She's Always Hungry

by Eliza Clark

A teenager longs for perfect skin.

A scientist tends to fragile alien flora.

A young man takes the night into his own hands.

Each of these characters has a desperate desire. Can any of them be sated?

Unsettling, revelatory, and laced with her signature dark humour, Eliza Clark's debut short story collection plumbs the depths of that most basic human feeling: hunger.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Thriller, Literary Fiction

225 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2024

About the author

Eliza Clark has relocated from her native Newcastle back to London, where she previously attended Chelsea College of Art. She works in social media marketing, recently having worked for women’s creative writing magazine Mslexia. In 2018, she received a grant from New Writing North’s ‘Young Writers’ Talent Fund’. Clark’s short horror fiction has been published with Tales to Terrify, with an upcoming novelette from Gehenna and Hinnom expected this year. She hosts podcast You Just Don’t Get It, Do You? with her partner, where they discuss film and television which squanders its potential. Boy Parts is her first novel. You can find her @FancyEliza on both Twitter and Instagram.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

relatable.

mini-reviews for each story:


BUILD A BODY LIKE MINE
at this point i may dedicate my life to seeking out eating disorder-related fiction that is at all unique. i will even accept interesting.

we are not there yet.
rating: 3


THE PROBLEM SOLVER
this one also is not anything extremely not-done-before, but it is very sociopolitically accurate, so you have to give it props for that. 
rating: 3.5


SHE’S ALWAYS HUNGRY
title story alert!

all of the jokes i could make about this are spoilers. bummer. 
rating: 3.5


THE SHADOW OVER LITTLE CHITALY
this one is about a combination chinese / italian restaurant that makes evil pizza with apples and chow mein in it. fun.
rating: 3.5


HOLLOW BONES
gross!
rating: 3.5


GOTH GF
the american dream. 

okay that was very literal. in hindsight i don’t know what i expected. 
rating: 3


EXTINCT EVENTS
the theme of this is mostly “weird plant starfish creatures are people too, you know.” but no they aren’t. you can’t fool me. 
rating: 3


NIGHTSTALKERS
not to be confused with the one that’s jake gyllenhaal. 
rating: 3.5


SHAKE WELL
i recommend this story for people who like dr. pimple popper. i do not like dr. pimple popper. 
rating: 3


THE KING
i didn’t want to say it. i was trying not to saying it. but by naming it ironically herself, eliza clark has forced me to say it:this book is fun, but it’s not particularly clever or novel. it’s mostly online edgelord bullsh*t. 
rating: 2.5


COMPANY MAN
sure. 
rating: 3


OVERALL
there were some fun ones in this, but nothing as crazy or out-there or unique or edgy as it seemed to think it was.
rating: 3

(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)

[eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its Eliza Clark theres no way i wasnt going to enjoy it

Willing to put my hatred for short stories aside for Eliza Clark <3

[manju ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

yay for short story collections!! this was such a wonderful introduction to literary horror—it was weird and off-putting in all the right ways, and every story was different from the last. collectively though they are bound together by the thread of desire; their characters are hungry for something, whether that be existing within societal standards, survival in a post (or imminent) apocalyptic world, or something so simple as love and companionship. i did not, unfortunately, enjoy each story equally* but i did have a fantastic time with this book as a whole.

i. build a body like mine

(spoilers for this story)

i mean, where to start. this collection is classified as horror, and this particular story feels almost otherworldly not in the problems the narrator faces but in the solution she offers. and that is precisely what makes this work. sure, incubating tapeworm eggs is not a viable treatment for eating disorders or body dysmorphia. but if it was? if hosting a parasite meant you could eat whatever you wanted and still adhere to the beauty standard? still fit society’s image of what a woman should look like? but they’d find a way to turn that against you too, wouldn’t they?

chilling, but not particularly novel. 3/5

ii. the problem solver

oooh. this one’s good. it’s short but effective in the way it talks about sexual assault and how damaging it can be to force survivors to speak up or act when they aren’t ready to do so. it’s also a curious but compelling look at the concept of the male savior, a man who goes too far trying to do “the right thing” in relation to women/other men’s misogynistic behavior.

i liked this, a lot. 4/5

iii. she’s always hungry

i can see why clark chose this as the title for the collection. it embodies desire and temptation, and the lengths we go to to keep these things hidden, in such an eerie, unsettling way. it lingers, like an unwanted gaze.

evoked more confusion than emotion. 3/5

iv. the shadow over little chitaly

a compilation of reviews for a quaint little restaurant (with only an online presence) specializing in both chinese and italian food. it’s got character, it’s got humor.

what’s not to love. 3.5/5

v. hollow bones

my favorite, probably! i couldn’t put the book down when i was reading this story. as nauseating as it was, it was also incredibly fascinating. i loved the way clark wrote about the fluidity of time, with min being everywhere, every version of herself all at once. i also adore fen omg?? what a cutie. hearts always for our lil alien buddies. hollow bones felt a little like shes always hungry in its exploration of desire and giving into it even when you know you shouldn’t. in both stories, the embodiment of temptation is almost grotesque; resistance is implied but never achieved, and indulging oneself only has disastrous consequences.

i wish it was longer. 4/5

vi. goth gf

im all for unlikeable narrators but reading this guy’s pov made my skin crawl. he’s in love with his coworker, willow, who is just Kind Of A Bitch (at least that’s what they say). and everything she says or does, no matter how blunt or harsh, makes him want her more. made me shudder and recoil and roll my eyes too, during milder moments.

awful, in a good way. 3/5

vii. extinction event

what is it with the sci fi stories being my favorite ones?? i need a full length literary sci fi horror book pls eliza clark this is not a request this a demand. this was SO interesting i was invested in these odd little creatures from the very first page. clark so expertly writes about humanity’s selfishness—the ease at which we disregard the well being of others, our willingness to look past the long term consequences of our actions in favor of immediate results. we will be our own demise.

tragic? maybe. fitting? certainly. 4.5/5

[leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

though not as explicitly dark as her two published novels, eliza clark's first short story collection she's always hungry contains the usual absurdity and grossness clark has become known for.

there’s a range of different oddities to sink your teeth into here: in ‘build a body like mine’, a woman welcomes a parasite into her body to lose weight. ‘the shadow over little chitaly’ is written in the form of google reviews about the bizarre orders people receive from a italian-chinese fusion takeaway. there’s a teenager buying an acne treatment from the dark web, and an immortal female cannibal who rules over a new planet. this collection also showcases clark leaning into the sci-fi genre, with some apocalyptic-themed, speculative fiction scattered throughout. many stories also benefit from the inclusion of internet culture and humour, which was partly what made her previous novel penance so chillingly realistic.

it’s an unsettling if not outright weird collection, but if you’re an eliza clark fan, that’s what you’re here for!

rating: 3.75

thank you faber books for the advanced copy!!

[Elle Benning · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the late 2010s and early 2020s there has been a robust trend for short story collections by young women which explore issues relevant to modern life (particularly modern life as it is for women and girls) through a mixture of realist, speculative and horror fiction. I can list a number of them offhand: "You Will Never Be Forgotten," "Bliss Montage," "You Know You Want This," "Out There," "Life Ceremony," "Cursed Bunny." "She’s Always Hungry," by Eliza Clark, slots comfortably into this trend. The opening story is about eating disorders. There is body horror and light-touch speculative fiction. There are stories about bad relationships and sexual trauma. There is a story written in an unconventional format: this, "The Shadow Over Little Chitaly," written as a series of online restaurant reviews, is the best thing in the book by a country mile.

Although none of the stories are actually about life online, this, like Honor Levy’s "My First Book," is a book shaped by the Internet. Tumblr/Twitter-type Millennial humor and cultural references run all the way through it, and it feels like one needs to be somewhat "online" to understand some of it. The stories are hampered by what feels like a need to make them superficially edgy yet, in essence, deeply conformist. You can see the cogs turning in some of the stories (here’s a story about disordered eating, a subject so many Millennial and Generation Z women will relate to. But the narrator must emphasize her body positivity - because God forbid a character obsessed with losing weight might seem fatphobic!) And I am not against trigger warnings, but when a book comes with an exhaustive list of them, which includes such benign things as "extensive descriptions of food," it gives you a certain picture of the intended audience.
Lest these criticisms make me sound like an unhinged anti-woke Boomer, there are other problems. The sci-fi stories contain some truly terrible expositionary dialogue. "The Problem Solver" feels like a failed attempt to write a story that riffs on Roupenian’s "Cat Person." Once you figure out the premise of a story, it almost always plays out predictably. In "Build A Body Like Mine" for example the story cannot be building to anything *other* than a reveal of something weird. So when the reveal comes, there is no moment of shock or horror. Similarly, "She’s Always Hungry," the story, is precisely what you would expect from a story called "She’s Always Hungry" by a young female writer.

"She’s Always Hungry" seems designed to be read by teenagers making their first steps into adult fiction. I don't think that is a bad thing (better they read this than yet another toxic "spicy" romance), I’m sure it will sell well and be popular on "Booktok," but it doesn’t feel like a serious collection and represents a step backward in terms of quality. I think the author is very talented, and I loved her début "Boy Parts" which I thought was an excellent first novel showing a lot of promise, but I also think the unexpected success of "Boy Parts" has not been a good thing for her craft. This collection feels as though it has been rushed to publication before it was really ready. I feel for her - becoming a hot commodity in publishing at a young age must create a hell of a lot of pressure. As with many weak books I blame those involved in the editorial process - I think some editor should have had the guts to tell her this wasn’t good enough. I hope Clark can get out of this niche she’s written herself into and start working in some influences other than "I was on Tumblr in 2014," which can only engage a certain audience, and then only for so long.

[Sunny Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrible delight

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I deal in sickness. My methods are a balm for the diseased, the unsatisfied, the covetous.

This was a slightly uneven read for me but that's probably because Clark has more writerly interests than I do as a reader. The stories dealing with gender, violence and body/beauty issues were absolutely in my zone while the space opera-style tale took more effort, though the way it circles back to body horror made it, er, palatable - though, really, best avoid these tales near meal times!

There's a dark humour here that Clark fans will recognise in the off the wall 'The Shadow Over Little Chitaly' and a deeply sardonic approach to bodily pressures in 'Build a Body Like Mine' and 'Shake Well', both underpinned by a kind of absurdist logic pushed to extremes. I loved the melancholic 'Extinction Event' and the almost gleeful humour in 'The King'.

All of these stories are freakily imaginative with a vague connecting theme of hunger/desire and an attention to power in all its manifestations - perhaps not quite as polished yet as Ottessa Moshfegh but playing in the same cynical, mordant, disruptive space.

[Léa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVE Eliza Clark and as much as these stories carried her usual uniqueness mixed with grotesqueness and often times dark humour, I don't think this entirely worked for me.

Hunger as a focus point in any work of fiction or non fiction is one of my favourite things and I adored the way this collection explored and experimented with different scenarios. Unfortunately though, despite its short length I frequently found myself simultaneously wanting more and waiting for the stories to wrap up.

(also ~ don't read this whilst eating...)

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very close to a five stars bur didn't enjoy al the stories. Each stories felt uniqe from eachother and ranging from diffrent topics and some felt more sci fi whole others where more contemporary. Listening to it very quickly and I enjoyed her rewriting even in short story format.

[Alwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eliza Clark’s short-story collection roams across genre boundaries, ruthlessly mining aspects of popular culture from Alien to Charles Manson, Shirley Jackson, and H. P. Lovecraft. Clark’s pieces are laced with the kind of “femgore” scenes she’s known for. But these aren’t solely intended to provoke a visceral response but to raise deeper concerns. Clark’s heavily invested in interrogating perspectives on gender, the body and the embodied as in “Shake Well” an inventive, gloriously-oozy take on the popularity of extreme skincare regimes promoting impossible beauty standards – inspired by Clark’s experience of living with acne. Stand-out sf narrative “Extinction Event” is a harrowing, carefully-crafted exploration of climate change, speciesism and exploitation, its themes overlapping and interacting with the unsettling “Hollow Bones.” “The King” narrated by a lonely, kink-obsessed cannibal goddess is a fascinating variation on classic horror which pairs well with twisted, feminist folk horror/fairy tale “She’s Always Hungry.”

Desire, isolation, and perversity, are central preoccupations, as is Clark’s sense of the body as both a cage and a space ripe for invasion, pulsating and horribly vulnerable. Clark’s brand of transgressive fiction can be deliberately confrontational and macabre but it can also be incredibly funny, tender and insightful – “The Problem Solver” forms a searing critique of the appropriation of female trauma depicted through a man’s attempts to dictate how his woman friend should feel about having been raped. Like most collections this isn’t without flaws but, even when she doesn’t quite pull things off, it’s impossible not to admire Clark’s daring, her willingness to experiment. Clark’s inserted an annotated list of trigger warnings at the end of this but, I imagine, readers who need them aren’t that likely to be drawn to her work in the first place.

____________________________________________________

I was given access to a sample from Eliza Clark's upcoming short story collection, a piece entitled "The Shadow over Little Chitaly' - I loved it. Clark's inventive narrative's structured as a series of reviews of the takeaway service provided by 'Little Chitaly' restaurant. It's a deceptively-simple concept but, as you might expect from Clark, it features a series of delicious twists - gradually shifting into the territory of the surreal and the absurd. I thought it was incredibly funny and incredibly clever. I'm desperate to read the rest of her stories.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Faber for an ARC

[hafsah · Rating 4 out of 5]

i swear no-one writes feral, unhinged fiction like eliza clark

[Dylan Kakoulli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Man was this a deeply unsatisfying -dare I say almost performative (more on that below) cringeworthy, short(fallen) story collection, that is clearly very much riding off the back of the authors booktok/stagram (I guess “influencer” status?) success.

Now folks, I know what you’re thinking, “wow Dylan, that’s pretty harsh”, and believe me, I know. But (and as much as I will freely admit, I’m not generally a short story fan anyway) this “collection” (if you insist on calling it that) was so poorly pieced together, and full of the most lazily written (don’t even get me started on “Chitaly” -seriously, Eliza what the holy heck was that!?), superficially “edgy” or pointlessly (try hard) proactive -I mean, the book included a written up ‘content guide’ in the afterward, which not only attempted to briefly summarise what you (in my case, forced yourself to) read, but came with a plethora of “trigger warning” style accompaniments for each story, that I feel very much self explains who this book is clearly (demographically) targeted for (which, if it’s not obvious already, is certainly NOT me), and is in some ways ironically (given the overall “premise” -or at least marketing, of a heavily feminist agenda) exploits these same (let’s face it, impressionable young teens/women) with its aesthetically pretty pink cover, and (false promise) tales of “delectably dark, satiating stories” -oh please.

-1 star

[casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Pretty solid short story collection! Nightstalkers, Company Man, Extinction Event, She's Always Hungry and The Shadow Over Little Chitaly felt satisfying, with the latter three I think the short length added to the eeriness. STOLC was a cool premise as it was comprised solely of reviews. But then others like Build a Body Like Mine and Shake Well left me wanting to read about them more than they had gone on for. Didn't really care for The Problem Solver, Hollow Bones, The King, or Goth GF tbh

[Rachel Louise Atkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This was an absolutely amazing collection. I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy it as I'm really fussy with short story collections but this has blown me away and Clark is a truly incredible modern writer. The stories all have a slight eerie, horror vibe to them and explore contemporary issues such as body dysmorphia, assault, isolation, internet addiction and more. The only stories I didn't like as much were the science fiction ones as I felt like they didn't work as well as the rest of the stories and they lost me a bit with how the information was relayed, which is why I knocked half a star off. But the rest of the book was absolutely perfect and I absolutely loved it.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published November 12, 2024.

Clark’s PENANCE was one of my favorite reads from last year so I was very much looking forward to this short story collection. She does not disappoint with these eleven dark, often witty tales. Whether it’s life with a beloved tapeworm, one roommate standing up for another or a mysterious delivery plan
Ce called Chitaly (this one might be my favorite) there’s a lot to like here.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of full collection to come.

---

Reasons to live, 19th April, 2024: New Eliza Clark, expected publication November 2024

Additional reason to live, 2nd August, 2024: Approved for an ARC of one of the short stories in this collection (review to come). Thank you Faber & Faber!!!

Review of The Shadow Over Little Chitaly, 8th August, 2024: Eliza Clark's debut short story collection promises to "plumb the depths of that most basic human feeling: hunger", and I think it's kind of genius that the first and only story granted to us lucky few successful ARC applicants is this short and sweet little nugget, composed entirely of increasingly surreal online reviews for a Chinese-Italian fusion restaurant which may or may not exist, and which is almost certainly run by white/tan/blonde and beachy Australian cultists if it does. It's not as overtly dark as either of Clark's previous novels - both of which I've loved - but its absurdism and its ambiguity hint at darker things to come.

[Meghin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly Eliza Clark has been a one hit wonder for me with Boy Parts. Short stories are just not for me but I decided to give this one a go since I loved Boy Parts and disliked Penance. This was full of sci-fi stories which are not my thing and the ones that weren’t I just didn’t find a point to a majority of them. Nothing actually gave me feeling or emotion the way I wanted them to.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Lottie from book club · Rating 5 out of 5]

wall to wall freaky shit with the tenderest little gay bildungsroman in the middle. eliza clark you will always be famous!

[aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

eliza clark i’m begging you to never stop writing books

[Stacy (Gotham City Librarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this collection! It gave me a new appreciation for Eliza Clark’s skill. I actually enjoyed this more than her two full-length novels I’ve read. There’s a very wide variety here. Eco horror, very visceral body horror, and a story or two that weren’t even horror at all. I will say that a couple of them had abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying endings, but the pieces that worked for me were really good. I will probably revisit them again at some point!

The collection starts off strong with a super gross first story. Clark does not hold back when it comes to dark or heavy subject matter. Not everything in this book is creepy or disturbing, but those were definitely my favorites.

The title story was a tad difficult for me to follow at first but once I got into the swing of things with the prose and tone I found it very fun and strange and a standout among the rest. (Strong A24’s “The Lighthouse” vibes!)

One of the oddest short pieces I’ve read in a while was essentially just a collection of online customer reviews for a terrible food delivery service. There wasn’t much to this one, but I guess I did admire Clark’s willingness to write with so many typos and terrible grammar for the sake of realism.

I loved the sci-fi horror story “Hollow Bones.”Scary and uncomfortable body horror, unique characters, and great world building within a short time. I would read an entire novel in this genre by Clark.

She is also good at writing from perspectives vastly different from her own and creating believable and well realized characters in general.

Another piece I really liked was “Shake Well,” a very gross story about a teenage girl who can’t stop popping the acne on her face, and it only gets more disturbing from there. (That one was a tough read for me!)

There’s a kind of ridiculous but entertaining story that I’m convinced had to be at least partly inspired by the Fallout franchise, called “The King.” (But also, take that statement with a grain of salt because everything reminds me of my favorite games.) In this one, Clark’s dark humor really shines.

But it’s not all fun and scares, as one story called “Company Man” is both devastating and bleak.

There’s a handy content guide at the end of the book that goes over any trigger warnings you may need to know about, but I’ll also mention a few here in my review. Please note that I read an early copy and the story titles could be subject to change.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

TW: Disordered Eating, Mention of Chronic Illness, Sexual Assault, Mention of Self-harm, Body Shaming, Child Death, Drug Use

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv)]

The irony of a short story collection about hunger leaving me hungry for well, anything interesting whatsoever... Banal story premises, lackluster execution, and concepts that ultimately feel underdeveloped. I've heard good things about Eliza Clark's novels, but I fear this short story collection was not for me.

The Shadow Over Little Chitaly was the only enjoyable entry out of the first 6 that I read, and even then it didn't particularly blow me away.
---
Working on a Substack project involving ten books, and this is the first book... If anyone successfully guesses the theme you'll get internet bragging rights xx

[Celine · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the spirit of honesty, I thought this was alright. Short story collections can be tough to tackle!

The first story in here is an absolute knockout, and so I thought the rest would follow suit. And while I will say that the stories which worked, really, truly worked, the ones that didn’t were almost…boring. I skimmed through them.

I loved seeing EC step into speculative fiction (in fact, my favorite in this collection was within that genre)! I think she can offer so much more as an author than just “weird girl lit”, and this proves that!

Would I revisit the entire thing? No. But there is one story in here, in particular, which I will think about, often.

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy, in exchange for an honest review!

[charly (normalreaders) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was insane in the best possible way

[nico · Rating 2 out of 5]

honestly? a hit and miss. took me months to get through it. some stories are fascinating, some are boring.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

All really interesting, captivating short stories - except for the longest one, Hollow Bones, which I really found uninteresting and too piecey.

[deniz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

“She’d never pretend tattoos aren’t painful, but she loved ‘the place’ the pain put her in.”

As an Eliza Clark fan, I knew exactly what to expect from this book. Even though I'm not a fan of short stories, I really enjoyed Goth GF and the male perspective in it. Mainly because it was super weird. If you’re not familiar with Clark's works, be warned.her stories can be deeply disturbing and may trigger trauma. So, I highly recommend reading the warnings at the end of the book before diving in.

“We strived to be good for the women, but we failed. We fail because we are born with a lungful of seawater; like the sea, we are mercurial and cruel.”

P.S. I really don’t like the Turkish book cover. It's way too revealing and gives away too much of the story. You don’t build a fish-shaped building just because you're opening a fish shop. It looks cheap and creepy, but not in a good way.

[Booksblabbering || Cait❣️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very apt opening that shows how our generation has been induced by technology, the need to share, conspiracy theories, and of course weird food trends.

Story one is a combination of reviews posted about a takeaway that is half Chinese and half Italian with strange speciality dishes. Weirdly, it delivers unbelievably fast to all parts of the UK.
The reviews range from annoyed, derivative, classic British appreciation and ignorance, and reoccurring intrigued customers.

I did not realise this was a sampler when I received the arc, however this is a promising start. I wonder if there will be a theme throughout!

Sampler gifted by NetGalley.

Bookstagram

[Korcan Derinsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

Doymakbilmez için beklentim yüksekti. Belki de bu yüzden ne yazık ki çoğu öykü beni hayal kırıklığına uğrattı. 11 öyküden sadece bir tanesi, “Şüpheli Küçük Çitalya” gerçekten çok iyi. “İyice Çalkala” ve “Sular İdaresinden Gelen Adam” öyküleri de iyi ama geri kalanlar için aynısını söyleyemeyeceğim. Aslında hepsinde büyük bir potansiyel var ama sanki yazar elini korkak alıştırmış. Böyle olunca da ilginç fikirler kaybolup gitmiş ya da yeterince gelişmemiş. Dediğim gibi Clark’ın sularında dolaştığı sular (body horror / weird fiction türlerine yatkınlığı) harika ama layığıyla işleyemediğini düşünüyorum. Çoğu öyküyü bir şey hissetmeden tamamladım ki bunun bir öykünün başına gelebilecek en tatsız şey aslında. Buna rağmen canımız Medusa Yayınları’na böylesine merak ettiğim bir kitabı bastıkları için teşekkür ederim.

[emma °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/ 5 stars.

STORIES:
Build A Body Like Mine: 4/5 stars
The Problem Solver: 4/5 stars
She’s Always Hungry: 3/5 stars
The Shadow Over Little Chitaly: 4/5 stars
Hollow Bones: 3.5/5 stars
Goth GF: 4/5 stars
Extinction Event: 3.5/5 stars
Nightstalkers: 4/5 stars
Shake Well: 4/5 stars
The King: 4.5/5 stars (My favorite hands down!)
Company Man: 4/5 stars

Definitely enjoyed this. While some stories did fall short (no pun intended) and the book could've had a bigger punch, I thought this book overall was great. Some of the stories were so impeccable and hilarious, while others were fucked up and horrific. I did have trouble understanding the connection between each story, while others were blatantly similar in theme. That being said, I'm definitely going to read more of Eliza Clark's work in the future cause this was awesome.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Getting older is an interesting experience. Your skin can produce so many different kinds of usually-benign bumps, people's parents start dying, you are forced to face the particular indignity of opportunities you didn't even want being foreclosed to you (I will never be a Marine.), etc. In addition to the usual corporeal complaints, I belong to a microgeneration that is getting old in one very odd, specific way: the Internet we grew up with is long dead; it will never return; it has rarely been captured in literature with even anthropological accuracy, much less emotional and psychological truth.

All of that is to say, I respect Eliza Clark for having been on Tumblr for real, not in the way the "very online" pundits who had a Facebook at their Ivy in the mid-aughts and then logged onto Twitter long after Russell Crowe had stopped offering to come to people's houses to beat them up are. I think she does an exceptional job rendering the experience of having been on Tumblr for real, not just transcribing it but truly capturing that experience. (Though we were on different corners of Tumblr. I was busy doing sports RPF before you fucking people stole our shit, turned it into readerfic, slapped shit tier ugly ass vector art on it and sold it for $5 and the last dregs of your self respect. That's beside the point, but I wanted to get a word in anyway. And I get to ramble like this because I'm OLD!!!!!!!!!!)

It's worth noting that being online in the early aughts meant there was something wrong with you, and that's reflected in Clark's body of work, both in terms of nitty-gritty subject matter and in terms of broader themes and cadence of the prose. It is truly impressive that Clark's work is so technically accomplished, given Tumblr's famous lack of reading comprehension and tendency to produce absolutely unreadable schlock as its founding texts. But you see where I'm going with this, right? At some point it's only appropriate to admit we've been grading on a curve.

The first two stories of this collection are: a wellness grifter's ad/blog post for the tape worms she's spontaneously producing; a short story about a try-hard male roommate beating up a rapist. Both are fucking stinkers. They are bad enough that I stomped into the living room and told my wife that the opening story would have been tired in 2015. It is evidence of my own Tumblr-related brain damage that I was then even more annoyed by the third story being extremely good and engaging, but like, Eliza, WHY do the first two stories read like you were trying to satirize a specific form of very bad writing that largely showed up on The Toast for five minutes in 2013??? Granted, I do think part of the issue here is editing, in the sense that no one's doing it anymore.

Lack of editing shows up in some of the strongest stories as well, like the opening to the otherwise delightfully disgusting Hollow Bones:

Min found herself bound to a hospital bed, staring up at a patterned ceiling with a long, thick vein running through it. The vein pulsed, synced with her heartbeat – as if it were connected to her.

I know I know we love an em dash but this sort of too-cute redundancy serves no one, particularly when the story itself is a nasty, grisly little delight: sci-fi horror that abuses the short story structure to disorient until you feel as nuts as the protagonist. It was great, vivid and inventive and disgusting.

The second to last story in the collection, The King, is a banger of a different variety: a too-online, edgelordy sex farce about a cannibalistic sociopath who reigns over humanity after a nuclear apocalypse while having an on-again off-again thing with the only other living member of her race. Extremely stupid, extremely fun, felt like being electrocuted on the toes (assuming your feet are ticklish). Absolutely delightful. Wouldn't change a thing. It is to this story's detriment that the closing story is a lachrymose little tale of pseudo-Soviet semi-fantastical grief, both because the two don't quite work tonally, one flowing into the other, and because the last story is just kind of there. It's neither good nor bad.

Ultimately, the strengths of this collection—the lively worldbuilding in the SFF stories, the voicey absurdity on display in The King, the feminist body horror—are undercut by the collection's weakest stories. There is a pleasant rhythm to the collection, and while many of the stories follow a fairly predictable trajectory, there's enough variation to keep things interesting. But my hope for Clark is that she further develops an ability to tell when she's not meeting the high bar she has set for herself, because going from heartwrenching SFF about climate catastrophe and alien consciousness to "some guy named Keith in a Brit's version of California" is, well, a trajectory horrifying enough for an Eliza Clark story.

Postscript for the real ones: Narrator/Shauna pet sociopath Yuletide tbh