Would it be fair if I only reviewed one short story collection this month? Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn is a darkly-fascinating, ominously-enticing read, and I felt myself being drawn into the writing with no desire to pull back.

Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn is the inaugural title in a new series of short story collections from Landfall Tauraka and Otago University Press, celebrating the art of short fiction in Aotearoa New Zealand. In Pretty Ugly, Kirsty Gunn reminds us that ambiguity and complication are elemental forces in a human life, and grist to the storyteller’s mill. These 13 darkly compelling stories, set in New Zealand and in the UK, are testament to Gunn’s unrivalled ability to look directly into the troubled human heart and draw out what dwells there. The ‘ugly’ of these stories, she writes, is to do with ‘considering how much a person’s life can bear’. Longings, compulsions, jealousies, dreams; ambitions realised, desires denied: Gunn’s steady, clear-eyed gaze unsettles complacencies, reveals duplicities, and gathers us all into the fold. She brings unease and compassion for the human condition in equal measure to the page. Each of these stories is an exquisite, thorn-sharp bouquet.

There is a dark element to Pretty Ugly that reminds me of Han Kang’s works The Vegetarian and The White Book, so if you enjoyed those short story collections I highly encourage you to pick up Pretty Ugly as the vibe is similar. If you are a fan of Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties or Joy Sullivan’s Instructions for Travelling West and you’re looking for something a little different but familiar, then Pretty Ugly is the short story collection you need in your life. It feels like a blend of the two, but it also carries its own beauty and power. There is a balance between drama, setting, atmosphere, characters, themes, and pace that makes Kirsty Gunn’s Pretty Ugly flow and move a bit like a snake in the grass – you know it is lurking, toying with you, but it decides when to strike.

With a little bit of everything, Pretty Ugly is a short story collection that will satiate your hunger, providing a little bit of everything to please you and leave you thinking about her for weeks to come. I highly recommend Pretty Ugly to all short story and New Zealand fiction readers out there. Her narrative style is alluring, and the tension is delicious, keeping your engaged from start to end. I know I will be thinking about Blood Knowledge for some time.