Kirsty Logan has done it again. No & Other Love Stories is a haunting, beautifully written collection that explores love in its most twisted, dangerous, and consuming forms. From medieval convents to wartime London, from ghostly lovers to bloodthirsty succubi, each story is a spellbinding journey through the eerie and unexpected.

✨ An expectant mother feeds raw meat to a wasp's nest.
✨ Two women con men using ghostly possession.
✨ A woman finds she loves her husband more as a ghost.
✨ A teenage girl becomes obsessed with a deadly succubus.

The writing is intense and atmospheric, blending horror, folklore, and queer desire into something unique. I loved the contrast between the book’s unsettling themes and its soft pastel cover—a deceptive beauty that perfectly mirrors the stories inside.

If you enjoy dark, lyrical storytelling with a bite, No & Other Love Stories is a must-read. I was completely captivated!

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

these stories are weird and grotesque at times and strange. required reading in the month of feb for everyone who loves weird stories

I don't usually love short stories, but these ones intrigued me from the get go. I liked the multiple ways in which the author showcased how love can be expressed aside from the obvious.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK Vintage for providing me with an ARC!


I loved that this focused on the gross, ugly parts of love in a world where women in particular are made to be pretty and quiet and delicate.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I thought I'd like the compilation of alternate love stories but there was just something about them that I couldn't get onboard with, sadly. I would probably still reccomend this to others though as I like the concept and the stories may be more their style.

Oh this was nothing like I expected in the best way possible. It was weird and messed up and at the same time so engaging and intriguing. It is rare for me to read a short story collection where I don't dislike at least a few of them. And it usually doesn't surprise me because it's hard to create a collection that's full of good stories. Well Kirsty Logan managed that. The stories ranged from enjoyable to 'oh my god I need more of this'.

I do have some standouts, with the main one being 'Darling'. It's a story written as footnotes to a cop show script and I loved the unusual format of it. I loved how unsettling it feels and you don't know exactly what's going on. It's a story that works perfectly in a short story format, it gives you enough to hook you in and leaves enough to imagination. 'Unbury' is another great story, about a man who digs a mysterious woman out from the ground. It is such a great self contained story, even if I would love to get the full background of the woman and where she came from. But it's a nice snippet of a monstrous finding monstrous. 'Trussed' is almost two stories in one, the beginning feels like a perfect gothic set up with fake seances and women in love, and then it takes a turn into modern deep fakes and possessions. It's probably one of the sweetest stories in terms of romance, which says more about this collection than anything else. But I would have loved a full book out of this particular story as it feels like just a glimpse.

Each story in this book could bring it's own discussion, each has something unique and messy and messed up. And of course I love how queer this whole collection is. And it's certainly not your standard collection of love stories.

Weird and very dark but just far enough away from horror. I felt a teasing need to finish each story and loved how the length of them allowed me to do that. It meant you got to have the whole story in one.
I don't usually read a book with lots of short stories as I love to get to know books in more depth.
But I actuslly really enjoyed doing it in this way. And getting to have lots of differing writing styles and stories in one book.

3.5

I loved that this focused on the gross, ugly parts of love in a world where women in particular are made to be pretty and quiet and delicate. I went into this thinking it would be more romantic than horror but, to me, it read more horror (that might be on me).

Although I didn’t love every story in this, I enjoyed a lot of them - my favourites were the one about a woman loving her husband during World War Two more as a ghost, and a story that was told partly in footnotes. A lot of these stories were creative and different from most of what I’ve read before. I especially enjoyed what it had to say about autonomy, power and who gets to have it, who gets to be gross in a relationship and who has to be pretty.

There are a lot of people I can think of to recommend this to, and I enjoyed it for the most part, I just think it wasn’t *for* me - if you love weird girl fiction, this is up your street!

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for the review copy

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK Vintage for providing me with an ARC!

3.25 stars!!

This collection has it all and it's unique, weird, funny, WTF, relatable, dark etc. There's a whole different range of things to get into. I really loved how these were all written and how some formats were different for a few.

I would have loved even more weird thrown in but that's just me being greedy, but this is a certain read for anyone who wants to read a great collection of short, weird horror for the girlies!

Clit-Fic for weird girls and women who are not afraid to embrace their kink; blood-soaked stories, deviant, debauched, and downright delicious. 13 short stories encapsulated in 208 pages explore whether ‘no’ can be a declaration of love. Scary and snark, and all things dark, Kirsty Logan is not afraid to examine what happens when love takes a dangerous, all-consuming, and sometimes savage form.

I loved every story in this collection, particular standouts were Piglet, Unbury, Nightfall, Fangirls, and Sucker, the latter of which was heavily annotated! This is unapologetic, seductively subversive, and full of ‘lesbian energy’. This would make the perfect Galentines gift for the experienced and curious reader of weird girl horror fiction, No & Other Love Stories is out February 6, 2025. Be warned, this is not for the conventionally-hearted!

Thank you @Netgalley @Vintagebooks and to the author, for allowing me to read an advance copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

No & Other Love Stories doesn't really sound like my thing, but throw Kirsty Logan's name into the mix and it becomes a must read. Within it's pages lie tales of love in all it's guises: tender, brutal, abusive, horrific, undying and queer to name but a few.

The real standout for me was Darling, which takes the form of a film script annotated with her life story by a jaded actress who's waiting to start filming, but with such a variety of genres there's sure to be something for most readers.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK Vintage and the author for an advance copy.

DNF @ 41% (6 out of 13 stories), but Wow, what a ride.

Of the 6 of the short stories that I read - and they are powerful and imaginative short stories - none of them are about love. They are about lust, lack of fulfilment, desire, and self-destructive obsession. They are dark, and fierce. But also, when compared against the promise of being love stories, they are sad, and lonely, and painful.

This book was definitely not for me, and the most useful feedback I can probably give is that the blurb (and possibly the title) need adjustment. How to give it a star rating? The 4 stars are for the imagination, the power, and the writing - undeniably good. And for those people who are in the target market for this book, and for whom this book has resonance… I hope you find what you’re looking for.

Thank you #NetGalley and Random House UK Vintage for the free review copy of #NoOtherLoveStories, and the chance to dip my toe into this whirlpool, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are, obviously, my own.

No and Other Love Stories by Kirsty Logan is a wide-ranging and creative collection of dark and subversive stories.

I loved these stories by Kirsty Logan! They were wonderfully unique, creepy, funny.. Truly one of the coolest short story collections I've read.

These short stories were dark and vicious and stretched the definition of "love" stories. I found myself equally intrigued and horrified by each, and enjoyed the differences in imagery and narrative. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Such a great collection of love stories! Perfect for the upcoming Valentines season or those that just love a good love story! I always say these are the perfect books if you are looking to pop in and out of a story but don’t have the time or are in the head space for a long read. Highly enjoyed