Miao Dao – Joyce Carol Oates

Edition Details:
Format : E-book
Page Count: 66
Publisher: Amazon Original Series
ASIN:B07GB1GCC7
Price:(Free for Prime Subscribers)
Series : Dark Corners

Miao Dao – Joyce Carol Oates

First Sentence:
Hey there! Bbbs.

Story:
Mia is a thirteen year old girl and everything is going wrong in her life.

Since she has come of age the boys in school have started bullying her. They are harrassing her and she doesn’t know what to do about it. Her parents got divorced  And her mother has brought another guy into their life. This guy is supposed to be their step dad but he makes Mia uncomfortable. She knows he’s not as nice as he pretends to be.

And there seems to be no one to whom she can confide in and share her worries.

But then she comes across Miao Dao, a feral kitten.In the midst of all this chaos, he’s her only hope of light. Mia knows that Miao is only creature who loves her for what she is. He understands her and is fiercely protective of her. She knows as long as he’s there no body could harm her. He would solve all her problems.

Was it true? Did Mia got a reprieve from her problems? 

Read the story to find that out.

Main Characters:
Mia – A thirteen year old girl
Ernest Dempster – A senior who was harassing Mia
Janey – Mia’s friend
Randy and Kevin – Mia’s brother
Pharis Locke – a guy Mia’s mother was dating
Mia Dao – A kitten that Mia rescued

My View:
Miao Dao is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates for dark corners collection. Dark corners is a collection where a group of best selling crime authors have come together to write short, twisted stories with a dark turn.

The story revolves around Mia, a thirteen year old girl, whose life is going through some major changes.  How she deals with those changes forms the story?

It’s a good story. The way the authoress describes the bullying in the school was something very hard for me to read about but i think it happens all across the world. There were instances in my school too where girls had to go through what Mia went through. I had forgotten how hard school life could be and this brought all of it back.

Then there’s her family life and what changes the divorce is bringing in her life makes you feel sorry for her.It must be very difficult for young children when their parents bring a new person to their life. You see her struggle. She is getting abused but doesn’t utters  a word against it. She wants her mother to be happy and hence keeps ignoring the harassment. I wonder how many children are going through it right now and how many mothers are choosing not to see it because they don’t want to be alone. It’s a really dark picture.  I wanted to hug Mia and protect her. No child needs to go through it.

Since the story is a part of dark corners collection i knew something dark twist would be coming up and i was expecting it. The dark twist comes and it’s satisfying but i think the authoress took too much time for the buildup and hence the story is not able to have that much affect on the reader. T think a suspense or a thriller read should grab the reader from the go but it’s not the case with it. It take a little bit of patience on the reader’s side to reach the end of the story. The story feels kind of stretched a little. The feeling is also there because it’s part of a collection which promises dark thrilling stories. I guess if it would not have been part of such a collection then i would have read it without expectations which in turn would have made me enjoy it more.But since it’s part of the collection so I guess if the buildup could have been shorter than it would have had greater effect on me and would have been more enjoyable.

This was my first Joyce Carol Oates and i would be reading more by the authoress. I enjoyed reading this story. The twist really surprised me in the end.

Some quotes from the story:
It’s true, some things are fate. The universe is predetermined. Living in the present tense we can’t see, but when we look back at our lives, often we can.


Anything to do with sex provoked the boys to hyena laughter. As if sex were a threat to them.


Mia had learned to hide her body from the gaze of predators, as the feral cats had learned to hide. Disguise, camouflage. Hiding in plain sight.


His tone is bossy and wistful. The bully is always the one who has been hurt.


To be a mother with a new husband, Mia thinks, you must learn to not notice much.


She realises the man’s power is to intimidate, to make you ashamed. But your power over him is the power of laughter.

Rating : 3/5

Have you read this one? If you have then do tell me what did you think of it?
If you want to read this book then you can get it from the following link:
Kindle

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