Nothing but Blackened Teeth Review; February 20 2023

Happy Family Day, if it’s being celebrated wherever you are! My kid’s home today for the stat holiday, but we don’t have much in the way of plans. We already had a busy weekend with friends and family, so today’s kind of our ‘rest day’ now.

More good news: the floor of my bedroom has been rebuilt! After all the floods we had, it was torn up to get to the drains/plumbing that kept backing up, and the problem’s since been fixed. The issue then was that there were no floorboards for a good half a year, at least. Recently I cleared out the whole room – furniture dismantled and moved – and the floor was fixed! I’m still getting some of the stuff I had to move back in there, but it’s never looked nicer.

I also filed my taxes today. That’s always fun.

Work-wise, I’ve been pretty stagnant. Partially, it’s due to a lack of time – I’ve been off at appointments or trying to keep my house livable – but I’ve also been trying to give myself time to read. This week, I’m copying over my review of the one I finished most recently, ‘Nothing But Blackened Teeth’ by Cassandra Khaw.

‘Overall, I wanted to like 'Nothing But Blackened Teeth' more than I did, but that's not to say I didn't have a good time reading it.

It's a short read, being a novella - took me only a few hours to get through, including interruptions - and the prose itself was strong and visceral. I loved the setting, the concept, the cheeky use of tropes and inversions thereof. The only reason this isn't a four-star review (or even a five-star) is because of the way it ended.

I'm all for leaving things to the imagination, but the ending did feel abrupt and poorly explained. As in... not really explained at all, actually. I won't spoil it, but I was left wishing for more.

I think this book would have done a much better job stretched out into a novel. Give us more of the terror, the madness, the doubt. Give us more of an explanation, even if it's the wrong one. Just, 'more', overall.

3/5 stars.’

Now I’m onto Stephen Graham Jones’ novel, ‘The Only Good Indians’, and putting aside my other reads for it because I’m becoming something of a Fan of his. I’ll let you know what I think whenever I finish it!

No story segment today, though. I’m not sure where I’m going with our improv tale. Got to give myself a bit to refresh the ‘yes, and’ energy.