Gill Ainsworth

As with most compilations there are standout stories and there are mediocre stories. This compilation had its share of both. It also had a few stories that just seemed bizarre and I wasn't quite sure what to make of them.

All the stories left things open ended to some degree. The ones I "enjoyed" or rather found the creepiest were:“Cuddly Toys”, “Fighting the Flab”, “The Miracle Tree”, “Promising Futures” and
“Welcome to the Machine”. You are warned - Fighting the flab almost made me physically ill- I had to stop reading for a few minutes as it made me cringe so badly- do not read while enjoying a meal.

The ones that didn't quite add up for me were:“He Who Picks the Bones”, “The Town on the River” and “Bugs”.

I'm sure others will have their favorites. All in all- its a pretty good collection and worth a picking up.… (mais)

I had mixed feelings reading the book. I guess I was anticipating more background to each "season".
Some of the short stories were interesting while others were just weird. As the other reviewers have stated about “Fighting the Flab” it is the one story that stuck out, but maybe because I am a woman who lives in a world where society can make one feel they need to look perfect. I think the idea of the short stories were great, however I might have enjoyed the stories more if I had some history or background to the person suffering.… (mais)

I enjoyed this collection of short stories, although the work of the English writer, Gill Ainsworth was more my cup of tea (as with tea drinking, probably a cultural thing?). In the back of my mind, I was requesting this book from Early Reviewers as a horror book, but of course, as the title states, the stories are about insanity, not necessarily horror and both writers skillfully weave stories about madness across the seasons. I am in complete agreement with the previous reviewer about the stand out story from the collection which is 'Fighting the Flab'. Be warned though, there are some very graphic descriptions here which are enough to put you off your food!… (mais)

Two writers, one working in English and the other in German, set out to write a book of stories covering the twelve months of the year, with the tales set throughout Europe. In the end we have a dozen stories from England and Germany. After Gill Ainsworth and Frank W. Haubold work together in translating Frank's words into English, what is left is a unique body of work that touches upon insanity in each piece with each story from a separate month of the year. Thus the title of, Seasons of Insanity.

For some reason, I found myself more drawn to the work of Gill Ainsworth than that of Frank W, Haubold. The writing is capable and the theme of the collection is consistent thoughought, but not every story was great, some were just good.

There is one story that will live with me for a long time. It's the entry for June and it was written by Gill Ainsworth and it made me gasp more than once as I read the words on the page. The story is called, Fighting the Flab. It's the story of Gina, for whom exercise doesn't work and dieting's a waste of time. One of the most disturbing stories I've ever read and one that will likely stay with me for some time to come.

Both writers weave references to music throughout many of their stories, a technique I enjoyed and found that it added flavor to their writing.

I feel comfortable recommending this to all readers. It was an overall enjoyable read with one story, Fight the Flab, that is not to be missed; although I don't recommend reading it right after eating.

Seasons of Insanity was released in December 2012 from Apex Publications and is available as both a paperback and ebook from a wide variety of retailers.… (mais)