The Red Garden

I loved Hoffmanns writing in high school. You can count on her for intimate, tragic, and passionate storytelling, with an element of the mysterious and magical. In the context of her writing, this set of short stories seems like a better idea on paper than in the realization. Her storytelling seems to work better with a more developed storyline and intimacy with the characters. Her familiar tactics of emotionally charged writing, in some places, come off as melodramatic and even cheesy in the context of these short stunted story lines.

Pretty much perfect Hoffman. The stranger stories are the stronger stories, some of them were a little TOO sweet for my taste, but wonderful as always. I am a Hoffman fan from way back, and I recommend her work for adults and YA readers. She has a charm to her storytelling that is just wonderful.