Short Story Review: The Need for Air
Hey there avid readers,
I’m back again!
After finishing All Systems Red, it was time for another short story.
This time around, I chose The Need For Air by Lettie Prell.
There’s a little bit of backstory on this one. I actually went to Tor.com after a friend recommended I check out their free short stories. This was one of the first ones I found whose blurb stuck with me. It can be read for free here or you can support the author by buying a copy at the links below.
All right, let’s get into the review!
Blurb
A mother. A son. A virtual world they both share where each could live forever and achieve their fullest potential. Until one of them decides that isn’t enough for life.
***Brief disclosure***
I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase.
The Review
I gave this short story four dystopian stars!
The blurb had me hooked. It sounded resemblant of San Junipero, my favorite episode of Black Mirror. Also, the artwork reminded me of MirrorMask, one of my favorite movies of all time.
The story is simple. A mother, Lake, and her son Jared live in a special place where users spend most of their time in a virtual world. You can live your dreams every day, anything you want, for a price.
Lake loves it here, but when her son makes it clear that he doesn’t like it here, she doesn’t know what to do. Can’t her son see that she’s giving him the best life he could ever imagine?
This story was a lot of fun, very dystopian, and I feel the blurb followed through on its promise.
I really liked the two main characters. I felt pity for both Lake and Jared and their situation, more for Lake in the end. This story explored how the human perspective can vary widely between two people, and I enjoyed that.
At times, I did have a tough time with flow, and here and there I couldn’t tell if Lake was in the real or virtual world, but overall this story was a lot of fun, intriguing, and well worth a quick little read.
Happy Reading!
That’s A Wrap!
Well that’s it for this short story review. I hope you enjoyed it!
Have you read this story? Are there other short stories you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!
Have a great day!
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