Este livro contém 18 contos, alguns muito bons, outros apenas medianos, mas penso que isso é recorrente em livros de contos.
Alguns tocam o horror, outros contém algo de realismo mágico ou surreal e há aqueles que apenas nos fazem pensar, como é o caso de A Verdade Acerca do Futuro ou O Pai Natal Dorme em Casa. Mas em todos há aquele toque de estranheza, que me parece ser típico da escrita da autora.
Recomendo para quem goste de contos e histórias contadas de forma insólita.
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So delightfully weird I even liked the ones I didn't understand.
Schweblin has such a particular style that speaks directly to an instinctual understanding. I'll remember these stories the way I remember a vivid dream the next morning, with pockets of confusion but a certainty of its import. ( )

Totally dig this author! New favorite. ( )

A short story collection with a lot of hits and a few misers. Seeing this beautiful cover, I wanted this book so and bad! I was at work when I saw this book. I read a story and was immediately sold. Unfortunately, that story was the only 5 star for me.

This little story collection has 20 stories. All with a dark and unsettling feeling to them. Some stories follow normal couples stopping for some food. Another one follows a girl who only eats live birds and one is a story about butterflies.

This book was pretty good for the most part. Seeing everywhere that this author has won a lot of prices made me have faith that she could read interesting stories. And she does just that. All of the stories were pretty good idea wise. The execution of the stories on the other hand was sometimes not so great. What pains me the most in books is that sometimes you see a good idea and what the author is trying to say only to have it wrapped up in something so illogical that it misses the whole point. A lot of stories here are just too short. With a little bit more explanation they would go a long way.
For example, I have to use a spoiler. So be warned.
In the story about the butterflies only on the last sentence you understand what the story is about. How a father can just shove something aside only to realize later they hurt someone in the process of doing so. This is an example of great story telling. The writing sets up a scene. You as a reader have no idea how it turns out. Revealing it only in the last sentence.
I wish I could only rate that story and not have to deal with all the other ones.
Most of the other stories in this book are lacking this explanation. They set a scene, create interesting characters, have an unusual thing going on, only to leave it there. No explanation or something to make sense of why and how something happened.
Now this could be deliberant and a choice from the author but in my opinion this didn’t do the book any favors.

A short story collection that has some really good writing If you can overlook the weird and nonsensical ones.
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A mixed bag of stories: some had no discernible point, some were deeply unsettling. This collection overall made me feel like I was slowly descending into madness, where even a mundane set-up could start to feel low-key ominous. Schweblin has a knack for the slow burn, steadily crafting an atmosphere that feels sinister without always resorting to shocking imagery or violence typically found in the horror genre. Endings are not her strong suit, however. Many felt unsatisfying and sudden. ( )