This is Puloma Ghosh’s debut collection of short stories. There are 11 unique and haunting tales all connected by some type of mouth reference. They touch on loss, loneliness, grief and heartbreak. Each story was an immersive experience! It was like having a fever dream each time and I totally gave myself to it. I really appreciate how Ghosh was able to highlight the human condition in fantastical, creepy, bizarre yet very compelling ways.

My favorite stories without giving too much away were: The Fig Tree which touched on grief, Leaving Things which includes a half wolf/half human baby and Persimmons that tells of the ultimate community sacrifice. If you like stories that challenge you and make you say “what did I just read?” then this collection is for you! I look forward to reading much more from this author!

Full rating: 4.5 stars rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

In her debut collection of short stories, Puloma Ghosh invites readers into a labyrinth of visceral narratives that traverse realms of desire, transformation, and existential inquiry. Each story, a constellation of its own, beckons the reader to delve into its depths, where sapphic yearnings intertwine with surrealist landscapes and existential ponderings.

With "Dessication," Ghosh sets the stage for a journey into the depths of desire and disillusionment. Through the lens of a sapphic romance tinged with vampiric undertones, Ghosh explores themes of existential longing and the ephemeral nature of existence. The narrative brims with evocative prose, frenetic pacing, and atmospheric tension. In "Leaving Things," Ghosh invites readers to witness the process of rewilding—a metaphorical journey of feminine transformation and empowerment. Through the lens of environmental justice and personal growth, Ghosh crafts a narrative that is both introspective and illuminating. With "Anomaly," Ghosh ventures into the realm of temporal distortion and existential inquiry. Through the eyes of an enigmatic narrator, Ghosh navigates themes of identity and belonging with nuance and complexity.

What sets "Mouth" apart is its remarkable cohesiveness. Ghosh demonstrates a keen thematic focus, with recurring motifs and threads that bind the stories together seamlessly. It's a rare feat to find a short story collection that feels so unified in its exploration of diverse themes.

Overall, "Mouth" is a testament to Ghosh's talent and creativity. Her ability to blend sapphic narratives with elements of horror and surrealism is both mesmerizing and thought-provoking. As we emerge from the depths of "Mouth," it's impossible not to be moved by the kaleidoscope of emotions and experiences that Ghosh has crafted. Through stories that transcend genre and convention, Ghosh invites readers to confront the complexities of the human experience with empathy and introspection. “Mouth” is a testament to Ghosh's prowess as a storyteller and a provocateur of thought.

In conclusion, "Mouth" is a triumph—both a testament to Ghosh's prowess as a writer and a captivating exploration of humanity. With its evocative prose and haunting narratives, this collection leaves an indelible mark. Puloma Ghosh is undoubtedly a writer to watch, and "Mouth" is a compelling showcase of her talent and vision.

📖 Recommended For: Advocates for LGBTQ+ Representation, Feminist Readers, Seekers of Surreal and Provocative Narratives, Fans of Carmen Maria Machado's "Her Body and Other Parties."

🔑 Key Themes: Exploration of Desire and Disillusionment, Feminine Transformation and Empowerment, Existential Inquiry and Identity, Reflecting on the Human Experience.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Sexual content (moderate), death of a parent (severe), animal death (moderate), gore (moderate), cancer (minor), drug overdose (minor), drug use (minor), self harm (severe, especially in the story ‘Natalya’).

Mouth is a collection of eleven short stories that explore grief, sexuality and desire, bodily autonomy and the intimacy of humanity all while blurring the lines of reality.

It is very rare to find a short story collection that works as cohesively as Mouth does. It’s clear Puloma has themes she’s very interested in that appear in some way in every story. Death and disappearing are two themes that are heavily featured in this collection. Lemon Boy, Nip and Natalya all showcase the exploration of grieving someone in such a beautifully haunting and visceral way.

Another large theme within this collection is desire. There is a lot of yearning written in such visceral detail, and not all of it is sexual desire. A lot of deep animalistic desires are explored here as well. Giving into the beast inside you in the most horrific ways possible.

The title Mouth is so fitting for this collection. It’s wild it’s weird it’s absurd and I ate it UP! I would love to have a discussion with Puloma so I could see how her mind works. She is definitely a writer to watch.

Mouth is out June 10 2024. Thank you Astra House and Netgalley for this digital arc.

Ahhh this short story collection was so good! The stories in this collection were all very weird and visceral. It was plainly written, but it had a strong voice all throughout. My favorites from the collection are Desiccation, Nip, Natalya, and Persimmons. I found that each story differed greatly from one another, which made it very exciting to see what the author had come up with next.

Puloma Ghosh’s debut anthology featuring 11 short stories focusing on desire, sexuality and loneliness.

An incredible debut with some creepy and well-written stories, it’s hard to believe that this is the first book this author has published! There were plenty of different horror elements included such as body horror, creature features and ghost hauntings so there’s definitely something to cater for everyone!

The standout stories for me where:

Desiccation: 4/5⭐️ a teenage ice skater with necrophiliac tendencies believes that the only other Indian girl at the rink is a vampire - this contained an strange smut scene with some blood drinking 👀

Leaving Things: 4/5⭐️ a town has set a nightly curfew due to wolf attacks and a vet raises a half wolf half human being

K: 5/5⭐️ the ghost of a university student haunts the current student living in her dorm room - the new student discovers the truth behind her disappearance. i found this one to be the creepiest!

Natalya: 5/5⭐️ an autopsy report of an ex-lover - the pathologist examines each of the corpse’s body systems while reporting on their relationship history (TW: self-harm)

Thank you to netgalley and Astra Publishing House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’m keeping an eye out for more work from Puloma Ghosh after this. The curse of short story collections is how hit or miss they can be but there are strong elements I loved even in the stories I was less fond of. Would love to read a full novel by Ghosh in the future! Highly recommended for fans of “weird books for weird girls” booktok heads. 3.75 ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Astra House for the e-ARC!

This short story collection portrays the various experiences of womanhood in raw and vulnerable ways. Ghosh does a lovely job of crafting diverse stories, characters, and character experiences, all while staying consistent with the theme of womanhood. Many of these stories take a deep dive into female friendships, romantic relationships, and family relationships.

The strongest stories are “Leaving Things”, “Lemon Boy”, and “Natalya”. In “Leaving Things”, a woman living in a dystopian small town finds a wolf who, before dying, gives birth to a half human half wolf boy. In “Lemon Boy” the protagonist searches for an anchor in her life and meets a boy at a party, Lemon Boy, who tells her about his ex and the holes she sees. “Natalya” depicts an intimate and vulnerable autopsy of an ex lover.

Ghosh’s collection is strong and succinct. One critique I can offer is the repetition of shedding skin or inhabiting a set of skin. Though, if the collection is examined from a feminist perspective, the inhabiting and shedding of skin certainly makes sense and offers a great critique of modern womanhood.

This was a really solid collection of stories! Very weird, often queer, and beautifully veering from literary into speculative fiction. I enjoyed reading these stories, my favorites being Lemon Boy, Persimmons, In the Winter, and Natalya. The descriptions in these stories really take you in using all five senses, especially (as the title suggests) taste. Highly recommend.

wow! puloma ghosh's debut book consists of eleven chilling stories that explore themes such as love, sexuality, grief and longing. i have had my eyes on this book for some time and had the honor of getting to read it earlier than its release date (june 11, 2024). each story had me in shock and sometimes really creeped out; my favorite being "the fig tree". really enjoyed the nuances of the characters in the stories and how much wonder this book had me feeling. if you're into horror and into tales with chilling twists this book is for you! i'm thinking of adding this one to my physical library

I'm absolutley here for the weird and wonderful - and this one definitely landed in that category! A disturbing collection of short stories and a brilliant debut! Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the EARC x

Thank you NetGalley and AstraHouse Books for this eARC copy of Mouth, out June 11 2024

Mouth is a collection of 11 short stories featuring dystopian, sci-fi elements along with queer exploration & horror that leaves you hungry for more. Puloma Ghosh creates these small worlds where young women engage in their every dark desire, we meet a man haunted by his dead ex, couples traveling through rips in time and werewolves seeking out mothers.

Each story is such a unique experience and there were moments that truly shocked me but I was mesmerized from the start. Ghosh’s writing style has this gentle lull but underneath is a darkness I absolutely enjoyed exploring.

Finished this yesterday but was on a plane and exhausteddddd so never reviewed. These were really cool this second queer short story collection i’ve read this week but this was more fantastical and i actually really liked that. i’m normally not a fantasy person or short story person so it was a pleasant surprise. thought the story about the holes was the strongest but there were so many cool ideas explored here!

thank you to netgalley and astra for the arc!

Well, I think perhaps this might have been a little too bizarre for me- I felt like there was a lot left unexplained.
Leaving Things was my fave - perhaps because it had the most linear structure and was easier to understand.
I loved the writing style, but most of the stories didn’t really do it for me.

Mouth by Puloma Ghosh was an interesting collection of short stories. While I wasn't particularly fond of them, they were very compelling because each story was captivating in its own way. I am not a regular reader or fan of short stories, which may explain why I did not enjoy this as much as I could have. Nonetheless, it's interesting.

Thank you, NetGalley and Astra Publishing House, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I read sooooo many short stories. I’ve spent the last six years reading a short story (almost) every day, and I appreciate a truly original, gripping tale. Puloma Ghosh’s debut collection, Mouth, with its well-crafted, weird, female-centered stories, filled me with joy.

I was won over by the opening story, Desiccation, about a strange, shut-off town, where men go "missing" when they reach a certain age. There’s another odd town in Leaving Things, which has been overrun by wolves, but one woman insists on sticking around.

I loved Anomaly, where a woman goes on a date with someone to a weird wormhole thing. The theme of holes in the universe is continued in Lemon Boy, where a girl meets a boy with lemon-colored hair at a party, where he thinks he's seen his dead ex.

The final story, Persimmon, was probably my favorite. A girl prepares for her last day of freedom, before she is sacrificed to a tree.

There is such a wide variety of imagination on display here. All the stories in Mouth are truly original and exciting.

The stories that are sticking with me the most from this are the last story (Persimmons, about a sacrifice), and the second to last story, Natalya, which marries a love story with an autopsy of a corpse in a really fantastically woven story. This is the first I've heard from this author, and just from what I've seen here, I'm absolutely interested in what she does in the future.

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 of it. 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.

Don't let my rating fool you; Mouth was an interesting read! Through the idea of mouths, Puloma Ghost, in eleven dark and consuming short stories, explores loneliness, sexuality, relationships and grief. My rating is more so because i'm new to reading short stories.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Astra House for providing me with an e-arc.

An interesting, speculative short story collection exploring themes of queerness, consumption, grief, bodies and desire that reminded me of Julia Armfield and K-Ming Chang. Unfortunately I found myself skim reading a couple of these and it won’t be a collection that sticks with me but I can definitely see other people loving this one!!

I loved every story in Mouth, this debut novel of short stories. That rarely happens with me. I appreciate that not every one will be for me but I was seduced by the imaginative stories and writing. This collection of speculative fiction starts with the ordinary lives of people but soon becomes haunting, surreal and evocative. Even if you don't like all the stories, I think you will enjoy most of them. Definitely a book to reread at different stages of your life to appreciate them from a new perspective.

Thank you NetGalley and Astra Publishing House, Astra House for a copy of this ARC to review.