Book Review: Sacrificial Lambs and Others by Sheri White
Sacrificial Lambs and Others by author Sheri White is a collection of flash fiction and short stories, presented in order of publication and with short, additional information from White about her writing it, where and when it was originally published, etc.
It's an interesting collection, but unfortunately, it’s a little too much ‘author’s journey’. By which I mean it starts off fairly weak. I think it’s understandable when an author’s first pieces of fiction aren’t as strong as their latest, and authors are (hopefully) always improving. But it’s like getting a Greatest Hits Album, and having the band put their poorly recorded garage demos at the start of the album, before getting into their actual singles.
Sheri White is clearly a good writer, as seen in the latter half of the book, but the flash fiction pieces that open it mean that if you read it in order, it is a little difficult to get through.
I usually love short story collections, whether anthologies or single-author. And it really is great to see an author improve, but this collection just didn’t quite hit that high note for me. However, a few of the later stories were really solid, and maybe the collection could have been improved a little by mixing it up a touch more, rather than presenting the stories in chronological order. White clearly has a dark mind and an imagination to match, but a touch more editing with the some of the flash fiction, maybe a little reworking with the short stories, and this collection could have easily been a higher rated read for me.
After reading the last few stories, I definitely found myself interested in seeing more of White’s work. Again, the ideas are there throughout, but execution for the earlier stuff is a little lacking. But it’s a spark, and throughout the book you really do see this grow. This seems to be White’s currently only collection, and I’m eager to see what the author comes out with next.
Grade: C
Review by Elle Turpitt
I purchased this book.