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akashic_dreckard's review
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Picked up on a recommendation that included "Lovecraftian smut." Was not disappointed. Proud slime, good times.
beefmaster's review
5.0
The most fun I've had with a book all year I think. This scratches so many of my itches: Lovecraft riffs, early English literature but modernized just enough (like Garner's Red Shift), Weird shit for the sake of it, and some genuinely upsetting shit here and there. I fucking love parodies of 18th century literature (the objectively funniest period of English literature). I cannot wait to read the other books in the handsomely designed Word Horde set of Tanzer books. Also, a special shout out to Word Horde: their typesetting and layouts are always immaculate.
dantastic's review
4.0
A Pretty Mouth contains the tales of multiple generations of the Calapash family.
My first exposure to Molly Tanzer was [b:Vermilion|28113990|Vermilion|Molly Tanzer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449455673s/28113990.jpg|44079578]. When I learned Colleen Danzig from [b:I Am Providence|25898713|I Am Providence|Nick Mamatas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1445540293s/25898713.jpg|45781541] was based on her, I figured I was due to give her another look.
A Pretty Mouth is really fucked up but in the best possible ways. I was hooked from the opening story. Speaking of which, Bertie Wooster loses a bet and Jeeves has to help one of Bertie's friends, Lord Calapash, with his bathtub-bound sister, who is addicted to the secretions of a bizarre octopus. From there, the weirdness train rolls backwards, exploring the various members of the Calapash clan throughout history, all the way back to the beginning of the line in ancient Rome.
Each story is written in a different style, from the Wodehousian language of the first story, to Bronte, on down the line. The stories all have a Lovecraftian undercurrent, with the Calapash's being known for their look, not unlike the Innsmouth look. There's sex, incest, twincest, murder, sorcery, Lovecraftian horror and lots of crazy ass shit.
The homages to various Lovecraft tales were well done and didn't feel like Lovecraft pastiches alone. Molly Tanzer put her personal touch on each tale, writing in a variety of styles, bringing a freshness to the Lovecraftian subgenre.
A Pretty Mouth hit the sweet spot for me. About the only negative thing I can say about it is that I wish it was twice as long. Four out of five stars.
My first exposure to Molly Tanzer was [b:Vermilion|28113990|Vermilion|Molly Tanzer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449455673s/28113990.jpg|44079578]. When I learned Colleen Danzig from [b:I Am Providence|25898713|I Am Providence|Nick Mamatas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1445540293s/25898713.jpg|45781541] was based on her, I figured I was due to give her another look.
A Pretty Mouth is really fucked up but in the best possible ways. I was hooked from the opening story. Speaking of which, Bertie Wooster loses a bet and Jeeves has to help one of Bertie's friends, Lord Calapash, with his bathtub-bound sister, who is addicted to the secretions of a bizarre octopus. From there, the weirdness train rolls backwards, exploring the various members of the Calapash clan throughout history, all the way back to the beginning of the line in ancient Rome.
Each story is written in a different style, from the Wodehousian language of the first story, to Bronte, on down the line. The stories all have a Lovecraftian undercurrent, with the Calapash's being known for their look, not unlike the Innsmouth look. There's sex, incest, twincest, murder, sorcery, Lovecraftian horror and lots of crazy ass shit.
The homages to various Lovecraft tales were well done and didn't feel like Lovecraft pastiches alone. Molly Tanzer put her personal touch on each tale, writing in a variety of styles, bringing a freshness to the Lovecraftian subgenre.
A Pretty Mouth hit the sweet spot for me. About the only negative thing I can say about it is that I wish it was twice as long. Four out of five stars.
sir_wordsmith's review
4.0
[bc:A Pretty Mouth|16039482|A Pretty Mouth|Molly Tanzer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348280445l/16039482._SY75_.jpg|21814663][a:Molly Tanzer|3400076|Molly Tanzer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1589683935p2/3400076.jpg]
I've only just discovered Molly Tanzer, and this was my first read of her work. I was looking for a horror/historical short story collection (not a lot of them about) and stumbled across A Pretty Mouth. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. The descriptive prose puts me in mind of Anne Rice, but with a wee bit more punch and the dialogue, while sometimes a bit heavy, is sharp and witty.
I would recommend A Pretty Mouth for anyone who prefers walking down a garden path at night, framed by obscure and pernicious shrubbery, that may or may not be engaged in acts of perversion, over gazing at a rose bed in the sunshine.
I've only just discovered Molly Tanzer, and this was my first read of her work. I was looking for a horror/historical short story collection (not a lot of them about) and stumbled across A Pretty Mouth. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. The descriptive prose puts me in mind of Anne Rice, but with a wee bit more punch and the dialogue, while sometimes a bit heavy, is sharp and witty.
I would recommend A Pretty Mouth for anyone who prefers walking down a garden path at night, framed by obscure and pernicious shrubbery, that may or may not be engaged in acts of perversion, over gazing at a rose bed in the sunshine.
es42's review
4.0
A remarkable anthology chronicling the devious life of the many generations of the Calipash family... You know you are in for a treat when the opening story mashes up Lovecraft and a Jeeves & Wooster story! And it keeps getting better. The novelette-length title story, "A Pretty Mouth" is amazing; and the collection is topped by a R.E. Howardian horror adventure of Romans and barbarians.
litwrite's review
4.0
Such a fun, clever and interesting take on the Lovecraftian Cthuhlu mythos, and from a woman, no less! How rare and wonderful. This book was so fun and rather than the usual dread and gloom that usually permeates this whole Lovecraft genre, Tanzer's tongue is firmly in cheek in these interconnected stories about the Eldritch cursed Calipash family line.
These were dark and macabre but also very droll, and though some stories were much stronger than others (the eponymous novella, for instance, A Pretty Mouth was actually my favourite of the stories in the book) on the whole I really enjoyed this short story collection just as much as I enjoyed Brett J Talley's equally as good, if very differently toned [b:That Which Should Not Be|11876043|That Which Should Not Be|Brett J. Talley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309323608s/11876043.jpg|16833928].
Would recommend for Lovecraft fans looking for something a bit lighter and a bit different. Please read as it's nice to see a female author entering into what is a very male space!
These were dark and macabre but also very droll, and though some stories were much stronger than others (the eponymous novella, for instance, A Pretty Mouth was actually my favourite of the stories in the book) on the whole I really enjoyed this short story collection just as much as I enjoyed Brett J Talley's equally as good, if very differently toned [b:That Which Should Not Be|11876043|That Which Should Not Be|Brett J. Talley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309323608s/11876043.jpg|16833928].
Would recommend for Lovecraft fans looking for something a bit lighter and a bit different. Please read as it's nice to see a female author entering into what is a very male space!
david_agranoff's review
4.0
Tanzer is a wildly talented writer, I don't generally enjoy victorian period pieces, but this collection (3 stories and a short novel) make up a weird Lovecraftian erotic horror fire ball. Very well written. Full review coming.
pacardullo's review
5.0
"A Pretty Mouth" is [a:Molly Tanzer|3400076|Molly Tanzer|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1268691808p2/3400076.jpg]'s fun, creepy, clever, sexy, always entertaining chronicle of a degenerate and cursed family. Through a series of short stories and one novella, the author takes us backwards through the centuries, highlighting (lowlighting?) stories of various generations of Lords and Ladies Calipash. Along the way, if you pay attention, you can even learn a little bit about such wide ranging topics as Victoria pornography and the English Civil War. Fun stuff - a highly enjoyable read.
cander's review
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25