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honeyvoiced's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit, Self harm, and Child death
abbie_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my e-ARC!
This year I’m taking part in @aishathebibliophile’s 23 Short Story Collections in 2023 challenge, and I just finished up my 10th! Eyes Guts Throat Bones is a beautiful, sapphic, horror-adjacent collection that I simply devoured. I thought about lots of these stories for a long time after I finished them, their gorgeous haunting imagery lingering. The stories range from magical realism to post apocalyptic to straight up horror, with only one or two that were underwhelming. They explore sapphic love in lots of different forms, queer joy in the face of small-mindedness, resilience & endurance when the world is falling apart around you, and then some of them are just gory fun!
This year I’m taking part in @aishathebibliophile’s 23 Short Story Collections in 2023 challenge, and I just finished up my 10th! Eyes Guts Throat Bones is a beautiful, sapphic, horror-adjacent collection that I simply devoured. I thought about lots of these stories for a long time after I finished them, their gorgeous haunting imagery lingering. The stories range from magical realism to post apocalyptic to straight up horror, with only one or two that were underwhelming. They explore sapphic love in lots of different forms, queer joy in the face of small-mindedness, resilience & endurance when the world is falling apart around you, and then some of them are just gory fun!
One of my favourites, Such a Pretty Face, was one that falls into the latter category - a lesbian roams the world, collecting lovers and taking a ~unique~ souvenir from each of them before moving on to her next victi- er, lover 😏 Another favourite was the first story, What Would You Give for a Treat Like Me, where two women ponder their decision to have children even though an eerie apocalypse has arrived and put an early end to anything of the sort. Then Rath, a gorgeous tale weaving the story of two ancient queens with two childhood friends who drift apart but always meet up for the summer solstice. I usually can’t abide infidelity plotlines, but this one enraptured me regardless. My final favourite was Two Truths and a Lie, a disturbing coming-of-age tale featuring a doll that is more sentient than anyone would like told in a fun format.
I’ve read one of Fowley-Doyle’s young adult novels in the past, but I’m so glad she’s made the foray into adult fiction. I remember The Accident Season having such an atmospheric vibe, and that same vibe has been applied to all of these stories only more lush, more vivid, much darker and more intense. The sense of place (usually Ireland) is amazing and I think elevates these stories.
Definitely one to look out for if you like unsettling, atmospheric reads and of course, sapphic-focused lit!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, Body horror, Infidelity, Gore, Child death, and Lesbophobia
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