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Mouth: Stories
BESTIARY MEETS THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED IN THIS COLLECTION OF 11 EERIE, UNCANNY, AND SURREAL SHORT STORIES
In this debut collection, Puloma Ghosh uses the speculative as a catalyst to push her stories and characters beyond what reality allows. Exploring grief, intimacy, sexuality, and bodily autonomy, Mouth leans into the bizarre and absurd while reaching for the truth.
In "Dessication," a teen figure skater with necrophiliac tendencies is convinced the only other Indian girl at the rink is a vampire. A woman returns to Kolkata in “The Fig Tree,� where she is haunted by her deceased mother or a shakchunni, or both. “Nip� bottles up the consuming and addictive nature of infatuation while “Natalya� is a hair-raising autopsy of an ex-lover. And in “Persimmons,� a girl comes to terms with her own community sacrifice.
Blurring the lines of conventional reality and giving fangs, talons, and singular sharpness to the otherwise ordinary, awkward, and unmentionable, Mouth’s surrealism is both unique and captivating. Puloma Ghosh reaches into otherworldly spaces while exploring the everyday struggles of isolation, longing, and the aching desires of our flesh.
In this debut collection, Puloma Ghosh uses the speculative as a catalyst to push her stories and characters beyond what reality allows. Exploring grief, intimacy, sexuality, and bodily autonomy, Mouth leans into the bizarre and absurd while reaching for the truth.
In "Dessication," a teen figure skater with necrophiliac tendencies is convinced the only other Indian girl at the rink is a vampire. A woman returns to Kolkata in “The Fig Tree,� where she is haunted by her deceased mother or a shakchunni, or both. “Nip� bottles up the consuming and addictive nature of infatuation while “Natalya� is a hair-raising autopsy of an ex-lover. And in “Persimmons,� a girl comes to terms with her own community sacrifice.
Blurring the lines of conventional reality and giving fangs, talons, and singular sharpness to the otherwise ordinary, awkward, and unmentionable, Mouth’s surrealism is both unique and captivating. Puloma Ghosh reaches into otherworldly spaces while exploring the everyday struggles of isolation, longing, and the aching desires of our flesh.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published June 11, 2024
61 people are currently reading
4,591 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 179 reviews
July 19, 2024
this is a book about monsters and girls and girls who become monsters and monsters who become girls.
it's also a book i really wanted to like. it has a weird eerie cover! it has weird eerie contents! it's filled with teeth and blood and sex and ghosts! i like books with all of these things.
in execution, though, it felt uneven, maybe less than the sum of its parts. the stories didn't seem to build on one another, and though their synopses varied, their themes felt unrelentingly the same. it was more cringey than spooky, and generally seemed as though the author's intent may have been beyond the scope of her writing talent.
in other words, a debut!
that being said, i'll definitely read more from this author.
this was the rare short story collection that makes me wish it'd been a novel instead: one synopsis, pursued to the extent of its meaning, rather than many short stories shallowly delving into the same one.
buti found it fast-paced and readable, two things i rarely think about short story collections.
bottom line: this is a review of a book about monster girls written by a girl monster. sorry i'm mean.
------------------
pre-review
...ok fine i'm judging books by their covers again
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
it's also a book i really wanted to like. it has a weird eerie cover! it has weird eerie contents! it's filled with teeth and blood and sex and ghosts! i like books with all of these things.
in execution, though, it felt uneven, maybe less than the sum of its parts. the stories didn't seem to build on one another, and though their synopses varied, their themes felt unrelentingly the same. it was more cringey than spooky, and generally seemed as though the author's intent may have been beyond the scope of her writing talent.
in other words, a debut!
that being said, i'll definitely read more from this author.
this was the rare short story collection that makes me wish it'd been a novel instead: one synopsis, pursued to the extent of its meaning, rather than many short stories shallowly delving into the same one.
buti found it fast-paced and readable, two things i rarely think about short story collections.
bottom line: this is a review of a book about monster girls written by a girl monster. sorry i'm mean.
------------------
pre-review
...ok fine i'm judging books by their covers again
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
October 26, 2024
Mouth by Puloma Ghosh dovetails the fantastic, the weird into the mundane so skillfully that it is hard not to be enchanted from the very first lines of the first story, Dessication, in which two girls who start hanging out together soon find out weird stuff about each other (and it involves eating!). Tropes that are everywhere nowadays and you may not necessarily care about, like vampires, ghosts, werewolves, or time travel, become something authentic, wondrous from the strange pen of Ghosh.
I performed a facsimile of living for some time before I could figure out how to do it for real again.
While the majority of her stories follow this route of dispersing some weird into our reality, there’s also quite impressive universe-building going on here, with shimmery tears called anomalies opening all over the world when too many particles whip through time at once or on a planet where few chosen ones are burdened with birth-giving, and it comes with a sacrifice�
My highlight was Nip, which focuses on the addictive quality of lovemaking and starts like the story of two lovers, only to slowly turn into something else, but not quite clear what.
I feel like I’ve been waiting for you all this time so I can be scared with you.
Overall, reading these stories feels like watching a solemn, dream-like indie movie and that spoke to me directly. Also, the writing is simply sublime and I want more of it.
I performed a facsimile of living for some time before I could figure out how to do it for real again.
While the majority of her stories follow this route of dispersing some weird into our reality, there’s also quite impressive universe-building going on here, with shimmery tears called anomalies opening all over the world when too many particles whip through time at once or on a planet where few chosen ones are burdened with birth-giving, and it comes with a sacrifice�
My highlight was Nip, which focuses on the addictive quality of lovemaking and starts like the story of two lovers, only to slowly turn into something else, but not quite clear what.
I feel like I’ve been waiting for you all this time so I can be scared with you.
Overall, reading these stories feels like watching a solemn, dream-like indie movie and that spoke to me directly. Also, the writing is simply sublime and I want more of it.
October 9, 2024
STORY 1 : Dessication
- ⭐⭐�
STORY 2: The fig tree - ⭐⭐.5
STORY 3: Leaving things - ⭐⭐
STORY 4: K - ⭐⭐.5
STORY 5: In the winter - ⭐⭐�
STORY 6: Anomaly -�.5
STORY 7: Lemon boy -⭐⭐�.5
STORY 8: Supergiant -�.5
STORY 9: Nip -⭐⭐
STORY 10: Natalya -�
STORY 11: Persimmons -⭐⭐
Some of these stories were really good, but none of them really resonated with me; they all felt underdeveloped and unimportant. To be very honest, my expectations were higher. Although there are a few intriguing pieces in this anthology, it doesn't feel well-rounded. A little disorienting is the genre blend. However, it goes without saying that I will value the apparent, which is the excellent and admirable use of language. The writing style was fairly engrossing and strongly conjures up images. Even yet, it was conceited, poorly executed, and fell short of its expectations. Too bad it will be a chore to complete. In the end, I read it through quickly just to be done with it.
STORY 2: The fig tree - ⭐⭐.5
STORY 3: Leaving things - ⭐⭐
STORY 4: K - ⭐⭐.5
STORY 5: In the winter - ⭐⭐�
STORY 6: Anomaly -�.5
STORY 7: Lemon boy -⭐⭐�.5
STORY 8: Supergiant -�.5
STORY 9: Nip -⭐⭐
STORY 10: Natalya -�
STORY 11: Persimmons -⭐⭐
Some of these stories were really good, but none of them really resonated with me; they all felt underdeveloped and unimportant. To be very honest, my expectations were higher. Although there are a few intriguing pieces in this anthology, it doesn't feel well-rounded. A little disorienting is the genre blend. However, it goes without saying that I will value the apparent, which is the excellent and admirable use of language. The writing style was fairly engrossing and strongly conjures up images. Even yet, it was conceited, poorly executed, and fell short of its expectations. Too bad it will be a chore to complete. In the end, I read it through quickly just to be done with it.
January 13, 2025
4.5 stars! Thematically cohesive re: "mouth" imagery and so creatively and imaginatively rendered. Favorite stories were "Leaving Things," which is a dystopian werewolf shit but classy and weird and dark, "K" which is a historically women's college campus story, "Lemon Boy" which is set in Somerville and is about weird dating which I love, and "Persimmons," set in a different planet but also kind of not, kind of Shirley Jackson The Lottery-esque. Wonderful speculative work!!
August 25, 2024
These speculative stories are unsettling in the best way. They range from fully grounded in our world (a medical examiner autopsies her former lover) to completely out of this world (a woman on another planet learns she has been selected as a human sacrifice). The common thread running through these vastly different stories is strong character work and complex feminist themes. This collection belongs squarely in the “weird girl lit fic� category and makes a strong addition to the genre. I hope to see many more collections from this writer!
July 7, 2024
Provocative, dark and jarring
The author really went “there� with this collection of eleven short stories. I am not going to lie, some of the stories I read I really thought, “a wah gwan yasso?!� However, I loved how the author was able to write something fresh, engaging, jarring and raw. After each story I had to put down the book and really think, “what did I just read and what does this mean?� �. In a good way of course.
The book explores themes of feminism, mother-daughter relationship, lonlieness, love, forgiveness and hope. I particularly loved the exploration of lonlieness because I feel like it is something we all experience but don't talk too much about.
I love that this is a debut collection because it means we get to hear more from this author!
The author really went “there� with this collection of eleven short stories. I am not going to lie, some of the stories I read I really thought, “a wah gwan yasso?!� However, I loved how the author was able to write something fresh, engaging, jarring and raw. After each story I had to put down the book and really think, “what did I just read and what does this mean?� �. In a good way of course.
The book explores themes of feminism, mother-daughter relationship, lonlieness, love, forgiveness and hope. I particularly loved the exploration of lonlieness because I feel like it is something we all experience but don't talk too much about.
I love that this is a debut collection because it means we get to hear more from this author!
November 12, 2024
Macabre and Monstrous Mouths
Review of the Astra House hardcover edition (June 10, 2024) released simultaneously with the eBook. Audiobook expected December 10, 2024.
[4.5 average rounded up to 5]
This was an intriguing variety of short stories which ranged from horror to science fiction with stops off for surreal flash fiction along the way. At first I thought it was only going to be New Weird Horror, but it was more expansive than that. I read this thanks to Inciminci's enthusiastic review. Thanks again Inci!
An extra note on the cover design, which is extremely eye-catching. There is an initial frisson of horror at the illusion of the lower image appearing as a de-skinning of the mouth lips portrayed in the upper image. And then you realize it is only an orange or a mandarin/clementine being peeled.
The following are my individual story ratings and synopses. They are mostly setups so I have not spoiler blocked them.
1. Desiccation **** Ice skater Meghna is intrigued by rival skater Prita, who she suspects of being undead. Seems to be using vampirism as a metaphor for predatory relationships. It all takes place in a dystopian world run by "The Bureau" with all the male inhabitants sent off to war. A good start for this collection. Is this what they call the "new weird horror"?
2. The Fig Tree *** Not that spooky. Ankita returns to Kolkata along with her father in a journey to memorialize her mother and return her ashes back to her home country. She is warned to stay away from their old house and its supposedly haunted fig tree. When she finally visits she has a revelation.
3. Leaving Things **** This has a post-apocalyptic feel to it. In a world which is slowly being taken over by wolves and being abandoned by humans, a veterinarian brings a dying pregnant wolf home and performs a caesarian and delivers a wolf-boy baby! And it only gets weirder from there 🐺.
4. K **** Kara, a student in a dorm room is haunted by the ghost of an earlier student named K who disappeared off campus years ago. Some still have memories of her, especially the mysterious groundskeeper who may secretly know more than most. This one is available as a pay-per-read at , along with a mini-interview with the author.
5. In the Winter ** Slightly abstract flash fiction story about a sexual encounter. This one is available for free at along with a micro-interview at X and some citrus imagery.🍊
6. Anomaly My favourite so far! In a world with visitors from the future fighting a time war, anomalies (mini wormholes) have opened up around the world with the government monetizing the safest ones (where you enter at one end and emerge nearby). A cubicle worker in customer service goes on a first date with a man who has tickets to a local anomaly experience.
7. Lemon Boy Another favourite. A girl meets a yellow-headed boy at a house party where the rooms have been decorated as the "Upside Down" from the TV show "Stranger Things". He tells her he sees his dead ex at the party and then tells the story of how she kept seeing "holes" appearing everywhere. Eventually lemon boy leads her into the basement, where...
8. Supergiant **** Science-fictiony tale about a pop music star and her handler. Basically about performers giving up their real lives and being forced to adopt false public personas. This is more of a cybertech transformation than just surface marketing though.
9. Nip Very surreal story. Not sure I even understood it, but had a mysterious, uncertain, intriguing quality to it. Seems to be about a relationship, but one character (who is also the narrator) may not be human but instead is an object or a liquid. One of the shortest stories at 8 pages.
10. Natalya Creepy story about a forensic pathologist dissecting the corpse of an ex-lover while flashing back to their earlier lives. The pathologist had cutting issues while growing up. Read for free at .
11. Persimmons **** Science-fiction combined with folk mythology. In a future colonized planet, villagers perform an annual ritual in order to satisfy the persimmon tree at the heart of their community. The foreboding nature of this one made it predictable, but you still kept wondering how it would all turn out.
Bonus Track
Read a recent Puloma Ghosh short story "Aphrodisiac: M&M fan fiction" at Cake Zine substack from October 24, 2024.
Trivia and Link
Aside from the interviews linked in the online story postings above, you can also read further about Puloma Ghosh at her own website .
Review of the Astra House hardcover edition (June 10, 2024) released simultaneously with the eBook. Audiobook expected December 10, 2024.
[4.5 average rounded up to 5]
This was an intriguing variety of short stories which ranged from horror to science fiction with stops off for surreal flash fiction along the way. At first I thought it was only going to be New Weird Horror, but it was more expansive than that. I read this thanks to Inciminci's enthusiastic review. Thanks again Inci!
An extra note on the cover design, which is extremely eye-catching. There is an initial frisson of horror at the illusion of the lower image appearing as a de-skinning of the mouth lips portrayed in the upper image. And then you realize it is only an orange or a mandarin/clementine being peeled.
The following are my individual story ratings and synopses. They are mostly setups so I have not spoiler blocked them.
1. Desiccation **** Ice skater Meghna is intrigued by rival skater Prita, who she suspects of being undead. Seems to be using vampirism as a metaphor for predatory relationships. It all takes place in a dystopian world run by "The Bureau" with all the male inhabitants sent off to war. A good start for this collection. Is this what they call the "new weird horror"?
2. The Fig Tree *** Not that spooky. Ankita returns to Kolkata along with her father in a journey to memorialize her mother and return her ashes back to her home country. She is warned to stay away from their old house and its supposedly haunted fig tree. When she finally visits she has a revelation.
3. Leaving Things **** This has a post-apocalyptic feel to it. In a world which is slowly being taken over by wolves and being abandoned by humans, a veterinarian brings a dying pregnant wolf home and performs a caesarian and delivers a wolf-boy baby! And it only gets weirder from there 🐺.
4. K **** Kara, a student in a dorm room is haunted by the ghost of an earlier student named K who disappeared off campus years ago. Some still have memories of her, especially the mysterious groundskeeper who may secretly know more than most. This one is available as a pay-per-read at , along with a mini-interview with the author.
5. In the Winter ** Slightly abstract flash fiction story about a sexual encounter. This one is available for free at along with a micro-interview at X and some citrus imagery.🍊
6. Anomaly My favourite so far! In a world with visitors from the future fighting a time war, anomalies (mini wormholes) have opened up around the world with the government monetizing the safest ones (where you enter at one end and emerge nearby). A cubicle worker in customer service goes on a first date with a man who has tickets to a local anomaly experience.
7. Lemon Boy Another favourite. A girl meets a yellow-headed boy at a house party where the rooms have been decorated as the "Upside Down" from the TV show "Stranger Things". He tells her he sees his dead ex at the party and then tells the story of how she kept seeing "holes" appearing everywhere. Eventually lemon boy leads her into the basement, where...
8. Supergiant **** Science-fictiony tale about a pop music star and her handler. Basically about performers giving up their real lives and being forced to adopt false public personas. This is more of a cybertech transformation than just surface marketing though.
9. Nip Very surreal story. Not sure I even understood it, but had a mysterious, uncertain, intriguing quality to it. Seems to be about a relationship, but one character (who is also the narrator) may not be human but instead is an object or a liquid. One of the shortest stories at 8 pages.
10. Natalya Creepy story about a forensic pathologist dissecting the corpse of an ex-lover while flashing back to their earlier lives. The pathologist had cutting issues while growing up. Read for free at .
11. Persimmons **** Science-fiction combined with folk mythology. In a future colonized planet, villagers perform an annual ritual in order to satisfy the persimmon tree at the heart of their community. The foreboding nature of this one made it predictable, but you still kept wondering how it would all turn out.
Bonus Track
Read a recent Puloma Ghosh short story "Aphrodisiac: M&M fan fiction" at Cake Zine substack from October 24, 2024.
Trivia and Link
Aside from the interviews linked in the online story postings above, you can also read further about Puloma Ghosh at her own website .
Want to read
May 21, 2024Me seeing an NRI author's book: 🙂
Me seeing a South Asian author's book: 🙂
Me seeing an Indian Bangali author's book: 🥳🥰🎊😍🤩 *slams the "want to read" button.*
Me seeing a South Asian author's book: 🙂
Me seeing an Indian Bangali author's book: 🥳🥰🎊😍🤩 *slams the "want to read" button.*
June 11, 2024
happy publication day, mouth!
Mouth explores, in eleven short stories, themes of extraneity, loneliness, sexuality and mother-daughter relationships through a supernatural and speculative lens, with a dreamy style, sometimes verging on the tones of unreality.
One of the constants in the work is fruit, and I’ve never seen the word “pith� just as often as I have in these short stories: my literary analysis is not something to be envied, and I failed to grasp the meaning fruit has in the collection. Most of the time it felt like it was there purely out of an aesthetic presence, if not for a reference to bountifulness? Fertility?
What I found really interesting was how the author kept hammering on the idea of becoming monstrous out of a sense of belonging, as opposed to the usual, othering, depiction of monstrosity.
This is the author’s debut work, and as with every short story collection, some works shine more than others: my arc copy didn’t have titles for the individual short stories so I can’t mention them without spoiling them; I enjoyed the third one, where a protagonist takes in a wolf-child in a post-apocalyptic town destroyed by the menace of wolves, and the years old affair told through a lover’s gaze while they perform the autopsy on the body of their old flame.
I think it’s an interesting collection, and despite recognising that the narrative style is not my favourite I really think it could find its audience in fans of Julian K. Jarboe’s Everyone On The Moon Is Essential Personnel and Kate Folk’s Out There.
2.75
Access to the ARC acquired thanks to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Mouth explores, in eleven short stories, themes of extraneity, loneliness, sexuality and mother-daughter relationships through a supernatural and speculative lens, with a dreamy style, sometimes verging on the tones of unreality.
One of the constants in the work is fruit, and I’ve never seen the word “pith� just as often as I have in these short stories: my literary analysis is not something to be envied, and I failed to grasp the meaning fruit has in the collection. Most of the time it felt like it was there purely out of an aesthetic presence, if not for a reference to bountifulness? Fertility?
What I found really interesting was how the author kept hammering on the idea of becoming monstrous out of a sense of belonging, as opposed to the usual, othering, depiction of monstrosity.
This is the author’s debut work, and as with every short story collection, some works shine more than others: my arc copy didn’t have titles for the individual short stories so I can’t mention them without spoiling them; I enjoyed the third one, where a protagonist takes in a wolf-child in a post-apocalyptic town destroyed by the menace of wolves, and the years old affair told through a lover’s gaze while they perform the autopsy on the body of their old flame.
I think it’s an interesting collection, and despite recognising that the narrative style is not my favourite I really think it could find its audience in fans of Julian K. Jarboe’s Everyone On The Moon Is Essential Personnel and Kate Folk’s Out There.
2.75
Access to the ARC acquired thanks to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 19, 2024
[3.5 stars] A solid collection that bites off more than it can chew (pun intended). While Ghosh is no doubt a talented writer, I don’t know if these ideas always translated well into short story format. Several stories seem like they can’t decide between a core theme, and trying to build up dystopian or fantastical settings in a short story is difficult. I’d certainly read a full length novel from the author and the good stories are REALLY good, but several felt too broad in scope.
The surrealism is akin to K-Ming Chang, Julia Armfield or Ottessa Moshfegh. I liked the sapphic representation and even if I didn’t like each individual story, I appreciated the cohesiveness of the collection and the core intent. For a debut, it’s a strong showing and takes risks! Anomaly was my personal favourite, as I felt this was the best example of tying in the unique setting with the central narrative.
Individual story ratings:
Desiccation: 3
The Fig Tree: 2
Leaving Things: 4
K: 2
In the Winter: 4
Anomaly: 5
Lemon Boy: 4.5
Supergiant: 5
Nip: 4
Natalya: 3
Persimmon: 3
The surrealism is akin to K-Ming Chang, Julia Armfield or Ottessa Moshfegh. I liked the sapphic representation and even if I didn’t like each individual story, I appreciated the cohesiveness of the collection and the core intent. For a debut, it’s a strong showing and takes risks! Anomaly was my personal favourite, as I felt this was the best example of tying in the unique setting with the central narrative.
Individual story ratings:
Desiccation: 3
The Fig Tree: 2
Leaving Things: 4
K: 2
In the Winter: 4
Anomaly: 5
Lemon Boy: 4.5
Supergiant: 5
Nip: 4
Natalya: 3
Persimmon: 3
January 7, 2024
Watch out � We have a debut author who to me is on the same level as Han Kang/Otessa Moshfegh/Lisa Taddeo, and I don’t give out such compliments lightly.
I am so fed up with litfic because there’s only so many stories about depressed bookstore employees dating toxic men in NY/Dublin I can take, so I decided to move on to speculative/horror litfic, and it’s soooo refreshing.
These stories were incredible. Raw, dark, twisted, profound, touching, and most importantly fresh & unique � not just weird for the sake of being weird (I am looking at you, Mona Awad).
The main themes are grief, death & sexuality, but with a dystopian/post-apocalyptic twist. I was incredibly impressed by the writing and I’m sure this book will do amazing when it comes out in June.
Thank you SO MUCH Netgalley for this incredible ARC. ❤️
I am so fed up with litfic because there’s only so many stories about depressed bookstore employees dating toxic men in NY/Dublin I can take, so I decided to move on to speculative/horror litfic, and it’s soooo refreshing.
These stories were incredible. Raw, dark, twisted, profound, touching, and most importantly fresh & unique � not just weird for the sake of being weird (I am looking at you, Mona Awad).
The main themes are grief, death & sexuality, but with a dystopian/post-apocalyptic twist. I was incredibly impressed by the writing and I’m sure this book will do amazing when it comes out in June.
Thank you SO MUCH Netgalley for this incredible ARC. ❤️
November 9, 2023
What a spectacular debut... Puloma Ghosh's Mouth is a collection of eleven genre-defying, poignant stories each connected by literal and metaphorical references to mouths. Although none of the stories take place in the world we know (there's always a surreal twist), each piece feels resoundingly familiar. Ghosh is able to go for the jugular, assessing the affect of the times with frightening clarity. Every story touches on what it means to experience loss, alienation, and loneliness—feelings that I know many of us can relate to, especially after the global pandemic.
In one story, a girl grapples with her place in the world after the government commandeers every man over the age of eighteen while she falls for a fellow figure skater with an appetite for rats. In another, a yellow-haired boy recounts the death of his girlfriend, her presence at a party, and the curious appearance of holes. In yet another, a woman decides to remain in a city on the brink of collapse as it becomes overrun by wolves.
Ghosh's stories are engaging, sapphic, creative, bizarre, and (at times) darkly humorous. The author's literary prowess is clear. All the stories compliment one another well and help illuminate aspects of one another. I read the collection in a single sitting. Reading these stories scratched an itch that I didn't know I had, I can't recommend it enough. Mark your calendars!
Thank you to Astra Publishing House and Netgalley for a chance to review the ARC!
In one story, a girl grapples with her place in the world after the government commandeers every man over the age of eighteen while she falls for a fellow figure skater with an appetite for rats. In another, a yellow-haired boy recounts the death of his girlfriend, her presence at a party, and the curious appearance of holes. In yet another, a woman decides to remain in a city on the brink of collapse as it becomes overrun by wolves.
Ghosh's stories are engaging, sapphic, creative, bizarre, and (at times) darkly humorous. The author's literary prowess is clear. All the stories compliment one another well and help illuminate aspects of one another. I read the collection in a single sitting. Reading these stories scratched an itch that I didn't know I had, I can't recommend it enough. Mark your calendars!
Thank you to Astra Publishing House and Netgalley for a chance to review the ARC!
March 19, 2024
I love this darkly beautiful, sensual, and evil collection of stories more than any words can describe. I sank my teeth into each one like something to savor and swallowed it whole. Ghosh's writing is masterful, haunting, and composes a thin line between language that breathes a life all its own: taut and breezy, yet hopeful and horrifying. I fell in love with this collection from the first story and shed tears as I completed the last. It met me in the hidden, shadowed parts of myself and made itself at home inside me. These characters and their motives understood me, and their hungers were mine and mine theirs. It was my tongue that tasted the ripe fruits-sweet and tart saccharine juices, and rotted pulp hidden within. My lips that pressed both firmly and gently into the mouths of secret lovers, tongue sweetened and fortified by desire and emptiness. Love, and the lack thereof. The prose and lyricism of this collection rears down sharper than a knife. I had several favorites, which were as follows (in no particular order): 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘒, 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘓𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘺, 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘢, and 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴. All were incredible, however, and left my mind and heart reeling in new understanding and wanting more. My own mouth had fed of them. I tasted the darkness hidden there and swallowed every bite, and yet I remain both seen and unseen, like Ghosh's characters. My desire is true, and now I am sure of it.
I am more hungry than I've ever been.
𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.
I am more hungry than I've ever been.
𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.
December 21, 2023
I received an ARC for this book from NetGalley for free.
An amazing short story collection! With human sacrifices, autopsies of ex lovers and humanoid creatures this collection ranged from creepy, to funny, to sad, to strange. Really impressive debut and I will definitely be checking out the authors future work as well.
My favorite short story collection I've read this year.
An amazing short story collection! With human sacrifices, autopsies of ex lovers and humanoid creatures this collection ranged from creepy, to funny, to sad, to strange. Really impressive debut and I will definitely be checking out the authors future work as well.
My favorite short story collection I've read this year.
November 13, 2024
Son relatos que siento muy bien pensados, hay variedad de narradores, protagonistas e historias. Ninguno comparte características (excepto por una, que ya nombraré). Se trata de historias donde hay diversidad sexual, representación de enfermedades mentales y una recopilación variopinta de criaturas. De esas que acechan en la oscuridad.
Y es hasta cierto punto entretenido.
Las historias terminan en su mayoría (por no decir todas) en finales abiertos, muy típicos del cuento. Pero lo que más me interesó es que la autora quiso jugar un poquito y hacer varias de sus historias más contemporáneas en el sentido de romper límites, estructuras y experimentar con la disposición de sus relatos.
¿El problema?
En recopilaciones de historias, lamentablemente siempre habrá unas que impacten más que otras, que se ven más cuidadas y que llegan más profundo al alma. Esto depende de cada quien.
Y para mí los personajes se sentían todos muy apáticos hacia lo que sucedía. Eso resultó en que me interesaran poco.
Y es hasta cierto punto entretenido.
Las historias terminan en su mayoría (por no decir todas) en finales abiertos, muy típicos del cuento. Pero lo que más me interesó es que la autora quiso jugar un poquito y hacer varias de sus historias más contemporáneas en el sentido de romper límites, estructuras y experimentar con la disposición de sus relatos.
¿El problema?
En recopilaciones de historias, lamentablemente siempre habrá unas que impacten más que otras, que se ven más cuidadas y que llegan más profundo al alma. Esto depende de cada quien.
Y para mí los personajes se sentían todos muy apáticos hacia lo que sucedía. Eso resultó en que me interesaran poco.
June 17, 2024
4.5 stars LOVED IT!!!
These stories are so weird and surreal. themes of womanhood, longing, grief, desire, loss and much more. Speculative fiction with elements of horror and sci fi. This also had some pretty great body horror that I loved.
Short stories are usually a hit or a miss for me, more often a miss because usually I'm left with more questions than answers and always wanting more since they are so short I'm left unsatisfied, they just almost always feel unfinished to me. Mouth by Puloma Ghosh did the complete opposite. This is by far the best and obviously my favourite collection of short stories I have ever read.
There are a total of 11 short stories:
1. Desiccation - 5 stars
2. the fig tree - 4 stars
3. Leaving things - 5 stars
4. K - 4 stars
5. In The Winter - ??? I didn't really understand this one.
6. Anomaly - 4 stars
7. Lemon Boy - 4 stars
8. Supergiant - 5 stars
9.Nip - ??? this one went over my head too, I was really into it while reading but I was stull left super confused at the end.
10. Natalya - 3.5 stars
11. Persimmons - 5 stars
If I had to pick a favourite I would have to say Supergiant for sure, the body horror in this was *chefs kiss* and then Persimmons was a close second place.
Puloma Ghosh is an incredibly talented author, I simply cant wait to read more in the future.
Thank you to Netgalley and Astra Publishing house for sharing a digital copy. As always, opinions are my own.
These stories are so weird and surreal. themes of womanhood, longing, grief, desire, loss and much more. Speculative fiction with elements of horror and sci fi. This also had some pretty great body horror that I loved.
Short stories are usually a hit or a miss for me, more often a miss because usually I'm left with more questions than answers and always wanting more since they are so short I'm left unsatisfied, they just almost always feel unfinished to me. Mouth by Puloma Ghosh did the complete opposite. This is by far the best and obviously my favourite collection of short stories I have ever read.
There are a total of 11 short stories:
1. Desiccation - 5 stars
2. the fig tree - 4 stars
3. Leaving things - 5 stars
4. K - 4 stars
5. In The Winter - ??? I didn't really understand this one.
6. Anomaly - 4 stars
7. Lemon Boy - 4 stars
8. Supergiant - 5 stars
9.Nip - ??? this one went over my head too, I was really into it while reading but I was stull left super confused at the end.
10. Natalya - 3.5 stars
11. Persimmons - 5 stars
If I had to pick a favourite I would have to say Supergiant for sure, the body horror in this was *chefs kiss* and then Persimmons was a close second place.
Puloma Ghosh is an incredibly talented author, I simply cant wait to read more in the future.
Thank you to Netgalley and Astra Publishing house for sharing a digital copy. As always, opinions are my own.
February 9, 2024
Thank you Netgalley and Astra publishing for ARC in exchange of an honest review.
Mouth
11 Stories by Puloma Ghosh
You have to be afraid to live. from Natalya
Dessication
Ma always told me we had to accept the logic of the world we were given and learn to live in it. Maybe she would have let that logic swallow me like it swallowed my father, his warm hands, the buttons on his cuffs that were once larger than my fingernails.
Our world shrank, but after the initial shock and a few transitional years, most people in our town became comfortable. If there was unrest anywhere, we couldn’t see it. Some even argued things became better for women, as the world was seldom good to them before, but that might have been propaganda fed to us by the Bureau. Even as a child, I wondered what was “good� about being left behind.
Dessication is a story of Meghana, an Indian girl in foreign country who's asked by her mother to befriend another Indian girl, Pritha. Pritha is, well, something totally unbelievable.
Rating -4/5 stars
The fig tree
Ankita sees how a room can be oppressive, how idleness can be hypnotic.
A grieving woman Ankita comes back to her country to get hometown Kolkata for her mother's last burial rituals but Haunted by something beyond her imagination.
Rating : 4.5/5
Leaving things
I was born only to become my mother’s silhouette against the oval window of our front door, watching another man walk away.
A vet doc who is living in a small town which has been emptied under government orders as something sinister is happening but she choses to stay behind and comes across something dark and impossible, almost. This is kind of a story that I will always remember. One of my favorites from the collection.
Rating -5/5
K
There’s a truth, no matter how buried, no matter how many better, more appetizing truths have been spun around it.
I learned the best lies are half- truths.
A young girl, an apparition of another girl K that appears in her room often. In her dreams too. There's a mystery and there's something strange that marks the end of the story. Another story which made an impact on me.
Rating -3.5/5
In the winter
In the winter I’m pretty because the loneliness makes my face slack, my eyes intense. There are no stories without loneliness.
Is this another werewolf story?? I think it is. Short yet good.
Rating- 2.5/5
Anomaly
Predictably, humanity couldn’t invent anything without fucking up the environment and commodifying what was left.
You would think the introduction of time travel and extratemporal diplomats and stealthy timeline disrupting agents would give every one a new perspective on life. Our species was allegedly on the cusp of evolution, spies sweeping in from other timelines to influence us, but people were still as corny and boring as ever.
This story felt like a part of black mirror sci fi. If you want to enter anomaly, you might come across someone you don't want to meet but in reality you want to, like a confrontation with a dead ex lover you never got over. Or the one who never became yours.
Rating : 3/5
Lemon boy
There was something horrific about facing a party alone. It made you both invisible and vulnerable at once.
Do you see holes around you? I started seeing few after reading this story. Read the story to understand what I mean. Not my favorite though as it was long for my liking without anything happening to keep my interest.
Rating 2/5
Supergiants
Even if I showed up at my own mother’s door, she wouldn’t recognize me. There’s barely anything left of the person who grew in her womb, just a bit of organ tissue, a few nerve endings. I’m so utterly free it’s paralyzing.
A popular celebrity but what they lost in the process nobody really knows. There's always a cost for everything that you have to pay in the end. I think it was allegorical to how celebrity life is mostly short lived.
Rating : 4/5
Nip
“Colors can feel; that’s why they make us feel. If I love a color enough, it can love me back.�
This might be the hardest story to explain. Where to even start? There's something totally bizzare about this story. I have no words except maybe A story of what complete overt obsession can result into.
Rating : 4/5
Natalya
“You can’t choose the things you remember, The important things will find you.�
I don’t know if I loved you, yet you linger within me like an apparition.
One of the stories which I liked the most. The protagonist is suicidal, currently performing an autopsy on someone he had relationships in the past - an ex- lover.
Rating 4.5/5
Persimmons
Uma always thought fate was a choice.
There's a tree which never blooms, there's a girl and there's a purpose until only one remains. It is about a girl's coming to terms with what society expects from her. It is in my opinion another allegorical story of how a girl is sacrificed to please the society against her wishes.
Rating :3.5/5
The stories are eerie, absurd and allegorical and leave an everlasting impression on reader's mind. I would not recommend it to everyone although I totally enjoyed reading them. They have a shock factor as well as some gore which many readers can find uncomfortable to read. In all stories the reality is stretched beyond imagination, the creatures like vampires, werewolves and some even that I'm not able to explain are given life. These short stories explore sexuality, grief and happiness, isolation and loneliness and longing to be with someone you loved and even necrophilia.
Highly recommended who like this kind of gore subjects. Dark and deeply twisted.
Mouth
11 Stories by Puloma Ghosh
You have to be afraid to live. from Natalya
Dessication
Ma always told me we had to accept the logic of the world we were given and learn to live in it. Maybe she would have let that logic swallow me like it swallowed my father, his warm hands, the buttons on his cuffs that were once larger than my fingernails.
Our world shrank, but after the initial shock and a few transitional years, most people in our town became comfortable. If there was unrest anywhere, we couldn’t see it. Some even argued things became better for women, as the world was seldom good to them before, but that might have been propaganda fed to us by the Bureau. Even as a child, I wondered what was “good� about being left behind.
Dessication is a story of Meghana, an Indian girl in foreign country who's asked by her mother to befriend another Indian girl, Pritha. Pritha is, well, something totally unbelievable.
Rating -4/5 stars
The fig tree
Ankita sees how a room can be oppressive, how idleness can be hypnotic.
A grieving woman Ankita comes back to her country to get hometown Kolkata for her mother's last burial rituals but Haunted by something beyond her imagination.
Rating : 4.5/5
Leaving things
I was born only to become my mother’s silhouette against the oval window of our front door, watching another man walk away.
A vet doc who is living in a small town which has been emptied under government orders as something sinister is happening but she choses to stay behind and comes across something dark and impossible, almost. This is kind of a story that I will always remember. One of my favorites from the collection.
Rating -5/5
K
There’s a truth, no matter how buried, no matter how many better, more appetizing truths have been spun around it.
I learned the best lies are half- truths.
A young girl, an apparition of another girl K that appears in her room often. In her dreams too. There's a mystery and there's something strange that marks the end of the story. Another story which made an impact on me.
Rating -3.5/5
In the winter
In the winter I’m pretty because the loneliness makes my face slack, my eyes intense. There are no stories without loneliness.
Is this another werewolf story?? I think it is. Short yet good.
Rating- 2.5/5
Anomaly
Predictably, humanity couldn’t invent anything without fucking up the environment and commodifying what was left.
You would think the introduction of time travel and extratemporal diplomats and stealthy timeline disrupting agents would give every one a new perspective on life. Our species was allegedly on the cusp of evolution, spies sweeping in from other timelines to influence us, but people were still as corny and boring as ever.
This story felt like a part of black mirror sci fi. If you want to enter anomaly, you might come across someone you don't want to meet but in reality you want to, like a confrontation with a dead ex lover you never got over. Or the one who never became yours.
Rating : 3/5
Lemon boy
There was something horrific about facing a party alone. It made you both invisible and vulnerable at once.
Do you see holes around you? I started seeing few after reading this story. Read the story to understand what I mean. Not my favorite though as it was long for my liking without anything happening to keep my interest.
Rating 2/5
Supergiants
Even if I showed up at my own mother’s door, she wouldn’t recognize me. There’s barely anything left of the person who grew in her womb, just a bit of organ tissue, a few nerve endings. I’m so utterly free it’s paralyzing.
A popular celebrity but what they lost in the process nobody really knows. There's always a cost for everything that you have to pay in the end. I think it was allegorical to how celebrity life is mostly short lived.
Rating : 4/5
Nip
“Colors can feel; that’s why they make us feel. If I love a color enough, it can love me back.�
This might be the hardest story to explain. Where to even start? There's something totally bizzare about this story. I have no words except maybe A story of what complete overt obsession can result into.
Rating : 4/5
Natalya
“You can’t choose the things you remember, The important things will find you.�
I don’t know if I loved you, yet you linger within me like an apparition.
One of the stories which I liked the most. The protagonist is suicidal, currently performing an autopsy on someone he had relationships in the past - an ex- lover.
Rating 4.5/5
Persimmons
Uma always thought fate was a choice.
There's a tree which never blooms, there's a girl and there's a purpose until only one remains. It is about a girl's coming to terms with what society expects from her. It is in my opinion another allegorical story of how a girl is sacrificed to please the society against her wishes.
Rating :3.5/5
The stories are eerie, absurd and allegorical and leave an everlasting impression on reader's mind. I would not recommend it to everyone although I totally enjoyed reading them. They have a shock factor as well as some gore which many readers can find uncomfortable to read. In all stories the reality is stretched beyond imagination, the creatures like vampires, werewolves and some even that I'm not able to explain are given life. These short stories explore sexuality, grief and happiness, isolation and loneliness and longing to be with someone you loved and even necrophilia.
Highly recommended who like this kind of gore subjects. Dark and deeply twisted.
January 12, 2024
hooooly moly, new fav alert!!!
I was utterly obsessed w/ this collection of stories. these stories were dark, weird, captivating, sapphic and surreal. I kept being so satisfied with each story, waiting to lose interest as the stories progressed, and I never did! I loved the topics explored, a lot of magical realism, grief, heartache, and dystopian themes. seriously devoured this and will devour anything else ghosh puts out into the world. a seriously incredible debut <3
thank you net galley and astra house! I will be thinking + talking about this one for a while.
I was utterly obsessed w/ this collection of stories. these stories were dark, weird, captivating, sapphic and surreal. I kept being so satisfied with each story, waiting to lose interest as the stories progressed, and I never did! I loved the topics explored, a lot of magical realism, grief, heartache, and dystopian themes. seriously devoured this and will devour anything else ghosh puts out into the world. a seriously incredible debut <3
thank you net galley and astra house! I will be thinking + talking about this one for a while.
December 27, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley and Astra House for the ARC
Mouth - story individual rankings
Desiccation
- hot ! five stars
The fig tree
- fun ghosts, slow pace. my Engl profs would love teaching this one, and I think I’d like it more in discussion
Leaving things
- Marie de France would be proud with how the Bisclavret tradition has become
- Also Freud
- My favie so far
K
- “be careful with words that aren’t yours�
- ending was yummy, the narrator was kind of flat and sour
In the winter
-
Anomaly
- confusing, “romantic?,� can absolutely see this happening.
Lemon boy
- Good story,, weird ending? Could’ve been more conclusive imo
Supergiant
- sexual, but in a clinical way. It’s easy to find meaning in a love curated for the shell of your old self
Nip
- I’m not so sure abt this one. A little too abstract, but beautiful nonetheless
Natalya
- Obsessed with this form of an autopsy report amongst lovers
Persimmons
- EAT
Mouth - story individual rankings
Desiccation
- hot ! five stars
The fig tree
- fun ghosts, slow pace. my Engl profs would love teaching this one, and I think I’d like it more in discussion
Leaving things
- Marie de France would be proud with how the Bisclavret tradition has become
- Also Freud
- My favie so far
K
- “be careful with words that aren’t yours�
- ending was yummy, the narrator was kind of flat and sour
In the winter
-
Anomaly
- confusing, “romantic?,� can absolutely see this happening.
Lemon boy
- Good story,, weird ending? Could’ve been more conclusive imo
Supergiant
- sexual, but in a clinical way. It’s easy to find meaning in a love curated for the shell of your old self
Nip
- I’m not so sure abt this one. A little too abstract, but beautiful nonetheless
Natalya
- Obsessed with this form of an autopsy report amongst lovers
Persimmons
- EAT
November 7, 2023
"Bestiary meets The Dangers of Smoking in Bed." Say no more. I'm sold!
This is a great collection of short stories. The prose is beautiful and with each sentence I never knew what was coming next. And I love that. I also love the titles of all these stories.
I'd definitely recommend this collection to fans of Ottessa Moshfegh or Hiromi Kawakami, because the stories and writing reminded me of them at times. I've never read this author before but now I'll read literally anything she writes.
Here are my reviews for each story and a rating out of 10.
Desiccation 9/10
I liked the pacing of this story, and how all the different elements were balanced. The world building felt unobtrusive. I liked the backdrop of ice skating competitions. I love how the story is subtle even though it's very visceral and surreal.
The Fig Tree 5/10
I think I might have read this at the wrong time. I was a bit unfocused and maybe thats why I was a bit bored at parts of this story. I liked the descriptions of the environment and themes of grief.
Leaving Things 10/10
WOW! Wolf short stories are a bit of a cliche, but this story is very unique and well done. I loved the opening scene. The story has a good balance of internal and external conflict/stakes. Usually I prefer shorter stories but this was an exception. This was excellent.
K 8/10
I found the main character to be very unhinged but in a good way, in an interesting way. It could have been a bit shorter I think.
In the Winter 10/10
This was really good. I love a short and sweet story that is very sure of itself. It's the kind of story you can read many times and glean more from it with each read.
Anomaly 9/10
There's a lot to take in at the beginning of this story, and I was a bit overwhelmed, but it pays off nicely. Dystopian-ish short stories aren't usually my favourite but I'm so impressed by the world the author created here. She's very talented.
Lemon Boy 9/10
The character voice is really strong. I loved the party setting. This was just really interesting and unique.
Supergiant 8/10
I loved the second half of this story a lot more than the first half. The author is really good at creating worlds. It's not easy for short stories.
Nip 9/10
Again, I love a brief story. This was wacky in the best way possible.
Natalya 10/10
WOW! This was crazy good. Like it's leagues above all the other stories in this collection so far and that's saying something because they've all been amazing.
This story is so special. It's one of those stories that shows just how awesome short fiction can be, and pushes it's limits and creates something amazing. The prose really shines in this story. It was noticeably much stronger than in some of the other stories. There's a lot of flashbacks, an unconventional amount, but it worked so well and felt natural, and it wasn't jarring at all. The author pulled it off so well. This is officially an all time favourite short story.
Persimmons 7/10
This is a good story. For some reason I just struggled to want to read it. There are some super cool paragraphs and imagery in here. I liked the ending.
A NetGalley ARC review
This is a great collection of short stories. The prose is beautiful and with each sentence I never knew what was coming next. And I love that. I also love the titles of all these stories.
I'd definitely recommend this collection to fans of Ottessa Moshfegh or Hiromi Kawakami, because the stories and writing reminded me of them at times. I've never read this author before but now I'll read literally anything she writes.
Here are my reviews for each story and a rating out of 10.
Desiccation 9/10
I liked the pacing of this story, and how all the different elements were balanced. The world building felt unobtrusive. I liked the backdrop of ice skating competitions. I love how the story is subtle even though it's very visceral and surreal.
The Fig Tree 5/10
I think I might have read this at the wrong time. I was a bit unfocused and maybe thats why I was a bit bored at parts of this story. I liked the descriptions of the environment and themes of grief.
Leaving Things 10/10
WOW! Wolf short stories are a bit of a cliche, but this story is very unique and well done. I loved the opening scene. The story has a good balance of internal and external conflict/stakes. Usually I prefer shorter stories but this was an exception. This was excellent.
K 8/10
I found the main character to be very unhinged but in a good way, in an interesting way. It could have been a bit shorter I think.
In the Winter 10/10
This was really good. I love a short and sweet story that is very sure of itself. It's the kind of story you can read many times and glean more from it with each read.
Anomaly 9/10
There's a lot to take in at the beginning of this story, and I was a bit overwhelmed, but it pays off nicely. Dystopian-ish short stories aren't usually my favourite but I'm so impressed by the world the author created here. She's very talented.
Lemon Boy 9/10
The character voice is really strong. I loved the party setting. This was just really interesting and unique.
Supergiant 8/10
I loved the second half of this story a lot more than the first half. The author is really good at creating worlds. It's not easy for short stories.
Nip 9/10
Again, I love a brief story. This was wacky in the best way possible.
Natalya 10/10
WOW! This was crazy good. Like it's leagues above all the other stories in this collection so far and that's saying something because they've all been amazing.
This story is so special. It's one of those stories that shows just how awesome short fiction can be, and pushes it's limits and creates something amazing. The prose really shines in this story. It was noticeably much stronger than in some of the other stories. There's a lot of flashbacks, an unconventional amount, but it worked so well and felt natural, and it wasn't jarring at all. The author pulled it off so well. This is officially an all time favourite short story.
Persimmons 7/10
This is a good story. For some reason I just struggled to want to read it. There are some super cool paragraphs and imagery in here. I liked the ending.
A NetGalley ARC review
July 31, 2024
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.
This short story collection is as lush, sensual and delicious in the way you'd expect from the title. Often focused on the mouth and all that comes with it (eating, kissing, sometimes both, teeth and tongue included), what I feel really unites these stories is the feeling of longing, of grief and of human (dis)connection. While not every story blew me away, there were many where the themes explored and the stilistic choices employed to do so really drew me in and I absolutely adored the variety of themes explored. My favorite short stories (you can read more in my short reviews of each short story) where Desiccation, K, Anomaly, Persimmons, stories that often feature an unsettling supernatural horror aspect as that is something that I found masterfully done in these short stories. The three stories I did not enjoy that much fell short due to lacking lenght or further detail which I think could have made them a lot more interesting (In the Winter & Lemon Boy) or because I do not feel like they explored a topic in a particularly interesting way (Leaving Things). But not every short story needs to be perfect for me to think that this is a really good short story collection. If you like your short stories messy, strange, horny, queer, scary and sometimes just plain heartbreaking (in various degrees) or you enjoy horror/sci-fi/apocalypse stories I can only suggest you pick this book up and delve in. Maybe peel an orange while you read and enjoy these tangy short stories.
4.5 star rating rounded up to 5 stars to appreciate how these stories are tied together.
Desiccation - A girl living in a strange war torn world with strange sexual desires meets a girl that might be a vampire (she looks dead and is strange and cold) - interesting, fucked up & fun, a really good beginning to this short story collection, particularly I feel for checking how you will vibe with these stories, if you like this one, keep reading, there's more good ones to come! tw necrophilia 5/5
The Fig Tree - grief as a haunting, about returning to a place that you havent been since childhood and starting to cope with loss, tw mention of physical domestic abuse 4/5
Leaving Things - a small isolated Alaskan town besieged by wolves, spooky, weird mix of motherhood and animal sexuality but in a fun messy way, unfortunately nothing new in the genre of female werewolf stories besides the slightly unsavory twist on fucking the wolf boy you raised after he was born from his mother's carcass, I just feel this one could have gone darker and more fucked up and suffered from the dream like reality that many of these short stories employ, tw animal death, wolf cannibalism (in a way), weird sexuality re she does call herself a mother-like figure, 3/5
K - a perpetual liar investigates a haunting at her college, really hot, fucked up, messy, an absolute sapphic delight, tw body horror, death 5/5
In the Winter - a story about an encounter with a fellow student at a university and following him to his room, a bit too short and confusing for me to fully grasp what was going on, but i liked the writing style, 2/5
Anomaly - a world isolated by the ravages of a time war that made everybody distrust their fellow man, filled with constant survailance, in it a woman is griefing her ex girlfriend and agrees to go on a date with a guy who has a ticket to visit a titual anomaly, bittersweet, fascinating, heartbreaking, really worked incredibly well, especially with the writing style, 5/5
Lemon Boy - a random encounter at a party changes a woman's perspective on life when she starts noticing something after it's pointed out to her, haunting, but not really my style, I think this one could have been a lot better if it had been longer, 3/5
Supergiant - a story about giving up everything, even your own body for fame and what happens when your star fades, cool depersonalization body horror at its best, fun, but I think the terror of it could have been a bit more intense for me, 4/5 tw murder
Nip - a creature who only rarely manifest physically spends time with the woman she loves, unsettling end, loved it, 4/5
Natalya - the autopsie of a former lover, fun and stylistically veeery interesting 4/5 tw self harm
Persimmons - a tree blossoms and demands a sacrifice from a young woman living in the valley, very lyrical, fuuuuun !!!!, if you like folk horror, dig in! 5/5 tw sacrificial murder, gore, violence
This short story collection is as lush, sensual and delicious in the way you'd expect from the title. Often focused on the mouth and all that comes with it (eating, kissing, sometimes both, teeth and tongue included), what I feel really unites these stories is the feeling of longing, of grief and of human (dis)connection. While not every story blew me away, there were many where the themes explored and the stilistic choices employed to do so really drew me in and I absolutely adored the variety of themes explored. My favorite short stories (you can read more in my short reviews of each short story) where Desiccation, K, Anomaly, Persimmons, stories that often feature an unsettling supernatural horror aspect as that is something that I found masterfully done in these short stories. The three stories I did not enjoy that much fell short due to lacking lenght or further detail which I think could have made them a lot more interesting (In the Winter & Lemon Boy) or because I do not feel like they explored a topic in a particularly interesting way (Leaving Things). But not every short story needs to be perfect for me to think that this is a really good short story collection. If you like your short stories messy, strange, horny, queer, scary and sometimes just plain heartbreaking (in various degrees) or you enjoy horror/sci-fi/apocalypse stories I can only suggest you pick this book up and delve in. Maybe peel an orange while you read and enjoy these tangy short stories.
4.5 star rating rounded up to 5 stars to appreciate how these stories are tied together.
Desiccation - A girl living in a strange war torn world with strange sexual desires meets a girl that might be a vampire (she looks dead and is strange and cold) - interesting, fucked up & fun, a really good beginning to this short story collection, particularly I feel for checking how you will vibe with these stories, if you like this one, keep reading, there's more good ones to come! tw necrophilia 5/5
The Fig Tree - grief as a haunting, about returning to a place that you havent been since childhood and starting to cope with loss, tw mention of physical domestic abuse 4/5
Leaving Things - a small isolated Alaskan town besieged by wolves, spooky, weird mix of motherhood and animal sexuality but in a fun messy way, unfortunately nothing new in the genre of female werewolf stories besides the slightly unsavory twist on fucking the wolf boy you raised after he was born from his mother's carcass, I just feel this one could have gone darker and more fucked up and suffered from the dream like reality that many of these short stories employ, tw animal death, wolf cannibalism (in a way), weird sexuality re she does call herself a mother-like figure, 3/5
K - a perpetual liar investigates a haunting at her college, really hot, fucked up, messy, an absolute sapphic delight, tw body horror, death 5/5
In the Winter - a story about an encounter with a fellow student at a university and following him to his room, a bit too short and confusing for me to fully grasp what was going on, but i liked the writing style, 2/5
Anomaly - a world isolated by the ravages of a time war that made everybody distrust their fellow man, filled with constant survailance, in it a woman is griefing her ex girlfriend and agrees to go on a date with a guy who has a ticket to visit a titual anomaly, bittersweet, fascinating, heartbreaking, really worked incredibly well, especially with the writing style, 5/5
Lemon Boy - a random encounter at a party changes a woman's perspective on life when she starts noticing something after it's pointed out to her, haunting, but not really my style, I think this one could have been a lot better if it had been longer, 3/5
Supergiant - a story about giving up everything, even your own body for fame and what happens when your star fades, cool depersonalization body horror at its best, fun, but I think the terror of it could have been a bit more intense for me, 4/5 tw murder
Nip - a creature who only rarely manifest physically spends time with the woman she loves, unsettling end, loved it, 4/5
Natalya - the autopsie of a former lover, fun and stylistically veeery interesting 4/5 tw self harm
Persimmons - a tree blossoms and demands a sacrifice from a young woman living in the valley, very lyrical, fuuuuun !!!!, if you like folk horror, dig in! 5/5 tw sacrificial murder, gore, violence
November 6, 2023
4.25 stars
Okay. I loved this. I truly did. Each story could have been longer, to be honest, and I would have eaten it up, lol
Desiccation - 4/5 - What an opening!
The Fig Tree - 2/5 didn't love this one as the opener but well written
Leaving Things - 5/5?????? Looooool, I loved this. Damn I'd honestly read a full story of it.
K - 4/5?? Or 3.75?? I wonna know more. I wonna know wtf went on
In the Winter - same as above, but maybe 4 because despite it being the shortest so far, I wonna know what the hell he was and what happened
Anomaly - 3/5 All of these could be an episode of Black Mirror, but this one specifically felt like an episode.
Lemon Boy - same as above with the Black Mirror feeling 3.25 /5
Supergiant - 2/5???
Nip - this was a trip. lol I reread it twice lol maybe 3.75??
Natalya - not my fave 2/5
Persimmons - 2.25/5
Overall, the writing I adored. I loved how each story had something shocking, sad, disturbing, you name it, and I'm so so happy to have gone for this to review. Wow.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review
Okay. I loved this. I truly did. Each story could have been longer, to be honest, and I would have eaten it up, lol
Desiccation - 4/5 - What an opening!
The Fig Tree - 2/5 didn't love this one as the opener but well written
Leaving Things - 5/5?????? Looooool, I loved this. Damn I'd honestly read a full story of it.
K - 4/5?? Or 3.75?? I wonna know more. I wonna know wtf went on
In the Winter - same as above, but maybe 4 because despite it being the shortest so far, I wonna know what the hell he was and what happened
Anomaly - 3/5 All of these could be an episode of Black Mirror, but this one specifically felt like an episode.
Lemon Boy - same as above with the Black Mirror feeling 3.25 /5
Supergiant - 2/5???
Nip - this was a trip. lol I reread it twice lol maybe 3.75??
Natalya - not my fave 2/5
Persimmons - 2.25/5
Overall, the writing I adored. I loved how each story had something shocking, sad, disturbing, you name it, and I'm so so happy to have gone for this to review. Wow.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2024
4.5 stars
This was so creepy and weird and delightful and fun and heartbreaking. The stories ranged from utterly unbelievable, to speculative in all of the right ways, to hardly weird at all and I loved nearly every one. I did feel like the collection was a little front-loaded, the best stories at the beginning and they lost their luster as it continued. Or, since nearly every story has some haunting or ghost maybe I just figured out the general rule of Puloma Ghosh's stories and felt a little less surprised. The writing was impeccable, so descriptive, a little lyric, and really straight forward in a way I completely appreciated. Definitely recommend.
This was so creepy and weird and delightful and fun and heartbreaking. The stories ranged from utterly unbelievable, to speculative in all of the right ways, to hardly weird at all and I loved nearly every one. I did feel like the collection was a little front-loaded, the best stories at the beginning and they lost their luster as it continued. Or, since nearly every story has some haunting or ghost maybe I just figured out the general rule of Puloma Ghosh's stories and felt a little less surprised. The writing was impeccable, so descriptive, a little lyric, and really straight forward in a way I completely appreciated. Definitely recommend.
July 7, 2024
In love, weird, feral—made me want to go write
August 18, 2024
Thank you Astra House for the copy! How crazy it is to read something so haunting and singular only to discover that the piece is a writer's debut. Puloma Ghosh's "Mouth" is more like a firstborn child than it is a 'first pancake' � a pridefully treasured darling, the most beautiful thing to come out of her yet. Every part of it kicks and lingers and I'll be happy to have it all ring in my head like a church bell.
Ghosh writes in the likes of Ottessa Moshfegh in a way that's less grotesque but still eerie and monstrous nonetheless. Most if not all of her stories in "Mouth" orbit a monster / ghost of some kind, and they all get increasingly more tantalizing the further you go. My favorites were:
- Anomaly, where a woman goes on a date with a stranger to experience an otherworldly black hole-esque space
- Persimmon, which was the perfect end to this collection and sooo very Shirley Jackson � fruit metaphors are truly the works of god... all of this illustrating around consuming and being swallowed up
- K, a slight revisit of Red Riding Hood, maybe? But with all the ghastliness that the childhood version buried
- Supergiant, in which a pop star's last concert is virtually the end of her road in all aspects. Ghosh wrote this insanely compelling sentence in it: "This body doesn't feel like mine when it's unchoreographed."
- In the Winter, which was brief yet incredibly striking. Ghosh wrote such stunning lines in this story like: "How did I escape the room, you ask, and I'll tell you that to outgrow a room is not to leave it, only swallow hard and walk around with it rattling inside you until eventually you fill up with enough things that it doesn't make a sound."
Anyway, that's all to say Puloma Ghosh is absurdly talented and endlessly inventive. I'm very excited for what she releases next but until then, 5 stars for a brilliant debut
Ghosh writes in the likes of Ottessa Moshfegh in a way that's less grotesque but still eerie and monstrous nonetheless. Most if not all of her stories in "Mouth" orbit a monster / ghost of some kind, and they all get increasingly more tantalizing the further you go. My favorites were:
- Anomaly, where a woman goes on a date with a stranger to experience an otherworldly black hole-esque space
- Persimmon, which was the perfect end to this collection and sooo very Shirley Jackson � fruit metaphors are truly the works of god... all of this illustrating around consuming and being swallowed up
- K, a slight revisit of Red Riding Hood, maybe? But with all the ghastliness that the childhood version buried
- Supergiant, in which a pop star's last concert is virtually the end of her road in all aspects. Ghosh wrote this insanely compelling sentence in it: "This body doesn't feel like mine when it's unchoreographed."
- In the Winter, which was brief yet incredibly striking. Ghosh wrote such stunning lines in this story like: "How did I escape the room, you ask, and I'll tell you that to outgrow a room is not to leave it, only swallow hard and walk around with it rattling inside you until eventually you fill up with enough things that it doesn't make a sound."
Anyway, that's all to say Puloma Ghosh is absurdly talented and endlessly inventive. I'm very excited for what she releases next but until then, 5 stars for a brilliant debut
May 28, 2024
Mouth is an eclectic and mind bending collection of stories that looks at humanity and its interactions with paranormal/supernatural beings/events as they converge with reality. 👽🤖💀👻🧛 This is really just the bare surface of the stories. This collections goes far deeper into discussing themes of trying to find connection with anything, discovering what love actually means, and facing parts of ourselves that we hide deep down hoping no one will find if we don't let them close enough.
I thought this collect was so well done. Every story had its own voice and flavour. They were all very entertaining, yes I did like some more than others, but overall I thought this was a very powerful collection. I would highly recommend for anyone into horror/gore literature who is looking for some really fantastic short stories. I give Mouth all the stars!!⭐💫🌟💥☄�
I would like to thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me ARC access to this collection. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I thought this collect was so well done. Every story had its own voice and flavour. They were all very entertaining, yes I did like some more than others, but overall I thought this was a very powerful collection. I would highly recommend for anyone into horror/gore literature who is looking for some really fantastic short stories. I give Mouth all the stars!!⭐💫🌟💥☄�
I would like to thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me ARC access to this collection. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
January 29, 2024
“Mouth� is Puloma Ghosh’s debut and consists of 11 surreal, eerie short stories that sometimes even border on horror. Almost all of them are set in dystopian worlds and explore a variety of themes like alienation, mother daughter relationships, (sapphic) love, loneliness, and grief.
If I’m being honest, some of the stories were a little too absurd for my taste and I felt like the author had a lot of ideas and tried to incorporate as many as possible into this collection. While all of the stories are very cohesive, I still think that some could have used more focus on the characters and less on the eerie plot.
Still, I think this is a great, unique debut and I will definitely be checking out Ghosh’s future work.
3.5 stars
My favorite stories were:
Desiccation
Leaving Things
In the Winter
Supergiant
Nip
Thank you, NetGalley and Astra, for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
If I’m being honest, some of the stories were a little too absurd for my taste and I felt like the author had a lot of ideas and tried to incorporate as many as possible into this collection. While all of the stories are very cohesive, I still think that some could have used more focus on the characters and less on the eerie plot.
Still, I think this is a great, unique debut and I will definitely be checking out Ghosh’s future work.
3.5 stars
My favorite stories were:
Desiccation
Leaving Things
In the Winter
Supergiant
Nip
Thank you, NetGalley and Astra, for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 19, 2024
"You have to be afraid to live"
I was so excited for these stories, sadly not all of them lived up to my expectations.
Mouth is a beautiful written collection of strange and otherworldly stories. Some were boring and kind of unneccessary, I know many people will disagree.
They all have something to do with a mouth, more or less. Many of them contain the topic of death in different forms, sometimes strange rituals or portals.
The stories were very intersting and I often found myself wondering how Puloma Ghosh came up with these and from where she got her inspiration.
I don't regret reading this book but I give it overall only 3.75 stars because I'm very divided.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exhange for an honest review :)
I was so excited for these stories, sadly not all of them lived up to my expectations.
Mouth is a beautiful written collection of strange and otherworldly stories. Some were boring and kind of unneccessary, I know many people will disagree.
They all have something to do with a mouth, more or less. Many of them contain the topic of death in different forms, sometimes strange rituals or portals.
The stories were very intersting and I often found myself wondering how Puloma Ghosh came up with these and from where she got her inspiration.
I don't regret reading this book but I give it overall only 3.75 stars because I'm very divided.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exhange for an honest review :)
April 8, 2025
The premises of each story were so promising but, unfortunately, the majority of the stories failed to make me feel anything. It almost read like a draft where I could see the authors vision though the stories fell short in execution and the impact felt weak. Truthfully, Leaving Things was the only story that was able to engage me fully and the rest of the stories I just couldn’t wait to be done with.
Desiccation � �
The Fig Tree �
Leaving Things � � � �
K �
In the Winter � �
Anomaly � �
Lemon Boy � �
Supergiant � � �
Nip � � �
Natalya �
Persimmons �
Thank you Netgalley for an eArc of this title!
Desiccation � �
The Fig Tree �
Leaving Things � � � �
K �
In the Winter � �
Anomaly � �
Lemon Boy � �
Supergiant � � �
Nip � � �
Natalya �
Persimmons �
Thank you Netgalley for an eArc of this title!
Read
April 20, 20243.75
Arc from NetGalley
Dude, what did I just read? A bunch of truly weird, body horror books with a lot of devouring and being devoured.
Leaving things - a story about a vet and werewolf, was my fave. Maybe because it had the most linear narrative and was the least weird?
The writing style was great - but the stories were a bit too unexplained for me.
Arc from NetGalley
Dude, what did I just read? A bunch of truly weird, body horror books with a lot of devouring and being devoured.
Leaving things - a story about a vet and werewolf, was my fave. Maybe because it had the most linear narrative and was the least weird?
The writing style was great - but the stories were a bit too unexplained for me.
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