Though this was a short story collection most stories felt like a muddy continuation of the next, dropping dirt crumbles into the next story, leeching themes and a sense of pressure akin to sleeping under a weighted blanket. Though I just read the book I am unable to remember the first half as I grew tired of the sameness, the writing was strong but seemed to be repetitive to me. I do think that this was intentional, it just did not work for me.
I was about to DNF when a new portion began. The second half included a collection from one perspective and writing that took a new form. The descriptions of cooking, particularly the bracketed descriptions of colour or type or even just the feeling that the ingredient gave our narrator. This portion saved the book for me and allowed me to get through to the end.