Welcome to Litsy!

Wowowowww was happily surprised by how good this book of short stories is. Themes of sexual deviance, failing or difficult relationships, and sometimes fantastical issues made these stories quite riveting. I actually did NOT like popular story “Cat Person”. Favorites were: The Good Guy, Scarred, The Matchbox Sign, Death Wish, and Biter.

In this collection Roupenian explores the darker, inner dialogues we all have with ourselves, whether we want to admit to them or not. Exploring relationships between families, friends, lovers, strangers, Roupenian shows her readers that they are not alone in their darkest thoughts or imagined scenarios. Not every story will resinate with every reader, but this collection has something for everyone within its pages.

Full review on my blog!

Got my #audiowalk out of the way before the storm rolled back in.

As for the book, it was a little too dark and a little too one dimensional for me.

#dogsoflitsy

"Needless to say, he did not have a boner; he actually felt like his dick might have snuck up inside his body to hide."
-"The Good Guy"

One of my favorite views. ❤️ Also, isn‘t it funny how books we waited on hold for months end up on display when they‘re not trending anymore?

This book is horrifying and dark and disturbing and beautiful and perfect. I spent an afternoon wishing I could put it down, and then it was over, and I wanted to recommend it to everybody, knowing they'd all resent me for making them read it.

Randomly saw and grabbed at the library yesterday. Usually with a collection of short stories, my interest varies. However, with this collection I have liked every single one. Not at all what I expected, but loved it just the same. She is my right amount of weird!!

Sorry I read four of twelve storys inclusive cat person.yes sometimes I can agree with Roupenian thoughts but often they are too crazy for me. So I bail.

#shortstories

I read "Cat Person" and thought it was an intriguing story, but when I heard Roupenian put her collection in the Horror camp I was super curious and had to check it out. Definitely went beyond my expectations based on her viral story, and most of these really sucked me in so I had to finish each story in one go. My favorite (if you can call something so squicky favorite) was "The Matchbox Sign."

Here are my #Top6Reads @Cinfhen. So hard to choose, I think I just lost an hour of my life! I'm definitely reading Kristen's book again, absolutely brilliant.

These are my kind of short stories - short, fierce, shocking. The characters all felt extremely real, despite how much I hated them or precisely because of that. This is an exploration of sex and power, fears and insecurities - as captivating as it is revolting, as compelling as it is perverse. Intense! K. Roupenian has some seriously talent to look out for. I see 5 stars on the near horizon.

It was ... interesting ... to read this book while also reading Skin Folk. I feel the tug of some story ocean undertow (perhaps even the Under Toad), but I don‘t quite know what that story ocean is made of - a grim Euro fairytale well, for the most part. Though it‘s not pretty, I think the author often observes subtleties of human behavior & self-delusion. 4⭐️

Short stories, including “Cat Person.” Pic from The Guardian review (which I haven‘t read yet): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/01/you-know-you-want-this-kristen-rou... #shortstories

I devoured this! Even better than I was expecting and I had high expectations. Truly amazing short stories. Each one was nightmarish and somehow pulpy, classy, dreamy and psychological all at the same time (how is that possible?), without being cheap or gross. I loved the magic realism more than the realist ones, but that‘s just my taste. Magic realism is my favourite thing in the world

Look what just came in at the library! By the author of “Cat Person,” in case you remember the most famous - & certainly the most viral - short story of the 2000s. #librarymonth

Short stories from the author of “Cat Person” (which is also included in this collection). Some have more of a fantasy element than I anticipated, which was nice. But some did not quite work for me. I really liked the one about a little girl‘s birthday party gone wrong.

Book club pick for March. Didn‘t care for it.

Wow! What a seriously entertaining, delightfully twisted set of short stories! Roupenian has a knack for creating very interesting character relationships and then dissecting them down to their parts. I blazed through this one - and I cannot wait for her upcoming novel. Love love love!

Sour hazy IPA and the comfiest couch ever and some reading time this Saturday ☀️.

This collection is not really doing anything for me. And that is hard to admit. I am reading it for Book Club because so many of us liked the Cat Person story in the NYT but none of these are capturing that same energy. Please tell me it gets better!!!

So excited to read this for Book Club next week! I keep hearing more and more great things.

Absolutely brilliant. What a writer. She's working on a novel apparently and I can't wait.
It's quite disturbing in places, often bizarre, sometimes mildly erotic but then not really.
I am so impressed.

Good library trip 😀

Thank you @offtheshelfofficial and @simonbooks — I‘m so excited to read You Know You Want This by @kroupenian 💕#bookstagram #judgeabookbyitscover #bookworm

The adjectives that kept coming to mind while I was reading this one are fresh and fun. Of course, Roupenian doesn‘t hit them all out of the park, but her voice and style are vibrant even in the couple of stories that don‘t quite land. My favorite is the delightfully eerie “Sardines,” but there were several other standouts too. I‘m here for whatever she does next.

What is it about “Cat Person” that‘s so uncomfortable and subtly terrifying? It‘s so well done. Technically having consensual sex but being pressured by social norms rather than the person to continue when you don‘t want to? The super typical response of Robert to turn from a normal loser into a creepy guy that goes to places the narrator frequents and accuses her of being a whore? Making excuses to keep pursuing men who put no effort into you?

I loved these stories so much! They are definitely dark and incredibly visceral!

I read “Cat Person” back when everyone was circling that around the Internet, so I‘m excited to see what other stories Roupenian can think up!

Just listened to an amazing interview on Arena , an Arts radio show here every night at 7. This book of short stories sounds amazing .... great interview with this writer, she spoke a lot about writer/reader relationship ..... she wants us , I‘m stacking 👍🏻💕

Joined my local independent bookstore‘s Signed First Editions Book Club and this is January‘s selection. So far one story in and I am hooked.

I LOVED this book. It‘s a collection of short stories, they really got a reaction out of me. I can only hope a sequel is on the horizon.

Google “Cat Person” you can read the best story for free and it gives you a taste of the authors style. Best book I read in January

I went into these stories braced not to like them. I quite enjoyed Cat Person and the surrounding controversy, but heard these stories were full of unlikeable characters and disturbing situations. And they are, but Kristen Roupenian has an uncanny sense of the inner lives of people - their messy, uncomfortable, inner lives. Plus one story that feels like it doesn't fit unless you think of them as cat people. ;)

Here and excited! I hope it‘s sexual and absurd and a whole lot of fun and packs a punch.

Library haul!

This dark, perverse, macabre collection is perfect for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Ottessa Moshfegh. The subjects are mostly women, and they are at times the victims and the villains. The stories are visceral, depraved and deeply uncomfortable—but if you‘re anything like me, it‘s hard to resist the allure of fiction that probes the hidden depths of humanity, those taboo thoughts and feelings we don‘t dare allow to the surface.

4/5🌟Dark, Strange But Kind Of Irresistible
OK, what the hell did I just read?!
The stories contained in here are disturbing and dark and yet very human at the same time, I couldn't stop reading! I didn't love every story but I did find them all interesting. The themes the author uses in these stories are bold and shocking to sexual and painful at times while covering a wide range of topics. Out Jan 15th
#bookreview #bookblogger #ARC

I can't believe I only just now found out that Kristen Roupenian (the author of that short story "Cat Person") has a short story collection out! :D

I just posted “The truth about fiction” on Medium. I talk, among other things, about the perception of Kristen Roupenian‘s “Cat Person” (as fiction, personal essay or thinkpiece). I finally got around to reading the short story last week, long after the fuss following its publication in the 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑟 had died down @artkavanagh/the-truth-about-fiction-ff56897f3d88" rel="nofollow" target="_top">https://medium.com/@artkavanagh/the-truth-about-fiction-ff56897f3d88

so I finally read this short story that was all over my Twitter feed last weekend. it‘s a good read about a doomed relationship, written in a pretty simplistic, straightforward way. I could almost imagine the narration done voiceover-style, like in the movie 500 Days of Summer. the author is supposed to have a short story collection out next year. you can read “Cat Person” here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person