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jaldep91's review
1.0
I hated every letter, of every word, of every sentence, of every paragraph of every page of this "book".
lalalann's review
5.0
These stories are the weirdest g.d. things I have ever read. They are funny and bizarre and amazing and I will be reading all of Amelia Gray's other work so I can be surprised and grossed out all over again. And yes, someone does indeed get gutshot. There are also swans walking through poop, a man living inside a giant snake, and a couple trying to have a child in the most violent way possible. This collection has everything you could ever want and more.
karenleagermain's review
4.0
PLOT- A collection of visceral, magical, and often horrifying short stories by Amelia Gray.
LIKE- I received Amelia Gray's short story collection, Gutshot, as part of my Quarterly Company Literary Box. The spring 2017 box was curated by Borne author, Jeff Vandermeer and as part of his picks, Vandermeer included Gray's collection.
I had never heard of Gray previous to her book arriving in my box, but immediately, I was drawn to the title and cover art. I packed Gutshot to take on my cruise to Alaska, but just a few pages into the first story, I realized that this was too special of a collection to read while on a distracting, family holiday. I stuck to magazines for the vacation. Now, eight months later, I finally found a distraction free afternoon and took the plunge.
Many of her stories are raw and powerful. There are few that elicited the feeling of the title: Gutshot. I felt physically moved and wounded while reading them.
Here are a few of my favorites.
A Contest- a micro-short about people competing to put on the best display of mourning for a person that they love who has died. They are told that the gods will pick the person that has experienced the most grief and that person's loved one will come back to them. Several people are mentioned and they are all very worthy, including parents grieving over a lost child. The story simply ends with one sentence involving a character who had not been mentioned earlier in the story, a woman who opens her front door to find that her cat has returned. This had me in tears. I've lost so many people and pets in my life, but honestly mourning a pet is such a different type of grief.
The Lives of Ghosts - Marcy has recently lost her mother, but discovers that her mom is haunting her in the form of an enormous pimple on Marcy's face. A pimple that talks and gives advice, including unsolicited motherly advice. This story was so completely unexpected, humorous, and ultimately heartbreaking. I found myself laughing out loud at this irreverent story.
Thank You- A hilarious story about an escalating passive-aggressive exchange of thank you notes. Thank You, as with many of Gray's stories, increases in outrageousness, creating a fantasy situation. Very funny and relatable. I don't think there are many women who won't relate to this frenemy story with manners.
DISLIKE- I can't claim to like each of Gray's stories with equal measure; some were so bizarre that I found trouble connecting. Often her stories turned grotesque or incredibly violent, which is not something that bothers me, but I also felt that it didn't always serve the story, like it was for shock value more than anything.
RECOMMEND- Yes! Gray is a talented writer and the stories in Gutshot are not ones that I can easily compare to another author. They might not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are certainly original. The stories that got me in my gut, I will not soon forget. I look forward to reading more stories by Gray.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
LIKE- I received Amelia Gray's short story collection, Gutshot, as part of my Quarterly Company Literary Box. The spring 2017 box was curated by Borne author, Jeff Vandermeer and as part of his picks, Vandermeer included Gray's collection.
I had never heard of Gray previous to her book arriving in my box, but immediately, I was drawn to the title and cover art. I packed Gutshot to take on my cruise to Alaska, but just a few pages into the first story, I realized that this was too special of a collection to read while on a distracting, family holiday. I stuck to magazines for the vacation. Now, eight months later, I finally found a distraction free afternoon and took the plunge.
Many of her stories are raw and powerful. There are few that elicited the feeling of the title: Gutshot. I felt physically moved and wounded while reading them.
Here are a few of my favorites.
A Contest- a micro-short about people competing to put on the best display of mourning for a person that they love who has died. They are told that the gods will pick the person that has experienced the most grief and that person's loved one will come back to them. Several people are mentioned and they are all very worthy, including parents grieving over a lost child. The story simply ends with one sentence involving a character who had not been mentioned earlier in the story, a woman who opens her front door to find that her cat has returned. This had me in tears. I've lost so many people and pets in my life, but honestly mourning a pet is such a different type of grief.
The Lives of Ghosts - Marcy has recently lost her mother, but discovers that her mom is haunting her in the form of an enormous pimple on Marcy's face. A pimple that talks and gives advice, including unsolicited motherly advice. This story was so completely unexpected, humorous, and ultimately heartbreaking. I found myself laughing out loud at this irreverent story.
Thank You- A hilarious story about an escalating passive-aggressive exchange of thank you notes. Thank You, as with many of Gray's stories, increases in outrageousness, creating a fantasy situation. Very funny and relatable. I don't think there are many women who won't relate to this frenemy story with manners.
DISLIKE- I can't claim to like each of Gray's stories with equal measure; some were so bizarre that I found trouble connecting. Often her stories turned grotesque or incredibly violent, which is not something that bothers me, but I also felt that it didn't always serve the story, like it was for shock value more than anything.
RECOMMEND- Yes! Gray is a talented writer and the stories in Gutshot are not ones that I can easily compare to another author. They might not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are certainly original. The stories that got me in my gut, I will not soon forget. I look forward to reading more stories by Gray.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
asethb's review
4.0
What’s to say? There are some really visceral short stories here. I felt pretty lukewarm toward her novel Threats when I read it a few years back, and I think Gray works better in the short story format but maybe I need to revisit that book as well. Some of these stories were hard to read, but all of them were compelling in one way or another. Some of them seem more poem than prose. There’s a good mix of fantasy in with straightforward slice-of-life stories but she makes them all feel fantastical in a way
erik_gamlem's review
4.0
Every twist and turn, every bizarre or too real scenario, every moment of torture, obsession, perseverance and failure was just another turn in the maze that is Amelia Gray's work. I'm totally hooked, and I can't wait to carve into more of her weird worlds, get lost, trapped even in scary and awkward situations. It's not always dark, but it always feels sinister.
wordsmithreads's review
2.0
Okay Amelia. Amelia is very good at writing weird. VERY good. However, sometimes it’s weird without needing to be. And most of these stories are not stories at all, just short thoughts, scattered paragraphs.
That said, I did enjoy some of these. My favorite stories were: How He Felt, Labyrinth, A Contest, Thank You, and Legacy. Of those, A Contest is my very favorite.
This reads a lot like Threats, where weird things are set up and you keep expecting answers and never getting them.
My favorite lines, even if they were within stories that made no sense:
- Your heart is a wall of the same brick repeated.
- You’re such a pretty skeptic.
- The thing about drugs is you can fight them all your life but you’re fighting a brain that wants you dead, and the thing about fighting is you can’t fight forever.
- You have been surrounded all your life by people concerned for your health. Men build scaffolding to protect your stupid skull. Cars stop and allow you to cross. Every problem in the world can be traced back to attention or its lack.
That said, I did enjoy some of these. My favorite stories were: How He Felt, Labyrinth, A Contest, Thank You, and Legacy. Of those, A Contest is my very favorite.
This reads a lot like Threats, where weird things are set up and you keep expecting answers and never getting them.
My favorite lines, even if they were within stories that made no sense:
- Your heart is a wall of the same brick repeated.
- You’re such a pretty skeptic.
- The thing about drugs is you can fight them all your life but you’re fighting a brain that wants you dead, and the thing about fighting is you can’t fight forever.
- You have been surrounded all your life by people concerned for your health. Men build scaffolding to protect your stupid skull. Cars stop and allow you to cross. Every problem in the world can be traced back to attention or its lack.
rebecca_ems's review
5.0
Reading this was like getting shot in the gut...
I mean that in the best way possible.
I mean that in the best way possible.
ohnoitsbrio's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
Dnf ; will re-read after exams
samargi's review
5.0
Amelia has taught me that when it comes to fiction, anything is possible. A few of my favorites from this collection: "House Heart," "Monument," "Labyrinth," "Year of the Snake," "A Contest," "Christmas House," and "Date Night." OK, that was more than a few. There were a few stories that felt like filler stories to me, but I still give this book 5 stars because of its overall influence on me and my writing.
jelundberg's review
5.0
Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant. I am now and forever after a rabid fan of Amelia Gray.