Better Off Here

If dystopian stories are your jam, don't miss out on Better Off Here - - a short collection of dystopian stories that showcase the various aspects of humanity under trying circumstances. Author Melissa R. Mendelson adds a lot of heart and emotional weight to the narrative, with stories full of heartbreak, tragedy, and bittersweet endings that are bound to leave a mark on you. Within a few pages, she somehow crafts well-developed characters whose plights you can sympathize with. You connect with every single one of her characters despite the short length of the stories. Overall, I found the book riveting to read and one that I will highly recommend.

Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite

13 Stories. Multiple Alternate/Dystopian Worlds. Characters facing high stakes with no choice but to roll the dice. What if we lived their lives? Would we survive?

Melissa R. Mendelson has been writing short stories and poetry since high school.  Her focus has been primarily horror and dystopian, but she also makes room for science-fiction.  She has a particular interest in identity, who we really are especially in the face of high stakes, unspeakable evils.  With events in 2019/2020 when she was faced with a crisis of fertility and motherhood along with the pandemic, she created a prose poetry collection, This Will Remain With Us and a short story collection, Stories Written On Covid Walls, which were both published by Wild Ink Publishing.