My thanks to NetGalley and Knopf/Anchor for an eARC of this book to read and review.

This one took forever for me to try to get past the first story, because it was entitled "Gun". It involved two 10 year old boys and messed up family lives and I just wasn't in the mood.

I got to 28% and I wasn't in the mood for any of the stories. One was a four star, but the rest were three one stars and one zero, so I decided to cut my losses and DNF'd.

Throughout the course of my reading life, I have come to realize that while yes, in an anthology of short stories where the authors are all different, one could possibly hope to expect not all of the stories would be of the same caliber, the editors and those who choose the stories ARE the same, so they choose stories that resonate with THEM. So if the first four stories stink to the reader, then it is a very good possibility that the rest will as well.

This is that instance for me. One story had grace and hope. The rest did not. I am not into hopelessness anymore. That was 12 year old me. Older, more tired me wants to be uplifted more than dashed. Take that for what you will.

1, this did not work for me but it may for you, stars.

Due to technical issues I was unable to read these stories.

I greatly enjoyed this collection of stories, bringing together some of the best short fiction of 2014. The best thing about collections like these is being able to pick them up occasionally and read a story here or there, being consistently surprised by the quality of each of the stories. Each story has something fascinating about it and although not all of them will be to everyone's taste, 'The O. Henry Prize Stories 2014' does give everyone the ability to try out a variety of stories and writing styles.