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roya's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
Minor: Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy
uhm_kai's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
spooky, very nice
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Murder, Cannibalism, and Child death
nialiversuch's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Cancer
abbie_'s review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
PR copy provided by the publisher
Birds and babies abound in this unsettling collection of short stories from the author of Water Shall Refuse Them. I loved this collection, these macabre tales are exactly the kind of short stories I think work best. Fans of Julia Armfield, Mariana Enríquez and Samanta Schweblin, take note!
.
The titular story is the longest and one of the creepiest, setting the tone for the rest of the collection. This story gave rise to my one complaint - although the narrator is meant to be far from likeable, she also makes a lot of fatphobic comments which bug. But from there we move on to Denmark, with an eerie tale of a mother struggling to get back into writing and the collection gets into its proper stride.
.
I love how Hardy uses the mundane to make her stories feel even more terrifying. We have mentions of GBBO and TK Maxx in one of the darkest stories in the collection. Then there’s Wretched, a brilliant near-future dystopian horror story where British citizens are assigned Value Indexes and the lowest ranked are rounded up for either Treatment or Process centres - which are as ominous as they sound. Again Hardy name-drops Tesco and Waitrose to making the horror seem more within reach. She demonstrates the dangers of country-wide apathy, initial moral outrage at a new extreme system but then gradual acceptance of a deadly new status quo. I’d read a 300-page novel about this premise.
.
I enjoyed all the stories but I’d say Wretched, The Pickling Jar, and The Devil of Timanfaya were my favourites.
Birds and babies abound in this unsettling collection of short stories from the author of Water Shall Refuse Them. I loved this collection, these macabre tales are exactly the kind of short stories I think work best. Fans of Julia Armfield, Mariana Enríquez and Samanta Schweblin, take note!
.
The titular story is the longest and one of the creepiest, setting the tone for the rest of the collection. This story gave rise to my one complaint - although the narrator is meant to be far from likeable, she also makes a lot of fatphobic comments which bug. But from there we move on to Denmark, with an eerie tale of a mother struggling to get back into writing and the collection gets into its proper stride.
.
I love how Hardy uses the mundane to make her stories feel even more terrifying. We have mentions of GBBO and TK Maxx in one of the darkest stories in the collection. Then there’s Wretched, a brilliant near-future dystopian horror story where British citizens are assigned Value Indexes and the lowest ranked are rounded up for either Treatment or Process centres - which are as ominous as they sound. Again Hardy name-drops Tesco and Waitrose to making the horror seem more within reach. She demonstrates the dangers of country-wide apathy, initial moral outrage at a new extreme system but then gradual acceptance of a deadly new status quo. I’d read a 300-page novel about this premise.
.
I enjoyed all the stories but I’d say Wretched, The Pickling Jar, and The Devil of Timanfaya were my favourites.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy
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