Femmes du Chaos by Kristen Duvall

Femmes du Chaos Reviews

• 
  Denise

  First time reading this author so only thing I knew it wasn't what I read mostly but still do like to read other like mystery and horror. Started reading knowing it was a collection of stories and after the first one just kept zipping through them. This might be fiction but let me tell you I could see alot of this coming as it could really happen. Dark side of sarcasm and well flowing stories. I suppose it could be said if you ever liked The Twighlight Zone these would be right up your alley but with more realism twist. Always expect the unexpected is very good as in these. But one thing I liked the most is who the "heros" were, the smart ones the ones who could not be hookwinked or took charge. I will say my favorite was the little girl and at the end the question she asks her dad and I wanted to say you go girl. You see I liked these because I myself can have these same trains of thought in the what ifs and don't pull any punches. She really has it going on with this book and the unique stories contained within. Received an arc for a honest review.
• 
  Tina

  I mainly purchased this because the author is an online friend of mine and I am always up for supporting my friends. That is not to say I hadn't read any of her writing before because I did, and I was looking forward to reading more because I had liked what I'd seen, very much so.
  The book drew me into it from the moment I started reading. The twist of the first story brought a smile to my face and I couldn't wait to know what happened in the other ones. They did not disappoint - I realized later on that I had already known two of them but it didn't take away from the entertainment at all.
  Kristen has a very unique style of writing and a sense of humour that shines through, even despite the morbidity of a lot of the stories. Even when there's hopelessness, her characters always stay endearing and strong without seeming unrealistic.
  The only "negative" was this being such a thin book, I want to read more :D
  
• 
  Mar

  This book is a collection of many stories. Yes the stories are a bit dark and some a bit more realistic than others. The main theme through out the stories was the strong and determined women in each. I like that they are take charge women and they go through quiet a lot. They were well written short stories and I think a few could be made in too actual books. I have to say I did find some of those stories a bit disturbing, twisted and dark for my taste. Overall it was a good book not my usual cup of tea but good none the less and well written.
• 
  Dominica

  I first came across Kristen Duvall through the LJ Idol competition in season 6. She's one of the earliest friends I made in the game, in part because I had come to enjoy her non-fiction stories about her life. I just loved her humour and attitude. As time went on, she started writing fiction, too, which was very different from tales of her life, but also enjoyable. I think all but one of the stories in this collection are stories I recognised from the competition, though naturally they have been edited in some way or another since I first came across them.
  
  What I noticed about this collection is that Kristen has a knack for portraying children and young adults in her stories, though not all of her protagonists can be classified as such. I think the reason they stood out for me is because I don't really write those age groups myself. There is a good variety of tales in the collection, from horror, to dystopian, to paranormal, to fantasy, and other variations of speculative fiction.
  
  My favourite stories in the collection were:
  * The Price You Pay - I just love the way Kristen deals with the poorest people in her fiction, and this is a good example of that. Though this works well as a stand alone story, I would love to see it expanded upon in a novella or something even longer.
  * Fire in the Sky - a brilliant dystopian world where it is prophesied that the sun will explode, and everyone believes it.
  * Two of a Kind - it can be a little torturous to read about the pain experienced by the characters, but it's really well told.
  * Devils and Darlings - this is one of the more disturbing child protagonist stories.
  * The Trails I've Walked - because when I read it the first time, and again now, I felt like it could really be a true story.
  
  There are actually a few pretty disturbing stories, about the sickest humans you can imagine (especially in The Chosen One), and if you knew Kristen, you'd probably wonder how someone who seems so innocent could come up with such ideas, but I think that's part of what I love about them. I couldn't write stories like that, but I'm impressed that she can disturb me in such a way. Oh, and I also really liked at how well she wrote her mother characters, being a mother myself. I felt like I could really connect with them and their experiences.
  
  Lastly, I liked that Kristen included excerpts from her upcoming novels. I'm particularly excited by the Princess and the Piper one. The excerpt is such a great teaser and I can't wait to read the full story.
  
  **N.B. Kristen is a good friend of mine, and she included me in the acknowledgements of the book, so feel free to disregard my review if you're not a fan of seeing friend reviews.
• 
  J. Hamlet

  Short story collections are a mixed bag, both within themselves and across the whole genre. They often have a very "mixtape" feel to them, taking on varied tones, genres, and themes. Sometimes this can have a jarring effect if the sequence isn't carefully chosen or a disjointed feel when one or two stories feel drastically different from the rest. Thankfully, Kristen Duvall's collection Femmes Du Chaos does not suffer too much from it.
  
  A wicked and twisted series of tales, some of which are endowed with a grim sense of humor, Femmes Du Chaos starts on the outrageous side and keeps charging forward. Some of the stories are unrelentingly grim ("The Fallout," "The Chosen One," "Irreversible") and can be hard to take but are intense and vividly-written. Others are real classics. My favorites were "Like Father, Like Daughter," "Magic Shoes," and the closer for the collection, a dystopian horror story titled "The Price You Pay." Some of these felt like ideas that could've become entire novels but the author delivered them as fully-realized and carefully constructed stories that left me wanting more. It's not often that short stories feature such interesting, yet economical world-building.
  
  I will definitely need to check out more by Duvall, as Femmes Du Chaos feels like a taste of what she could do with more pages. Given it's grisly content and often despair-filled moments, it may not be to everyone's taste, but I certainly enjoyed it.
• 
  Cianna Sunshine & Mountains Book Reviews

  A+ (Beyond 5 Stars!)
  Holy cow this book hooked me! It hooked me and I read it in like 2 days, and I’m a major failure for taking so long to get this review up but it’s up now and I need to shout! I LOVE THIS COLLECTION!
  
  These stories are so good, so different and so well written. Each one was a new adventure and when it ended, I was sad.. until I started the next one! I thought that this collection’s theme was so interesting and so twisted I couldn’t help but want to read it right away! I was not disappointed, not in the slightest! Each female was such a bad ass in her own right, dealing with people who were putting them down, but not every story had a HEA either. They are just stories, of females, trying to do the best they can, and being blocked each and every way!
  
  The style of this collection is wonderful, and really shows how incredibly versatile Kristen Duvall is! She wrote each story, and doesn’t stick to the same style at all, but goes to all the right places for the stories. It pulls you in, each story, I was on the edge of my seat, trying to figure out what was going to happen, and some stories are downright creepy.
  
  You need to read this collection, no questions.
  
  *I was given a ecopy as a part of blog tour. All opinions are my own.
• 
  Melanie's

  *This Book Was Given To Me By The Author In Exchange For An Honest Review*
  
  This is a compilation of very dark stories focused around various women in some very unusual situations.
  
  The writing is well done and as with all collections there are some that definitely resonate with you more than others.
  
  Over all I enjoyed the style and think that this "new to me author" has a very interesting voice and I will definitely be looking out for more work from her but I have to say that there were a couple of the stories that were too short for me and really had potential. Bonnie and Clyde is the one that really stands out. I don't think that would have been my choice to start the compilation because it is almost over before it begins.
  
  That being said I really liked this and I think people who enjoy the darker side of writing would appreciate it.
  
  A very well deserved 4 out 5 stars from me!
  
  V""V
  
  
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• 
  Jeff Dawson

  
  The end is never what we imagine
  
  What a ride! This is a great collection of fifteen short horror/suspense stories. Usually when reading something of the magnitude, authors have a way of unknowingly repeat plots in stories. Not in this work. Kristen Duvall pulled this off without any pitfalls. One reviewer made mention of a comparison with “Twilight Zone” episodes. That is spot on! Each story is unique and stands on its own with no difficulty. Brilliant!
  
  My favorite was “Bonnie and Clyde.” Why? I never saw the end coming.
  
  My least favorite was “The Price You Pay.” I felt this one was unresolved in the end.
  
  There are some punctuation issues and few sentences need some work, but nothing which distracts the reader from the story line.
  
  Who will like this? Any fans of horror and the dark side.
  
  A solid four stars
  
• 
  Eric Hubbard

  I enjoyed all of the short stories in this collection. The characters stood out and the descriptions gave the collection an eerie feel. While I enjoyed them all, my favorites were: The Fallout, The Evil Ones and Sated. In the Fallout, I felt Mallory's frustration, knowing what was going to happen, but not being heard by the adults. The same type of feeling came from the Evil Ones, the old woman knowing that her helping the couple's young son would lead to her own demise. Sated reminded me of Stephen King's Cycle of the Werewolf with a touch of Frankenstein. I recommend the collection and look forward to more from Kristen.
• 
  Kimberley

  I started reading this book on vacation so it took me a little longer to get through it than normal, but it was a great read. I tend to prefer longer stories / whole books to allow for character and plot development, but this was a fantastic collection of short stories. Horror and suspense are my favorite genre so it was great to have such a wide variety of stories whose commonality was a page-turning amount of those two themes.
  
  I look forward to reading more from this author!
• 
  Keegan

  I haven't read anything by Kristen yet but I did enjoy this book of stories a lot. it kept me entertained and I was never bored while reading it. I flew through it and I am glad that I got to read it. I never really read this type of genre or really thought I would but Kristen is a good writer and can keep people entertained throughout the book.
• 
  Adrian Smith

  I love this book! It's a great collection of short stories all with a similar theme. They're all well written and captured my attention! I can't wait to read more of Duvall's work as she continues to publish.
• 
  T. Okerberg

  it was SOOOOOOOOO good!!! the doll story, the one about the shoes, and the one about the poor being punished for knowing how to read really freaked me out. in that GOOD way.