Scan barcode
maisierosereads's review
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Full review and giveaway on my blog!
Large Animals is a surreal, undeniably queer collection of 12 short stories packed with metaphor. The stories are not related by plot, but are related by the theme of what it is like to have a body (especially as a queer person), and they flow together quite seamlessly with elements of one also being present in the next. Most stories read as contemporary, but one is definitely historical.
All of the stories are written in the first person and most of the narrators are not explicitly named, nor are most of their identities explicitly labelled (though their queerness is very clear, e.g. with mentions of binders and chest scars). The characters don't go out of their way to describe themselves, leaving us to form an image of them from snippets of information in their thoughts, actions, and how other characters respond to them. Similarly, the narrative style leaves the plot of these stories up to interpretation.
I will warn you now that not all of these narrators are likable, and at times they are frankly quite disgusting, but this does help to capture the messy nature of being human!
As with many short story collections there were some which I enjoyed more than others, but overall I did like this collection and would recommend it to fans of literary fiction and abstract writing.
Large Animals is a surreal, undeniably queer collection of 12 short stories packed with metaphor. The stories are not related by plot, but are related by the theme of what it is like to have a body (especially as a queer person), and they flow together quite seamlessly with elements of one also being present in the next. Most stories read as contemporary, but one is definitely historical.
All of the stories are written in the first person and most of the narrators are not explicitly named, nor are most of their identities explicitly labelled (though their queerness is very clear, e.g. with mentions of binders and chest scars). The characters don't go out of their way to describe themselves, leaving us to form an image of them from snippets of information in their thoughts, actions, and how other characters respond to them. Similarly, the narrative style leaves the plot of these stories up to interpretation.
I will warn you now that not all of these narrators are likable, and at times they are frankly quite disgusting, but this does help to capture the messy nature of being human!
As with many short story collections there were some which I enjoyed more than others, but overall I did like this collection and would recommend it to fans of literary fiction and abstract writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Excrement, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Rape
More...