“I’m only sorry I didn’t get to eat all of you.”

There is a sublime kind of confidence that comes from a novella that’s not presuming to be anything other than what it is. Though the narrative is simple, there is nothing plain about this story. The whimsical existentialism, something I would call darkly silly, featured in Hoke’s “Open Throat” made this a fast and delightful read. Take only an afternoon (seriously, it’s like 150 pages) curled up on your couch with our trans mountain lion protagonist, feel their perspective mold as they meander the streets of “ellay” bearing witness to stark scenes of humanity. Glimpses of self-discovery turning into innate understanding, a lion is a lion of course, of course.


5/5 As a Leo, anything under 5 stars would have been a self-induced hate crime.