★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
(Dark Fantasy) In a world when most women have their mouths stitched shut, a poor family stitches their boys’ mouths too so they can make more lace to sell. (4,200 words; Time: 14m)
"With Lips Sewn Shut," by Kristi DeMeester [bio] (edited by Jason Sizemore), appeared in Apex Magazine issue 113, published on October 2, 2018.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2018.548 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: The narrator makes good her escape and starts a new life somewhere safe.
Con: It makes zero sense that anyone needs his or her mouth sewed shut. And how would they eat? This gimmick is key to the story’s message, of course, but it's painfully obvious.
Beyond that, her brothers are cardboard villains: they’re evil just because they’re evil. And the protagonist really does very little to earn her escape; her mom did most of the work.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 113)
Kristi DeMeester Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: The narrator makes good her escape and starts a new life somewhere safe.
Con: It makes zero sense that anyone needs his or her mouth sewed shut. And how would they eat? This gimmick is key to the story’s message, of course, but it's painfully obvious.
Beyond that, her brothers are cardboard villains: they’re evil just because they’re evil. And the protagonist really does very little to earn her escape; her mom did most of the work.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 113)
Kristi DeMeester Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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