A review by bethniamh
Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

I don't think I've ever read anything quite like this. This book is made up of a handful of short stories which link together; the first time this happened, in the second story Pics, I had to go back to the first story so that I could appreciate the way the author used the two stories to explore different angles of the same event. One of the quotes from a review featured in the first couple of pages describes this book as "gleefully merciless", and that's an accurate description; there's a sense of humour under everything in this book which helps to stop it feeling oppressively bleak. The story Our Dope Future made me laugh quite a few times, which was needed after Ahegao; parts of this story made me feel a bit queasy, and the payoff in the last few lines made me cringe so hard I had to close the book and come back later. This was a memorable read and it's made me want to explore what else the author has published.