Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I love Jamie Quatro. I truly do. Her writing knocks the wind out of you and shakes your bones around. I'll be thinking of this collection for a long time to come.

Jamie Quatro's latest work, I Want to Show You More, is a short story collection hitting bookshelves in Feb 2019. Unlike a lot of people, I haven't got round to reading Fire Sermon (despite hearing universally good things) so I wasn't sure what to expect but it is pretty perfect. A beautiful blend of realism and fantasy, exploring infidelity and faith with sharp poise

The short stories in I Want To Show You More have a very similar feel to Quatro's novel Fire Sermon and sometimes feel like they are telling the same story. Over the course of the book I got a bit tired of the themes of religion, motherhood, infidelity and running, but I know a lot of readers who adored Fire Sermon and I would definitely recommend this book to them.

This is an absorbing, fascinating collection of inter-linked stories that announces the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction. I’m not sure that I’m exactly the target audience, but in these stories of illicit affairs, family relationships, religion and running (!) there is a lot to admire. Some stories are more realistic than others, in the sense that some are almost symbolic, elusive, allegorical. The setting is important, too: Lookout Mountain, on the border between the states of Georgia and Tennessee. This image of a border, a line, becomes central to the experiences of the characters in the stories – lines between fidelity and unfaithfulness, between religion and cult, between life and death.

I wondered at first what I would make of this collection, but Quatro is clearly a good writer. This is a book that leaves much unexplained, making the reader make connections and allowing them to interpret in many ways. Yes, the theme of religion is central, but never in a ‘preachy’ way, and it adds to the darkly compelling reach of the stories. But, for all that, I still feel that one or two of the stories were not as strong as others, and my overall feeling at the end of it was one of being left with an idea that this was a good collection, but I couldn’t pin down any one story that stood out. Some of the advance praise compares Quatro to other contemporary short-story writers, mainly American, which is not a genre I know much about so feel unable to make such comparisons. So, hmmm, I’m left a bit puzzled by my reaction – which in some ways is a testament to the book itself and the issues with which it deals. If I could, I would say 3 and a half stars, which is a bit of a cop out but there we go!

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.)

A collection of stories. As with most books that are made up of stories- there are some good and some not so good.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Some stories are stronger than others in this collection but it is definitely worth reading. Overall I preferred the ones based around realism and family dynamics to the ones that were more surreal with a magical realism feel.