A review by starrysteph
Open Throat by Henry Hoke

dark emotional

4.25

Open Throat is a curious novella - we’re in the head of a mountain lion who lives beneath the Hollywood sign as they contemplate their place in the world and make astoundingly sharp observations about humanity. They’re a creature that is both ignorant of human life and a creature who has been violently othered by society.

The lion is hungry. Dangerously hungry. Ravenously hungry. And they’re also curious about the humans that pass through: They eavesdrop on local hikers and feel protective of the homeless encampment nearby. They struggle with their emotions and ability to express themselves, reflect on their past, and think about their future.

Meanwhile, human cruelty & climate danger forces the lion to leave the hills, and they explore more of Los Angeles and its inhabitants. They come face to face with humans, and have to confront their own conflicting desires to eat them and to emulate them.

“I have no idea what it's like to be a person and to be confronted with a me”

It never feels gimmicky, though it is sometimes funny. Mostly, though, it’s profoundly sad. The lion never once has a space that is their own, and never once is perceived in a way that feels right. They’ve been forced out of territories by climate disasters, they witness sadistic acts of violence that humans inflict just because they can, and they’ve been attacked or abandoned by their own kind.

There are moments of literal queerness, but this is mostly a metaphorical journey. The lion is an outsider who has true desires that are shamed by those who cannot understand them. They have a hunger for connection, they contemplate changing their shape and truth to better fit in, and the moment they embrace their fangs they find themselves in true peril.

You’ll be pleasantly touched by some of the lion’s noticings, but also leave feeling a bit cynical about humanity and its future. 

“I have so much language in my brain

and nowhere to put it”

CW: murder, animal cruelty/death, blood, fire, violence, gore, classism, sexual content, grief, abandonment, excrement

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