Hub, Issue 86

I'm almost caught up. This is Issue 86 of Hub. There's only one more in my Inbox, although I'm expecting another one tomorrow.

There are two stories this week. Wink by Lucy Kemnitzer is a surprisingly affecting story. She packs a lot into few words. It starts out with the idea that puberty can be controlled, thus it need only be started when required and packed into a couple of months. This is well told through a character embarking on puberty in response to meeting another character. Then the story abruptly twists into an exploration of gendered communication, misunderstood expectations and ultimately rejection and disappointment. It's really good.

Tastes of the Dark is by Malin Larsson. Something about this didn't work for me. It has the well used twist of leading the reader to believe that the POV character is the prey when they are actually the predator. Generally I don't object to using a structure or idea that has been done before because a good story is a good story. I guess what I'm learning from reviewing other people's work is that the telling matters more than the tale. And in this case the telling lacked tension.