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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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
May 26, 2024
...ok fine i'm judging books by their covers again
(review to come / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
(review to come / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
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!
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.
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!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzaQUc4rT...
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!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzaQUc4rT...
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. ❤️
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.
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.
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
June 25, 2024
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.
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 :)
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.
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.
July 7, 2024
In love, weird, feral—made me want to go write
January 10, 2024
Short stories tend to be a harder sell for me - by the time I find myself invested it usually ends and leaves me questioning the point. The author does an incredible job here of fully fleshing out entire worlds within each of the stories, creating surreal backdrops for bizarre things to happen that still feel familiar and even make sense in twisted ways. I loved the common theme of devouring and being devoured in return present throughout each story, and they were all distinctive while remaining cohesive. This is a collection that I think will stay with me, and I’m excited to see what’s next from the author.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC!
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC!
January 26, 2024
Good book for weird bitches
June 9, 2024
Vampiric figure skaters. A human baby born from a wolf. A medical examiner meeting an ex-lover again in the morgue. These stories are weird and unique, filled with loneliness, strained motherdaughter relationships, and Black Mirror-esque vibes.
June 13, 2024
I just received this arc 🥳
Mouth explores themes loneliness, sexuality and mother-daughter relationships. The stories also contain some magical realism and a dreamy style, which I enjoyed.
I also like the cover as it matches perfectly! I have never read a book that talks to much about fruit!
This is a good debut novel!
Thank you Netgalley for granting me a copy of this arc!
Mouth explores themes loneliness, sexuality and mother-daughter relationships. The stories also contain some magical realism and a dreamy style, which I enjoyed.
I also like the cover as it matches perfectly! I have never read a book that talks to much about fruit!
This is a good debut novel!
Thank you Netgalley for granting me a copy of this arc!
December 2, 2023
Weird queer short stories! We love weird queer short stories! And these short stories were very good, and very weird, and very queer.
MOUTH is a beautifully done debut collection from an author to watch, full of stories which danced between literary fiction, speculative fiction, and horror with grace and style. I didn’t connect with every story, but I found a lot to appreciate even in the ones which didn’t make my “favorites” list. Ghosh's writing is beautiful; the stories are inventive and gorgeously crafted, the characters are compelling and layered, and every story had its own unique and extremely evocative atmosphere.
My personal top three stories: “Supergiant,” “Natalya,” and “The Fig Tree.” Highly recommended, and Ghosh is most definitely an author to watch.
Thank you so much to Astra House and Netgalley for the advance copy!
MOUTH is a beautifully done debut collection from an author to watch, full of stories which danced between literary fiction, speculative fiction, and horror with grace and style. I didn’t connect with every story, but I found a lot to appreciate even in the ones which didn’t make my “favorites” list. Ghosh's writing is beautiful; the stories are inventive and gorgeously crafted, the characters are compelling and layered, and every story had its own unique and extremely evocative atmosphere.
My personal top three stories: “Supergiant,” “Natalya,” and “The Fig Tree.” Highly recommended, and Ghosh is most definitely an author to watch.
Thank you so much to Astra House and Netgalley for the advance copy!
May 27, 2024
4.5/5
“I always felt like the odd one. I was sad often. Maybe this was because of my father or my mother, or the books I read or the songs I listened to, but for my whole adolescence, my insides squirmed. Threatened to pour restlessness out of my mouth and ears.”
Mouth is a collection of 11 surreal short stories. A debut collection, Puloma Ghosh uses speculative fiction to push her characters farther than traditional fiction would. Mouth explores grief, sexuality, loneliness, intimacy, and the aching desires of our flesh in a sharp and captivating way. Similar to the themes in Thirst, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, and Cursed Bunny - Mouth is a short story collection where I didn’t dislike any of the stories.
I wished some of the stories within this collection could have been more fleshed out, just because I could’ve read whole novels on most of them. Puloma Ghosh’s writing is unique and captivating. When I started a story, I couldn’t put it down. I read this as an ebook arc, so I don’t know the names of most of the stories I read, which is disappointing because I want to tell you which ones were my favorite, but I am definitely getting a physical copy of this book when it comes out. I feel like I could go back to any one of these stories over and over again without getting bored. It was a mix of literary fiction, horror, sci-fi, queerness, and surrealism which made the collection feel like a mixed bag of amazing weirdness that I couldn't get enough of, mesmerizing me from the very beginning.
“Was I lonely back then? Of course I was. Who wasn’t lonely ‘back then’. In the winter I’m pretty because the loneliness makes my face slack, my eyes intense. There are no stories without loneliness.”
Thank you NetGalley for the arc!
“I always felt like the odd one. I was sad often. Maybe this was because of my father or my mother, or the books I read or the songs I listened to, but for my whole adolescence, my insides squirmed. Threatened to pour restlessness out of my mouth and ears.”
Mouth is a collection of 11 surreal short stories. A debut collection, Puloma Ghosh uses speculative fiction to push her characters farther than traditional fiction would. Mouth explores grief, sexuality, loneliness, intimacy, and the aching desires of our flesh in a sharp and captivating way. Similar to the themes in Thirst, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, and Cursed Bunny - Mouth is a short story collection where I didn’t dislike any of the stories.
I wished some of the stories within this collection could have been more fleshed out, just because I could’ve read whole novels on most of them. Puloma Ghosh’s writing is unique and captivating. When I started a story, I couldn’t put it down. I read this as an ebook arc, so I don’t know the names of most of the stories I read, which is disappointing because I want to tell you which ones were my favorite, but I am definitely getting a physical copy of this book when it comes out. I feel like I could go back to any one of these stories over and over again without getting bored. It was a mix of literary fiction, horror, sci-fi, queerness, and surrealism which made the collection feel like a mixed bag of amazing weirdness that I couldn't get enough of, mesmerizing me from the very beginning.
“Was I lonely back then? Of course I was. Who wasn’t lonely ‘back then’. In the winter I’m pretty because the loneliness makes my face slack, my eyes intense. There are no stories without loneliness.”
Thank you NetGalley for the arc!
December 6, 2023
I recently read Mouth by Puloma Ghosh and was completely blown away by the author's writing style. In her debut collection, Ghosh uses speculative fiction to push the boundaries of reality and explore complex themes such as grief, intimacy, sexuality, and bodily autonomy.
One of the things I loved most about this book is the way the author blends the bizarre and absurd with the truth. Each story in the collection is unique and captivating in its own way. For instance, in "Dessication," a teen figure skater with necrophiliac tendencies is convinced that the only other Indian girl at the rink is a vampire. In "The Fig Tree," a woman returns to Kolkata and is haunted by her deceased mother or a shakchunni, or both. While in "Persimmons," a girl comes to terms with her own community sacrifice.
The surrealism in Mouth is both intriguing and captivating. Ghosh's writing style is sharp, vivid, and wholly original. She blurs the lines between conventional reality and the otherworldly, giving fangs, talons, and singular sharpness to the otherwise ordinary, awkward, and unmentionable. The author's exploration of the everyday struggles of isolation, longing, and the aching desires of our flesh is both poignant and thought-provoking.
Overall, Mouth is an excellent debut collection that showcases Puloma Ghosh's unique voice and imaginative storytelling. The book is a must-read for fans of speculative fiction and those who appreciate writing that is both daring and original. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a surreal and thought-provoking read.
One of the things I loved most about this book is the way the author blends the bizarre and absurd with the truth. Each story in the collection is unique and captivating in its own way. For instance, in "Dessication," a teen figure skater with necrophiliac tendencies is convinced that the only other Indian girl at the rink is a vampire. In "The Fig Tree," a woman returns to Kolkata and is haunted by her deceased mother or a shakchunni, or both. While in "Persimmons," a girl comes to terms with her own community sacrifice.
The surrealism in Mouth is both intriguing and captivating. Ghosh's writing style is sharp, vivid, and wholly original. She blurs the lines between conventional reality and the otherworldly, giving fangs, talons, and singular sharpness to the otherwise ordinary, awkward, and unmentionable. The author's exploration of the everyday struggles of isolation, longing, and the aching desires of our flesh is both poignant and thought-provoking.
Overall, Mouth is an excellent debut collection that showcases Puloma Ghosh's unique voice and imaginative storytelling. The book is a must-read for fans of speculative fiction and those who appreciate writing that is both daring and original. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a surreal and thought-provoking read.
December 10, 2023
4.5
Short stories have a tendency to leave me wanting more because they don’t feel fully fleshed out. Puloma Ghosh does not suffer from this problem, even the shortest of the stories included gives you a complete idea of the world it’s set in. The prose is beautiful, and leave you feeling intrigued. You want for more, not because the writing was lacking but because the story is so interesting you don’t want to leave it yet.
The lowest I would rate any of the eleven stories would be an 8 out of 10… however most are 9s or 10s.
My favorite stores are Desiccation, The Fig Tree, & Leaving Things.
Desiccation is set in a dystopian world, where there is an unseen war and government whisking everyone away… but also a girl who may just be a vampire.
The Fig Tree follows our lead going back to her homeland after her mother dies, feeling disconnected from her family but confronting a spirit at her old home.
Leaving Things is wild ride from start to finish. Wolves are dragging off the women of her small town, and yet when our lead finds a dying pregnant wolf she attempts to save her. The wolf dies but cuts at the belly to save the baby, only to remove a human baby. She decides to raise him.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Short stories have a tendency to leave me wanting more because they don’t feel fully fleshed out. Puloma Ghosh does not suffer from this problem, even the shortest of the stories included gives you a complete idea of the world it’s set in. The prose is beautiful, and leave you feeling intrigued. You want for more, not because the writing was lacking but because the story is so interesting you don’t want to leave it yet.
The lowest I would rate any of the eleven stories would be an 8 out of 10… however most are 9s or 10s.
My favorite stores are Desiccation, The Fig Tree, & Leaving Things.
Desiccation is set in a dystopian world, where there is an unseen war and government whisking everyone away… but also a girl who may just be a vampire.
The Fig Tree follows our lead going back to her homeland after her mother dies, feeling disconnected from her family but confronting a spirit at her old home.
Leaving Things is wild ride from start to finish. Wolves are dragging off the women of her small town, and yet when our lead finds a dying pregnant wolf she attempts to save her. The wolf dies but cuts at the belly to save the baby, only to remove a human baby. She decides to raise him.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Read
January 5, 2024From a teen figure skater falling in love with a girl she’s convinced is a vampire to a world where “anomalies” open up and suck people in - this was such an amazing short story collection. The writing was beautiful, lyrical and I highlighted so many quotes. Each story was unique but there were common themes of love, grief and of course mouths. I loved how each story was set in a world similar yet different to our own: world where wolves are taking over, men are taken away at 18 and different planets all together. It was surreal, weird and sometimes sad and I absolutely loved reading it.
- Desiccation - 4/5
- The Fig Tree - 5/5
- Leaving Things - 4/5
- K - 4/5
- In The Winter - 3/5
- Anomaly - 5/5
- Lemon Boy - 3.5/5
- Supergiant - 3/5
- Nip - 4/5
- Natalya - 5/5
- Persimmons - 4/5
I would highly recommend this! Sapphic stories with creative, unique and strange twists… what more could you want? I can’t wait to see what this author does next.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
- Desiccation - 4/5
- The Fig Tree - 5/5
- Leaving Things - 4/5
- K - 4/5
- In The Winter - 3/5
- Anomaly - 5/5
- Lemon Boy - 3.5/5
- Supergiant - 3/5
- Nip - 4/5
- Natalya - 5/5
- Persimmons - 4/5
I would highly recommend this! Sapphic stories with creative, unique and strange twists… what more could you want? I can’t wait to see what this author does next.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 19, 2024
Mouth is a collection of eleven weird and sometimes wonderful short stories. Many of them involve interactions between humans and animals and otherworldly occurrences. A young woman finds herself enamored by a fellow figure skater, who may or may not be human. Another goes to a party and meets a man with yellow hair who sees emerging holes in the world that already have taken his girlfriend. A physical and metaphorical autopsy of a previous girlfriend and their relationship are detailed. While short story collections are a mixed bag, this was rather strong, and a few stories in particular stood out. In Leaving Things, a woman is living in a town where most of the population, including her boyfriend have fled as wolves have taken over. On her way home, she encounters an interesting creature and brings it home to unexpected results. In Supergiant, we meet a popstar after her last performance. Why can she not touch anyone except her assistant? The world that Ghosh builds in Persimmons is fascinating and I wish it could have been expanded out further. For fans of weird and interesting short stories, I would recommend this collection.
Thank you to Astra House via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
Thank you to Astra House via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
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