{"id":874,"date":"2024-11-01T14:36:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T14:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=874"},"modified":"2024-11-01T14:36:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T14:36:00","slug":"book-review-1986-by-will-stepp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=874","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: 1986 by Will Stepp"},"content":{"rendered":"
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1986<\/em><\/strong>: Stories<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Will Stepp<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Literary Fiction \/ Short Stories<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9798991503600<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 164 pages<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/span>Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

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Reviewed by Toni Woodruff<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Atmospheric & real\u2014a recollective mood on childhood, family, and friends in the 1980s, coated with the nostalgia of times gone by<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Childhood. Every adult\u2019s got one, and every one is remarkably different. There may be some shared nostalgia, a shared setting, a shared home, but kids are humans from the moment they arrive\u2014unique and laying the groundwork for the rest of their lives. Something, confusingly, even though their troubles are often looked down on by older people, they could remember forever.<\/p>\n

1986 <\/em>is a collection of interlinked short stories following an unnamed boy\u2014turned teen, turned man\u2014and his ever-so-relatable childhood, filled with Nintendos, G.I. Joe\u2019s, Garbage Pail Kid cards, and all the things they could get in trouble for when they\u2019re bored and have friends they want to impress.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The collection starts with a quiet vignette, \u201cGrazing Field,\u201d that makes us feel unfinished\u2014not quite a short story, more an introduction. A mood-setter. Capable of making the quiet turn all the way up in story #2: \u201cNew Knife.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cNew Knife\u201d might be the best short story I\u2019ve read in years. It\u2019s got that uber-memorable single item (the knife the young protagonist finds in his grandmother\u2019s antique room) and a young friendship tandem attempting to steal something from a neighborhood store. The feeling of realness is there\u2014how many kids around the world have experienced something similar?\u2014but it also comes with its own moving nuances. The young narrator\u2019s relationship with his grandfather is first introduced in this story, and we keep a strong grip on their bond throughout, able to experience big feelings along with our narrator because we know how much he really means to his world.<\/p>\n

Another story, \u201cClubhouse,\u201d might be the one able to knock \u201cNew Knife\u201d off its throne. As you might expect, this one includes a young narrator getting into mischief too. He\u2019s been hanging around one of his best friends, Luke, a lot lately, but Luke has started being with Kai Palmer\u2014someone who Luke can do big kid stuff with. So when the narrator tags along, he\u2019s got all the more reason to prove he\u2019s not a little kid anymore. Little lives can come with big repercussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrainage Pipe\u201d is one of those stories that comes with an unforgettable image linked with, perhaps, the most powerful emotion: fear. This collection isn\u2019t a horror\u2014more a literary\/historical collection\u2014but I\u2019d be lying if I didn\u2019t say I felt fear for my main character often. Not only can kids be cruel enough to send shivers down your spine, but the setting is painted with such a vivid brush that it makes the supernatural feel as possible as if we were worried, bored kids in the 80s too. If you remember what it was like growing up as a rural kid during this time, you\u2019re going to be enamored of 1986<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This book is about the feeling. The atmosphere. The time. The things we can\u2019t forget, well into adulthood. We can learn so much from kids, as long as we\u2019re willing enough to listen. This is the only childhood they\u2019ve got, and they\u2019re doing things you\u2019re too afraid to do. Jump back in time with your old self in this knife-sharp story collection.<\/p>\n

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Thank you for reading Toni Woodruff\u2019s book review of 1986: Stories <\/em>by Will Stepp! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The post Book Review: 1986 by Will Stepp<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1986: Stories by Will Stepp Genre: Literary Fiction \/ Short Stories ISBN: 9798991503600 Print Length: 164 pages Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Toni Woodruff Atmospheric & real\u2014a recollective mood on childhood, family, and friends in the 1980s, coated with the nostalgia of times gone by Childhood. Every adult\u2019s got one, and every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}