Six - Strange Stories of Love

As with most short stories, the ones that struck me the most were the ones about grief, which I felt Manco dealt with in a very raw and nuanced way.

4 Stars
One Liner: A worthy collection of tales about 'love'

Six - Strange Stories of Love is a collection of six stories dealing with different types of love. The blurb emphasizes that these are not romance-based and explore the various facets of the emotion called love. There’s also a list of trigger warnings in the blurb, so please check them out (I appreciate this inclusion).
Each story is set in a different country and deals with one or more themes. I’ve read the author’s stories before I know she writes well. However, no collection will be perfect. I like some stories more than others.
Here’s a brief review of each story in the book.

Hair (India) – 3.5 Stars
The story is set in Kerala (South India) and deals with how a family handles the unexpected changes that occur in their lives. The start and middle are solid. The narration suits the voice of a teenage girl from a town (possibly set in the late 1980s). The emotions are raw and relatable. However, the ending slides into a predictable trope I seem to find in short stories by Indian writers.
Gyan Time: Many temples in India do allow entry to non-Hindus. That’s why you can find news about some of them being arrested or kicked out for sharing pamphlets about the benefits of converting to other religions. Some temples like Puri Jagannath don’t allow non-Hindus due to the violent history associated with them. Even Somnath temple was invaded and razed 17th times, and rebuilt 18th times. The current temple was built in 1951, ordered by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The Fake Rolex (Italy) – 4 Stars
The story deals with a non-healthy kind of love and has a story within a story (interconnected to complete the picture). I’m placing it close to the late historical era. The concept and execution are very interesting. The reader has to use the story and observations to fill the gaps. I like how it ends (open-ended) as it suits the character perfectly. However, I find something missing here. I’m unable to pinpoint it, but there’s a nagging sensation of not finding a vital element. Sorry, I can’t be more specific here.

Karoline (USA) – 3.5 Stars
What connects two people from different parts of society? This love is more along the lines of companionship, something essential for a human being. The plot is actually good, and the ending is just right. However, there’s too much philosophy and musing. The author seems to have this habit of going off tangent and asking philosophical questions (I remember the same happening in a couple of other stories). Since I tend to zone out, I had to speed-read here and there to stay with the core plot.

The Purple Ribbon (Mexico) – 4 Stars
This story falls into the supernatural category (horror) and combines a Mexican legend with the author’s plot. The main characters are etched and established very well. The supernatural scenes are also done well. Given my preferences, I’m a little (a lot) disappointed about the climax and the ending. This could be due to the choice of POV, which doesn’t allow the readers to ‘see’ what happens to the other character (something I wanted). Though I like the ending, I’m not fully satisfied either.

A New Place (UK) – 5 Stars
I don’t give too many 5 stars, but this one made me teary-eyed, so I need to round it up. The story can be confusing in the beginning but go with the flow. Everything will be clear midway through. The ending is perfect! It’s a dark story with triggers but definitely worth reading. My favorite in the collection.

La Dolorosa (Spain) – 4.5 Stars
I guess you can call this a ‘love story’ in many ways. It is as dramatic as the main character (a famous soprano) but without being OTT or overwhelming. The conversation in the climax hits the mark and brings together the different elements of the story. The best part is the ending, which allows the reader to close the book with a soft smile.

To summarize, Six - Strange Stories of Love is a worthy collection of tales about love and its numerous forms. It blends an array of emotions and themes using varied characters. You might like the collection more if you read one story at a time.
Thank you, NetGalley and BooksGoSoical, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

In a Nutshell: A wonderful short story collection that contains, as the tagline promises, ‘strange stories of love’. This is NOT a romance anthology but one that focusses on the varied, sometimes darker, shades of love (and not only romantic love.) As the blurb clearly warns you, stay away if you expect mushy romance.


This is the final book in the ‘Around the World’ trilogy, a standalone anthology collection of stories set around the world. The first book (Twelve - Stories From Around the World) had twelve stories related to choices, the second one (Eight - Fantastical Tales From Here, There & Everywhere) had eight stories focussing on magic, and this third book, as you might have guessed by now, has six stories about love. I have read all the three collections, and though I am sad that the number of stories has reduced with each subsequent set (Don’t you always want more from good anthologies?), the quality has gone wonderfully upwards.

The stories in this collection are eclectic in the “love” they cover. From obsession to suspicion, from grief to disillusion, the emotions covered in the tales make each story a distinct experience. I love how the anthology tackles themes not ordinarily part of ‘love stories.’ The collection is modern and inclusive, and covers gender dysphoria as well. The endings elevated the already good stories to an excellent level.

As was the case in each book of this anthology, the stories are set in different places around the world. The author doesn’t stop only at mentioning the location or at giving her characters a culturally-accurate name, but incorporates the feel of the place throughout the story through some customs or beliefs and the use of some words from the local lingo. This enhances the experience as the variety in locations and the seemingly genuine depiction creates a memorable impact.

The writing style is quite literary in its essence, thereby giving us a detailed insight into the main character and their motivations, which doesn’t happen in typical anthologies. This also means that the stories don’t always follow a conventional start-middle-end progression and aren’t always linear. But the author doesn’t let us feel overwhelmed or confused about what unfolds on the page. Her structure works well for her style of writing.

Do note that the content is quite dark at times and covers some tough topics. For my fellow scaredy-cats out there, know that one story is from the supernatural genre. 👻 (But it was soooooo good that I forgot to be afraid!!! In other words, if I could read it, so can you. 😁)

If there was something that could have improved my experience, it is that the titles of the stories are quite bland compared to their imaginative content. No other complaints.

Here’s a mini-review on the six stories:
1. Hair – India - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Tackled some tough topics but loved the depiction of Southern India. A couple of the character & plot elements could have worked better for me, else this would have been a winner all the way.

2. The Fake Rolex – Italy - 🌟🌟🌟💫
One of the weaker stories in the collection for me, though I enjoyed the kind of ‘love’ it covered. The story gave somewhat mixed historical + contemporary signals. I know that short stories mostly don’t indicate the time period, but getting a feel of both time frames left me slightly confused about where to place the story and hence how to understand the character motivations. Plus, the title spoiled some of the fun.

3. Karolina - USA - 🌟🌟🌟💫
A bittersweet kind of story. Enjoyed the unusual relationship, but found the story a bit too meandering. Also would have liked a greater insight into the titular character. The ending was good though.

4. The Purple Ribbon– Mexico - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
The supernatural story! Loved the plot, and loved the atmosphere. Wanted a bit more at the end.

5. A New Place – UK - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Perfection! Didn’t expect that the darkest and saddest story in the collection would be my favourite. All because of the ending that provided a teeny ray of happiness. The magical-realist setting worked excellently in this tale. (It’s a bit confusing at the start, but stick with it. All is explained as you go ahead.)

6. La Dolorosa – Spain - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Honestly, this was a 4.5 star for me until I reached the end. I loved how the climax made me question my own shallow assumptions. So I shamefacedly added the extra half-star. 😇


As you can see, I either liked or loved the stories. Definitely recommended to short story lovers who want to explore a well-written and an unusual depiction of what constitutes ‘love’.

4.25 stars, based on the average of the above ratings. (If you are familiar with my ratings, you know that anything above 4 is outstanding for an anthology.)


My thanks to author Poornima Manco for providing me with a complimentary copy of “Six - Strange Stories of Love”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.