I absolutely adore Augustina Bazterrica’s writing, as she has such a unique style. I loved a handful of stories from this collection, and the rest were misses for me. I think that’s something that is always a gamble for readers and short story collections. I still highly recommend this to all horror lovers, as the stories I did love made it entirely worth the read.

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica is a collection of short horror stories. This wasn't for me. I typically love the horror genre, but I just didn't really enjoy this. The imagery was good but the plots to the story were just meh. This is my first book by Bazterrica, but I still plan on reading Tender is the Flesh.

I couldn't quite get in to this book. I can see that it would appeal to others, just not my sort of thing.

These stories start with a crack, bang, and an explosive boom. Think of action words like smack, slash, and whoosh. Combine this with a kind of tender vulnerability and you have the ingredients for surprising results. In the very first story, the author introduces color and texture as ways to describe the heart-pounding feeling of a near-miss with calamity. The flow of danger towards the main character has a menacing component, nearly alive. The shock of it

Thank you to Scribner & NetGalley for allowing me to read this book

I couldn't put this down, but I also wanted to take my time reading because I was enjoying it so thoroughly! The dark humor left me audibly gasping and running to my partner to read excerpts to him.

I knew I wanted to read Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird because I love all things short stories, macabre, and Latin American literature. The stories are clever and told through a sharp lens. Many of the stories left me questioning what I'd just read, in awe of their expert execution. The commentary on prominent issues, like violence on women, is poignant, powerful, and chilling. I love Augustina's style of writing and ability to set a haunting atmosphere.

I hadn't read Tender is the Flesh yet because I had it on hold at my library, but the fact that it finally came in today is kismet! Augustina is now an auto-buy author for me, and I just ordered a physical copy of Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird to be able to keep for my personal library. I plan on revisiting each story again to meditate on each one slowly with how on point their messages are.

Thank you for sharing an e-copy with me!

I loved these spooky stories! There are only a few that are gory, most are more tense and creepy than anything. They still alighted on the sometimes lonely and depressing nature of being a person. I loved the writing style and need to read Tender is the Flesh!

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for sending me a digital copy of this collection in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first time reading Agustina Bazterrica's work and I'm glad that I did. This collection does a great job of exploring familiar concepts like family, religion, solitude, community, and death in a way that is haunting and disgusting in the most thoughtful way. The raw and sometimes difficult to read stories made me see the world a bit differently, and I admire Bazterrica's careful craftsmanship with each of these horrifying vignettes. I'll likely read more work by this author in the future.

Intimate snapshots of creeping horror do not disappoint.
Some of these stories play out more like small scenes, often beautifully written, the greater stories depend on our imagination, an interesting take on literary horror that was a good fit for me, but took me a bit to settle into. Each story built upon the others momentum until nowhere was safe, least of all my mind.

A lot is said this collection of short stories and there are some that I would rate 5 and others I would rate 2. They're weird and engaging with a lot of commentary on patriarchy, violence against women, etc, which I really liked about it. I just also found the concept of some of them to be fascinating enough to want more and others I found myself wishing were slightly shorter. I don't often read a collection of short stories, so I would count this one as a win.

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird is a nice little collection of short horror stories in the same line as Agustina Bazterrica's other work. If you liked Tender is the Flesh, you'll love this.

I really liked this collection and I ran through it in no time. I really enjoyed having multiple mini works by the author in one collection.

My favorites were Mary Carminum & The Solitary Ones.


Thank you for the ARC of this book.


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Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird is a collection of dark and unique short stories from the author of Tender is the Flesh.

Though it had a few stories that I really enjoyed, I personally was not a big fan of Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird. I was expecting something fresh and terrifying, or even with a creeping sense of fear and it fell short of the mark in both fear and in my opinion, writing. I am a fan of short stories and of horror/thriller writing, but unfortunately not this.

Again, there were some great short stories sprinkled in there but not enough for me to really enjoy the whole collection.

Short stories often don’t work for me, but couldn’t resist this author. I ended up really enjoying… reminded me of telling ghost stories with friends in the basement during our teen years. The short story element really worked here!

I loved Tender is the Flesh, so I was happy to see that we’d be getting another translation of Agustina Bazterrica’s work. This is a collection of 20 short stories. These all have dark, literary themes, and I enjoyed reading the majority of them.

My favorites were Roberto, Unamuno’s Boxes, Anita and Happiness, Earth, A Hole Hides a House, and Mary Carminum. These were all dark with a twist at the end. I really didn’t know what was going to happen next!

These 20 stories are all rather short, so it was a really fast read for me. Especially since I didn’t want to put the book down; I kept wanting to see what the next story would bring! I’d recommend this to anyone into dark literature or fans of Tender is the Flesh.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC.

I absolutely love dark and literary fiction and I wanted this collection to impede my thoughts, disrupt my mind and stay with me long after reading, ecspecially for such heavy content but unfortunately I think my expectations were set a bit too high, after having read, Tender is the Flesh." While I appreciate the literary writing style and the elevated societal implications of humanity, the stories within this collection simply didn't stay with me for too long.

Here are some of the stories I enjoyed the most though and a glimpse into each one's content:
▪︎ Mendez
▪︎ Candy Pink
▪︎ Anita and Happiness
▪︎ No Tears
▪︎ The Continuous Equality of the Circumference
▪︎ Mary Carminum

The stories did show great range, though, and certainly kept each page flip interesting...
^^^My favorites touched on neighbors, breakups, SA, otherworldly beings, family traditions, perfection, violence, hopelessness and a rating system. 👀 keeping it brief...as to let the next reader enjoy without knowing too much of what's to come!

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for this ARC! I was a big fan of Tender Is The Flesh so when I saw Agustina was releasing another book, I ran to request it. I throughly enjoyed these short stories and how unique they all were. Bazterrica’s writing is harrowing and flows so well. My favorite of the stories were Mary Carminum, Candy Pink, Dishwasher, and Unamuno’s Boxes.

20 short stories. I enjoyed the majority of them and by the end of many I was left saying “wtf” in a good way! Some were twisted and morbid and I loved them. These also include dark humor and a few of the stories had me laughing. I do feel that some could have been cut out and expanded on others instead but they all worked. The themes within each story were all similar in some ways which made this as a collection work well. I love anything Agustina Bazterrica writes so this was a win for me, As I read each story, I rated them and came out to an average of 3.5 but this is a 4 star collection for me because the vibes were what I wanted them to be. I can’t wait to read more by the author.

A deliciously dark collection of 19 short stories that depicts everything that is cruel, brutal and yet sometimes humorous about loss, death, murder, suicide, and the human experience. The writing is grotesque and macabre, and left me with a slightly haunted feeling.

This was my first book reading short stories and my first Agustina Bazterrica book and wow! I was so invested in each story, but was satisfied with each ending. You could tell how creative the author is. I'm curious to read Tender is the Flesh now.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Agustina Bazterrica is the queen of unease.

The Argentine author of the wildly successful novel Tender is the Flesh is back with the newest English translated release, Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird; Stories. A chilling look into modern Argentina and the everyday horrors that haunt.

The collection is full of suspense and dread, and Bazterrica does a masterful job of creating a sense of unease. She explores the horror in our own daily sanity glitches. From story to story, the prose is unique, exceptional, dreadful, and agonizingly relevant to the daily horrors of life with unexpected and fluid twists. Readers are left wondering whether the suspected monsters are imaginary, fantastical, or coping mechanisms to a fractured individual.

The author's talent at describing characters' physique and faces is also a highlight, "she had the eyes of a filthy, infertile, solitary cat."

If you enjoyed her first novel, this genre bending collection is a must for your bookshelf. This was the first time I had a book hangover from a short story. It took me a couple of days to continue, and I did not put it down after.

This collection of short stories from the author of Tender is the Flesh was something I was very much anticipating and while I enjoyed some of the tales, some I did not really care for/could not get into.

My favorites of the collection/the stories that felt the most impactful for me were:
- Mary Carinium
- A Hole Hides a House
- The Solitary Ones
- Candy Pink
- Earth

I really do enjoy Bazterrica’s writing style and how she has the range to write some beautiful, almost poetry like prose about horrific and dark topics but can also go the complete opposite where it’s very unhinged and twisted so you’re a bit stunned by the end, so she’s definitely someone I would love to read from again even though some of the stories within 19 Claws were a miss for me.