Emma Cline's short fiction collection, Daddy, gathers stories focused around masculinity and power dynamics. Much like in her debut novel, The Girls, the characters here are mostly lonely and not necessarily likeable. Cline doesn't overwrite the situations they're in, and reading them feels like being a fly on the wall; with the ability to see a situation unfolding, but powerless to change it. There are misunderstandings and microaggressions which seem easy to fix from the outside, but the characters are too caught up in them to see the easy out. Many of the stories don't feel finished at the end (which I love in a short story), and the lack of resolution adds to the sense of being an observer. There's a constant threat of something dark bubbling away underneath these stories, and Cline writes that darkness really really well - as she did in The Girls. Her writing is incredibly good at making it impossible to look away from things we might not want to see. If you liked The Girls, I think you'll love this collection. 
(Thanks for @netgalley and @vintagebooks for the ARC)

Admittedly, I write this review as one of the few people who's not read Emma Cline's The Girls. Even so, I can comfortably say that Cline's prose are as dark, thought-provoking, and mysterious as the acclaim for The Girls implied.

Daddy explores a number of relationships and power dynamics through the lenses of various characters in various short stories. Some stories are more sinister than others, but the characters are all alarmingly real, flawed, and relatable (sometimes to a cringeworthy extent). Again, I've not read The Girls, but would recommend this to fans of Cline's past writing or those who enjoy the writing of Shirley Jackson and Chuck Palahniuk.

I loved this story collection. Great themes, well structured, great pacing and I found every story interesting. A firm five star read.

This collection of short stories shows different aspects of masculinity and mostly toxic masculinity. I really enjoyed the differences between the stories, which explored different types of men and their relationships to the women in their lives. I'd recommend this book.

For a collection of short stories linked by misery, this was a surprisingly enjoyable read. However, it’s like there’s one step in each story missing, making it hard to grasp on who characters are so I had to keep flicking back to check names. Other information that Cline chooses to miss out (although this is not necessarily a bad thing) are the especially terrible details of the actions of her characters, like exactly what Richard’s son did to a classmate in ‘Northeast Regional’ and what scandalous circumstances meant that Ben has to leave his job in ‘Menlo Park’. It was definitely worth a read anyway.

A series of ten short stories by the author of The Girls.

- A father frets over his distracted daughter and reflects on life and family during a visit from his grown up children over the Christmas holiday.

- An aspiring actress who works in a store selling overpriced clothes sells her own worn underwear to men she doesn’t know.

- A man ruminates on his own troubles as he edits the biography of a billionaire who seems set on rewriting his own lifetime achievements.

- An ageing and fading movie man meets an old friend for dinner ahead of attending a showing of the first film produced by his son.

- A young woman hides from the paparazzi following a brief affair with an actor, for whom she’d been a nanny to his son.

- A young man who lives with his pregnant partner and her brother dreams of escaping to a new life.

- A middle-aged man travels to his son’s boarding school to attempt to resolve a problem whilst wrestling with issues in his own life.

- A woman remembers her first real friend and time spent with her free-living parents as an eleven-year-old.

- A man in his early fifties meets old friends for a meal and then broods over his past and present relationships women and his financial worries.

- Two women attending a ‘pre-rehab’ centre in the desert become obsessed with a male celebrity who checks in.

These stories show glimpses of people’s lives, with the focus typically on one participant in each tale. Typically, we witness a good deal of reflection: how did I get to this place, what might have gone differently? There is disillusionment here too as each seems to feel that things might have taken a different path, that it could have worked out better. Relationships with friends, family and lovers are dissected and examined, worries and frailties exposed.

Like all short story collections I’ve read, some engaged me more than others but I did find myself wondering if I’d made some of the same erroneous decisions, if I harboured a number of identical regrets or if I hid similar weaknesses to the protagonists here. Yes, it’s one of those books that makes you think about your own life, what I’ve done and what I haven’t done. Have I lived, as they say, ‘my best life’? I suppose that question is almost certain to be answered in the negative, perhaps the more so the older you get.

A few stories ended a little too abruptly for me, just as I was becoming invested in where it would go next - but that’s just how it works with short stories. And mostly I was happy to witness these segments of a bigger story and move on. These satisfying snacks can be gobbled up quickly and I really enjoyed the of settings, the diversity of characters and mixture of emotions the stories stirred in me. I wouldn’t call the stories uplifting but most captured my attention, made me pause and think.

I wouldn’t ordinarily opt to read a collection of short stories as I haven’t previously connected enough to the characters, I often have found the stories rushed too.

This is not the case with Daddy by Emma Cline. I found the structure of the story where we read from is very clever. Most of the collection start straight after a fall out of some sort, sometimes huge like a celebrity affair exposed or sometimes smaller like a discovery of a pregnancy. Very rarely are we given any back story so it allows the reader to imagine the circumstances and at the point it stops you want to read more.

The title ‘Daddy’ suggests an undertone of a father figure and the unbalanced, dishonest, depressed and sometimes dangerous male characters supports that.

Thank you to Net Galley for allowing me an opportunity to read an advanced copy, my main thanks because you have introduced me to an author whose style I loved, writes beautifully and I want to read more.

I somehow missed the hype about Emma Cline’s The Girls a few years back so came to her collection of short stories with no preconceptions or expectations. I like short stories, although it often takes me weeks, months, alas, even years to get through a collection as it’s just so easy to put them down and pick up something else in between.

Not so with Daddy. Each story captivated me and stayed with me for long after. Emma Cline has a way of writing people that really gets under your skin. We meet deeply flawed characters, all trying to find their way in life or making up for past mistakes; there’s drug addicts, cheating partners, dysfunctional families, teens escaping the grim reality of life.

These stories aren’t uplifting and there are no happy endings. In fact, there are no “proper” endings and I often found myself wanting for the stories to keep going, to get some resolution, but again, that’s where her narratives emulate life. I did think that each story provided material for more, as if she could have made a novel out of each one of them, but I guess that’s the beauty of the short story and of her writing, leaving me wanting more.

While there are continuities in this collection around issues of power and risk, I found these stories too bland - not necessarily in terms of what happens as some of the content has the power to be sensational but bland in the quiet narrative voice which almost stays as a monotone throughout the book. I suspect it's supposed to be understated, but changes of pace and tonality would have worked better for me. I also thought that many of these stories feel unfinished: perhaps in resisting the easy 'sting in the tale' trope, these go too far in the opposite direction and remain unresolved not in a provocative way, but more like just dropping off a cliff. Some of the material would lend itself to greater exploration and would benefit from being able to breathe a bit more. Too many similarities in setting, theme and structure for my taste end up making these stories too similar.

These short stories from Emma Cline are absolutely brilliant. Each one follows a similar structure, carefully presenting characters and filling them out with precise details from their histories. The end of each story is like pulling the wrong block out of a Jenga tower - the narrative comes crashing down around the reader and there were a few occasions I felt genuinely cheated of a more complete ending. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy them, I really did, and as soon as I became used to the structure of the pieces, I became more comfortable with what to expect. I would recommend these stories to everyone who enjoys the genre.

I really loved Emma Cline's 'The Girls' and as a fan of short stories too I have been really excitedly anticipating this. However, it just didnt live up to the expectations I had for it. It felt a bit like reading a copy of Cline's personal notebooks where she woukd wrote down ideas for future stories. There were great ideas in there, and the odd poignant moment, but these were all too brief. I read short stories regularly so am used to the brevity, I genuinely feel that it is an undervalued form, but i just dont think these stories have anywhere near the power of 'The Girls'. There are some interesting thoughts but unfortunately the whole collection feels unfinished and underdeveloped.

This is not a book likely to bring joy to the reader. It is a series of well enough constructed stories about dysfunctional families, drug addicts and deviants of other kinds. These conditions exist of course but there does not seem to be much point to a collection of them. None have an ending. The reader is left wondering what happened next but perhaps that is where lies the purpose.

I loved Emma Cline’s debut novel The Girls and so was keen to read her first short story collection, ‘Daddy’.
I know that publishers always claim that short story collections don’t sell but I’ve often discovered a new author through them.
There are nine dark stories in ‘Daddy’ and Cline isn’t afraid to explore the seamier side of relationships and the manipulative power struggles within them. These are not only between men and women but also between best freinds and parents and children as they clash.
In the first story, ‘What Can You Do with a General’, John and his wife Linda are looking forward to having their grown up family home for Christmas. But all is not well as seething rage ripples beneath the surface as they gather round to watch DVDS of home movies of past celebrations. Linda wants ‘the neutering of his anger’ and she and the adult children walk on eggshells around John.
In ‘Los Angeles’, Alice, a sales assistant in a trendy clothes shop is taking acting lessons and managing to avoid the grim reality of her life. Alice’s former friends are getting married and having children and post pictures of their babies ‘ curled like shrimp on fur rugs.’ When she needs money to continue the classes she decides on a very risky side hustle and her final encounter is more than she bargained for….
Several of Cline’s protagonists are waiting for their big break or their redemption. Ben, a washed-up writer in ‘Menlo Park’ is desperate to get back into the big time and hopes that editing a ghost written memoir will achieve this. But a misunderstanding and his desperation doesn’t help his case.
In Kayla’s story, ‘The Nanny’, she is holed up in her mother’s ex- college room mate’s house waiting for her notoriety to pass. But what has she got to return to? The parade has already passed for her.
Two older men, George and William, meet in an unfashionable restaurant before going to see the movie that George’s son, Benji, has produced. George knows too well that Benji has a habit of taking and abandoning jobs and interests and sees him as a loser. But who does Benji thank so warmly in his speech on the stage?
I found some of the protagonists such as Richard in ‘NorthEast Regional’ and Thora in ‘a/s/l/’ really unlikeable but that didn’t detract from Cline’s skill in portraying them and their world so well. Richard appears to have no idea of how much his domineering personality has influenced his son who has been expelled from college over a violent incident. He has open contempt for the married women that he sleeps with , ‘women whose lingerie was haunted by the prick of the plastic tag they’d tried to snap off so that he wouldn’t realise that it was new.’
The adult children in these stories seem to flounder as they try to find their way in the world and the ex-wives become bit players or voices on the phone to their husbands. Cline portrays so well the shifting sands of family ties. I also liked the author’s wry comments as in ‘Arcadia; where the junior college farm workers cars were identifiable by the bumper stickers ‘as if they needed even the vehicles to have opinions.’
A good collection of contemporary stories and I am looking forward to Cline’ s next novel.

A uniquely insightful collection of short stories. Cline has created vivid snapshots into the lives of ten fundamentally different and unrelated characters that she threads together with themes of masculinity, “daddy” issues, fractured relationships and violence to form this cohesive collection. There were some stories I connected with on a more personal level than others however, connection or no, I found I simply couldn’t put this book down. This is a thought-provoking read and, whether you like it or not, I have no doubt that everyone who reads this will find something to relate to.

I read Emma Cline’s debut novel “The Girls” last year and while it wasn’t my favourite book I really enjoyed her writing style, so was very excited to be given the opportunity to read her short story collection.

“Daddy” is a collection of ten short stories exploring the the dark corners of human relationships. The characters are flawed and most of the stories seem to focus on them at their lowest, almost teetering at self destruction. Each story was unsettling and though provoking.

I enjoyed Cline’s writing, her prose flows effortlessly and beautifully and really pulls you into the story. But most of the stories left me feeling unsatisfied as they just seem to abruptly end and I wanted more from them.

My favourites out of the collection were “The Nanny”, “A/S/L” and “Los Angeles”.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Each story in this collection left me with one of two feelings - melancholy or disturbed. They're about what's unsaid as much as what is said, and most of them feel like they could have gone longer, but paradoxically, they don't feel unfinished. In some I did miss the point and I didn't find the collection as a whole as successful as her novel The Girls (which is one of my all time favourites).

There's a definite cynical edge to a lot of these. Cline is a strong observer of human behaviour, but she doesn't seem to particularly like these characters.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ten short stories thematically linked by ‘daddy’, from the writer of ‘Girls’ which I loved.
Skilful characterisation and vivid, varied creation of context. Intriguing interactions with secrets and tension between the ‘daddy’ figure and dependents; figures of authority and the disadvantaged advocate ‘daddies’
Found myself racing to the end of each story to discover the secret, the reason for the tension, the awkward truths from the past; the ‘twist’, the resolution
But sometimes the reader is only partially satisfied. Elliptical endings need to feed us, to leave us pondering,. These left a bleakness behind; a longing for some kind of hope for development and fulfilment.
Thank you #NetGalley and #RandomHouse for my pre-release download.

Cline is a great observer and that detail is clear to see in this collection. For me, however, the stories work best as standalones - as a collection there is quite a lot of repetition in style and thought and motive (or lack thereof). Which is not to say it isn't a beguiling read - more that it's one to dip in and out of rather than sit and devour whole. Still, a class act.

I read Emma Cline’s first book and enjoyed it. But I absolutely loved this. I generally love short story compilations anyway but this was particularly skilled. And I can re-read short stories over and over so it’s one to enjoy more than once. 5/5.

Firstly I do think Cline is a good writer with a lot of ideas that I would be interested in reading about. However, it seems the ideas are good in theory but in practice the execution is pretty disappointing. I found a majority of the short stories pretty bland. I did enjoy the story Los Angeles but there weren't any other stories I found particularly memorable or intriguing.