A good book to sit with and enjoy some quality times. Readers go for it. The coiled serpent will keep you coiled too.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

If I had to describe this book in a few words, they would be: moist, crusty, disturbing, and repulsive. This book is disgusting and uncomfortable, but in a good way if you're looking for something to gross you out.

Some of the stories are forgettable, but others are standouts that make this book worth it. My favorites are:

The Custard Factory (A mother's sticky revenge for the abuse of her daughter), Madam Flora's (A specialized school for girls missing their periods), The Coiled Serpent (Three grimy tech bros try semen retention - This one included a poem in binary at the end, which I took the time to convert to English), and The Meat Eater (A woman's extreme and deadly obsession with a man)

To say this book is weird is an understatement. It gives you perspectives that no one needs from some really sick or abused characters. If you're a fan of unsettling horror and don't mind graphic content, this collection might be for you.

Unfortunately for me after reading the first 4 stories in this book I just cannot find the willpower to continue and so have to mark this as a DNF.
I love the grotesque and morbid angle of the stories and this is what drew me to this book from blurb. However, there just isn't enough substance for me and I've found the stories to be disjointed and just generally difficult to follow.
There's no real sense of feeling for any of the characters, but this could just be my preference for full novels over short stories.

If you enjoy short stories with a macabre nature then I think you'd really enjoy this book!

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this book via Netgalley

The Coiled Serpent is weird and grotesque and yet, I couldn’t stop reading.

Not going to lie I did really struggle with a pretty much every one of the stories, but that uncomfortable aspect is part of its appeal. I don’t know how best to explain this beyond that, but what an addictive collection of short stories.

this is a DNF for me.

I had high hopes for this book but after reading the first 3 stories I was left thinking what was the point of each one? It just seems a lot of what is in the stories is added for shock value and being gross which I don't mind and actually enjoy if done well but that isn't the case here. There is no substance under any of it. Everything seemed too random, There was no connection within each story, this made them feel unfinished and I just couldn't force myself to sit through the remaining stories.

thank you to netgalley and Unnamed Press | The Unnamed Press for sharing a digital copy. as always, opinions are my own.

I did not like this book. It was a collection of stories that focused on grotesque and disturbing horrific scenes and scenarios. I thought it was deeply disturbing and am curios as to why this was even written. I think it is not for me

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and especially the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review of the book!!

The most common reaction I had while reading the book was receiting "what the fuck, what the fuck, what the actual fuck" on a loop. I found most of the stories quite bizarre and didn't knew what to think of most of them tbh, especially at the beggining.

The book tackle themes of body horror here and there but imo where the book shines the most is in it's descriptions of truly the most grotesque situations. Not only is Grudova great at coming up with the exact situation/imagery to disgust you (the son in the third story, iykyk) but I think it becomes even more disgusting and disturbing when you sit for a moment and meditate the fact that this IS life for a lot of people. It is exagerated, but it also reflects accurately what a lof of folks have to go through because of 🌈capitalism🌈

Putting that aside, I did find myself kind of disapointed that a lot of the stories seemingly had no plot? They felt a bit like outlines (very curt narration, not much description) or first drafts. It would be like peering into the life of this random person one moment and then at a random point the story ends. I suspect both the language she used and the nature of the narrative might have to do, again, with the fact that this are supposed to be your random everyday person, whose lives are just kind of unremarkable? Yet the simplicity of the language makes it that more shocking when you read someone eating vomit nonchalantly because there is just no build up, there's no sensation that this is a special moment, it's just part of every day life.

I think for me this is might of those books that becomes more enjoyable when you read it a second or third time. Because on first read I think it is quite easy to fixate on the grotesque parts and overlook the social critique.

A wickedly sharp and dark collection of short stories where the real twists inexorably into the surreal. I love how the world and the characters feel so rooted in the real world, yet drift so far and so deep into the utterly, and spectacularly, weird.

This collection is great for fans of gore, the grotesque, and body horror. Grudova seems to be fascinated with bodily fluids, excrement, rotten food, bugs and other creepy crawly things, highlighting how disgusting human and nonhuman bodies can be. While not all the stories stood out to me, many seemed to recycle the same gory details in different configurations, the ones that did delighted me (“Ivor,” “The Custard Factory,” “The Poison Garden,” “Madame Flora’s”). These stories all shared a temporal murkiness that piqued my curiosity. I kept thinking a story was set in some historical past only to be surprised by the mention of something from our contemporary moment; kind of like purposeful anachronisms. All in all, if you’re a queasy reader, I’d recommend staying away, but if you’re fascinated by gore then this might work for you.

i'd technically give this a 3.5 star rating! i enjoyed the author's general style as well as her attention to detail. the plots were unique, too; i haven't seen these ideas anywhere els. but the 'horror' and 'gothic' labels are somewhat misleading here; grudova's stories feel more strange and grotesque (i'm talking bodily fluids - lots of it) than anything. still, i enjoyed it and will be on the lookout for anything else the author publishes in the future.

Such a strange, unique and interesting collection of stories. Even though it took me a few of them to fully get into it, I simply couldn't stop reading no matter what. Such an incredible writing style and an absolutely amazing way to turn the mundane into something more. Every single story is so thought-provoking, I had the best time while reading this and I found myself wanting more by the end.

Many thanks to Unnamed Press & NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

A collection of magically bizarre short stories.
Standalone however some themes are reoccurring in other stories, great selection of horror, dystopia and gothic fiction.
Incredible sharp language, At times it did feel a bit rushed.

This collection of short stories is written to gross you out. If you like Mariana Enríquez's work, particularly The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, you might enjoy this. Unfortunately, I find these stories too disjointed to leave an impression. They have tons of disgusting imagery but offer nothing beyond that.

This was a strange collection of short stories that I really enjoyed. I think you have to appreciate offkilter characterizations and settings to enjoy this, however. Fortunately for me, I love obscure and satirical tales.

The Coiled Serpent is an intriguing novel that blends myth, mystery, and suspense into a captivating narrative. The story unravels like a puzzle, with richly drawn characters and an atmospheric setting that enhances the sense of danger lurking beneath the surface. The author skillfully intertwines ancient symbolism with modern dilemmas, creating a story that feels both timeless and relevant. The pacing keeps you on edge, and the plot twists are both surprising and satisfying. It's a compelling read for anyone who enjoys a mix of mythology and psychological drama.

I don’t feel like this author’s writing works in short story format for me. I never really saw a point or entertainment value in any of the stories I finished. Perhaps in longer format I could settle into the oddness, because the stories were quite unique. They just felt like a joke I wasn’t in on.

Very good writing but the many stories aren't equal in quality or memorability. However, I am still looking forward to this author's future projects.

I don‘t really know what to make of this collection of short stories. They are weird and disgusting, but without any real sense of horror. I found myself getting bored very quickly. I struggled to really see the point or the purpose of most of the stories. I was intrigued by the supposed social criticism of British institutions but felt this didn‘t really hit the mark for me.

The Coiled Serpent offers a collection of stories that aim for the unsettling, but for me, they fell short of being truly creepy. While some scenes leaned into grotesque imagery, the horror felt more like disjointed fever dreams than anything that left a lasting impression. Instead of building tension or fear, many of the stories meandered through surreal, almost disorienting landscapes that didn’t seem to go anywhere meaningful.

The writing is vivid, but the lack of a cohesive atmosphere or deeper creep factor made it hard to stay invested. It’s not that the stories were bad, but they seemed more bizarre than unnerving, which may appeal to some readers but didn’t quite land for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.
I was eager for strange, thought-provoking short stories, but I was disappointed. The frequent and gratuitous references to bodily fluids felt more shockingly gross than meaningful. The writing style was very simplistic and didn’t engage me—stories often seemed underdeveloped with abrupt endings. It may suit fans of extreme body horror and fragmented fiction, but it wasn't for me.