Rating: 3.5 rounded to 4

I struggle with rating this collection. Honestly, that probably applies to any collection of stories. In the case of Open Up, the first two stories and even Passenger (the fourth) were well done. However, overall, I think my interest waned a bit. I definitely look forward to reading more from Thomas Morris though!

Open Up tackles a lot around vulnerability and connection in a way that resonates. I will say that it left me with points to reflect on throughout.
—
Thank you NetGalley for an eARC copy of this collection in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Unnamed Press for the ARC here.

Loved the focus on this collection - more story collections of this size, publishers! They're like a delicious EP to the full LP of a novel.

All five of these had great perspective and pacing.

Odd and beautiful short stories that felt completely original. I've never read anything like these and they won't soon be forgotten.

The first two stories were loves. Seriously I would recommend this for the seahorse coming of age story alone. That one stuck a vulnerable cord with me and it’s now one of my favorite short stories.
It was hard for the other stories to live up to it, though I did mostly like them. They were just harder to follow and grasp.

Thomas Morris takes a look at boyhood, growing up, and self-discovery in this short story collection. I loved the sense of magical realism throughout the stories, and I particularly enjoyed Aberkariad. The reversal of traditional gender roles through the lens of seahorses was so interesting. I highly recommend this one for any fans of short story collections.

A collection of stories That invoke an entire range of emotions in a dazzling, highly conceptual and striking way. Somebody stop this man cos why am I crying about seahorse!!!! So much emotion in every sentence!!!!

Open Up is a collection that quietly explores many different human aspects. It's about vulnerability, confusion, hopefulness, love. Each story captures emotional truths in a grounded way, occasionally dipping into a more gothic, haunting tone that adds an unexpected layer.

At first, I was completely pulled in. The stories felt raw and relatable, and there were several moments where I caught myself thinking, Yes, I know exactly what that feels like. Morris is brilliant at exploring emotions that go unspoken.

But as I made my way through the collection, I noticed my interest waning. The stories, while well written, started to feel a little repetitive. The pacing felt slow at times, and I struggled to stay engaged. While I appreciated the emotional honesty, I found it difficult to really feel for the characters. There was a certain distance that kept me from connecting fully.

That said, there’s no doubt this is a thoughtful and well-crafted collection, it just didn’t leave a lasting impact on me. I think readers who enjoy quiet, introspective short stories will still find a lot to appreciate here.

This specific kind of fiction is my absolute favourite : devastating literary sprinkled with weirdness and humour that only make the stories and the characters' fate more tragic in the most mundane way. Chef's kiss!

Not only were all the stories in Open Up great on their own, the collection itself was coherent and well-organised which is the kind of details I truly appreciate. The first story, "Wales", is a tender and aching story which highlights with a delicate sadness the slow loss of naivety during adolescence. Although the story is told through 10yo Gareth's eyes, the reader can feel how he's starting to sense heavy adult topics but doesn't have words for them yet. The general absence of his father and his mom's financial issues are beginning to appear under a different, harsher light to him, but he still protects himself with children's beliefs and communicate his sense of wonder to us. We are split between a desire to believe the same sort of magic as him, and the understanding of the truth. It was really interesting to put "Wales" as an opening story. it definitely sets the tone and introduces clearly the fundamental themes of the collection, but at the same time it tricked me into thinking there wouldn't be any magical elements and I was all the more surprised by Aberakiad!
I think there was a true playfulness in the collection that felt unique and made it sharper, rawer. It balanced very well a sort of tender cheekiness with deep bittersweetness and I love that kind of almost paradox. It makes everything feel intentional, including the way the reader was taken into consideration. In that vein, I enjoyed Birthday Teeth being the last story. It leaves us on an uncertain note, is it or is it not magical realism? We'll never really know. The collection has now opened us to the possibility of some stories not being rooted in reality, but for this one it's hard to figure out if it's a trap laid out by the author or not. It felt like a last nod to the writer-reader relationship. Loved it!

Wales - 4/5
Aberakiad - 4,75/5
Little Wizard - 3,5-/5
Passenger - 4,25/5
Birthday Teeth - 4,5/5

4,5/5

I had never read anything by Thomas Morris but the blurb on NetGalley had me curious so I asked for an ARC. However, Morris is already a recognized author and this work is again longlisted for prizes, so one goes into it with some expectations.
Thomas Morris writes about ordinary people's ordinary problems with a half realist half psychoanalyst perspective. He describes some regular events and relationships, but in some of them allows the characters to introspect and take us through their doubts, pains, blocks, fears, be them endured or overcome. In these moments Morris shows his skills as an imaginative writer. In another, the setting itself is akin to a fable, but the existential exploration is just as strong. A couple of the pieces are shorter, more simple and thematically straightforward.

The collection doesn't start strong, "Wales" was too simple for me. It's centered on a father-son relationship and the day they went to watch a football match. There's something there, but I didn't feel it.
"Aberkariad" is the second tale about parenthood, but this one is longer, much more complex, enticing and even surprising. There's space for naivete and angst, for age and gender issues, for hedonism and stoicism, for existentialism and biological imperatives, for nihilism and hope. And yes, it's about seahorses.
This is followed by “Little Wizard”, a very introspective, sometimes diary-like story of a man that lacks self-confidence but manages to keep a masked existence as a cool easy going dude. His mask and his inner self come to clash as he understands he needs to risk one of his safeties if he's going to try to find his idea of happiness.
“Passenger” is probably the best piece of writing in Open Up. It's here Thomas Morris unleashes his David Lynch persona, exploring the personality, history and progress of a man whose relationship is both a safe haven to let himself live superficially and then a force that makes him come to terms to all he's tried to avoid all his life. His self-psychoanalysis manifests some Twin Peaks moments and take the writing to another level.
“Birthday Teeth” is again a simpler story, about a young guy who thinks of himself as a vampire, about to get his teeth sharpened, seeing it as a moment to come into his own, but who also drags into it so much of his baggage, his personal history, his dreadful relationship with his mother, and others I'll avoid because of spoilers. There's some hallucinating, maybe there was some Peaks left in Morris after the last one, and there's some kind of parallel between becoming an adult, having his birthday teeth, dealing with what he's running from, not wanting to deal with his own responsibilities and faults, and some paranoid delusions (are they?).

All in all, this was interesting most of the time, if quite uneven, and the good ones - Aberkariad, Little Wizard and Passenger - make for a worthy time. The fact that I see some of my own self, my own history, in some of these moments has to be stated, as it surely enhances my experience reading Open Up. I'd be interested to check Thomas Morris' next work, be it short fiction or novel length.

Upen Up by Thomas Morris takes an almost Jungian approach to its characters, particularly when exploring the shadow self and masculinity, with the strongest theme being men lacking a sense of self. Each story follows a male character at a different stage of life:
- a superstitious young boy at a sports game with his father
- a single father trying to raise his sons with a different perspective to life
- a man stuck in a soul sucking job
- a man on vacation with his girlfriend, struggling to stay present in the face of his own anxieties
- an outcast desperate to be more than what he sees himself as

I came across a review that describes these stories as 'the ramblings of a man', and while I can see how it would be interpreted in that way, another possibility I see is Morris holding up a mirror to men, trying to start the conversation on what it means to live without a clear sense of self. These stories explore the consequences of seeking identity externally, and trying to resolve personal issues by simply rewriting the narrative without an understanding of the nuances and factors at play.

Like many readers, my favourite story was Aberkariad and its exploration of single parenthood through the perspective of a seahorse who refuses to conform to traditional expectations of fatherhood and masculinity within his species. Of all the stories that have stayed with me, I never imagined one about a seahorse would be among them.

Solid debut short story collection, the opener and closer in particular are very, very, excellent! Will look forward to reading more of this author,

Part of me wants to love this, another part of me not so much. The stories are interesting, but each one felt like it was missing something. Maybe a proper wrap-up?
There are a few subjects that seem to be buried under other plots. I wish some of those subjects came to the surface.

An uneven debut collection, these stories all heavily feature men who live in near despair due to a stunning level of passivity on each of their parts. Most of the stories feature a young man, who seems loathe to act in any way, afraid of what committing to a path might bring about. This fact starts to grate as you read more and more stories, but "Wales" and "Aberkariad" are both excellent.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of this ARC. All reviews and opinions in this review are entirely my own.

Thomas Morris’ short story collection “Open Up” was a good collection of stories that showcase vulnerabilities and insecurities from uniquely male perspectives that we don’t often see. My personal favorites were “Wales”, a coming of age story of a boy and his father at a football game, and “Aberkariad” a seahorse-centered story that was surprisingly emotional and heartbreaking.

A surprisingly singular collection of stories. I don’t always find collections have standout work, but Morris had a unique voice, and an engaging, poignant manner of exploring humanity and loneliness in quirky, new ways. Highly recommend and excited to share with my audience.

Morris manages to catch the somehow very mundane, backgrounded things that are so deeply human (yes, even with the seahorses)! Some of the sentences resonated with me immensely. It was weird (good weird mostly), it was sad at times too. Loved the writing.
I highlighted a lot of phrases, even in short sentences Morris really expresses very specific feelings. Quite a unique collection of stories!

this was not for me. it felt like a constant complaining from a white man, instead of an actual exploration of masculinity. thank you for the opportunity.

Very easy and smooth, but not lacking in depth. Wonderful set of stories with distinctive and rather surprising elements at time. Worthy of multiple readings for sure because of the amount of possible interpretations and in-between-the-lines meanings. Got me confused at times but enjoyed it nonethless.

Absolutely loved this delightful collection and all its cheeky tenderness. The Unnamed Press edition is stunning.

These short stories are quite disturbing. It's all about finding your own identity. Mostly, the missing feeling of identity is due to a missing parent. What is disturbing is the mix between reality, thoughts and hallucinations. These stories are depressing because they open up a lot of questions and leaving the reader alone.