This book has been on my radar for a good few years now, so I'm happy I finally got around to reading it, as it was a very strong collection of short stories. As with most short story collections, I found some stories to be more personally enjoyable, and stronger in narrative tone, than others. The first story particularly gripped me, of the two girl best friends, and I do think that its slightly longer length helped the main characters to feel more concrete, as opposed to some of the later stories where I struggled to detach from one plotline without accidentally merging it into the next story sometimes. I did find that the storytelling lost a bit of its steam towards the end, and there wasn't enough of a uniqueness to differentiate them from the short stories that had come before, but overall I really enjoyed the tone of the tales, and will look out for more.

I had a few download issues with the book and by the time it was sorted, the file had unfortunately been achieved.

As collections of short stories go, I found "Milk Blood Heat" by Dantiel W. Moniz quite uneven. However, several stories were so moving that they made up for the ones I couldn't connect with.

The author has a literary courage to explore difficult and very dark topics with such grace and talent. She's so observant of the raw, human experiences and desires. Great and engaging read.

An absolutely fantastic short story collection that centres around the lives of women, finding their way and often struggling, in the world. The stories cover a range of interesting and heavy topics, such as sexual abuse and miscarriage. Despite the subject matter, Moniz writes in a wonderfully raw and honest way that allows for character connection, despite the brief snapshot we see of each characters life.

Milk blood heat // Dantiel W Moniz

A debut short story collection full of southern Floridian charm, reminding me of The secret lives of church ladies & What it means when a man falls from the sky.

Slice of life in style but perhaps with a little less subtlety and focused almost entirely on the female. There was an umph, an impulse, behind each of these stories. You felt something tactile when reading. The title story, milk blood heat opens with two young girls making a blood pact, that opens the door to disaster.

Necessary bodies ponders the question of prospective parenthood from a young couple in the precarious gig economy, the pressure of motherhood from your own mother and the ongoing catastrophe of the world on fire, asking what so many of us are thinking, without using trite dystopian themes to do so.

There is darkness there in all of them, often times creating a visceral reaction in the reader, a sour taste in your mouth. No story concludes with much resolution but satisfaction in knowing these women’s lives continue beyond the pages we are privy to, make it all the more compelling.

Throughout the collection the humidity of Florida is felt, there is a building of tension between the chapters, that uncomfortable feeling that quickly develops when stuck in inescapable heat. Thematically, the sticky temperatures and fragile dispositions of these women in the uniting factor in Moniz’s storytelling, I can only hope we get a full length novel next.

A gorgeous debut from a wickedly talented new author. The characters were easy to invest in. Atmospheric, haunting and superbly plotted.

I found the stories in this book to be powerful, and at times, even difficult to read.

The mother who loses her baby, and the story of the two best friends were dark and moving and I found that the author really put depression and loss into great perspective.

Some of the other stories were not to my taste, but the great ones more than made up for the mediocre.

Thank you Netgalley and Atlantic Books for providing me with the e-book version of this book!

I really love reading short story collections, but I always find it quite tricky to find one where I can love or even enjoy every story. Luckily, this wasn’t the case with this book!

It’s almost hard to believe that this is a debut collection. The writing is so gripping and well-structured, the stories are incredibly engaging, and the themes of each story are super diverse and heavy-hitting. Each story is so incredibly unique and complex. I particularly liked the fact that endings are never really what you expect and never really give a full answer, but instead, it makes you think and lets you reflect on the whole story.

I thoroughly enjoyed every single story in the collection and would definitely recommend it!
(4.5 stars rounded up to 5)

Really fresh and interesting collection. It was very clever too - most stories had important social commentary weaved throughout without being too on the nose which I really loved. There was a real art to every story that left you pondering but also feeling really content with how things played out.

What was so notable is that every character was clear, developed and strong despite only seeing them for a short time. Excited for more from this author!

Thank you NetGalley!

Amazing read, truly memorable.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Short stories are my THING. One of my favourite things to read (and hopefully one day write). This collection was beautiful. Moniz writes with sharpness and precision, and you can feel the ache among these characters and stories. I will continue thinking about these characters long after the final page.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read this short story collection quickly, some where better than others and I felt like I felt more of a bond with some charcaters wereas I felt nothing for others, all of them however were chilling and stuck in my mind and for that reason I have to give this collection 4 stars

Milk Blood Heat is an amazing collection, it was hard to believe this was a debut. I am not a fan of short story collections usually as I find they lack depth, however, every story in Milk Blood Heat was really impactful. Moniz really is a master! I will be on the lookout for more from this author. My favourite story was probably Monster. I didn't expect the themes to be so dark but I really enjoyed that.

I nearly had to mark this as a DNF but managed to struggle through as thankfully the stories are short. I didn’t connect with any of the stories and wasn’t gripped at all.

As often with short stories,this was a mixed bag... there will always be ones you prefer over others.

It covers a wide range of situations,and the people in them.
I didnt have a stand out story,but enjoyed the writing throughout.
It definitely put this new author on my radar

This was quite an eerie short story collection; two thirteen year old girls make a game out of all the ways in which they could die, a woman struggles not to resent her stepdaughter following her miscarriage, a man is unable to process that his wife is dying from cancer. Mortality is the theme and while some of the stories stuck in the memory more than others, there was a bewitching quality to the book as a whole. As one character Sylvie attends a moon festival, she sits 'among them, enraptured by their stories, realizing for the first time that every one of us was a link stretching back, mother to daughter to mother, in an unbroken chain from the center of time, connected by milk and blood.' There are moments of deep recognition between women, friends, mothers and daughters and it is this sense of connection which lingered long after I finished the book.