mirror is faulty. This story was somewhat odd, but I can kind of see the commentary on society's beauty standards as well as how we perceive ourselves vs how others perceive us. Not a bad story, just strange. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.

3: Avram's Miracle - 20 pages
Avram invents a machine that can solve world hunger. However, what will happen to people's jobs, anyone who produced food, should he start using this machine for it's purpose? Not gonna lie, I was a little confused by this story and what its themes may be, so for this reason I can only give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.

4: The Box - 24 pages
Francine is happy with her work and her cat - yet everyone is pushing her to go on dating apps. To no one's surprise (not mine, anyway), she gets catfished. I found this to be an interesting story about happiness and what we "should" need vs what we actually do need. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.

5: The Loneliest Number - 24 pages
Mental illness, loss, life... This story was a bit difficult to read, but I enjoyed it all the same. I liked Irina's obsessions with 3s, the way she clearly struggles but at the same time finds a way to accomplish something she wants despite of, or because of, her struggles. It was nicely written. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.


6: Rich Girl - 20 pages
David's daughter grace loves the Gwen Stefano song, Rich Girl. David's father has Alzheimer's. I... I have no words for this story. It was just so sad, so heartbreaking!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.


7: There Is No Death in 'Finding Nemo' - 6 pages
Mary and Phil have been married for 19 years. Mary says she's never seen Phil cry. Phil counteracts that he cried when Nemo died - their dog, being named after the film, because it's perfect, because no one dies in Finding Nemo. This story was very short, but I liked seeing the glimpses of their life, before and now. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.

Final thoughts: if you like short stories with hidden layers of meaning, and weird stories where you're sometimes not sure what's going on, I think you'll like this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.8 (3.8) for me, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

It's books like this that remind me why I love short stories. Every story in There is No Death in Finding Nemo has six very unique stories that are creative and fascinating to read. Avram Miracle was my favorite and made for interesting conversations about the pros and cons of Avram's creation.

This book is full of ethical stories from many different genres from a girl‘s revenge when she finds her boyfriend secret library to many more it’s published and put out by after dinner conversations who won law they were magazine with many different short stories that have an ethical problem to solve in this book is full of those stories I love them I love the sport and the thing I love most is that they have so many stories you’ll never read them all you may read this whole book but if you want more you should sign up for after dinner conversation magazine and OMG I sound like a commercial but I am not affiliated just a huge fan. This is a definite five star story collection. I want to thank imagination press Annette galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

There Is No Death in Finding Nemo by Jeffrey M. Feingold is an entertaining collection of seven short stories varying in theme and tone, featuring characters who are real and relatable, as are the dilemmas they face.

The first story, The Narcissist’s Library (3/5), revolves around a young woman who, ignoring her sister’s advice, embarks on an ill-fated relationship. Not a favorite, but I did like how it ended. In The Mirror (4/5), we meet a man in his mid-sixties whose preoccupation with youthfulness and body, image blurs his reality. An apprentice baker and innovator’s ideology and well-intentioned efforts to address food supply shortage and hunger issues result in a clash with those looking to profit from their own business ventures in Avram’s Miracle (3.5/5). In The Box (5/5), a mysterious gift from a stranger enables a young art professor to approach the challenges of online dating and modern relationships in a rather unique way. A pianist with mental health issues seeks help from a therapist but also has a unique method of coping with her situation in The Loneliest Number (4/5). A visit to his grandfather in an assisted living facility inspires a middle-aged man’s reflection on his family history and how that has impacted his personal beliefs in Rich Girl (4/5) In the final story, There Is No Death in Finding Nemo (4/5), we follow the volatile dynamics between a married couple who we have met in a few of the other stories. This is the shortest story in the collection, but through all the three stories featuring this couple, we’re given a deeper look into the trajectory of their relationship.

In stories ranging from humorous to emotional to surreal, the author addresses themes such as relationships and self-worth, infidelity, mental health, aging and self-perception, among others with humor and insight. While a few of the stories are simple and straightforward, others are quite creative, with interesting twists at the end. None of the stories end abruptly or are left to the reader’s interpretation. The sparse prose with no excess, relatable characters and the varying themes made for an enjoyable reading experience. This is my first time reading this author and I’m eager to explore more of his work.

Many thanks to Impspired Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this collection of stories. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want a collection of modernized fairytales and morbid short stories?

Pre-reading:
Have I mentioned I love an absurd title? I usually fuck with short story collections. Let’s see!

Thick of it:
Oh, my arc’s formatting is ROUGH.

It’s always North vs. South.

It’s giving she’s not like other girls, but she’s exactly like other girls.

You’re really citing Imagine Dragons?

Oh, he’s a Cunt.

Romance story mentions serial killers sin.

Garrulous

Covid commentary.

It’s giving Blue Beard.

This dialogue feels a little racist.

1/5 literally just modern Blue Beard
————————

That’s not a funny joke.

Ingurgitated

How would his clothes still fit him?

2/5 just a delulu old man with an eating disorder
——————————-
Cantor

2/5 charming but kinda pointless
————————
Avocations

Why is everyone in this book a vegetarian?

Sylphlike

Plenty of Fish is for murderers.

Fish is a red flag.

Torpid

Do you know how much better the world would be if we could instantly get rid of gross men?

3/5
——————
Capacious

This author really loves alliteration.

This one reminds me of Big Swiss-kooky and mentally ill.

All the stories are incredibly similar with vegetarians and cats and synesthesia and musicians. I’d like a bit more variety in character.

4/5
———————

It’s the way they talked about this song in American Psycho and my brain also immediately went to Gwen Stefani’s.

Pogroms

4/5 I love dementia horror
-—————

But there is death in Finding Nemo. It literally opens with death.

4/5 miserable. I like it.

Post-reading:
It was a fine collection. Nothing I’d tell people to go out of their way to read. I think the bipolar short story is the strongest of the collection with a pretty lackluster ending. The book’s namesake story should be longer. I get that it’s a stand-in for the relationship’s real problems, but Nemo literally opens with the whole clutch being eaten.

Who should read this:
Modern, morbid short story fans

Do I want to reread this:
No

Similar books:
* White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link-dark fairytale retellings
* The Merry Spinster by Daniel M. Lavery-dark fairytale retellings
* Bad Thoughts by Nada Alic-dark short story collection
* You Have A Friend in 10A by Maggie Shipstead-dark short story collection
* Stranger Things by Kelly Link-dark short story collection

This is a very straightforward short story collection.

In a few instances the reader was dropped into the middle of scene and there wasn’t enough material to be invested in the characters.

I would’ve liked a bit more nuance on these stories. I did like the dual plot line story with the professor.

A short read, I enjoyed the flow from story to story. As with any anthology or collection, you'll like some writings more than others; but since these stories feel pretty similar, they have a "all or nothing" vibe, if you like one you'll like all of them.

_"Carrie Fisher, Vivien Leigh, Sylvia Plath."_


"There Is No Death In Finding Nemo" got it right: it is a great movie. And a great dog name.

But there is more than one death in the movie, and not the one one of the characters in Jeffrey M. Feingold's book talks about.

That, however, is not the reason for the ungenerous rating.


_"My book is open, your mouth should be shut."_

In "The Narcissist's Library", a woman discards her sister's advice about taking things slowly with a man she has just met, and she will pay the price discovering his secret.

A man's quest for youth in "The Mirror" will make us put his sanity up for discussion, as in the story of the pianist in "The Loneliest Number".

Surrealism creeps in in the shape of a wooden artifact in "The Box", but also as an extraordinary opportunity in "Avram's Miracle".

The closing stories explore heritage and family in "Rich Gir"l, but also love and regret in "There Is No Death In Finding Nemo".

As in any collection of stories, some are inevitably better than others.


_"A woman cannot survive on books alone. She also needs a dog."_

The message behind each one of the seven stories is unique and deep, and it makes up for the ups-and-downs of Jeffrey M. Feingold's style. The latter is the reason why I couldn't give a higher rating than that.

It surely is a subjective like or dislike, but also an objective one - in some the author's style seems to be too flat, simplistic, to the point of feeling not developed to its full potential, like it is in other stories. It pains me to admit, but the closing story that gives the name to the book was also the one I felt more lacking, when I had high expectations.

Sometimes the mixed impression comes from the same story, and this is partly subjective: as an example, the dialogues in the background of a phone call were my absolute favourites and make for an experimental skill that Jeffrey M. Feingold certainly owns, but the rest of the story fails to back them up as strongly.

The characters are very likeable for the very few pages in which we meet them, and we don't fail to create a bond with them the majority of the time. It's remarkable that it happens so quickly, and even more so that the author uses the same name, more likely the same character, in different stories.


_Final Thoughts_

All of the meaningful stories in "There Is No Death In Finding Nemo" have an unexpected twist at the end, that places Jeffrey M. Feingold amongst the authors that I'm sure to remember.


_Table of contents_
The Narcissist's Library
The Mirror
Avram's Miracle
The Box
The Loneliest Number
Rich Girl
There Is No Death In Finding Nemo

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book for an honest review. It is set to be published in September 2023.

"There Is No Death in Finding Nemo" by Jeffrey M. Feingold came as a disappointment: the stories are short, and yet they find time to indulge in tedious description of the characters' physical appearance and clothing that are completely irrelevant to the plot and uninteresting to the reader. Besides, there are more inconsistencies than you'd think could possibly fit in such short stories, for instance: in "The Narcissist's Library" a Covid-like pandemic breaks out, causing the government to impose a lockdown, and the narrator explains that everything closes down... except that after a few lines, the protagonist complains about having to stop going to the hairdresser's because of financial issues. Hello? There's a lockdown, hairdressers are all closed, you'd be washing your hair at home even if you were swimming in money!
Also, I do understand that not anyone can be a cat lover, but a bare minimum of research is necessary when you set yourself to write about things you have no direct experience of: the scene where the cat lifts its leg to pee, just like a dog would do, just pulled me completely out of the story. I had to put my ebook reader down and take a break from such nonsense. Magical realism, I can take. Random animals behaving like dogs because the author didn't bother to put the research in, I cannot.

Jeffrey M. Feingold has created several interesting stories which deal with all manner of life's obstacles. Two of my favorites in this collection were "The Mirror" in which a man begins to love the way he looks... in one specific mirror and "The Box" in which a woman is given a mysterious box "for happiness". Each of these seven stories was well written and had themes which produced deeper thought. I also liked that many characters seem vaguely connected, giving these stories even more cohesion as a collection.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced e copy. This was a cute, fun collection of short stories. Some of these stories had the perfect ending, and others I wish they would have been longer.

This was a quirky collection of short stories that were based on some unique ideas.
A young woman discovering something dark about the man she has formed a relationship with and finding a very smart way of dealing with it. This is the first of 7 and quite interesting.
An older man sees something startling when he looks into a mirror in his house but is it true? This is about how we see ourselves and the preoccupation with our physical selves.
A young man invents a machine with the power to ease food shortage but at his work place he faces severe pushback from those who see his invention as a threat to their jobs.
The ones I liked the most were The box and the title story were my favourites. Overall every story had something new and conveyed the meaning well.

This is a cute compilation of short stories with each story tackling a different social issue. Some are funny and some are more serious but all in all the stories were fun to read and kept my attention. This is good for those who like Black Mirror and are into stories that touch on weirder subjects and abnormal strange things. I wouldn’t say supernatural, but definitely not normal! I loved reading these stories. The writer had a strong voice for each narrator and character telling their story!

This was a wonderfully done short story collection, each story was what I was hoping for and was strongly written. I enjoyed the way Jeffrey M. Feingold wrote this and thought it worked overall as a strong collection. I can't wait for more from the author.

A nice mix of stories, each with a surprise. Pretty good writing here, and I look forward to the author's future work

Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!

Thank you NetGalley and impspired press for the ARC of this novella compiled of shortstories. They were interesting 7 stories that made you think and were also completely relatable. Full of surprises my favorite was the first one with the surprise book club. All seemingly have a message and shake up every day lives.