Review of 13 Months of Seclusion

[Mortii]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "13 Months of Seclusion" by Anne Athena Dura.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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13 Months of Seclusion is a collection of short stories by Anne Athena Dura. The idea for the fictional stories in this book came to the author during the Covid epidemic. The author spent around 13 months in seclusion during the covid lockdown. That is why there are 13 stories in this book, one for each month.

The stories can be read in any order that the reader wants. Each one begins with a month. The first story begins in March, and the last story ends in March again. All the stories have these themes of loneliness and isolation in common. Through an alternate dimension in a girl's apartment, an ancient monster from the Philippines lurking on pregnant women, impossible expectations from your family, vengeance, blood, gore, killers, ballet, childhood trauma, and exhausting jobs, there is a story in this book for everyone. I can't say much more about the plots because the stories are short, and I would write too many spoilers.

I liked the author's writing style. It's a bit different in every story because the author says that they were finding their writing voice while writing them. In some of them, the writing offers rich descriptions of the places and characters. In others, it's more of a poetic and philosophical type of writing. I like the different plots in all the stories. The author has a very vivid imagination.
The only dislike I have about this book is that the “Contents“ page isn't synced with the book. The stories are on different pages than stated in the “Contents“. It's a bit confusing, but it isn't a major concern. It can be easily fixed. For that reason, I still give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy short stories and to horror lovers. If you enjoy Stephen King's or Clive Barker's short story collections, you will enjoy this book.

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13 Months of Seclusion
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