Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well. My TBR pile grew by quite a bit because my birthday just passed and I am lucky enough to have family who understand that I just want to read. I even got the complete Dune trilogy so I’m looking forward to reading that. I’m also pleased to say that I am working on some of my own writing in my spare time. It feels good to finally have an idea that I want to work on. If there are any updates on that, I will be happy to share them with you all. In the meantime, let’s talk about Bliss Montage, a collection of short stories.

Content Warning: Substance Abuse, Some Sexual Content, Discussions and Depictions of Domestic Abuse,

Ling Ma’s collection of eight short stories, Bliss Montage, explores feminism, immigration, friendships, and motherhood. A woman lives with her husband and 100 ex-boyfriends. A woman travels with her husband to his home country to participate in an ancient ritual that involves being buried alive. A designer drug threatens to tear apart a friendship. A professor discovers a portal in her office. These stories use surrealism to confront everyday fears, explore isolation, and examine toxic relationships.

While I am normally drawn towards short story collections, Bliss Montage offered a refreshing and poignant perspective that is as strange as it is meaningful. Each story stands on its own but, what I liked is how they all seemed to build on each other. In my interpretation, three of the stories had the same narrator but arguments could be made for the opposite point. Ling Ma does an excellent job giving her stories a dream-like feel, while still being rooted in certain realities. She is not afraid to dive into heavy topics like domestic violence and addiction. Ma’s approach is meaningful and her writing has a certain relatability to it. Bliss Montage is an excellent short story collection that is engaging, thoughtful, and darkly humorous.