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ellenwelsh's review against another edition
dark
funny
3.5
disgusting. the jackass of the granta young british novelists.
some stories sort of fall short (problems with endings?) for me in this but always there are moments where I balk and laugh in a horrified way at how awful characters' living situation (the story abt the surrogate couple) or workplace are (the sauna!!!)
I also really enjoy grudova's eye for the absurd and grotesque nature of britain itself. there's an air of mystery and undercurrent of wrongness to her stories that is very intriguing and funny.
gotta say I enjoyed children of paradise more than this collection but I still think she's a very unique writer and I would definitely read another of her novels/novellas if that's on the horizon.
some stories sort of fall short (problems with endings?) for me in this but always there are moments where I balk and laugh in a horrified way at how awful characters' living situation (the story abt the surrogate couple) or workplace are (the sauna!!!)
I also really enjoy grudova's eye for the absurd and grotesque nature of britain itself. there's an air of mystery and undercurrent of wrongness to her stories that is very intriguing and funny.
gotta say I enjoyed children of paradise more than this collection but I still think she's a very unique writer and I would definitely read another of her novels/novellas if that's on the horizon.
soft_goth's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kiraascottie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
5.0
hayleighlouise's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
ewzg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tricia's review against another edition
3.0
loved the vibes but wanted more meat from the stories. they were all too short, even for short stories.
lizzillia's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this because 1) it is longlisted for this year's Dylan Thomas Prize and 2) I enjoyed the author's brand of body horror in her novel 'Children of Paradise' which was longlisted for last year's Women's Prize for Fiction. This is a book of short stories which are not connected but there are odd things that appear throughout - custard and Ovaltine to mention two. But then there is the body horror - countless references to body parts, bodily fluids, faeces and periods. We also have poison, exploding factories, boarding schools and monstrous creatures. So much that is gruesome and grotesque. For example in 'Ivor' we are in a boys boarding school where there are all the high jinx etc that we expect in a boarding school. However, in this one - the boys never leave and the behaviour becomes more and more depraved. We have a surrogate who is being dictated to by the couple that she is having the baby for. There are men who are retaining their semen and girls being sent to an a sort of rest home because they are not menstruating. Add to this a woman who eats meat and so keeps a man .... Then there are the creatures that devour everything, regurgitating pellets of everything that could not be digested - including pottery!! Such a bizarre read.