While I personally didn't care much for the stories in this collection, they are for the most part well-written and neatly pulled together. There were some very interesting premises among the stories, but something about the writing style simply didn't catch me. Even in the stories where I was invested in finding out what happened next, cliff-hanger-esque, I had no difficulty putting the book down for a time before returning to find out. ( )

This was a great collection--one I'm glad to have read before relinquishing most of my reading autonomy to the remainder of the semester. While there is a story named "Feral" in here, that's how the whole collection felt...gloriously so. I loved the snark and ribbing of post-industrial malaise while also wondering at the mess we humans have made. I appreciated the exploration of old age in "LIMBs" and "Jaws" and felt a particular pull from the primal, grimy thrum of youth in the title story. This collection is a cannier approach to magical realism, where reality often appears more fanciful than the marvels. According to the author note, Elliott will be publishing her debut novel this year, and I, for one, will be sure to get my paws on it.

*****
Counting as my short story collection for Book Riot's Read Harder challenge. ( )

I don't get it...
This is a collection of Southern Gothic tales written by Julia Elliott.
I really just don't get it. When I think of Gothic I don't think of aliens and nanobots. Maybe I have it all wrong but those are more sci-fi and futuristic type elements. Some of these stories would even borderline on dystopian rather than Gothic in my mind. Not all of the stories were this way as we do have talk of werewolves and the like. Like I said maybe I'm way off base here but I just don't see those things as Gothic.
One of the real problems that I had with this book was the fact that none of these stories really have an ending. It's almost as if Elliott stopped writing right in the middle of the story or, even worse, she leaves us with a cliffhanger at the end. This is a good tie-in for some stories if she were ever to produce another compilation of short stories with sequels to some of these written here, however for almost every single one in a series of short stories to end this way it is not good. I mean come on give the reader some goddamn closure here please!
As many have stated before me, this book is beautifully written, I cannot deny that. Elliot certainly has a way with the English language. So much so that her detail of certain things makes you see, hear and smell what is going on in the story! It's that powerful! I do take my hat off to her in this measure.
Another thing that I really have to tip my hat to her for is that she has written these tales that are no doubt inspired by much older tales but she has written them as very updated versions. These are not just Gothic tales, these are tales for the new millennium. They are written with verbiage and a syntax style that anyone of this age could pick up and enjoy. This part was very refreshing to me as it was not simply a rehash of old stories but almost as if they were brand new stories written just yesterday.
And may I just say, I am absolutely in love with this cover! The design is absolutely perfect for its content. Well, most of its content anyway. 😂
All in all I'd say it was an entertaining read but it did have some issues that I cannot ignore. I would recommend it to those looking for something a little different in the reading. ( )

Whimsical, lyrical, effervescent prose. Imaginative storytelling that skirts between literary and speculative with a a sense of wonder and abandon. A charming collection, through and through. ( )

I loved how absolutely, unapologetically gross this collection was. The author lovingly describes the disgusting details of being human, of being organic lifeforms, of being in love and growing up and growing old and trying to figure out how much of you is real and how much artifice. It's in the surgically disinfected that Elliott finds despair and disgust and it's in the acceptance of existence as disgusting and messy that her characters eventually find absolution. This was an amazingly unique collection of skin-crawling transcendence ( )