Short Stories Reviews
On this page, we share short stories that we review that are published online to be read. However, these stories aren't published for sale and/or not full-fledged novels and not eligible for a full review that a full book would receive. So with that being said we won't be grading these stories the same as we would a novel. However, more weight will be given to plot and the ending/climax.
We grade them as follows:
5 - Stars: Loved It!!!, 4.5 - Stars: Liked it a lot!!, 4 - Stars - Liked It!, 3.5 - Stars - Liked It but can be better and 3 - Stars - Good, but needs Improvement.
We don't give 1 or 2-star ratings. if we feel your story needs work. We'll email you instead, we're not in the business of making other authors feel bad since they put much work into their work.
If you like to have your story reviewed, please drop us a request along with a copy of your story in any format (Doc, Docx, or pdf) on the form that can be found on the contact us page.
To See a short story review, click on the title below!
Let the Leaving Go: By Peter Cole Rae
Review By: Angel Ramon Medina
This is a non-fiction story about a girl named Molly who tries to get out of going to school on a snowy day. Meanwhile her mother Lisa is being abused by her fiance Wayne. Lisa tries to make things right with molly by taking her out to a mother/daughter fun day just like good old times. However, Molly has a really bad weed addiction/drug that nearly kills her and she is saved by a female cop named Alex. Molly is left by her mother who assumes she is dead. Will Molly be able to break her drug addiction and will it be necessary for her to separate from her mother?
Characters: 4/5 stars
Overall an excellent job with the characters and they give a sense of what a broken family is. The characters also give an idea of what drug addiction does to a person when Molly begins to see things that she is not supposed to see. Lisa is a woman going through an abusive relationship with Wayne and has to endure his abuse just to raise a family. The only character that left me a little underwhelmed was Alex. She is a cop, but I feel like a little more could have gone into her character. However, since this is a short story it doesn't bother me too much.
Plot: 4/5 stars
The summary of the story can be read above. My thoughts are, it was nearly executed perfectly. It is a very dark, but real story and it's something that many families have to endure.I hate giving too much of the story, so you'll just have to read it yourself. I will say the part that I did get a bit lost was the part where Molly is left in the pizzeria. I had to reread it numerous times to grasp the true understanding. Other than that, excellent job!
Writing Structure: 5/5 stars
This story is written with nearly no typos or major grammatical errors. It has an excellent flow and becomes a page turner especially towards the end
Ending/Climax: 5/5 stars
The story becomes a page-turner towards the end and I couldn't stop reading towards the end, which is a classic formula to a great ending to a great story. The story leaves you with the question: Does a cop who has made mistakes have the right to take a girl away from her mother?
Final Verdict: 4.5/5 stars
For Peter's debut short story online it's very good and is nearly perfect. A few missed opportunities missed here and there, but an excellent read in my opinion. If you want to read this story visit this up and coming writers website
The List: By Peter Cole Rae
By: Angel Ramon Medina
Another non-fiction story, this time a romantic comedy. It's about a middle-aged man named Arnold who is one dinner away from raising his prestige in his professional life. However, he is paranoid because he thinks his wife (Paula) is sleeping with another woman after seeing a "list" that shows his wife living a double-Life. The problem is the list is hacked and Arnold finds out he's on the list as well. So all is well for the dinner he is hosting for his boss and he feels at ease knowing his wife is really faithful. Or is she...
Characters: 5/5 stars
Once again the characters are well done, gotta say this kid is on a roll! The characters are rather funny and at certain points, I was just laughing out of nowhere to the point my parents thought I was going crazy or something! Anyway, character development is at a minimum as this is a short story. All I can say is, well done kid!
Plot: 5/5 stars
The plot as you read in my summary is funny as heck. As in a romantic comedy, humor is an important aspect. The story leaves the reader with the impression that Paula is hiding a dirty little secret from Arnold. Does Paula really have a fetish for another woman, I'll leave that question to the reader! ;)
Ending/Climax: 5/5 stars
Let's just say it's an ending I wasn't expecting at all and I love unpredictable endings! The only thing I will say is "The List" contains more secrets than what's even written on it! It became a page turner towards the end just like his first short story, only even better!
Final Verdict: 5/5 stars
For Peter's second published work, this is perfect! The only punch I'll throw at it is, why hasn't Peter made this into a full-fledged novel? I want to see more, I feel this is a very strong foundation for an excellent romantic comedy novel! I will be doing a video review of this story in the coming days so stay tuned and especially you Peter!
Pookie: By Peter Coe Rae
Review By: Angel Ramon Medina
The fourth short story by Peter Cole Rae and this one doesn't disappoint. It about a man who accidently leaves the couple's cat to get away. However, he has to keep it a secret from his girlfriend, Gwen as she is prone to depression. So he plays charades with Gwen until he finds the cat in the neighbor's yard. At first, he doesn't care for much about the cat until the cat begins to show it's love for him.
Characters: 4/5 Stars
Overall the characters are pretty well done, however, there are a couple of characters that I felt were a bit underdeveloped. Which Includes Gwen herself, I know she's attached to her cat, but i would had to like a little more about her history and how did she fall in love with the cat. Also Bill the next-door neighbor is only vaguely described as a nosy man. The main character though is well developed and to be fair the story is told in his point of view. To me the characters are fine, but something is missing just that one little thing.
Plot: 4.5/5 Stars
I for one am not a fan of cat stories, but the plot is well-written. At points, it does become very funny when the main character has to try everything to hide the fact that the cat disappeared because of his clumsiest. Then it's revelaed he never really liked that cat and he was only trying to please his wife. However towards the end this sort-of mystery gives off a nice cute ending.
Ending/Climax: 4.5/5 stars
Now with this being a non-fiction story, I didn't really expect any explosive ending or any backstabbing which is what I like to write. However, the ending is very cute and teaches the true meaning of love between couples.
Final Verdict: 4.5/5 stars
Not quite perfect, but that can be because I'm biased towards action stories. However, the fact this story grabbed my attention for a genre that is outside of my comfort zone says a lot. I hope Peter keeps up the good work, he's told me Short Stories will be forever for him. Nevertheless, I hope that he does give novel writing a crack at least once. This story teaches the value of true love and if you love cats this story is for you!
