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Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women
A stunning anthology of fierce and dangerous women, featuring stories from Lauren Groff, Deesha Philyaw, K-Ming Chang, and thirteen other award-winning and bestselling authors
A middle-aged Black woman exacts revenge on the aggressively average men she meets on dating sites. A girl buries pieces of herself in a hole beneath an apple tree, hoping to escape her mother’s life of struggle and servitude. A group of teenage girls compete for the title of "Worst Girl in America.” A young woman in Taiwan becomes infatuated with a female scam caller, a fleeting ghost of a love that blossoms from strangeness. And a wealthy woman goes to unconventional, and perhaps not entirely ethical, lengths to find her dream man.
In these sixteen stories, we see women at their most monstrous—as con artists and murderers, cutthroats and scalpers, ruled by ambition and grief and spite. Characters for those tired of being told to play nice. Dressed to the nines in morally gray, the stories in this anthology comprise an envelope full of teeth: each one distinct, unsettling, and sharp enough to rip out a throat.
A middle-aged Black woman exacts revenge on the aggressively average men she meets on dating sites. A girl buries pieces of herself in a hole beneath an apple tree, hoping to escape her mother’s life of struggle and servitude. A group of teenage girls compete for the title of "Worst Girl in America.” A young woman in Taiwan becomes infatuated with a female scam caller, a fleeting ghost of a love that blossoms from strangeness. And a wealthy woman goes to unconventional, and perhaps not entirely ethical, lengths to find her dream man.
In these sixteen stories, we see women at their most monstrous—as con artists and murderers, cutthroats and scalpers, ruled by ambition and grief and spite. Characters for those tired of being told to play nice. Dressed to the nines in morally gray, the stories in this anthology comprise an envelope full of teeth: each one distinct, unsettling, and sharp enough to rip out a throat.
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
July 14, 2023
ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss
i am always gonna be here for unsavory women and their unsavory adventures :)
down below are my individual ratings, feelings, favorite quotes, trigger + content warnings, and my personal interpretations of each story in this collection!
━━♡ fuckboy museum - deesha philyaw ★★★★
oh i really enjoyed this one and i love how this was the start of this anthology, too. truly, it set such a good vibe and tone for what is to come. i do not want to say too much about this one, because a lot of my enjoyment came from how this mystery slowly comes together! but this one is about a woman trying to find companionship after a divorce through a lot of different dating sites and apps... and with a lot of fuckboys.
tw/cw: brief mention of police racism + brutality, mention of loss of a father in past, brief mentions of infidelity (not mc), one sentence mention of cancer, death, and murder
━━♡ caller - k-ming chang ★★★★
i do not think this one will be for everyone, because it reads very stream of consciousness, but the writing just completely hypnotized me in the best way. this asian-american sapphic phone call scammer romance, with a prose that that felt like poetry, ending up really working for me.
tw/cw: blood, talk of excreta + toilet phobias, hypochondria + cyberchondria, and talk of terrible work conditions
━━♡ all you have is your fire - yah yah scholfield ★★★★
the hurt, anger, and rage i was able to feel so powerfully through these so few pages. truly some of the best writing i've experienced in a long while. this was a heavy one, and a very raw one, and left a very big impact on me. sometimes setting fire to everything might look like madness, but most of the time the only way to rebuild is to burn everything else down.
tw/cw: child abuse, abusive parents, neglect, captivity, suicide attempt + ideation, fire
━━♡ the other you - maisy card ★★★
this was a really unique short story, that was beautifully written, about a woman going back to jamaica, and needing to desperately tell a story to another woman. to me, this was a story about how women blame themselves for the wrongs that men do.
tw/cw: infidelity, abandonment
━━♡ maps - vanessa chan ★
i recognize what this was trying to do with media and the world only showing us "good survivors", and i am sure this story could help someone out there after horrible things were done to them, but this was truly to the worst thing i've read all year. i highly recommend skipping this one and/or checking the warnings below.
tw/cw: incest, pedophilia, grooming, sexual abuse to children, parental abuse, suicide, loss of a loved one, mention of cancer, loss of a parent, disordered eating, bulimia, vomit, pica, fatphobia, bullying in past, talk of excreta
━━♡ aquafina - chana porter ★★★
the writing in this one was very beautiful to me, and i found that i wanted even more upon finishing this short story. this one gives you a lot within these few pages, but leaves the reader questioning what they are reading throughout the entire experience. i had a very good time with this one and i would love to read more from this author.
tw/cw: sexual harassment, talk of disordered eating, negative body image thoughts, intrusive thoughts, rape mention, cancer mention, abuse mention, murder, drowning, suicide ideation
━━♡ a scholarship opportunity - megan giddings ★★★
we really live in a world where kids who are only seventeen, are forced to figure out who they want to be, in a world where everyone not only expects them to choose and know before they can even vote, but also expects them to fit in the boxes they are already putting them in. and this can feel extra suffocating when parents also have been impacted by the expectations of society and the world. sometimes being "bad" is the only way to feel like you can get some agency over yourself + future. also, college is expensive and kids need any and all scholarships lol
tw/cw: brief body image talk in a negative light + mention of excreta
━━♡ sick - alicia elliott ★★★
this one is hard for me to rate, because i really enjoyed exploring munchausen (something i think i have never read about before) and how childhood manipulation can make for adults who are still easily manipulated and abused by their parents. but i just wish we could have seen a little more of the ending, and a little more of our main characters past friendship.
tw/cw: parental manipulation, gaslighting, trauma, munchausen, talk of debt, bullying in past, talk of cancer, negative body image/appearance talk, talk of infidelity
━━♡ ms wrong - chantal v johnson ★ / dnf
i just really had a hard time connecting + enjoying this one. this mc was truly too unsavory for me.
tw/cw: talk of rape + drugging
━━♡ holes - alice ash ★★
i like the discussion on mother daughter relationships, and being trapped in cycles and feeling buried by the weight of the world and the expectations society places on you and your family at birth. but the writing of this one was just really not for me.
tw/cw: assault/unwanted touching, self harm, blood, brief diet mention, insects
━━♡ manifestation - sarah rose etter ★★★
i really enjoyed this story being told to the reader, and the switch of perspective mid story was very powerful. my friend, who i am buddy reading this anthology with, talked about switching out the manifestation for religion and it extra blew my mind a little. i had a good time with this one and i think, sadly, a lot of us probably know and see people like the first perspective of this tale.
tw/cw: nightmares, self harm, forced hospitalization, weight loss mention
━━♡ buffalo - alison rumfitt ★★★
this one is for sure horror, so please use caution going in. we follow a woman who is experiencing extreme transphobia in her new town, because of a serial killer who is skinning women alive. this story is about her choosing to go after the serial killer... and the story is told to you, the serial killer. this last year, i have thought a lot about queer people reclaiming the horror genre through story telling, and this, to me, talks about the harm (and hate and violence) horror movies and media cause to queer people - like buffalo bill from the silence of the lambs. and the immense power in reclaiming and rewriting those harmful stories. i thought this was very smart, and i am very interested to read more from this author, but i just wasn't in love with the writing or format of this. but i really appreciated what the author was doing.
tw/cw: murder, rape mentions, mutilation mentions, graphic violence mentioned, transphobia, transphobic and homophobic slurs, blood, harassment, stalking, doxing mention, police causing harm
━━♡ composition - aliya whiteley ★★★★
i think this story will be my favorite in the collection for so many reasons. but a main character who has powers over bacteria? one of the coolest and more unique things ive seen in a while. i hope this author gives the world a full length story inspired off this short version, because i think they are very galaxy brain for that idea. the writing was also beautiful, the story entrancing, and i was left wanting more in the best way possible.
tw/cw: suicide, insects, animal death (bird), death, loss a sibling.
━━♡ the monolith - chaya bhuvaneswar ★★ / dnf
i just couldn't get through the writing of this one, sadly. this is about med students, in an oncology department, and the story is told through a truly insufferable person's perspective.
tw/cw: microaggressions, colorism, cancer mentions, talk of treatment, power imbalances
━━♡ the devil's doorbell - amanda leduc ★★
no one is more surprised than myself that a sapphic relationship with the devil didn't work out for me, but here we are. i feel the the base of this story was enjoyable, but a few sentences were just too uncomfortable in a way i didn't want to be uncomfortable.
tw/cw: death, gore, attempted incest in a story mention, a weird comment about a 6 year old, ableist term (in a reclaimed use)
━━♡ amaranth - lauren groff ★★
i was interested throughout reading this, and i thought the writing was good, but i just didn't love the story. this is a story about grief and the dark form that can accompany it, but also a story about years of wanting revenge. maybe because disordered eating played such a big part in this, and that is something that i don't love reading about, but sadly this anthology didn't end on the best note for me.
tw/cw: loss of a parent, grief, depression, a lot of talk and mentions of disordered eating / anorexia, self harm, blood, hospitalization, infidelity
blog | instagram | youtube | kofi | spotify | amazon
The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
━━♡ buddy read with evie
i am always gonna be here for unsavory women and their unsavory adventures :)
down below are my individual ratings, feelings, favorite quotes, trigger + content warnings, and my personal interpretations of each story in this collection!
━━♡ fuckboy museum - deesha philyaw ★★★★
“That should have been the end of it. But when do mediocre men ever go away quietly?”
oh i really enjoyed this one and i love how this was the start of this anthology, too. truly, it set such a good vibe and tone for what is to come. i do not want to say too much about this one, because a lot of my enjoyment came from how this mystery slowly comes together! but this one is about a woman trying to find companionship after a divorce through a lot of different dating sites and apps... and with a lot of fuckboys.
tw/cw: brief mention of police racism + brutality, mention of loss of a father in past, brief mentions of infidelity (not mc), one sentence mention of cancer, death, and murder
━━♡ caller - k-ming chang ★★★★
“Outside, the rain was repeating us, saying my words to the pavement: please, please.”
i do not think this one will be for everyone, because it reads very stream of consciousness, but the writing just completely hypnotized me in the best way. this asian-american sapphic phone call scammer romance, with a prose that that felt like poetry, ending up really working for me.
tw/cw: blood, talk of excreta + toilet phobias, hypochondria + cyberchondria, and talk of terrible work conditions
━━♡ all you have is your fire - yah yah scholfield ★★★★
“She was drawn to these books—girls with powers, girls who were monstrous, girls who had the potential to be terrible and violent things.”
the hurt, anger, and rage i was able to feel so powerfully through these so few pages. truly some of the best writing i've experienced in a long while. this was a heavy one, and a very raw one, and left a very big impact on me. sometimes setting fire to everything might look like madness, but most of the time the only way to rebuild is to burn everything else down.
tw/cw: child abuse, abusive parents, neglect, captivity, suicide attempt + ideation, fire
━━♡ the other you - maisy card ★★★
“You can feel the internal prayer the woman recites, hoping he will come.”
this was a really unique short story, that was beautifully written, about a woman going back to jamaica, and needing to desperately tell a story to another woman. to me, this was a story about how women blame themselves for the wrongs that men do.
tw/cw: infidelity, abandonment
━━♡ maps - vanessa chan ★
i recognize what this was trying to do with media and the world only showing us "good survivors", and i am sure this story could help someone out there after horrible things were done to them, but this was truly to the worst thing i've read all year. i highly recommend skipping this one and/or checking the warnings below.
tw/cw: incest, pedophilia, grooming, sexual abuse to children, parental abuse, suicide, loss of a loved one, mention of cancer, loss of a parent, disordered eating, bulimia, vomit, pica, fatphobia, bullying in past, talk of excreta
━━♡ aquafina - chana porter ★★★
“If I drown in this ocean tell my mother I’m still angry
If I drown in this ocean tell my body it’s okay to rest.”
the writing in this one was very beautiful to me, and i found that i wanted even more upon finishing this short story. this one gives you a lot within these few pages, but leaves the reader questioning what they are reading throughout the entire experience. i had a very good time with this one and i would love to read more from this author.
tw/cw: sexual harassment, talk of disordered eating, negative body image thoughts, intrusive thoughts, rape mention, cancer mention, abuse mention, murder, drowning, suicide ideation
━━♡ a scholarship opportunity - megan giddings ★★★
“Being the worse girl means, at least, I'll be remembered”
we really live in a world where kids who are only seventeen, are forced to figure out who they want to be, in a world where everyone not only expects them to choose and know before they can even vote, but also expects them to fit in the boxes they are already putting them in. and this can feel extra suffocating when parents also have been impacted by the expectations of society and the world. sometimes being "bad" is the only way to feel like you can get some agency over yourself + future. also, college is expensive and kids need any and all scholarships lol
tw/cw: brief body image talk in a negative light + mention of excreta
━━♡ sick - alicia elliott ★★★
“If she wanted either of us to be that kind of daughter, she should have been that kind of mother.”
this one is hard for me to rate, because i really enjoyed exploring munchausen (something i think i have never read about before) and how childhood manipulation can make for adults who are still easily manipulated and abused by their parents. but i just wish we could have seen a little more of the ending, and a little more of our main characters past friendship.
tw/cw: parental manipulation, gaslighting, trauma, munchausen, talk of debt, bullying in past, talk of cancer, negative body image/appearance talk, talk of infidelity
━━♡ ms wrong - chantal v johnson ★ / dnf
i just really had a hard time connecting + enjoying this one. this mc was truly too unsavory for me.
tw/cw: talk of rape + drugging
━━♡ holes - alice ash ★★
i like the discussion on mother daughter relationships, and being trapped in cycles and feeling buried by the weight of the world and the expectations society places on you and your family at birth. but the writing of this one was just really not for me.
tw/cw: assault/unwanted touching, self harm, blood, brief diet mention, insects
━━♡ manifestation - sarah rose etter ★★★
“I always thought evil hung in the sky above our heads, the black whorl of it, a portal to darkness. That’s where storms came from—when the evil got too great and God had to release some of it down on us. We had to pay a little bit for it.”
i really enjoyed this story being told to the reader, and the switch of perspective mid story was very powerful. my friend, who i am buddy reading this anthology with, talked about switching out the manifestation for religion and it extra blew my mind a little. i had a good time with this one and i think, sadly, a lot of us probably know and see people like the first perspective of this tale.
tw/cw: nightmares, self harm, forced hospitalization, weight loss mention
━━♡ buffalo - alison rumfitt ★★★
this one is for sure horror, so please use caution going in. we follow a woman who is experiencing extreme transphobia in her new town, because of a serial killer who is skinning women alive. this story is about her choosing to go after the serial killer... and the story is told to you, the serial killer. this last year, i have thought a lot about queer people reclaiming the horror genre through story telling, and this, to me, talks about the harm (and hate and violence) horror movies and media cause to queer people - like buffalo bill from the silence of the lambs. and the immense power in reclaiming and rewriting those harmful stories. i thought this was very smart, and i am very interested to read more from this author, but i just wasn't in love with the writing or format of this. but i really appreciated what the author was doing.
tw/cw: murder, rape mentions, mutilation mentions, graphic violence mentioned, transphobia, transphobic and homophobic slurs, blood, harassment, stalking, doxing mention, police causing harm
━━♡ composition - aliya whiteley ★★★★
“They ask me where I have been, and I tell them travelling. They understand that. They have grown through the dark themselves.”
i think this story will be my favorite in the collection for so many reasons. but a main character who has powers over bacteria? one of the coolest and more unique things ive seen in a while. i hope this author gives the world a full length story inspired off this short version, because i think they are very galaxy brain for that idea. the writing was also beautiful, the story entrancing, and i was left wanting more in the best way possible.
tw/cw: suicide, insects, animal death (bird), death, loss a sibling.
━━♡ the monolith - chaya bhuvaneswar ★★ / dnf
i just couldn't get through the writing of this one, sadly. this is about med students, in an oncology department, and the story is told through a truly insufferable person's perspective.
tw/cw: microaggressions, colorism, cancer mentions, talk of treatment, power imbalances
━━♡ the devil's doorbell - amanda leduc ★★
no one is more surprised than myself that a sapphic relationship with the devil didn't work out for me, but here we are. i feel the the base of this story was enjoyable, but a few sentences were just too uncomfortable in a way i didn't want to be uncomfortable.
tw/cw: death, gore, attempted incest in a story mention, a weird comment about a 6 year old, ableist term (in a reclaimed use)
━━♡ amaranth - lauren groff ★★
“We die; we leave ghosts of ourselves behind. Voices on answering machines, bodies on video, fragments of souls in handwriting.”
i was interested throughout reading this, and i thought the writing was good, but i just didn't love the story. this is a story about grief and the dark form that can accompany it, but also a story about years of wanting revenge. maybe because disordered eating played such a big part in this, and that is something that i don't love reading about, but sadly this anthology didn't end on the best note for me.
tw/cw: loss of a parent, grief, depression, a lot of talk and mentions of disordered eating / anorexia, self harm, blood, hospitalization, infidelity
blog | instagram | youtube | kofi | spotify | amazon
The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
━━♡ buddy read with evie
Read
September 4, 2023As its tagline says, Peach Pit is a collection of sixteen stories about “unsavory” women, and the sixteen authors who each contributed one story to this book represent a broad spectrum of female experiences.
Beloved modern authors like Lauren Groff, Aliya Whiteley, Deesha Philyaw, Alison Rumfitt, K-Ming Chang, and more have all brought their A-game to deliver us a captivating collection of women’s wrongs.
Every story in this collection centres around an unlikeable protagonist; a woman who is vengeful, criminal, dangerous, deadly, or some other flavour of unsavory.
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/intersectiona...
Beloved modern authors like Lauren Groff, Aliya Whiteley, Deesha Philyaw, Alison Rumfitt, K-Ming Chang, and more have all brought their A-game to deliver us a captivating collection of women’s wrongs.
Every story in this collection centres around an unlikeable protagonist; a woman who is vengeful, criminal, dangerous, deadly, or some other flavour of unsavory.
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/intersectiona...
March 15, 2023
Do you like to read about unhinged women? Do you wish to see yourself reflected in morally grey women in literature? Do you just like to watch the world burn? Look no further. This anthology is for you. And I mean it.
Peach Pit’s anthology, edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley, features a diverse list of authors including Deesha Philyaw, K-Ming Chang, Alicia Elliott, Chantal V. Johnson, and Lauren Groff. The stories vary brilliantly from literary to magical realism to horror-leaning, while maintaining the underlying rhythm of the morally grey. Here we read about black and brown and trans women being bad, not just the white upper middle class girlies. Here we cheer on the girls lighting buildings on fire, ruining relationships, and murdering fuck boys. Here we celebrate what the patriarchy wants to erase.
I had so much fun reading these stories! It was genuinely like the literary equivalent of walking into a theme park (in a good way; no lines, no crowds, and all the snacks are free). I also felt like I could see me and women like me reflected in the work, which is just so freaking heartening and special. I can’t wait to get a physical copy so I can come back to the stories again and again (and I will be)!
Thanks a million to Molly Llewellyn and Dzanc Publishing for the ARC! Peach Pit will out Sept. 12th, 2023 and is now available for pre-order!
Peach Pit’s anthology, edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley, features a diverse list of authors including Deesha Philyaw, K-Ming Chang, Alicia Elliott, Chantal V. Johnson, and Lauren Groff. The stories vary brilliantly from literary to magical realism to horror-leaning, while maintaining the underlying rhythm of the morally grey. Here we read about black and brown and trans women being bad, not just the white upper middle class girlies. Here we cheer on the girls lighting buildings on fire, ruining relationships, and murdering fuck boys. Here we celebrate what the patriarchy wants to erase.
I had so much fun reading these stories! It was genuinely like the literary equivalent of walking into a theme park (in a good way; no lines, no crowds, and all the snacks are free). I also felt like I could see me and women like me reflected in the work, which is just so freaking heartening and special. I can’t wait to get a physical copy so I can come back to the stories again and again (and I will be)!
Thanks a million to Molly Llewellyn and Dzanc Publishing for the ARC! Peach Pit will out Sept. 12th, 2023 and is now available for pre-order!
October 17, 2023
A captivating collection of women at their most unlikable. Through sixteen stories ranging from revenge to romance to villainous musings, Peach Pit is a diverse, electric exploration of the morally gray woman, a category which has long been limited by literature. Mixing grief, rage, humor, and an ever expanding sense of tension, this is one collection sure to leave a laying impression; its wide range of emotions, it’s haunting stories, and its discussion around the fact that women are capable of anything; good and evil, darkness and healing, right and wrong, sometimes simultaneously. A provocative, defiant challenge to the literary and societal status quo.
October 23, 2023
Great collection of short stories, all very gritty and each one having something different to say, exploring inequality and sexism whilst at the same time not presenting women as perpetual victims but instead showing them retaliating or utilizing social structures. Some stories stand out more than others. Fuckboy Museum, Holes and Buffallo felt like the most effective and unique of the bunch.
December 23, 2023
Stormed through these short stories, maybe due to it being the holiday season and more time off work. Very different set of stories too but all fitting the same theme, works as a showcase for lots of new female authors that I'll be adding to my TBR pile. I would pick this collection up as can see it's going to be pretty big.
April 17, 2023
peach pit was a wild ride—much fun was had, these characters were truly deplorable and i loved spending time with them. i typically am not a short stories gal but i got a lot out of this. i loved that there were sixteen authors to sample. i had already read some of the featured authors but the majority i had not. i loved reading the authors i already know i like, but i especially enjoyed discovering new ones. i particularly enjoyed the vanessa chan chapter, which makes sense for me since it's the most fucked up <3 she's a new-to-me author and i can't wait to read her upcoming novel. peach pit also got me hooked on lauren groff and i will finally read matrix (which i own) this year.
my favorite quote from lauren groff's story:
"we die; we leave ghosts of ourselves behind. voices on answering machines, bodies on video, fragments of souls in handwriting."
thank you to molly llewellyn and dzanc books for the advance reader's copy <3
my favorite quote from lauren groff's story:
"we die; we leave ghosts of ourselves behind. voices on answering machines, bodies on video, fragments of souls in handwriting."
thank you to molly llewellyn and dzanc books for the advance reader's copy <3
April 7, 2023
Talk about unsavory, unhinged women! They've been fucked over one too many times, been on the butt end of abuse, been lied to, walked over, taken advantage of, and have had enough. They woke up and have chosen violence, decided to burn it all down, walking away hand in hand with the Devil without a glance back.
Some of the stories were more playful like Fuckboy Museum where we see the texts from fuckboys who've ghosted and breadcrumbed our MC one too many times. Or they show the moment of transformation where there is no going back like in All You Have Is Your Fire of a girl who's been locked in a shed by her father and decides to burn it all down. In Maps and Amaranth, both MCs are in for a long play retribution and play into femme (or fille) fatale roles to accomplish their goals.
There were so many standouts from this collection. My favorites were Fuckboy Museum by Deesha Phillyaw, Maps by Vanessa Chan, Ms Wrong by Chantal V Johnson, Manifestation by Sarah Rose Etter, Composition by Aliya Whiteley, The Devil's Doorbell by Amanda Leduc, and Amaranth by Lauren Groff.
Some of the stories were more playful like Fuckboy Museum where we see the texts from fuckboys who've ghosted and breadcrumbed our MC one too many times. Or they show the moment of transformation where there is no going back like in All You Have Is Your Fire of a girl who's been locked in a shed by her father and decides to burn it all down. In Maps and Amaranth, both MCs are in for a long play retribution and play into femme (or fille) fatale roles to accomplish their goals.
There were so many standouts from this collection. My favorites were Fuckboy Museum by Deesha Phillyaw, Maps by Vanessa Chan, Ms Wrong by Chantal V Johnson, Manifestation by Sarah Rose Etter, Composition by Aliya Whiteley, The Devil's Doorbell by Amanda Leduc, and Amaranth by Lauren Groff.
May 3, 2023
Short stories from all your favourite writers!
some of these were super dark (TW for abuse, ED and self-harm) some were a bit more sci-fi or horror adjacent and all of them with an underlying unease - as the quote at the beginning says 'Peach pits are poisonous'.
The stand out for me was definitely the first story Fuckboy Museum by Deesha Philyaw - I loved its dark humour.
(thanks for the proof copy - this comes out Sept 2023)
some of these were super dark (TW for abuse, ED and self-harm) some were a bit more sci-fi or horror adjacent and all of them with an underlying unease - as the quote at the beginning says 'Peach pits are poisonous'.
The stand out for me was definitely the first story Fuckboy Museum by Deesha Philyaw - I loved its dark humour.
(thanks for the proof copy - this comes out Sept 2023)
October 22, 2023
Likability? Never heard of her. I prefer my women morally depraved.
Favorite stories:
* Fuckboy Museum
* The Other You
* Maps
* Buffalo
* The Monolith
Favorite stories:
* Fuckboy Museum
* The Other You
* Maps
* Buffalo
* The Monolith
December 17, 2023
wild, absurdist tales of morally gray women and their strange lives. a solid collection — a few stories were forgettable but none were outright bad. favorites were amaranth by lauren groff, fuckboy museum by deesha philyaw, maps by vanessa chan, and ms wrong by chantal v johnson.
March 7, 2024
this is a fun collection! took me a while but thats just because each story is very different in tone, i wanted to give each one its own space. particularly memorable for me were: caller, maps, aquafina, buffalo, and ms wrong.
November 24, 2023
My favorite stories were Fuckboy Museum by Deesha Philyaw and Manifestation by Sarah Rose Etter. Honorable mention: The Other You by Maisy Card
Read
May 4, 2024saving my thoughts for book club!
September 12, 2023
In this collection of stories of “unsavory women”, beautifully edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley, there is a wide range of subjects and writers, encapsulating just how tired women are of all this nonsense. These were my favorite stories:
Fuckboy Museum, by Deesha Philyaw - A great opener. A woman grows tired of the awful men on dating apps, and does her bit to protect other women from said individuals.
The Other You, by Maisy Card - A woman goes to Jamaica to spy on her husband’s ex-wife. Why would anyone think such a plan would end well?
A Scholarship Opportunity, by Megan Giddings - A teenage girl competes to be “the worst girl”. Of course, the behaviors she exhibits would be perfectly acceptable were she male.
Sick, by Alicia Elliott - A woman goes to care for her mother (who is clearly faking an injury) at the cost of her own sanity. Wonderful, satisfying ending.
Holes, by Alice Ash - This story was incredibly unsettling; I loved it. A young teenager gets a job at a high-end clothing store, begins to thrive on the attention she gets for her child-like figure.
Buffalo, by Alison Rumfitt - Incredibly creepy. A trans woman is subjected to abuse when girls begin to get violently attacked in her neighborhood. The narrator speaking directly to the real attacker is very unnerving.
Amaranth, by Lauren Groff - The last story in the collection is the most accomplished. Amaranth witnesses the murder of her father at a young age, and plays the long game in getting revenge on the killer, who happens to be her father’s business partner.
Peach Pit is a really strong collection, with so many great authors. I highly support this kind of anthology, and eagerly await a lot more.
Fuckboy Museum, by Deesha Philyaw - A great opener. A woman grows tired of the awful men on dating apps, and does her bit to protect other women from said individuals.
The Other You, by Maisy Card - A woman goes to Jamaica to spy on her husband’s ex-wife. Why would anyone think such a plan would end well?
A Scholarship Opportunity, by Megan Giddings - A teenage girl competes to be “the worst girl”. Of course, the behaviors she exhibits would be perfectly acceptable were she male.
Sick, by Alicia Elliott - A woman goes to care for her mother (who is clearly faking an injury) at the cost of her own sanity. Wonderful, satisfying ending.
Holes, by Alice Ash - This story was incredibly unsettling; I loved it. A young teenager gets a job at a high-end clothing store, begins to thrive on the attention she gets for her child-like figure.
Buffalo, by Alison Rumfitt - Incredibly creepy. A trans woman is subjected to abuse when girls begin to get violently attacked in her neighborhood. The narrator speaking directly to the real attacker is very unnerving.
Amaranth, by Lauren Groff - The last story in the collection is the most accomplished. Amaranth witnesses the murder of her father at a young age, and plays the long game in getting revenge on the killer, who happens to be her father’s business partner.
Peach Pit is a really strong collection, with so many great authors. I highly support this kind of anthology, and eagerly await a lot more.
October 12, 2023
Ok this collection is STRONG. There were a few I didn’t love but only one that I genuinely didn’t vibe with and subsequently skimmed through.
So many themes are explored throughout but I particularly liked the common thread of ‘morally grey’ women. Women who are just allowed to be women who have real thoughts and reactions.
The stand outs for me were:
All You Have is Your Fire
Holes
Composition
The Devil’s Doorbell
Amaranth
This is what I wanted but didn’t get from Send Nudes and Watching Women and Girls.
Deffo recommend reading this collection!
So many themes are explored throughout but I particularly liked the common thread of ‘morally grey’ women. Women who are just allowed to be women who have real thoughts and reactions.
The stand outs for me were:
All You Have is Your Fire
Holes
Composition
The Devil’s Doorbell
Amaranth
This is what I wanted but didn’t get from Send Nudes and Watching Women and Girls.
Deffo recommend reading this collection!
September 12, 2023
Peach Pit is a collection of sixteen short stories that can each be described as individual villain origin stories, all centered around women. Historically, origin stories for 'bad women' often revolve around tragedy: bad women aren't bad, they are simply victims of bad circumstances.
What I found striking about Peach Pit was just how unsympathetic many of the central characters were (Maps and Mrs. Wrong, I'm looking at you BOTH). Their choices were motivated by greed, lust, or rage. Each writer brings their own specific writing style, making the reading experience more fun.
My favorite stories were Fuckboy Museum, A Scholarship Opportunity, and Aquafina, but all of the stories were unique and horrifying in very different ways. This collection will serve as a starting point for me to explore these authors. This book was deliciously wicked, yet refreshing.
Thank you so much to Dzanc books for an eARC and happy publication day!
What I found striking about Peach Pit was just how unsympathetic many of the central characters were (Maps and Mrs. Wrong, I'm looking at you BOTH). Their choices were motivated by greed, lust, or rage. Each writer brings their own specific writing style, making the reading experience more fun.
My favorite stories were Fuckboy Museum, A Scholarship Opportunity, and Aquafina, but all of the stories were unique and horrifying in very different ways. This collection will serve as a starting point for me to explore these authors. This book was deliciously wicked, yet refreshing.
Thank you so much to Dzanc books for an eARC and happy publication day!
September 12, 2023
Some are broken, some are damaged, some are angry, some are disabled. From all walks of life, from differing socio-economic backgrounds, no education, public schools, private prep schools to Medical School. Married, Single, Straight, Lesbian, and Queer. Abled and Disabled. Some are vengeful. All are Behaving Badly. They are Pissed Off and Empowered. Each and every one of them are 100% Woman!
This is a salacious collection of 16 short stories that offer something for everyone – they tap into the thriller, horror, suspense, speculative fiction, and fiction genres…Well Done!
My favorites were F*ckboy Museum by Deesha Philyaw which is about the reflections and frustrations of online dating that ends in unusual acts of revenge for wasting a sister’s time and energy. Maisy Card uses her debut novel, These Ghosts are Family as inspiration for her offering, The Other You, where a woman returns to Jamaica after 20 years to spy on her husband’s first wife who he abandoned. Maps is a tragic offering by Vanessa Chan where a sister exacts revenge after the suicide of her sister. Daughters exact revenge after a lifetime of suffering and plotting in Amaranth by Lauren Groff and Sick by Alicia Elliott. Cult classics are the inspiration for Buffalo by Alison Rumfitt (Silence of the Lambs) and Carrie and Firestarter fuel All You Have is Your Fire by Yah Yah Scholfield where repressed anger and abuse fuels a young pyromaniac’s acts.
A bit decadent, obscene, and immoral…and I enjoyed this eclectic collection for daring to be different.
Thanks to the publisher, PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Tiny Reparations Books, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.
This is a salacious collection of 16 short stories that offer something for everyone – they tap into the thriller, horror, suspense, speculative fiction, and fiction genres…Well Done!
My favorites were F*ckboy Museum by Deesha Philyaw which is about the reflections and frustrations of online dating that ends in unusual acts of revenge for wasting a sister’s time and energy. Maisy Card uses her debut novel, These Ghosts are Family as inspiration for her offering, The Other You, where a woman returns to Jamaica after 20 years to spy on her husband’s first wife who he abandoned. Maps is a tragic offering by Vanessa Chan where a sister exacts revenge after the suicide of her sister. Daughters exact revenge after a lifetime of suffering and plotting in Amaranth by Lauren Groff and Sick by Alicia Elliott. Cult classics are the inspiration for Buffalo by Alison Rumfitt (Silence of the Lambs) and Carrie and Firestarter fuel All You Have is Your Fire by Yah Yah Scholfield where repressed anger and abuse fuels a young pyromaniac’s acts.
A bit decadent, obscene, and immoral…and I enjoyed this eclectic collection for daring to be different.
Thanks to the publisher, PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Tiny Reparations Books, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.
July 6, 2024
From the Editor’s Note:
“In these pages, you’ll see women at their most unlikeable. Reading about them will make us uncomfortable because we can’t always agree with them, or because sometimes we secretly do… A person who is morally gray is described as someone who isn’t wholly good or wholly evil. For too long, to be a woman in fiction is to have made the choice.”
I loved reading these stories about complex female characters. People who are messy because life can be so messy. How refreshing!
Favorite stories included:
-Fuckboy Museum
-All you have is your fire
-Sick
-Ms Wrong
And special shout out to “Buffalo” for genuinely leaving me aghast.
“In these pages, you’ll see women at their most unlikeable. Reading about them will make us uncomfortable because we can’t always agree with them, or because sometimes we secretly do… A person who is morally gray is described as someone who isn’t wholly good or wholly evil. For too long, to be a woman in fiction is to have made the choice.”
I loved reading these stories about complex female characters. People who are messy because life can be so messy. How refreshing!
Favorite stories included:
-Fuckboy Museum
-All you have is your fire
-Sick
-Ms Wrong
And special shout out to “Buffalo” for genuinely leaving me aghast.
July 10, 2024
3.75 stars
October 27, 2023
3.5 stars. My fav short stories were: Fuckboy Museum, The Other You, Aquafina, Ms Wrong and Manifestation.
June 20, 2024
(3.5)
An incredible collection of short stories that allows women to live in the grey areas without there being a need to redeem them in any way. My favorite stories from the collection were: Fuckboy Museum, All You Have is Your Fire, The Other You, and Sick.
One story that really sat with me the wrong way was The Monolith. The only theme that I could find within The Monolith was colorism and it was not talked about in a way that felt productive to the story but rather it reminded me of the way that Otessa Moshfegh writes. How it's meant to come off as "edgy & taboo" but actually it's just thinly veiled racism/fatphobia/xenophobia/etc.
An incredible collection of short stories that allows women to live in the grey areas without there being a need to redeem them in any way. My favorite stories from the collection were: Fuckboy Museum, All You Have is Your Fire, The Other You, and Sick.
One story that really sat with me the wrong way was The Monolith. The only theme that I could find within The Monolith was colorism and it was not talked about in a way that felt productive to the story but rather it reminded me of the way that Otessa Moshfegh writes. How it's meant to come off as "edgy & taboo" but actually it's just thinly veiled racism/fatphobia/xenophobia/etc.
January 24, 2024
Unhinged literary fiction is my favourite kind of literary fiction.
My favourite stories from this collection were
Caller (K-Ming Chang)
All you Have is Fire (Yah Yah Schofield)
Manifestation (Sarah Rose Etter)
Amaranth (Lauren Groff)
My favourite stories from this collection were
Caller (K-Ming Chang)
All you Have is Fire (Yah Yah Schofield)
Manifestation (Sarah Rose Etter)
Amaranth (Lauren Groff)
March 10, 2023
Peach Pit is one of those short story collections I could have happily read all in one sitting. Due to the unfortunate fact that I have to work for a living (truly unfair) I instead had to spread my reading experience out over 2 days instead of gorging on it all at once as I would have liked. (Again, truly unfair)
Peach Pit includes stories by notable authors such as Deesha Philyaw, Chantal V Johnson, Sarah Rose Etter and Lauren Groff- among many talented others. The collection is comprised of 16 fantastic stories that feature women behaving badly-or, in the best ways possible, depending on how unhinged you like your leading ladies. I like mine *very* unhinged, so this was such a fun and engaging read.
It’s hard to choose favorites but some of the stories I enjoyed the most were, “Fuckboy Museum,” “Sick,” “Ms Wrong,” “The Monolith,” & “Amaranth.” I loved the distinct voices of all of the stories, the blend of genres, and how varied the experiences of the characters were. I’ve been jonesing for short stories lately, however it’s rare that I finish a short story collection & actually want more- but that was the case with this one. Loved the length but didn’t want it to end! It’s obvious that these authors were selected with care and even though the stories are all very different, there was a cohesion and intent behind the stories that was felt & left me with a lot to think about.
PEACH PIT is available for pre-order now, and comes out 9/12/23- huge win for Virgo season tbh.
Peach Pit includes stories by notable authors such as Deesha Philyaw, Chantal V Johnson, Sarah Rose Etter and Lauren Groff- among many talented others. The collection is comprised of 16 fantastic stories that feature women behaving badly-or, in the best ways possible, depending on how unhinged you like your leading ladies. I like mine *very* unhinged, so this was such a fun and engaging read.
It’s hard to choose favorites but some of the stories I enjoyed the most were, “Fuckboy Museum,” “Sick,” “Ms Wrong,” “The Monolith,” & “Amaranth.” I loved the distinct voices of all of the stories, the blend of genres, and how varied the experiences of the characters were. I’ve been jonesing for short stories lately, however it’s rare that I finish a short story collection & actually want more- but that was the case with this one. Loved the length but didn’t want it to end! It’s obvious that these authors were selected with care and even though the stories are all very different, there was a cohesion and intent behind the stories that was felt & left me with a lot to think about.
PEACH PIT is available for pre-order now, and comes out 9/12/23- huge win for Virgo season tbh.
December 7, 2023
This collection began and ended with bangers 😊 I liked most of these and was entertained. There were just a couple I skipped - one because it was poetry and one because it bored me (Holes). Otherwise, I’d say many of these stories were 3-4 star with some 5 stars.
It successfully delivers on the premise, too. I thought maybe the women would be too sympathetic to really be considered morally gray, but no, a lot of them were really messy.
Favorites:
1. Fuckboy Museum: woman keeps a record of all of the atrocious behavior she experiences from men on the dating scene. And then it evolves into something more menacing.
2. Sick: woman is drawn back into her narcissistic mom’s life. She has her revenge, though. 😈
3. Amaranth: young girl sees her dad killed by his colleague, but keeps quiet. As the colleague inserts himself into her and her mom’s life, she plots. Sooo messed up.
Some others I liked a lot: Manifestation, The Monolith, A Scholarship Opportunity, and Maps.
It successfully delivers on the premise, too. I thought maybe the women would be too sympathetic to really be considered morally gray, but no, a lot of them were really messy.
Favorites:
1. Fuckboy Museum: woman keeps a record of all of the atrocious behavior she experiences from men on the dating scene. And then it evolves into something more menacing.
2. Sick: woman is drawn back into her narcissistic mom’s life. She has her revenge, though. 😈
3. Amaranth: young girl sees her dad killed by his colleague, but keeps quiet. As the colleague inserts himself into her and her mom’s life, she plots. Sooo messed up.
Some others I liked a lot: Manifestation, The Monolith, A Scholarship Opportunity, and Maps.
April 15, 2024
This was not good. I only liked a couple of stories, the first one about online dating and the one somewhere in the middle with the girl who had the power to decompose things. I like disturbing books a lot of the time but there was some very gross content and a lot of it was also just strange.
October 2, 2023
a lot of these stories toed the line between realism and speculative fiction (or maybe magical realism), and i think that is why i struggled with most of them. some of my faves include: fuckboy museum, sick, manifestation, and amaranth!
October 5, 2023
I love when women
January 4, 2024
most of these stories aren’t good or groundbreaking and rely too heavily on shock factor to be entertaining. it’s a no from me.
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