Emily Zhao's Bookshelf

I picked up this collection of short stories when at a local book fair, and it's a three and a half stars from me. I enjoyed the vividly descriptive imagery and propulsory writing, however there is a significant lack of structure that I understand could turn some readers away. Unlike Neil Gaiman's collection of stories, which have a much clearer plot, these stories are more absurd and require more effort on the part of the reader to make sense of it and draw conclusions for themselves. Personally, I'm not always a fan of abrupt endings, as they feel unfinished and I think there could have been heavier emphasis on the connection between the human and animal body to the plots of the stories.

This collection is definitely supposed to read one-by-one and in multiple sittings, as they all offer little takeaways and fantastic scenes that will stick with me for a while. It will for sure take some time to dig for the meaning beneath the layers of dark humour, melancholy themes, imperfect characters, and surreal language, but ultimately very worth it!