DNF - I kept trying to get into this but it ultimately just wasn't the anthology for me. I've seen others really enjoy these stories & maybe later I will come back & try again but for now, i'm leaving off.

tysm to netgalley for this rockin arc.

i really wanted to read this because i loved severance so much, and this wasn't quite as moving for me, but i loved these strange little stories nonetheless. i am going to reread when I'm in a better spot mentally!

I couldn't get through this title. It ended up not being for me, but I hope it finds a hope with other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Ths book is an anthology of futuristic short stories delving into themes of intergenerational trauma, race, sexuality, and relationships.

This surreal and thought-provoking collection by Ling Ma is a true delight, presenting compact yet immersive narratives that inhabit the realm of liminal spaces. Inhabited by solitary protagonists, these tales offer a diverse array of experiences, from drugs that render one invisible to a passionate encounter with a yeti who dons human skin as a disguise and boasts a penchant for collecting records and chain smoking. There’s a story featuring a woman cohabiting with her husband and 100 ex-boyfriends, passages into enigmatic realms, and an abundance of other surprises that keep readers guessing at every page turn.

“Bliss Montage” offers a captivating literary experience, offering not only engaging stories but also thought-provoking discussions on identity. Ling Ma’s boundless imagination shines through in stories that are both extraordinary and whimsically fantastical, making it a compelling read that leaves a lasting impression.

4.5 stars rounded upto 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I had to give up on this collection about halfway through. This just isn't my style for short stories—everything felt a bit too smart for me honestly, and right as I felt like I was catching on a story would end. I definitely think that pieces of it were really compelling (leading me to believe that I would maybe like Ling Ma's novels), but these stories just weren't for me.

I was obsessed with Severance, and knew I needed to read these stories. I was so incredibly pleased with this collection. Ling Ma does an incredible job at exploring humanity and the struggles we all face.

This collection has definitely solidified Ling Ma as a must-buy, must-read author for me. I love this particular brand of weird, domestic horror/fantasy that somehow manages to remain rather subdued in tone. I think a good read-alike might be Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, or Out There by Kate Folk (both of which I also enjoyed very much.) Would definitely recommend to any fans of Severance, or short speculative fiction. Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ebook arc for review.

Bliss Montage - Ling Ma is such a gifted writer. Through her eight stories in this book, she explores love, connection, relationships, unhealthy friendship, and a mother-daughter immagration experience. While some are a little bonkers (I can’t get the Yeti lovemaking fiction story out of my head), it was overall well done

This was definitely a book that made me stop and think about each of the stories. It was a journey. Ling Ma's writing is something special and this one didn't disappoint.

This was such a fun story collection! Very wacky and unusual stories which was up my alley. Left me thinking about them afterwards!

This was incredible. One of the most unique writing styles I have been blessed to read. I want more. Also the best and only audio book I have ever enjoyed listening to. It was perfect. I read most of this physically, and listened to a few stories while in the shower. At times, I forgot where I was or what I was supposed to be doing, and was just living in the words that I was hearing. I was so engaged with these stories and didn’t want the collection to end. I will now read anything by Ling Ma, and I genuinely look forward to experiencing more.

I selected this title for my library's fiction book club. I absolutely loved it! I am a huge fan of Ma's first book, Severance. I did enjoy her novel a bit more than these short stories but as far as short stories go these are fantastic. Only three of us in the book club loved the collection because the stories are quite weird. The other attendees disliked that there are not many concrete endings and were put off by the weirder parts like the Yeti although most said they were glad they read it to try something new.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC. These eight short stories take you on a journey through different relationships. The stories were odd but also provided something that drew me in.

I’m completely mesmerized by Ling Ma’s writing. Her prose is amazing; my jaw was on the floor most of the time and from the beginning of this collection (Los Angeles) from the imagery.

The stories take on surrealist vibes, and more often leave you wondering if you’re still reading the same story. It had me saying, “what??” on more than one occasion. I think this will take many rereads so that I will be able to really capture all the nuances of each story.

This was a weird and wild ride! These short stories had great range and really intriguing story plots. As with most short stories, there were some lulls. However, the house of boyfriends, the Yeti lover, and the protruding baby hand are things that will stay in my mind for a long long time. Not sure if I am grateful for that or traumatized, but at the very least I am forever //changed// LOL. This is my first Ling Ma collection, and I will definitely be reading more of their work!

P.S. That cover is PERFECTION. I love fruits on anything, and this cover is no exception.

Bliss Montage is somehow muted and vibrant all at once - each story left me feeling contemplative and imbued with a kind of ferocious energy. My friends and I took this collection to the beach and read the stories aloud to each other, and hearing them told like that was such a special experience. While it's hard to rate any short story collection five stars, I think I'm biased toward this one with how beautiful that exchange was, and it will be important to me for a while to come for that reason.

Still, this collection is deserving of its high rating. Nearly every story was engaging, and my favorite was "Office Hours" - a good portal story always pulls me in. However, the moment that hit me most intensely was from "Peking Duck", where Ling Ma writes: "A boy, at best, can adore his mother, but a girl can understand her."

An absolutely stunning collection that will stick with me!

I had read "Peking Duck" in the New Yorker some months ago and was astounded by the story. I don't think I've read a piece before that aches with such honesty for the immigrant experience so much as Ling Ma does with her work. The realism of the mother-daughter relationship and the inability of the mother to speak echoed in the tropes and bring such a catharsis to the ending.

I have to preface this by saying I was already a fan of Severence. It was one of my favorite books from the last year, with how it winds loops in time, genre, narrative, and tropes. I love a good self-referential piece of art that just toes the line of self-gratuitous. Not to mention the absolute timeliness of that book, my god.

While Bliss Montage is a collection, there is still a similar linkage between the stories--a beating truth that betrays the personhood of the narrator with every ending. I love the fabulism and their metaphorical veneers, which carry an energy while still leaving space for emotional truth to shine through.

Overall, the collection flies by quickly. In an interview, Ma said she had to actively resist the tropes of the "immigrant story" in her MFA. The urgency to tell a more truthful story, while still grounded by the reality of existing in an immigrant body, is hyper-present in Bliss Montage.

Having read and loved Severance by this author, I was really interested to see how the slightly off kilter depiction of every day life would translate into short fiction. Happily, I wasn't disappointed. This is a really interesting collection of stories, some of which are very speculative in tone (Yeti Lovemaking and G) and others which are firmly grounded in reality with a slight twist (Peking Duck, Tomorrow). I think my particular favourites were Oranges which I found quite sinister in a delightful, vengeful way and Office Hours, which was quite poignant and sweet with a kicker of an ending. Overall, this collection has cemented Ling Ma as an auto-read author for me and I can't wait to see what she offers up next!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma. Published September 2022.
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I don't typically gravitate towards short story collections, but I read Ling Ma's Severance (a pandemic novel) in March 2020 (an uncomfortable time to be reading pandemic novels), and loved it, so I was keen to get my hands on copy of Bliss Montage. Thanks to Net Galley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the digital ARC!
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I found each story in the collection bleeds a bit into the next. The stories involve lonely, yearning protagonists, most of them Asian American women, who find themselves in surreal or even outlandish situations - but Ling Ma describes the bizarre with the same calm prose as the mundane.
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"Peking Duck" is arguably the stand out story of the collection: a story that "frames and reframes an anecdote" about migration and its intergenerational effects. But every story in the collection brings some new distortion of reality: a mother whose unborn baby already has an arm sticking out of her body; a woman living in a mansion with all of her ex-boyfriends and her husband who only speaks in dollar signs; a story about a street drug that makes you invisible; or the "yeti story" (IYKYK and IYDKYDK).
I saw another reviewer on goodreads refer to this collection as "A24esque" and I think that's an appropriate description: perhaps a bit more "Montage" than "Bliss".
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#blissmontage #lingma #farrarstrausgiroux #netgalley #shortstory #shortstories #bookpost #bookreview #bookstagram #severance

This book did not get nearly enough press for the quality of the stories. Definitely an author with long lasting potential