Hahahaha, wtf.

This collection has the perfect variety of dark and ominous short stories. Exactly what I was looking forward to from Eliza Clark!

If there’s anything about her writing, it’s that she’s going to create unhinged characters with weird lil minds, and she does that with multiple stories in here. The stories that don’t center around an interesting character with odd objectives are still told within a strange environment which kept the collection keeping me guessing.

Although there were only a couple stories that I didn’t love, I still enjoyed each of them. My favorites being The Problem Solver, Goth GF, Shake Well & The King.

I don’t want to give anything away because I think going into it relatively blind was a lot of fun. Definitely will be buying a physical copy!!!

4⭐️

Thanks Netgalley & Harper Perennial for the ARC :)

Eliza Clark's She's Always Hungry is a collection of short stories that are weird, dark, and unsettling — just as Clark fans have come to know and love her work. Clark never fails to do something new and fresh and you can tell that in each story she was experimenting into a new genre, world, and character study and having a lot of fun doing it. This collection is perfect for not only fans of Clark, but anyone looking for bite sized stories to sink their teeth into. While reading, it almost felt like a blend of American Horror Story, Black Mirror and Severance (and I'm very into that).

Short, weird, dark stories that feel very of this moment. This would be a good collection to read in bits, a story a day.

I loved this set of short stories! Some were more relatable than others but each one had a unique perspective on hunger and all were interesting to read.

this is my third eliza clark book. i've really enjoyed her longer fiction, so i was curious to see what her short fiction would offer.

this is a weird collection. i'm not truly sure that i could call it horror or anything specific.

i'm sure you'll hear about the short story "The Shadow Over Little Chitaly" in quite a few reviews. it was a fun little thing told in customer reviews of a chinese/italian restaurant where the orders are never quite right. loved the unique formatting of this one, the idea of how absurd it was that the restaurant was run by white australians who send pineapple pizza with apple on it or, in one case, a whole block of tofu.

eliza also dips her toe into both sci-fi and the fantastical in "Hollow Bones" and "She's Always Hungry" respectively. i liked each of these for different reasons - the body horror associated with "Hollow Bones" as the protagonist fight off parasites in an alien environment and deals with gaslighting, too. "She's Always Hungry" flips misogyny on its head and takes us out of time.

the two weakest stories in this collection for me were probably "Build a Body Like Mine" which heavily centers on internalized fatphobia, terrible eating habits, and weight loss via parasite. just not a fan of this particular theme. "Shake Well" was easily the most gratuitously disgusting, just pages and pages of zit/blemish picking. it actually made me nauseated to read and i think through my revulsion i didn't understand the point of the story.

"Company Man" was also an interesting little thriller and something that i could easily see being adapted for cinema, about a very lonely woman making up her identity for a man who has his own secrets.

anyway, this was solid! like most short story collections it falls somewhere around a 3.5 for me but if you're a fan of eliza's other works i think you'll like this one.

Very weird unique stories with a little grossness to each other them
Enjoyed the writing style but idk about the stories
Strange dark worlds

This was my first introduction to Eliza Clark's writing and I was really excited because I have heard so much hype around her. I think short stories are so great for this time of year and also great for getting to hear an author's voice and style. This did not disappoint!

She’s Always Hungry is a collection of eleven short stories that vary in terms of horror level but all swim in the same sordid pool of morbid and satirical humor.

As you might imagine from the title, the central theme to this collection is the feeling of hunger, even if that hunger is presented in different forms. If you feel that this theme might be a sensitive topic for you, Clark has included a content guide for each story (in the digital file I read it was in the back, but you could click on a link in the front matter of the book to get there).

This collection starts off with a fantastically gross and humorous story written almost like it was a video made by a social media influencer called “Build a Body Like Mine”. This influencer has a guaranteed way for you to lose weight and keep it off while allowing you to eat anything you want. She even has a subscriber program. She even has a discount code. She doesn’t even gatekeep the secret to her success. She’s just so proud of her creation. 5⭐️

“The Problem Solver” definitely hit close to home, being a story of a man who insists his female friend tell him her story and then inserts himself in her business even when she asks him not to. The man obviously has a need to virtue signal, while the woman is stuck with the aftermath of it. I vocally growled at this pathetic man who needed to feel like someone’s hero. 4⭐️

“She’s Always Hungry” is probably my favorite story in the collection, a dark fable of misandry, repression, colonization, and how a completely matriarchal society may not run as well as everyone would hope it would. 5⭐️

“The Shadow Over Little Chitaly” is one of the stories I liked least, and maybe that’s because I just didn’t understand the point all that well. I really can’t describe it better than it being a story about a weird Uber Eats kind of service that keeps getting the food wrong. 3⭐️

“Hollow Bones” is interesting, but a little slow-moving for this collection. I liked the concept but felt it wasn’t as humorous as the others. It almost didn’t fit in. 3⭐️

“Goth GF” is my second-favorite story in the whole collection, a tale of a creepy and obsessive bartender who falls in lust with the goth chick who works at the bar with him. His objectification of her is disgusting, even more disgusting than the stereotyping and bullying she receives from their coworkers. The ending of this story had me snorting laughter, because it was both so fitting and it felt really therapeutic. 5⭐️

“Extinction Event” isn’t funny to me at all, actually. Satirical, yes. Humorous, no. This was actually one of the most horrific stories in the collection because I can’t stand the idea of humanity never learning its lesson. 4⭐️

“Nightstalkers” is a terrific period-specific short story involving petty crime, internalized and externalized homophobia, and use of hallucinogens. I liked it but didn’t love it. 3⭐️

“Shake Well” is one of the more descriptive stories. If you like pimple popping videos, well, this is pimple popping taken up a notch. Then add in more body horror that involves skin. This is a weird and horrible little story about grooming, drug abuse, pedophilia, and DV. 4⭐️

“The King” is a fascinating apocalyptic story about a cannibalistic species hidden in our society waiting to rule the world after it ends. There’s some humorous vorarephilia scenes in the beginning that made me chuckle, and the irrepressible optimism the narrator expresses throughout the story is a mix of terrifying and silly. 4⭐️

“Company Man” is a rather standard self-flagellation versus revenge tale. I’d like to say there was something special about this one but there really wasn’t for me. It was well-written, just like all the stories in this collection, but nothing else about it stood out. 3⭐️

It’s a great collection, well worth the read. It especially fit my mood right now and I appreciated the dark humor of it all.

I was provided a copy of this title by the publisher and author via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Body Horror/Dark Comedy/Horror/Literary Fiction/Satire/Short Stories

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

These stories range from straightforward to weird to weirder.

Usually, I find that short story collections will inevitably have a few duds, but I enjoyed everything in this collection.

A lot of these stories are written in a darkly humorous tone, which threw me off initially, but it really grew on me. I love the contrast between the tone and the contents of the stories.

My favourites were the sci-fi horror stories Hollow Bones and Extinction Event. After reading these I went to double check if the author had written any full length sci-fi books because these were soo good. Like, these aren't groundbreaking, but the author introduces them in a way that makes it easy to quickly grasp, and she creates an atmosphere that is truly chilling.

I have to mention Shake Well, which legit gave me the creeps. It's like sort of mundane and also sort of horrifying, with the body horror in this being the most unnerving to me from this collection, possibly because it hits a little closer to home.

I am also obsessed with The King, which is an absurd genderbent incel power fantasy. I think people might hate this story, but the absurdity of it, plus the writing style, was so ridiculously entertaining. I also liked the cannibalism and gore.

There's a content guide at the back of my eARC, which is much appreciated, as some of these stories can be quite dark/gory, and the content guide covers the necessary warnings in detail.

Overall, the writing is engaging and accessible, and there's something for everyone. I will definitely check out the author's other works.

Reading She's Always Hungry by Eliza Clark felt like diving into a world where human desire is laid bare in the most unexpected ways. Each story in this collection grabbed my attention, from a woman with bizarre weight-loss to a teen pushing boundaries to perfect her skin, to funny reviews on a mystery restaurant. The stories are dark, sometimes funny, and often made me pause to think about the lengths people will go to for what they crave.

What I loved most was how relatable yet unsettling the stories were. Clark’s writing didn’t just skim the surface—it made me feel like I was peeking into the hidden corners of people’s lives where secrets and obsessions live. They were all meaningful and sometimes funny, while still having an unnerving undertone. If you’re into stories that make you question human nature while keeping you on your toes, She's Always Hungry is worth the read! It’s a mix of humor, shock, and real insight that I found unforgettable.

A collection of short stories told in a darkly humorous way by the acclaimed author of Boy Parts. A lot of the central themes of the stories are food and hunger and just plain yearning. Lots of body horror and some sci-fi elements. There is sure to be something for everyone.

*Thanks so much to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for this e-arc.*

She's Always Hungry by Eliza Clark is a collection of wonderfully weird stories about hunger, featuring everything from weight-loss parasites to alien plants to a fusion takeaway restaurant that's definitely serving... something. My favorites were a story about an immortal cannibal rebuilding after the apocalypse (which completely embraces its own absurdity), and the aforementioned one told entirely through increasingly unhinged takeout reviews of a mysterious Italian-Chinese fusion restaurant (trust me, it works). Clark's humor is deliciously dark and bleak throughout - exactly my kind of weird. While some stories land more successfully than others, her creative range is thrilling here, bouncing between body horror, sci-fi, and whatever genre you'd call "immortal tech edgelord cannibal fiction." The collection showcases Clark's talent for making the grotesque both funny and unsettling, often in the same sentence.

4.5/5

This book was the perfect combination of absurd bizarre and fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed every story that was in this collection. I read this in October, and it was the perfect spooky season read.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

"She’s Always Hungry" by Eliza Clark is a thrilling collection that dives into dark humor, body horror, and speculative fiction. Each story explores themes of hunger in various, often disturbing forms, from body dysmorphia to cannibalism and alien infections. Clark’s signature twisted humor and knack for the bizarre shine through, making each story compelling, if sometimes unsettling. Standouts include Hollow Bones and Build a Body Like Mine, which push boundaries in both content and narrative style. Fans of weird lit and Clark’s previous works will find plenty to savor in this creepy, thought-provoking collection.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an eARC.

Beautifully done, give me 10 more of these. Each and every story was unique, interesting and so well-written. I am so grateful that I got an opportunity to read this book.


P.S. write a novel on nightstalkers, Please!!!!!

This is a very solid collection of short stories. Readers who enjoyed Penance and Boy Parts will not be disappointed.

Twisted and anxiety-inducing!

I really enjoyed Boy Parts, so when I heard Eliza Clark was publishing a collection of short fiction, I knew I had to read it. I expected the stories to align more with her previous work but was surprised to discover a mix of erotica, body horror, and sci-fi. Clark’s voice is compelling and addictive, and she led me willingly from one dark story to the next. Each gripped me in a different way, some more than others, but I could appreciate them all individually. Her writing style is quirky and she adds humor to dark topics in an effortless way. Hunger was the central theme and I loved the way she explored it using vastly different scenarios. I also tip my hat to anyone who experiments with narrative structure, as seen in “The Shadow Over Little Chitaly.” The stories that stood out to me were: “Build a Body Like Mine,” in which a woman welcomes a parasite into her body in order to lose weight; in “Hollow Bones,” a woman suffers from a severe (and gory) infection on an alien planet; and in “The King,” an immortal female cannibal rules over a faction of humanity during the apocalypse. I always enjoy short fiction so this was a treat, and I’m looking forward to reading whatever she publishes next.

4/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For readers who enjoy body horror, dark humor, and a wide variety of short stories.

SOLID short story collection to add to the "weird" collection, really liked this a lot. This collection has science fiction, body horror, science fiction + body horror, a quirky collection of Google reviews for a trippy Chinese-Italian takeout restaurant, and a solid dose of existential questioning. Fun for the whole family!! (Absolutely not). If you're a fan of the weird, absolutely check it out.

4.5 stars rounded up

Smart, smart, smart. Eliza Clark is brilliant. These are very dark, pitch perfect for what I want from Clark. So well written, well paced, and thought provoking. These stories have stuck with me long after I was done with the book.

An incredible collection of stories about the things that gnaw at us, physically and mentally. I'm enamored with Eliza Clark's prose and this collection is a great exploration of her work while she defies genres and pushes the boundaries. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Thank you to the author and Harper Perennial, as well as Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.