A review by rhuntern
Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies by John Langan

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Corpsemouth is my favorite Langan collection so far. While it still has his trademark story-within-a-story style of writing (which, imo, weakens a lot of his narratives), a lot of what's in this collection is so inherently interesting and well written that it didn't quite matter as much. That said, I do think that whole style really does weaken the impact of plots in favor of what ultimately comes across as an "okay" twist in the frame. A perfect example would be the final story where the mother's remembrance would be far stronger as a story on its own outside of a frame.

That said, the collection is still a great read.