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Swallow
"I haven't been able to sleep."
Confusion builds in this sleepless fever-dream, where our narrator finds themselves searching for a way out. Corvus, a group consisting of two crows and a raven, is always present and eager to assist, but are they really just chatty birds? And why does time seem to loop and reset? How does it all tie together?
Written in a surreal and interlocking lyrical prose, Swallow is an immersive journey through an insomnia-plagued mind. In this traumatic, dream-like landscape, you stumble through discomfort and horror with creatures and scenery that are rarely what they seem to be at first glance. This is a reckoning with the demons of one's past and a constant pushing through to reach one's birth.
Confusion builds in this sleepless fever-dream, where our narrator finds themselves searching for a way out. Corvus, a group consisting of two crows and a raven, is always present and eager to assist, but are they really just chatty birds? And why does time seem to loop and reset? How does it all tie together?
Written in a surreal and interlocking lyrical prose, Swallow is an immersive journey through an insomnia-plagued mind. In this traumatic, dream-like landscape, you stumble through discomfort and horror with creatures and scenery that are rarely what they seem to be at first glance. This is a reckoning with the demons of one's past and a constant pushing through to reach one's birth.
144 pages, Paperback
Published March 31, 2022
2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Emily Perkovich
43 books167 followersEmily Perkovich (she/her) is from the Chicago-land area. She is the Editor in Chief of Querencia Press, a poetry reader with Split Lip Mag, and on the Women in Leadership Advisory Board with Valparaiso University. Her work strives to erase the stigma surrounding trauma victims and their responses. She is a Pushcart & a Best of the Net nominee, a SAFTA scholarship recipient, and is previously published with Horror Sleaze Trash, Harness Magazine, Rogue Agent, Coffin Bell Journal, and Awakenings among others. Em is Otomí and learning ways to reconnect with her kin. You can find her on IG @undermeyou or Twitter @emily_perkovich or visit her website.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 31, 2022
A totally unbiased review—best work so far
November 22, 2025
This is a gorgeously written fever dream
April 22, 2022
Swallow by Emily Perkovich is a lexical delight, a special piece of poetic prose which interweaves motifs of saccharine skies, the soil we plant and bury in, the depths of drowning and the stickiness of blood.
Although Perkovich’s beautifully graphic style is evident throughout Swallow, this storytelling is unlike her previous poetry collections and unlike anything else I have read this year. I could attempt to place this work alongside Plath’s The Bell Jar, Vuong’s On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous and Angela Carter’s short story, Master, for its dreamlike quality as it moves rapidly and unforgivingly through human experience, emotion and the intangible. But the fantastical quality in Swallow ensures it is unique. Special.
For me, I found the surface treatment of insomnia superb; especially in how Perkovich deals with lucid dreaming/lucidity when sleep deprived. But this is just one layer of Swallow’s story. The imagery is phenomenal; the narrator’s visceral experience of growing wings, death, being consumed, torn apart and rebirthed are breathtaking explorations of the psyche, our inner selves and our attempts to live and grow into the world around us.
Perkovich herself states this is the best work she has written so far, and I have to agree. It reaches a new height of storytelling, being unafraid of keeping its reader in the shadows. Swallow is a work to luxuriate in. I took my time, twenty pages at a time, simply to savour the descriptions, the honest and blunt first person narrative, and the wonderful feeling of never knowing where it was going, even as motifs returned time and time again.
It is brilliant. It is beautiful. And again, it is truly special. Swallow by Emily Perkovich is an absolute treat!
Although Perkovich’s beautifully graphic style is evident throughout Swallow, this storytelling is unlike her previous poetry collections and unlike anything else I have read this year. I could attempt to place this work alongside Plath’s The Bell Jar, Vuong’s On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous and Angela Carter’s short story, Master, for its dreamlike quality as it moves rapidly and unforgivingly through human experience, emotion and the intangible. But the fantastical quality in Swallow ensures it is unique. Special.
For me, I found the surface treatment of insomnia superb; especially in how Perkovich deals with lucid dreaming/lucidity when sleep deprived. But this is just one layer of Swallow’s story. The imagery is phenomenal; the narrator’s visceral experience of growing wings, death, being consumed, torn apart and rebirthed are breathtaking explorations of the psyche, our inner selves and our attempts to live and grow into the world around us.
Perkovich herself states this is the best work she has written so far, and I have to agree. It reaches a new height of storytelling, being unafraid of keeping its reader in the shadows. Swallow is a work to luxuriate in. I took my time, twenty pages at a time, simply to savour the descriptions, the honest and blunt first person narrative, and the wonderful feeling of never knowing where it was going, even as motifs returned time and time again.
It is brilliant. It is beautiful. And again, it is truly special. Swallow by Emily Perkovich is an absolute treat!
April 18, 2022
I'm such a fan of Emily's poetry and now I'm equally a fan of her prose! Swallow is unlike anything I've ever read. Emily creates such a vivid, breathing world with her descriptive, lyrical prose, I found myself completely immersed it in, and I didn't hate it. Even when it turned grotesque or made me uncomfortable. I always love writing that makes me feel uncomfortable because that usually means the author is doing something right. The journey the narrator is on (which I sometimes felt like I was on right along with them) is MEANT to be uncomfortable. Birth is uncomfortable. Both physically and metaphorically.
I also loved that I never knew what was going to happen next or what new environment I was going to be dropped into.
Emily's writing style in Swallow reminds me a bit of Ocean Vuong's in "On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous," in that they've managed to successfully write a novel in poetic language. I don't think just any poet could do that.
I also loved that I never knew what was going to happen next or what new environment I was going to be dropped into.
Emily's writing style in Swallow reminds me a bit of Ocean Vuong's in "On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous," in that they've managed to successfully write a novel in poetic language. I don't think just any poet could do that.
May 18, 2022
"Her tongue is made of rose petals. Her tongue is licking my bones. Not moon-bleached. Sucked dry. Expertly cleaned. Her red roses are tumbling around my sternum."
The most beautiful yet horrifying poetic composition I have ever read. Before starting this book I researched Emily Perkovich and discovered she is renowned for her poetry. The blurb for this novella had me slightly disoriented which I feel is the best way to enter such a book.
I fell in love with the poetic methodology immediately. Short sentences, short chapters, fast changing scenarios really captured my imagination. The repetitive yet forever changing motifs were exceptional and made the lucid dreaming experience more visceral.
I was truly captivated by this book from start to finish. I can't wait to read more of Emily Perkovich's work.
The most beautiful yet horrifying poetic composition I have ever read. Before starting this book I researched Emily Perkovich and discovered she is renowned for her poetry. The blurb for this novella had me slightly disoriented which I feel is the best way to enter such a book.
I fell in love with the poetic methodology immediately. Short sentences, short chapters, fast changing scenarios really captured my imagination. The repetitive yet forever changing motifs were exceptional and made the lucid dreaming experience more visceral.
I was truly captivated by this book from start to finish. I can't wait to read more of Emily Perkovich's work.
March 31, 2022
A dazzlingly display that is just as grotesque and frenzied as it is a phenomenal and beautiful fever dream.
May 2, 2022
“The scream is the first breath”
June 9, 2022
"Do all tears taste like loss? I am bloated with self-loathing"
This book is insane, in an incredible and mind-fucking way. I have been a long-time fan of Emily's writing so I was very excited to read her novella, Swallow, and it did not disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat, often disorientated and with my jaw on the floor at the end of each chapter.
What cements Emily as an incredible writer is her ability to write a character whose emotions go beyond the pages. As I was reading I could feel the narrator's dizziness, fatigue and urgency throughout my body and often caught myself holding my own breath.
And don't even get me started on the writing! Exploring themes like time, birth and rebirth, Swallow is written entirely in lyrical prose that is both hauntingly beautiful and disturbing. I will definitely be reading this novella again in the near future just to take in the prose and annotate! I cannot wait to read more of Emily's upcoming work.
I recommend this to readers who enjoyed the lyrical prose of Ocean Vuong's "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" and the 'hysteria' (for lack of better words) of Mona Awad's "All's Well."
Thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book is insane, in an incredible and mind-fucking way. I have been a long-time fan of Emily's writing so I was very excited to read her novella, Swallow, and it did not disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat, often disorientated and with my jaw on the floor at the end of each chapter.
What cements Emily as an incredible writer is her ability to write a character whose emotions go beyond the pages. As I was reading I could feel the narrator's dizziness, fatigue and urgency throughout my body and often caught myself holding my own breath.
And don't even get me started on the writing! Exploring themes like time, birth and rebirth, Swallow is written entirely in lyrical prose that is both hauntingly beautiful and disturbing. I will definitely be reading this novella again in the near future just to take in the prose and annotate! I cannot wait to read more of Emily's upcoming work.
I recommend this to readers who enjoyed the lyrical prose of Ocean Vuong's "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" and the 'hysteria' (for lack of better words) of Mona Awad's "All's Well."
Thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 22, 2022
3.5 stars, good. I’ll start by saying that I’m not the audience for this book, and that’s probably reflected in my rating. The book feels dreamlike or maybe nightmarelike, or yes the hallucinations of an “insomnia-plagued mind.” Its visceral, though not so much disturbing as highly unsettling. This brings me to what I appreciated the most, which was the repetition of certain passages or parts of a passage that became an anchor throughout the storm. In the end though I don’t know if I liked the thought of the rebirth circling back to the beginning since it was so hard won to begin with. An interesting read if you are able to let go of comfort? I’m not sure, just that you have to let go and let yourself be drawn into this novella.
"This is no Eden. This is Gethsemane."
"This is no Eden. This is Gethsemane."
May 20, 2022
I’ve been geeked about this author ever since I’ve read her work on Instagram.
Swallow is definitely a hard book to swallow! The imagery is vivid as if the words are pulling you inside the book.
I definitely recommend!
Swallow is definitely a hard book to swallow! The imagery is vivid as if the words are pulling you inside the book.
I definitely recommend!
May 17, 2023
This is easily one of my favorite horror books I've ever read. It's sweet, sticky, dreamy, bloody. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I started reading, but it definitely wasn't this. Every page surprised me and got under my skin in all the best ways. I could easily read this twenty more times, and probably will.
February 3, 2024
Imagine Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath but through the eyes of an insomniac. Emily Perkovich’s style and voice add double to that description. The words flow together in a lyrical way, forcing you to find a rhythm for the trip she’s taking you on. This style of prose added to the business of asleep/awake/real for me throughout. Sleepwalker in suburbia or dark fantasy? Either way, the imagery created here is discomfort wrapped up in the comfortable blanket that is the warm prose. Truly unlike anything I’ve read. Poetic writing and sentences that feel so alive they force you to read them again, Swallow is an immersive book. K thx.
November 6, 2022
There is a terror lodged in the throat of this book. It will not let you sleep. Emily Perkovich's Swallow carries in it the visceral nature of works like Samantha Schweblin's fiction and the cyclical mind-bending fiction of Cristina Rivera Garza. It is captivating.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews