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    Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology
    Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology
    Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology
    Ebook114 pages36 minutes

    Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology

    By Larissa Hinton

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary.

    Everblossom is a journey through poems and short stories that may seem ordinary on the surface but dig a little deeper and the world not only shifts. It changes.

    Prepare yourself to delve into the three stages of the flower from bud to blossom then back to seed, you'll go through them all with a whole new perspective.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLarissa Hinton
    Release dateAug 11, 2011
    ISBN9781465976932
    Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology
    Author

    Larissa Hinton

    The young adult fantasy and paranormal romance author, Larissa Hinton, grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Chesapeake, Virginia. She now lives in northern Virginia, but she always looks forward to going back to the sweet smell of the salty ocean. Larissa has always loved writing since the age of 12 and hasn't stopped since. After many years of writing whimsical tales of romance and fantasy, she is now proud to be a self-published author. When she's not writing, she's teaching English at a local middle school. When seen out of the classroom, Larissa is shopping for the next great Wii game, searching for undiscovered treasure (a.k.a. sparkly jewelry) and plucking some fresh fruits (or vegetables, dependent on the year) out of her small garden. Larissa Hinton is currently author of Everblossom: A Short Story and poetry Anthology and Everblossom 2: A New Breed of Short Stories and Poems! Huge Fan? Want to know when the next book will be released? Signup to receive email alerts about new releases and free giveaways here: http://eepurl.com/H71-L

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    Reviews for Everblossom

    3.5/5

    25 ratings12 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Everblossom is an anthology going through three life stages. Everblossom starts off with a heavy claim in its blurb that it is ”An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary.” Naturally, this is a very difficult claim to follow up on, and unfortunately I don’t think this anthology delivered. In fact, it did the opposite with many of the stories and poems being good because they were so ordinary and slice-of-life like. Hinton’s strength was the honesty in which she delivered the stories, and the ones that came off more-so were the more cliche and ordinary stories. Hinton plays with language and sound throughout her pieces, which make them sound far more interesting aloud than on paper. Hinton also has some vivid images in a few of her stories that stick with you. The tone of this anthology came across as bitter which was an interesting contrast in the first two stages- seed and bud- as both are usually looked back upon with a certain rosy hue of innocence. For example, there’s a poem on childhood that’s with a child’s vocabulary but clearly written with an adult’s voice.In general I felt like Hinton’s style would be much better suited to longer novellas or novels. In many of her short stories there seemed to be either plot or an interesting character or an interesting idea, rather than all three. I felt like the entire work was very heavy handed, and often the ending was already blatant and stating the idea directly again took away from the feel of the piece. An example of this was in a story Changes, with the last two paragraphs. A few of her pieces do touch on deeper issues, but not to the extent that I was hoping for.I would not completely write her off though, as she does have some novellas(ex. Iwishacana) coming up that I could see being well polished and combining all the positives from this work.Nibble: “One of the teachers throws him a spoonful of pity in a steaming bowl of no help at all.”I received a free electronic copy of this book from the author via LibraryThing.
    • 5/5
      I liked the way in which the author chose to combine poems with short stories. Some of the stories had dark undertones, but since that is right up my alley, it suited me just fine. I believe that many of these stories could easily go on to be novels on their own, and I hope to read more from the author in the very near future.
    • 3/5
      Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable read. I feel that the poetry seems more polished than the short stories, and I enjoyed those more overall. The stories felt more like story fragments, rather than fully-developed ideas. To me, they seemed more disjointed and I was frustrated by not being given enough information by the author to decide if I liked the story or not. I think that several could easily be further developed into novellas or even novels. I will be certainly looking for this author again, and I hope that she takes the time to develop and polish her stories a little further.
    • 4/5
      Very interesting collection of poetry and short stories. Very well written with great word play. I wish the stories were longer, should definitely do a novel or novella.
    • 2/5
      When I first received this electronic book, I was very intrigued upon reading it. Everblossom is an anthology that goes through life in three stages. Bud, blossom and seed.The title and description was very alluring to me. I have never been really fond of poetry and thought that this would be a very good opportunity to start. I was surprised to enjoy Larissa's poetry, she knows how to play with words.As for the short stories, I was found to be left on my appetite most of the time. Wishing that the stories would last longer, maybe she would be better suited to do novels or novellas better then short stories. But don't get me wrong, she is a talented writer.But this anthology just did not deliver what it said it would for me. So I give it a 2 stars on 5.
    • 1/5
      Everblossom is an anthology going through three life stages. Everblossom starts off with a heavy claim in its blurb that it is ”An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary.” Naturally, this is a very difficult claim to follow up on, and unfortunately I don’t think this anthology delivered. In fact, it did the opposite with many of the stories and poems being good because they were so ordinary and slice-of-life like. Hinton’s strength was the honesty in which she delivered the stories, and the ones that came off more-so were the more cliche and ordinary stories. Hinton plays with language and sound throughout her pieces, which make them sound far more interesting aloud than on paper. Hinton also has some vivid images in a few of her stories that stick with you. The tone of this anthology came across as bitter which was an interesting contrast in the first two stages- seed and bud- as both are usually looked back upon with a certain rosy hue of innocence. For example, there’s a poem on childhood that’s with a child’s vocabulary but clearly written with an adult’s voice.In general I felt like Hinton’s style would be much better suited to longer novellas or novels. In many of her short stories there seemed to be either plot or an interesting character or an interesting idea, rather than all three. I felt like the entire work was very heavy handed, and often the ending was already blatant and stating the idea directly again took away from the feel of the piece. An example of this was in a story Changes, with the last two paragraphs. A few of her pieces do touch on deeper issues, but not to the extent that I was hoping for.I would not completely write her off though, as she does have some novellas(ex. Iwishacana) coming up that I could see being well polished and combining all the positives from this work.Nibble: “One of the teachers throws him a spoonful of pity in a steaming bowl of no help at all.”I received a free electronic copy of this book from the author via LibraryThing.
    • 5/5
      I adored this anthology; it has everything I want in a story. Gripping storylines, memorable characters, convincing romance and beautiful writing. I didn't know this collection of poetry and stories would be so good - but I hope my review convinces you to read it so you don't hesitate like I did!Every one of the stories had the potential to be turned into a proper book - every single one of them. When it finished, I wanted more! I was genuinely upset when the whole collection ended and the bar at the bottom of my kindle said 100%. The stories didn't feel uncompleted or anything, but they left on good cliffhangers that made me think "Is that the end? Nooooo!"The poetry is beautiful. There is only about six poems, but they are all unique and nicely paced in their own way. There are also a few different versions of the same poem called 'Words Speak Volumes' and it is basically a random word on each line. Well, not totally random. I noticed that each word related to the one above it. It had me thinking and reading it for ages - the author is a genius!It was a good, fast read. I read it in one sitting, hooked. After reading a big heavy read, it was nice to have a light collection of easy stories to read. I recommend this to all different kinds of people, as most of the stories are made up of different genres. There are some disturbing things that may upset others however - like a gruesome part about eating humans. Basically, somebody just pulled an arm out of there pocket and started nibbling it (I am not sure if this is a comedy or horror.... both I think....)! Don't expect too much of it, as it is only approximately 70-80 pages, but I really enjoyed it so I do think - if you have an ereader - you should read it. Dear Larissa Hinton, is there any chance for Everblossom 2?!
    • 3/5
      Everblossom is an anthology unlike any I have ever read before. First of all it seemed strange to read something that was so casual in its style. I almost felt as if I was at an oral story telling. This is not bad, just different. Her mixture of short stories and poetry was refreshing. I loved the poem “Childhood”. As I find myself getting older it was nice to read a poem that took me back to what it was like to be a child.Just about the time I thought I had the author’s style pinned down she slipped in something new. “Crack” seemed like a short story of an abusive mother. It had a twist to it that caught me off guard.I think I enjoyed the poetry more than the short stories. I felt like there needed to be more to the stories. Maybe it was just my desire for there to be more. I do believe this is an author to watch out for.
    • 4/5
      Read this review and more at On The Shelf!Everblossom is a short anthology of stories and poetry that represent different stages of a flower (seed, bud, blossom). The stories and poems are dark, light, realistic, fantasy, heartbreaking, disturbing and everything in between.The stories are very diverse and I enjoyed them, though there were several typos throughout the book. I enjoyed the writing style and felt it was very clear. I have to say I enjoyed the poetry more than the stories, however. I found the Words Speak Volumes poems were very intriguing and well written. Almost every line was a single word that may or may not directly connect to the next word, but all together, it spelled out the entire story without having to include every word like a story.I rated this book as a 4, though it was really almost a 4, but above a 3.5, so it's real rating would have to be 3.75. The stories still had me intrigued and left me wanting to know more about what was going to happen in the stories, so the author did well at keeping your attention and interest.This book could fall under adult or young adult because of the subjects it goes over, though I wouldn't suggest anyone 13 or younger read it because some of the harsher subjects. All in all, I enjoyed it, but I wish it had been longer.Diverse, dark in places, well-written, unique, a bit too short.
    • 3/5
      Larissa was kind enough to ask me to review her newest e-book, Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology. Everblossom is a short collection with alternating stories and poems, and can easily be read in one sitting. The entries are grouped in three sections, “Seed,” “Bud” and “Blossom,” and like a flower, are meant to reflect the stages of growth.Although I don’t normally read and review poetry, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed the poems in this anthology. Several were stand-outs for me, including “WSV #4” from the “Bud” section and “Wither” from the “Blossom” section. In “WSV #4” Hinton uses short one to three-word phrases to describe a teen’s day at school (presumably middle or high school). The staccato rhythm of the poem creates a feeling of movement, and the descriptive words start out innocently enough: "...pencils—pens—writing—utensils—down—window," but become vaguely threatening by the middle: "...smoke—inhale—cough—‘Just relax,—you'll like it!'—All lies,—lungs—tear—mind—lost." Other poems follow the same form and I thought they all succeeded in creating mood with very little verbiage.Several of the short stories worked well by themselves, such as “Changes,” a strange tale about a boy and girl who are trying to hide their true natures from each other, and “Forget,” a page-long story about a girl who is able to predict the future. Many of the stories have supernatural elements, and because they are so short, they left me feeling uneasy, which was probably what the author intended.Although the stories and poems by themselves made sense, however, the collection as a whole felt disjointed and lacked cohesion. Some of the stories were just odd and out-of-place, like “Transcend” which is barely half a page and describes a soldier who has just been shot and whose ghost is surveying the bloody battle scene. The last short story in the book, "Black and White," has no paranormal elements of all, and as the finale to the collection (although it is followed by a poem) I wanted it to make a stronger statement and tie into the rest of the book. Instead, it only left me feeling confused. The writing throughout the collection is fairly solid but occasionally veers towards the overly dramatic. And correcting rookie mistakes such as tense problems and word usage would help with the flow of the writing.Despite the issues I had with the book, by the end I could see the overall sense of growth that Hinton was going for. Everblossom has a strange and visceral quality that will give the reader something to think about. Hinton herself expresses in her introduction that the point of the anthology is “…to play with the idea of what is ordinary.” I think you will find this collection to be anything but.
    • 3/5
      Everblossom by Larissa Hinton is a collection of short stories and poems, all of which circle around one central theme. It is split up into three separate sections which meander through the life-cycle of a flower ‘from bud to blossom and then back to seed’, a lovely idea for a collection. It includes some of Hinton’s early work and does therefore not just deal with the growth and fruition of a flower, but with the evolution of the writer herself. ‘The beginning of the end’ is also a continuing reverberation throughout.Everblossom is essentially about human emotions and the fragility of life, and features very varied subject matter. The paranormal appears briefly, as do faeries and shape shifters. There are echoes of magical realism throughout. The first set of poems and stories deal with childhood - the wonders of rainbows, playing in sandpits, dancing and laughing and the like. Most of the writing in this collection contains morals, primarily the importance of enjoying one’s childhood and later life. Particularly poignant is ‘Born Without a Heart’ which deals with the aftermath of the death of a baby, and ‘Forget’, where a young girl foresees her father’s death, shunned by her mother in the process.‘From Mother to Fetus’ is a wonderfully sweet and touching letter written from a mum-to-be to her newborn child. It deals with racial stigma and overcoming problems which are likely to be encountered during the child’s life, particularly with regard to the relationship between mother and baby.The narrative style is interesting and Hinton places a modern twist upon the usual generic prose styles. In stories such as ‘In the Beginning, There Were Fairy Tales’, a traditional ‘once upon a time’ structure has been used, but there is also the added dimension of an informal narrative voice, thus adding a contemporary flavour. Some of the sentences seemed a little clumsy but others were incredibly poetic. A few of the stories are so short that a heightened sense of empathy and pity is unable to be built up. The reader has no real idea who the characters are or how they function in some cases. Sadly, there are a few grammatical errors throughout which made the writing seem less polished than it should have done. There were also few discrepancies in the collection - a character being called Lucia and Lucille in the same story, for example.With regard to the poetry included in Everblossom, an introductory poem has been included at the beginning of each section which was rather a nice touch. Hinton’s poetry is incredibly contemporary in terms of style. It is mainly written in free verse and there are no rhyming patterns as such. The poems themselves are very evocative on the whole, but I did find that the structure of ‘Sideways Glance’ seemed rather muddled. Some of the poems are definitely stronger than others.To conclude, the Kindle version of this book only comes in at 63 pages which I personally think is too short to be deemed an ‘anthology’. ‘A short story and poetry collection’ would have seemed far more appropriate as a subtitle. I personally would have liked to have seen a little more atmosphere built up in each of the stories as many of them seemed more like snapshots or tiny fragments. It was, however, a promising collection which can easily be read in one sitting.
    • 4/5
      I am not so in with anthologies, but this one changes my opinion about it.I love each of it, but I especially love those poems who could say a lot and would make you think,” yeah, that’s right”, and I like the short stories being presented.I agree with the author that words held powers, she herself showed that one could paint with words and words are art.I believe this author has a gift for short stories and she should pursue it. I like the stories a lot, it keeps me anticipating and figuring out how she would end the story. But, I guess, she might like the idea to make it longer, because from my own experience, I’m liking the story and then it just ends. It’s just that I wish for her stories to be turned into novellas. Each of it would make a good plot and definitely a good read, if we say so.And I’d like to appreciate that in such short words she could say a lot, the characters are defined and the gist is well-delivered. She writes vividly or if not vividly, the words would transport you to what she wants to convey. It’s well-written and the anthologies are weighed thoroughly to be able to be part of this book.Such a nice read, and I would watch out for this author.:)

    Book preview

    Everblossom - Larissa Hinton

    Introduction

    I would like to introduce you to my short story and poetry anthology. I bet all you guys are shaking or scratching your head in frustration wondering why I even put poetry in this anthology. I have no idea if this has been done or not, but when I started this anthology, it all seemed to flow just right.

    Even though I started this anthology with the thought that maybe I should just include short stories, I started to realize that my poetry has never had the spotlight. My writing started with poetry when I was in eighth grade when a teacher asked us to compose some poems, and you’ll see some of my very first poetry in the very beginning of this anthology, Seed. I decided that it would be inappropriate for me to just leave out some of my finest—and not so finest—humble beginnings as a poet. You will also see a budding, so to speak, of my short story writing. I just started writing short stories this past year and I have to say, I do love the idea.

    Anyway, I know another question you are just dying to let out: what kind of stories and poems are in this anthology? If you have read any of my previous work, you will notice that I play with the idea of light and dark fantasy with a touch of gore. This isn’t exactly a Howl-O-Scream sort of anthology but it is not for the faint of heart. Some pieces will make you wince, especially stories like Wrinkle and the poem English Major Dues.

    However, the rest of the works will make you think and wince for different reasons other than gore. Some of them are touching and some will make you think in a whole new way. And that’s the whole point of this anthology: to play with your mind, to play with the idea of what is ordinary.

    So without further ado, I invite you to enjoy and ponder over my anthology, Everblossom.

    Seed to Seed to Seed

    Bud to blossom

    till dusk til noon

    from sunlight to sunset

    do you know the circle of life?

    From the womb to the grave

    from blood to dust

    this is how the world began

    and how it shall end

    to seed to seed to seed . . .

    In the Beginning, There Were Fairy Tales

    Once upon a time, in a dimension far, far away, lived a homeless man who swam with all his might to find land. He wasn’t your stereotypical homeless bum either: he had magic powers. Or so he thought, anyway.

    Any-who, moving on with the miraculous story . . . So in this weird, mysterious place, the waves were sweeping high, threatening to crash and swallow the poor man in one small gulp but then a miracle happened: he found land!

    His eyes teared up at the beautiful white sand that appeared to him, almost like a mirage, except he could touch it and feel it sift between his fingers. He laid there upon that beach and heard his belly growl like a mean tiger suddenly hunger for prey. He closed his eyes and wished for food. And bam, like Disney said it would happen, it really happened. The food came up just as he wished it. He stared at his hands, gripped around thick turkey thighs, dripping with grease that he licked, and surprisingly, it tasted just like turkey.

    This was no dream, it was real. He bit into the turkey leg then swallowed, only to found it was difficult to swallow. He needed water so obviously he wished for it, and

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