I loved this collection of clear, harsh stories about women going through pretty serious crises. Though each followed a somewhat similar formula, each catastrophe was told so succinctly and with such style that it really worked. The stories hung together without feeling too similar or too forcibly different. I also liked that though the plots were bleak you knew the women were in the beginning or middle of something, rather than the end. (Well, maybe except the woman having her crisis at the literal end of the earth.) You believe that these women will be strong enough to pull themselves out a few chapters after their brief stories end. I can't wait to see what this writer does next. ( )

In Laura van den Berg’s gorgeous new book, The Isle of Youth, she explores the lives of women who are mired in secrecy and deception. Ranging from the inscrutability of a marriage to private eyes working a baffling case in South Florida to a teenager who assists her magician mother and steals from the audience, these stories are linked by mystery and by women who are at once vulnerable and dangerous, bighearted and ruthless—who will do what it takes to survive. SOFT

The writing was good and the stories kept me interested, but I just didn't love any of them. ( )

The way Laura van den Berg's stories evoke feelings of loss and the desire to make loss mean something (even if that desire goes unfulfilled) is what makes these stories so powerful. But even while dealing with heavy subjects, there is a lightness to van den Berg's touch. Part of this lightness comes from her use of noir tropes (detectives, bank heists, missing persons, doubles) and whimsical elements such as magicians and acrobats, which announce the artifice of the stories from the beginning. That said, the stories are grounded in strongly realized settings and characters who have something big at stake in each story. Clever and humorous but also deeply moving. ( )

The Isle of Youth is a collection of short stories featuring a variety of women mired in secrecy and deception. Most live quiet lives of desperation. The female characters are well-imagined with much depth. Each story contains conflict and tension. Many of the women make bad choices and must live with the consequences. This collection is imaginative and sensual with an immediate sense of conflict and tension in each. The characters are unique. These are not stories of the average woman in normal situations. Such is the draw and fascination with this collection. Definitely recommended. ( )