recently i have discovered i do not like short stories, mostly because its so hard to pinpoint my feelings on it because often there’s so much variability. but honestly this has ever so slightly made me a bit more optimistic for this genre. because this was great!!! but this wasn’t a complete knockout for me because some stories were meh. honestly for me to want to give a short story anthology 5-stars i have to like every single story. and i didn’t 🤐

i’m gonna discuss the stories in order and then rank them because i want to. anyways.

build a body like mine: was a good way to open the book. honestly tho this wasn’t really memorable. like right now every other story i can recall most things about it’s progression but this one? interesting but unmemorable. 7/10

the problem solver: meh. kind of said nothing interesting, was predictable and felt almost aimless. still liked the writing style though. 6/10

she’s always hungry: as the title story this was…. Odd. i saw the opening two pages and literally didn’t pick this book up for like 2 weeks because i was so confused. but then i read it. this was kinda fun, defo made me a bit more interested in the collection, but the title felt disconnected from the story, which wouldn’t really matter except it’s the title story so 🤷 6.5/10

the shadow over little chitaly: this honestly sold me on the book. absurd. silly. stupid. i loved it. only thing was i felt it was lacking a bit more horror and mystery and.. Pizzazz? i guess? 8/10

hollow bones: this was very much a hit or miss. i do think there were some interesting elements, but the setting wasn’t nearly fleshed out enough, although i will say the ending was so far the most interesting. would love a full story of this tho. 7/10

goth gf: HELLO. this was so funny omg. absurd again but also goddamn so relatable. the ending was funny and i like my men pathetic and aware that they suck. so much fun reading this. 8.5/10

extinction event: aaand back to… meh. this is kind of like “hollow bones” because the story wasn’t nearly given enough room to be fleshed out imo. but this was also better because it was easier to grasp, but the ending felt like a deflated whoopee cushion. 7/10.

night stalkers: this was weird. this felt out of place. like it was in the wrong story collection. it was… fine! there didn’t feel like much horror to me though, and i couldn’t have cared less about the characters. 5/10

shake well: ew ew ew ew ew. pimples. um anyways i had fun with this. i like me some body horror. didn’t stick with me as much as some other stories tho, but the humour was fun. 7/10

the king: favourite. easily my favourite. needs a full story of it. so fun, so silly, so intriguing. no notes. 10/10.

company man: interesting to end on. predictable in nature, but fascinating. i had fun with it, and i think it was perfect for a short story. 8/10

and now in order from my most to least favourite we have; 

the king; goth gf; the shadow over little chitaly; company man; shake well; she’s always hungry; build a body like mine; extinction event; hollow bones; the problem solver; night stalkers

what else do i have to say? i don’t know. i’ve been sitting on this review for like a week because honestly i don’t know what to say. short story collections are always hard for me to explain. all i know is that eliza clark is now an author i will be keeping my eyes on, because although the stories were hit and miss, i liked the overall writing style employed.