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goinghost's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This anthology was a bit of a mixed bag for me, but there were at least 10 stories that blew me away and gave me new authors to read voraciously. While I didn’t like every story, the ones I did like I really liked and I’ve bought at least 3 books because of the stories I’ve read collected here.
elenavarg's review
4.0
What a great collection of stories! Highly recommend to both horror fans and speculative fictions fans alike. One of the highest compliments I can give to a pice of literature: reading this collection made me really want to write myself!
Not all of them were my favorites, but that’s expected in an anthology. Some stories were truly amazing, my favorites were ’Welcome to Labyrinth’, ’She’, ’Paradise’ and ’Some of Us are Grapefruit’.
Definitely backing the second volume when the time comes!
Not all of them were my favorites, but that’s expected in an anthology. Some stories were truly amazing, my favorites were ’Welcome to Labyrinth’, ’She’, ’Paradise’ and ’Some of Us are Grapefruit’.
Definitely backing the second volume when the time comes!
lynxpardinus's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, War, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Vomit, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Gun violence, Police brutality, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Minor: Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Dementia
lesson0_reads's review
5.0
Anthology where the ratio of good stories actually outweigh the so-so ones. It such a breath of fresh air to read stories with more cultural nuances. When they said diversity they actually meant it in this book.
she_who_reads_'s review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
brnineworms's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Death in the Mouth is hit-or-miss like any anthology, but overall my opinion skews positive. There were a few stories that stood out as solid examples of the horror genre. “They Will Take Up Serpents” by Yah Yah Schofield was really good but I think should have been cropped to just the baptism scene. The second half isn’t bad but that first half would stand up perfectly well on its own and a tight story is stronger than a bloated one. I liked “What Hurts Henry Watanabe” by J L Akagi but the ending did hinge on the protagonist doing something that was obviously foolish. “Tongue Is a Void” by P H Low deserves a shout-out too; it was wonderfully poetic and didn’t overstay its welcome. This collection also includes “Some of Us Are Grapefruit” by Rivers Solomon. I’ve been meaning to read Solomon’s work for a while now and this was my first experience of their writing. I can’t say I fully understood the story but I was certainly intoxicated by it, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for their other works.
Each story was accompanied by a black-and-white illustration. I think this was a wise move because, with so many tales packed into one anthology, the artwork went a long way to break up the text and separate the stories from one another – plus it’s nice to look at! My favourites were Solomon Enos’s piece for “Paradise” and Viv Magaña’s for “The Mother-Wound.”
Would I recommend Death in the Mouth? Sure. I wouldn’t call it a must-read but it’s a fitting choice for spooky season. I think the cover art alone makes it worth buying.
CONTENT WARNINGS: surreality, body horror, gore, lots of bodily fluids (blood, urine, etc), alcohol/drugs, sex, sexual harrassment/assault, impregnation, self harm, suicide, murder, death, violence, child abuse, gaslighting, religious trauma, stalking, and generally unsettling vibes typical of horror fiction
kirstendo's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. People who know me IRL are probably tired of my wax poetics about how horror and science fiction is only good when it uses the genre conventions to say something about the nature of humanity. Reading "genre fiction" by authors who have a point of view and life experience that informs their writing beyond just trying to scare the reader adds layers and depth to the narrative, and there's plenty of that here.
ALSO - the body horror! My absolute favourite horror sub-genre had me absolutely spoiled here. This is not to be missed if you, like me, often find yourself wishing for more intensity and quality in contemporary body horror representations.
As a small addendum, I would recommend reading this on an e-reader or a tablet with a larger-than-phone sized screen so you can really appreciate the illustrations.
ALSO - the body horror! My absolute favourite horror sub-genre had me absolutely spoiled here. This is not to be missed if you, like me, often find yourself wishing for more intensity and quality in contemporary body horror representations.
As a small addendum, I would recommend reading this on an e-reader or a tablet with a larger-than-phone sized screen so you can really appreciate the illustrations.
punkle_bob's review
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Horror gets kind of a schlocky reputation in 'literary' circles - to the extent that Horror as a genre is often erased in favour of Thriller, Suspense, and Dark Fantasy. I think this is a real shame, because to me good Horror is a pure exercise in literary metaphor - the subversion of mundane, gnawing anxieties into monsters that can be defeated (or that can't). It has much more to tell us than an endless parade of formulaic copagandist who-dunnits and armoured skeletons do.
Death in the Mouth is a brilliant example of this. Twenty-six original stories, twenty-seven original illustrations, all of them offering a unique insight and experience. From weird and touching ('What Hurts Henry Watanabe') to deeply insightful ('Drowned in Mindfulness'), beautifully alien ('Paradise'), and searingly realistic ('They Will Take Up Serpents'), these stories prise up the dull, scarred surface of the world and reveal the wriggling black undergrowth. It's an intense tour through a variety of vivid locations and perspectives, richly illustrated, some quick and sharp ('Balloon Girl), others slow and heavy with dread ('The Homebody'). By highlighting the voices of People of Colour in this anthology, editors Leong and Hart show us how quiet and dead the world is when these voices are stilled. It is a vibrant, unsettling, thought-provoking anthology.
Beware, these stories have (sometimes literal) teeth! There are also some minor sub-editing errors in the pre-release copy which I read (so these may be resolved on publishing) but nothing that affects readability.
For fans of: Toni Morrison, Caitlin R. Kiernan, James S.A. Corey, Rivers Solomon (their gorgeous short story 'Some of Us Are Grapefruit' is included in the anthology), Sayaka Murata, and short stories of all kinds!
Death in the Mouth is a brilliant example of this. Twenty-six original stories, twenty-seven original illustrations, all of them offering a unique insight and experience. From weird and touching ('What Hurts Henry Watanabe') to deeply insightful ('Drowned in Mindfulness'), beautifully alien ('Paradise'), and searingly realistic ('They Will Take Up Serpents'), these stories prise up the dull, scarred surface of the world and reveal the wriggling black undergrowth. It's an intense tour through a variety of vivid locations and perspectives, richly illustrated, some quick and sharp ('Balloon Girl), others slow and heavy with dread ('The Homebody'). By highlighting the voices of People of Colour in this anthology, editors Leong and Hart show us how quiet and dead the world is when these voices are stilled. It is a vibrant, unsettling, thought-provoking anthology.
Beware, these stories have (sometimes literal) teeth! There are also some minor sub-editing errors in the pre-release copy which I read (so these may be resolved on publishing) but nothing that affects readability.
For fans of: Toni Morrison, Caitlin R. Kiernan, James S.A. Corey, Rivers Solomon (their gorgeous short story 'Some of Us Are Grapefruit' is included in the anthology), Sayaka Murata, and short stories of all kinds!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Gore
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