PSA - do not attempt to read when eating

An absolutely scrumptious short story collection from Eliza Clark. Penance and Boy Parts are so different (everyone has a favourite and mine is the second child) and that’s what makes this collection so great - there’s range!

Centred around hunger, if you like dark humour and female rage, there will be something in here for you. Body horror, folklore, satire, speculative fic, romance(?), eco-thriller - is there a genre she cannot write?? It’s great to see Clark trying something new with dystopian/sci-fi stories - these ended up being some of my faves!

Clark writes in such a way that images wiggle into your brain and linger there for days. A couple of these stories were gross (shake well of all the stories made me feel physically sick) but they’re digestible in small chunks (if you’ll pardon the pun).

My favourites were The King and The Shadow Over Little Chitaly.

I didn’t want to rate the stories individually and if you haven’t read them yet it doesn’t mean much - so here are some thoughts in the form of emojis:

build a body like mine - 🪱😊
the problem solver - 😒
she’s always hungry - 👯‍♀️👯‍♀️👯‍♀️🎣
the shadow over little chitaly - 🍕⭐️🥡 (more pls)
hollow bones - 👽🍖🦑
goth gf - 🙇‍♂️🥺👉👈
extinction event -🌵🌍☄️ ???
nightstalker - 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️ also ???
shake well - 🤮🤢
the king - 👑🧛🎢 this !!!!
company man - 🎪🔒

thank you netgalley / faber & faber for providing me an e-arc

I LOVE Eliza Clark and as much as these stories carried her usual uniqueness mixed with grotesqueness and often times dark humour, I don't think this entirely worked for me.

Hunger as a focus point in any work of fiction or non fiction is one of my favourite things and I adored the way this collection explored and experimented with different scenarios. Unfortunately though, despite its short length I frequently found myself simultaneously wanting more and waiting for the stories to wrap up.

(also ~ don't read this whilst eating...)

Eliza Clark’s writing is phenomenal, and this collection was no different. I love how she writes and how she’s able to spin a story, and I loved how this collection came together, with just the right level of unsettling. I cannot recommend this enough and can’t wait to get a physical copy when it’s out

Review: She’s Always Hungry by Eliza Clark

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book was gruesomely brilliant.

She’s Always Hungry is a horror/dystopian short story collection centered around the theme of violence against the inner body.

I’m new to horror, but the combination of short stories and the genre is perfect for me. If you liked Bunny, Cursed Bunny, Natural Beauty or Your Utopia pick this up!! Note: this book has very heavy trigger warnings, the book does list them inside but please research before reading.

The descriptions of body horror in in this book are hauntingly vivid and will make your skin crawl. Clark has mastered contemporary writing and I will buy anything she writes!

My favourite stories:
🔸 She’s Always Hungry
Takes part in a matriarchal coastal village where men are subject to gendered repression and systemic violence. A call from the sea taunts them - and she is always hungry.
🔸 Extinction Event
A new plantlike species which may help humanity survive a climate apocalypse is discovered. The scientists want to observe and preserve it, but the government want to breed and overconsume it. Strong themes around governance and climate change which i enjoyed.
🔸 Shake Well
A teenager gets her abusive older boyfriend to purchase a mysterious cure for acne on the dark web - lots of facial body horror in this one
🔸The King
A superior species exists in isolation of one another, going through extinction events and helping humanity rebuild with them at the top but when two rivals fight for the same throne, chaos follows

GO READ THIS

Clark’s first short story collection didn’t disappoint; I absolutely devoured this collection (lol) over the course of a weekend – I normally read short stories over a few weeks, one or two stories a day, but I could not put this down. It is a really inventive and genre-bending collection of stories, filled with Clark’s signature black humour and razor-sharp, satirical observations on the world from the get-go. Clark helpfully provides a list of content warnings with this one, which is a great shout – she doesn’t shy away from a lot of tough stuff here.
As I mentioned, She’s Always Hungry doesn’t fit neatly into any genre category: the stories range from 1970s sun-soaked slice-of-life to sci-fi flavoured horror. There’s a lot of absurdism, and a lot of cultural critique, filtered through Clark’s delightfully internet-poisoned lens. So much of what makes this collection work is how singular a writer Clark is; she effortlessly blends hilarity and devastation, terror and joy, so the experience of reading it is as fulfilling as is it disquieting.
Though genre is gleefully thrown off the table here, the stories do have a through-line; they all contend with hunger of some sort; from a hunger for bodily perfection, to a hunger to save the world. The collection isn’t massively about food, funnily enough, with the exception of a couple of stories, but the different facets of hunger that Clark explores are fascinating anyway.
Highlights include The Shadow Over Little Chitaly, written entirely through Google reviews of a very strange takeaway; Hollow Bones, a deeply unsettling sci-fi horror story, and Extinction Event, a speculative fiction story that made me cry about plants. I was always going to love this collection as I think Clark is one of the best writers of our time; however, She’s Always Hungry still managed to surpass my very high expectations for it. Fantastic stuff!

This book was enticing, disturbing and unput-downable.

Perfect for a those looking for a quick read that still delivers on every page.

There were short stories in this that had me wanting more and stories that had me wishing it was over.

This is a must read for those who enjoy anthologies and has actually made me keen to delve into them more.

I think this could be the perfect introduction to those wanting to stark reading horror or more specifically Clark’s books.

I was so excited about a new Eliza Clark release and usually love short story collections but unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me.

I’m unsure if it was just the early access Ebook copy I was kindly sent but the formatting made it very difficult to tell when one story ended and another began so I found myself having to go back and check on a number of occasions which interrupted the flow of my reading.

I found that I really enjoyed some of the stories particularly those that were more realistic and enjoyed the humorous side of Clark’s writing. However I found that the stories were all so different to the point that whilst there were stories I enjoyed, I also really didn’t like some of the others making it harder to get through.

I can see why others will love this and still entirely appreciate Eliza Clark’s writing and still look forward to whatever comes next from this intriguing author.

She's Always Hungry is a collection of eleven dark and disturbing short stories by Eliza Clark, author of Boy Parts and Penance. I have mentioned in a previous review on my blog that short story collections aren't something I usually go for. However, I will read anything by Eliza Clark (even her shopping list). When I found out I was going to have the opportunity to read and review She’s Always Hungry, I was over the moon. Clark is one of my favourite writers and I have already pre-ordered the Faber special edition of this book.

My Rating for Each Story

Build a Body Like Mine - 5
The Problem Solver - 5
She’s Always Hungry - 4
The Shadow of Little Chitaly- 5
Hollow Bones- 2.5
Goth GF - 5
Extinction Event - 2.5
Nightstalkers - 4
Shake Well - 5
The King - 3
Company Man - 3


The collection started off strong with ‘Build a Body Like Mine’. The body horror in this story alone was disturbing and it made me read on enthusiastically. Another one that stuck out to me was Shake Well, a story about a girl who can’t stop popping her pimples. It was so gross and I absolutely loved it. ‘Goth GF’ made me think of Clarks debut novel Boy Parts, it had the same vibe to it which I really appreciated. The writing and imagery within this book was incredible. There was the classic Clark dark humour throughout which is something I love about her writing. The overarching theme to take away from each story is the different types of hunger that people feel. There was a range of genres throughout the book, which shows Clarks ability to try new genres that we wouldn't necessarily expect from her. While there were some genres I wasn't overly keen on (sci-fi), I could appreciate how good the writing was.

Some of the stories focused on some hard topics such as assault, body dysmorphia, grooming, drug use etc. By featuring these topics, it gave the stories such a realistic and unsettling feeling to them. At the end of the book, there is a guide to each short story and it features an in depth list of trigger warnings. This is such a good addition to a book especially when there are difficult topics being covered.

The pacing and length of the stories differed. To go from one pacing to another in a short amount of time is something I struggle with and the reason I don't usually read short story collections. Two stories were very sci-fi based which is not something I’m interested in. It felt as if I was skim reading to get to the next one. A few of the stories just didn't hit the mark for me, this could be down to the pacing or the genre. It was a dark and disturbing read but I did feel like there could have been more to it.
Safe to say, when I receive my physical pre-ordered copy, I will be tabbing the stories that I enjoyed the most so I can easily flip back to them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Faber for this opportunity to read from one of my favourite authors!

My Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars

Short story collections are always a bit tough to rate - there’s the ones you love and the ones you don’t and the ones inbetween. In this case, the ones I don't love category is pretty small, which is a big achievement.

She’s always hungry is a collection of dark short stories full of trigger warnings. I wouldn’t identify them as horror but some of the stories feature horrific elements. Despite the dark themes, some of the stories are actually quite funny? The Shadow Over Little Chitaly is particularly funny. The story is a genuinely hilarious collection of reviews of a strange Chinese-Italian fusion restaurant. I was laughing loudly while reading it. Probably my favourite of the collection. Possibly one of the best things about this anthology is the variety of stories. In contrast to Little Chitaly, Shake Well is a slightly horrifying but not unrealistic account of the depths of hell that bad skin drags you to. Extinction Event and Hollow Bones are Sci-Fi and The King is a dystopian apocalyptic canniballistic tale. Most of the stories in here don’t have a definitive ‘A-ha! That’s the point of this!’ moment. They’re clearly just trains of thoughts that were packaged creatively to make the reader think about the same things, but the stories don’t have clearly defined beginnings, endings or morals. I did enjoy that, though I think maybe in one or two stories I wouldn’t have minded a couple more pages.

Overall, I thought this was a highly creative, thoughful and dark collection of stories. It is well written and an engaging, quick read that is definitely worth picking up. If you like Eliza Clark’s previous work or enjoy darker fiction, I would highly recommend this.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an. advanced copy of this book.

She's Always Hungry is a collection of short stories from Eliza Clark exploring body horror, futures, and, above all else, hunger. In eleven varied stories, characters explore the edges of their desires, whether for better skin, a plant that might save the planet, or human flesh. Most of the stories are pretty conventional in structure, though a variety of genres, but one is comprised entirely of reviews of a mysterious takeaway (and is a very fun addition). A few are speculative fiction and it's exciting to see Clark writing in a genre quite different to her novels Boy Parts and Penance, even though I typically am not a huge fan either of speculative fiction or most short stories, with these focusing on very specific moments rather than worldbuilding.

Overall, this is a collection that has a clear presiding theme, but which explores it in a plethora of ways, not sticking to the same styles of story or similar characters. As I expected from Clark, there's some fairly dark stuff and some moments of body horror, but also a lot of playfulness, especially when taking things to extremes (like the almost ridiculous 'The King' with a cannibal protagonist excited for an apocalypse). There's some fun little details—I loved that 'Nightstalkers' was set in Santa Carla—and generally this collection lived up to what I might've hoped for, even though some of the stories were perhaps a little tamer or more predictable than I wanted.

She's Always Hungry is a truly exceptional collection of stories. There was no standout story for me, because they are all incredible. Covering a range of topics such as body image, feminism, space exploration, cannibalism and climate change, Clark somehow creates complex and believable world's and characters, many villainous and others simply troubled, but all unnervingly complex, I was completely absorbed throughout.

This isn't a collection for the faint of heart, featuring a lot of graphic depiction of injury, illness and violence. But if you're a fan of the dark, weird and the outright horrifying, I highly recommend this book. Somehow it delights and terrifies simultaneously, leaving the reader blown away at each conclusion.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

First off, I want to say that I've never really been one for short stories. However, Eliza Clark is one of my favourite authors and after loving her previous 2 novels and being sent an ARC of 'the shadow over little chitaly', I was actually excited going into this one and seeing what the rest of the stories had to offer.

Like always, these stories show Clark's talent for witty and gritty literature which I love, and she does exceptionally well. I really do have to pause her creativity, diversity, and the wide range of ideas she brings to each novel she publishes.

Despite loving the story I was sent last week, this collection as a whole sadly did fall flat for me. I always find that there's a handful of stories that I LOVE, but then with short story collections there's always an equal amount that I don't really enjoy which is unfortunate and therefore pulls the rating down. I really enjoyed 'build a body like mine', 'the problem solver', 'the shadow over little chitaly', 'goth', and 'shake well'. However, some of the other stories just didn't reel me in and some of them I did unfortunately find myself skim reading at times.

This is difficult as I've always struggled with short stories anyway, so maybe it just wasn't meant to be. But what I will say is that I do think Clark writes gore and horror very well, and some of the themes she dabbled with here I really would like to see her bring to another novel one day.

I’ve only read Penance by Eliza Clark but this debut short story collection is like the British version of Sayaka Murata who wrote Convience Store Woman and Earthlings.

Lots of body horror, some sci fi and some downright weird stories.

I actually really enjoyed this book and going down the weird route with it and would only recommend if you’re into the kind of things that it talks about.

Was really excited to read this as a huge fan of Boy Parts and Penance, but unfortunately this was a bit hit or miss.This collection contains stories that fit firmly in the horror genre, with a focus on body horror, and others that are less graphic. There’s a focus on womanhood, some stories are scifi/speculative, and there was a story that was apparently set in the 70s but I didn’t pick that up when reading.

I’ve been reading a lot of short story collections recently, and it's expected that some stories will resonate more than others, but with this I do wonder why some of the stories were included. I especially felt this way about the opening two stories, they felt rather weak, though it’s hard for me to put my finger on exactly why. I did like some of the stories, especially the ones with a comedic tone, my favorites were Goth GF, Little Chitaly, The King, and Hollow Bones. Fans of Eliza Clark will probably still want to pick this up, but I wouldn’t make this the first thing you read of hers.