No matter where you are on your journey of womanhood you will find a relatable story within these pages. This anthology is a masterpiece that captures the female experience in a uniquely metaphorical light.

I almost DNF’d the book 5 pages in. Salt badgers? WTF? I don’t have time for this. Then I realized I have two salt badgers of my own & the story resonated deeply with my journey through motherhood.

I want to give this work 5 stars, but some of the stories are lackluster compared to the standouts & a few are taken from the author’s previous book.

Fierce fragments of femininity. Compelling voice which explores the world and its injustices with sardonic humour.

This was an absolutely fantastic short story collection exploring themes of womanhood, motherhood, sexism, and racism amongst others. Some stories were disturbing, some were funny, some witty and all biting satires of our society and its attitude. I particularly liked the idea of the palate cleansers and the stories to read your 5 year old. My highlights were Woman on the Internet, She who swallowed a universe and Council of dead women but each of these stories were strong in their own way. A must read!

I recommend this collection because of its contemporary feel and the many important themes it deals with.
I can say this easily; there are many stories in this collection, some of which are very short - there will certainly be something for everyone.

Loved it loved it loved it.
Absolutely devoured this.
The themes are so hard hitting and relatable for women and the writing was so beautiful and raw.
I really enjoy a short story (short attention span so they suit me perfectly) however there were a few that I wish were novels because I got so into them and they really just stuck with me after reading.
I came away from this collection with a sort of sadness overpowered by a strong feeling of pride for women and what we can endure.
I would and will be recommending this to literally all my friends.
Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC, I am beyond grateful to have found a new and wonderful author to follow.

Alexa play Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poet’s Department while I read A Beautiful Lack of Consequence! It’s giving girlhood, female rage, lived female experience et al. This is going to be talked about when it’s released and I’m giddy that I’ve already read it through once. I need a copy on my bookshelf come March (that cover though 😍)

A big thank you to, Random House UK, Cornerstone + Merky Books for the opportunity to read this before it’s published on 20th March 2025 #ABeautifulLackofConsequence #NetGalley

I enjoyed this book, it was different to my usual kind of book but I'm glad I gave it a go as I really enjoyed it.

Firstly, I’m so grateful for this ARC copy, it’s been amazing to read and I’m very grateful to Random House UK for letting me read and review it!

‘I don’t know about you, but to me, a symphony of women in full-throated, belly-aching laughter is the most defiant, beautiful sound there is. It’s because the sound of our joy is also the sound of hope, and if we needed to, I think we could do it forever.’

Monika Radojevic’s short story collection bounces from remodelling the stagnant myths and fairytales that have shaped the perception of women throughout history, through to co-opting the very real fears that contemporary women contain within themselves each day.

Radojevic’s use of genre and technique flits between satire, dark humour and bathos to tackle the dystopian pasts, realities, and futures of the female experience. Throughout her thirty beautifully constructed tales, there are jump-scares, palate cleansers, and surrealist shifts that challenge how we perceive female experience and female anger, and what we can do when it comes to holding this knowledge within ourselves.

How does capitalism barricade attempts to secure women’s safety? How can childcare (read: badgers) and corporate careers co-exist? What on earth do we do about the bystander effect? I could list so many questions that Radojevic opens and explores within her narratives - there really are too many to note. However, it is clear that the burning statement is, indeed, her collection’s title that criticises the often horrifying lack of consequence of violence towards women. What Radojevic does with this title, though, is also subvert it towards redefining how this can also benefit women.

Radojevic’s writing style is visceral, stabbing, and necessary. Whilst she doesn’t provide answers to the questions she raises, her surrealist entry into thinking about these themes is highly provoking, and reading this collection felt like having my brain prodded and reshaped as if it were plasticine… (in a good way).

In her acknowledgements, Radojevic cites writers, such as Angela Carter, as influential predecessors for her writing style, and this is beautifully clear within this short story collection. However, whilst she adopts the thematic undercurrents of writers like Carter, Radojevic differentiates herself through her ability to stun the reader through her structural variation and enjoyably jarring humour.

I have given this collection a rating of 4.5 (rounded to 5) as, whilst I enjoyed it, it is not the sort of book I could devour in one hit due to its discussions of heavier topics. However, on this note, I really appreciated Radojevic’s structural splicing that interweaves what she calls ‘Palate Cleansers’. These super-short stories, flash fiction almost, of 1-2 pages disrupt the heaviness of prior tales and add either moments of poetic uplift or act as turning points to the existing mood.

If you love collections that thematise girlhood, untangle female experience, articulate rage, and playfully exploit and subvert allegories, then you’ll love this short story collection.