Strange Secrets by Mike Russell Review (Gifted)

Hello Readers,

Thank you, Jay for sending me a copy of Strange Secrets by Mike Russell for free in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first-time reading Mike Russell's work and it was a wonderfully bizarre book. This collection of short stories is by far the most interesting thing I have ever read and I am still working out exactly how I feel about it.  In the best way possible in this book, your sense of reality gets thrown out the window and all of a sudden, you’re on a journey of pure insanity!

Strange Secrets contains seven short stories of varying length and theme all exploring situations with a dream-like and surreal quality. The seven stories harness unique views on problems such as death, grief, opinions, differences, control, replacement, mental health, corruption and so much more. Each story begins placed in reality and followed an easy to follow story-line, before completely descending down the rabbit hole into mayhem.

I want to highlight Mike’s ability to paint such vivid imagery in few words. Each story varies in length some with multiple chapters, other with just one. Each story has its own plot and depth, no matter how short and at the centre of each story there is a grain of truth. The stories invoke a whole set of emotions and opinions; they challenge our viewpoint and make us think about tough decisions we make as individuals and as a society. It’s quirky and creative and funny while still having a creepiness about it you are constantly entertained while being simultaneously deeply unsettled.

Mike’s very straightforward narrative paired with extremely odd and obscure subjects helped him achieve this impressive and enjoyable and comparable to the wonderful Tim Burton who we all know I love. 

L x

Follow Me

Twitter / Instagram / Bloglovin / Pinterest