Bumpy Oak Books

*I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

3 stars

RO Kwon and Garth Greenwell compile a series of short literary fiction stories from various authors to convey the spectrum of kink, love, and desire.

As always, with anthologies, certain stories resonate more than others for each reader. However, I should have known for myself that I would have difficulty connecting with this body of work; I am not a literary fiction reader. I do not particularly enjoy the lofty prose and find that oftentimes the figurative language common to literary fiction can impede a connection between reader and story. This was my experience with the entirety of this work, even those stories that I enjoyed. This was my fault, as the work was precisely what it proclaimed itself to be.

As such, while I did not enjoy the work as a whole due to stylistic choices, I was still able to rate each work as comparative enjoyment to each other. My average rating came out to a 3. There was a broad variety of representation and a few moments of YKINMK(ATO!).

I would recommend this book to fans of literary fiction who have interest in the topic, but not to genre fiction fans looking to enter literary fiction.