I can confidently say I have never read anything like The Coiled Serpent before and this collection of sixteen short stories embodies a vibes book where the vibes are both classy and gross. Camilla Grudova's writing is incredible with lush descriptions of all of the different horrors that occur in each story. Even when the stories do not necessarily go into stomach-churning territory, there's always something just a little bit wrong with everyone there. 

The book starts off strong with Through Ceilings and Walls, where a woman ends up on a mysterious island trying to discover what’s going on there. She finds that all of the inhabitants worship The Crown, struggles to figure out the food situation and...somehow the plumbing is all…poop. It’s poop all the way down. Further into the book, in The Green Hat, we meet Angelica who works for a chemist responsible for making a particularly deadly, green poison and get to know the chemist and his motivations better as well.  But perhaps my favorite story was Madame Flora's, both a tonic and a person, who restores menses in a world where women aren't allowed to eat meat or go to the bathroom in public. 

If any of those tastes even begin to pique your interest, I would recommend the book - it made me literally feel sick to my stomach with the descriptions at times, but I couldn't help but keep going. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the advanced copy.