I was thrilled to discover Henry Hoke’s 'Open Throat'. Hoke is a maestro of voice, crafting a protagonist that’s equal parts predator and poet. The way he channels the mountain lion’s thoughts—simultaneously primal and achingly human—is genius. It’s like if William Burroughs rewrote 'The Lion King' as a fever dream.
Hoke’s background in performance art seeps into his writing. Every sentence feels staged, yet spontaneous. The novel’s brevity belies its depth; it’s a slim volume that punches way above its weight. For readers craving more off-kilter brilliance, I’d pair it with 'Milk Fed' by Melissa Broder—another author who turns appetite into art.
I recently stumbled upon 'open throat' and was immediately hooked by its raw, poetic style. The author is Henry Hoke, a writer who blends dark humor with surrealism in a way that feels fresh and unsettling. His background in experimental fiction shines through in this novel, where he crafts a voice so unique it sticks with you long after reading. I love how he takes risks with perspective, making the narrator's consciousness both alien and deeply relatable. If you enjoy boundary-pushing literature, Hoke's work is worth exploring. 'Open Throat' isn't just a book—it's an experience that lingers like a shadow you can't shake off.
Henry Hoke penned 'Open Throat', and what a wild ride it is. The novel follows a mountain lion navigating a fragmented Los Angeles, and Hoke’s prose captures the animal’s feral yet oddly philosophical mind with startling precision. His writing reminds me of Denis Johnson’s ability to find beauty in grit, but with a twist of absurdity that’s all his own.
I’ve followed Hoke’s career since his memoir 'The Book of Endless Sleepovers', where he played with autofiction in ways that blurred reality. In 'Open Throat', he pushes further, using the lion’s perspective to critique human isolation and environmental collapse. The book’s fragmented structure mirrors how we consume stories today—disjointed, visceral, and hungry for meaning.
What sets Hoke apart is his fearlessness. He doesn’t just write about queerness or climate change; he embodies them through narrative form. If you’re tired of conventional storytelling, dive into his work. For similar vibes, try 'Fiebre Tropical' by Juli Delgado Lopera—another voice that bends language to its will.
2025-07-05 23:37:22
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Avery Tate was forced to marry a bigshot by her stepmother as her father's company was on the verge of bankruptcy. There was a catch, the bigshot—Elliot Foster—was in a state of coma. In the public’s eye, it was only a matter of time until she was deemed a widow and be kicked out of the family.A twist of event happened when Elliot unexpectedly woke up from his coma.Fuming at his marriage situation, he lashed out on Avery and threatened to kill their babies if they had any. “I’ll kill them with my very hands!” he bawled.Four years had passed when Avery returned to her homeland with her fraternal twins—a boy and a girl.As she pointed at Elliot’s face on a TV screen, she reminded her babies, “Stay far away from this man, he’s sworn to kill you both.” That night, Elliot’s computer was hacked and he was challenged—by one of the twins—to kill them. “Come and get me, *sshole!”
A promising position at a high tech dating app company brings Holly out to Colorado. But when she meets the CEO, and would be boss, she decides he can take his attitude, and the job offer, and stuff it.
Holly becomes desperate for work and doesn't want to move back home with her mom and recently divorced sister. She decides to give it one last shot and is immediately hired by the COO, who is also the CEO's brother.
Her project is to bring the brother's latest dating app update to life. She needs to find any issues with it, which seems to be everything. Rework the backend. And complete a beta test using employees who volunteer to be testers.
What could go wrong during the office beta testing? A lot.
No one on the leadership team, including Holly, the CEO, & the COO were supposed to sign up for beta testing of their app that allows people to express their desires anonymously via written messages. What happens when Holly starts messaging with her bosses without knowing who they are?
Can the Billionaire heirs of Talon Industries, Noah and Adam, figure out how to charm a girl who doesn't seem to be impacted by their usual charms? Can either of them admit that lust has turned into love? Who can crack the ice cold heart of these untrusting alpha men?
She can.
Behind velvet curtains and gilded balconies, the opera is more than a performance. It's a hunting ground, a court of monsters disguised as patrons and benefactors.
When a masked nobleman claims her talent as his own, Lyria is drawn into a world where music is power, restraint is survival, and desire is the most dangerous temptation of all.
The longer Lyria remains under his protection, the more she awakens. Her body responds to hungers she does not yet understand and her are dreams invaded by a silver-eyed predator who promises freedom instead of restraint.
As the opera's beauty curdles into something predatory, Lyria must decide what she is willing to become to survive it.
The stage is watching. The city is listening. And once the blood sings, it cannot be silenced.
TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING: This story contains mature themes and content intended for adult audiences (18+)
Reader discretion is advised.
It includes moments of violence, sexual content and dark erotic elements, manipulation, obsession, and emotional power dynamics.
I'm eight months pregnant when I suddenly faint on the train. My husband panics and cries for help as he kneels beside me.
An interning doctor hurries to me. She doesn't bother checking my condition before saying, "The patient needs to undergo a C-section! We have to get the baby out now, or it might die of suffocation!"
Then, she slices me open with a fruit knife—she doesn't take any precautionary measures before doing so. She takes my child out.
I'm in so much pain that I don't even have the strength to scream. My blood flows everywhere.
Yet, a photo of her holding my baby while standing in a pool of blood goes viral. People call her the prettiest doctor alive.
My husband and his family are eternally grateful to her. They don't go after her for causing my death; they even make her my child's godmother!
Meanwhile, I'm given a simple cremation. No one cares about me.
After my death, all my assets go to my husband and his family. Only then do I hear my husband and the doctor talking to each other, sounding smug.
"This plan killed two birds with one stone. We got rid of that woman and made ourselves out to be heroes!"
That's when I learn the interning doctor is my husband's junior from high school. They got together when he accompanied me to my prenatal checkups!
She failed her internship, so my husband came up with this idea—he wanted to use my death to boost her reputation and help her!
Even my child eventually died under their "care".
When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to the day we get on the train.
I discover Quilton Fuller's affair before our wedding, so I lie to him about having aborted our child.
He hates me for that and gets engaged to a woman who looks just like me.
On his wedding day, he video-calls me, wanting to show me his bride. However, he's greeted by the sight of me bloody and battered after being tormented by abductors.
I beg him to at least save the baby in my womb, but he says to the abductors, "You'd better kill her and her child."
Being the heir of the Han Empire means Jordan has to be perfect, flawless, untouchable, and Alpha to the core. But he’s hiding a dangerous secret…
He’s an omega.
If anyone finds out, he’ll lose everything. So Jordan hides behind a cold mask—sharp suits, sharper words, and a wall no one gets through.
Until he shows up.
Alaric Wren. Jordan’s fiercest rival. The man who was never supposed to matter. The man who threatens everything just by looking too close.
And when Alaric discovers the truth, he doesn’t use it to destroy Jordan.
He uses it to get under his skin… and into his bed.
Now Jordan’s perfect life is cracking. Because Alaric doesn’t want to expose him.
He wants to own him.
And Jordan might let him even if it costs him everything.
The protagonist in 'Open Throat' is a fascinatingly unconventional narrator—a mountain lion living in the hills above Los Angeles. This big cat's perspective drives the entire story, offering a raw, visceral view of human civilization through animal eyes. The lion observes hikers, homeless camps, and the city lights below with equal parts curiosity and detachment. What makes this protagonist so compelling is how the author captures their primal instincts—the hunger, territoriality, and fleeting moments of connection with other creatures. The lion's encounters with humans range from terrifying to tragic, especially when their paths cross with vulnerable individuals. This isn't just an animal story; it's a brilliant exploration of survival, isolation, and the blurred boundaries between wilderness and urban life.
I just finished 'Open Throat' last night, and that ending hit hard. The protagonist, a queer mountain lion, spends the whole novel navigating human threats and environmental chaos near LA. In the final chapters, a wildfire forces the lion into a suburban neighborhood—a place they’ve always avoided. The climax is brutal and poetic: they attack a man who’s been hunting them, but instead of a triumphant kill, it’s messy and tragic. The lion gets wounded, retreats to a canyon, and watches the city burn from afar. The last lines describe them licking their wounds as ash falls like snow, leaving their fate ambiguous but heavy with symbolism about survival and displacement.
What stuck with me was how the author used the lion’s perspective to mirror queer isolation and climate dread. The prose shifts from sharp hunting scenes to this eerie, almost dreamy devastation. If you liked the animal POV in 'Tender Is the Flesh', this ending will wreck you in the best way.
The plot twist in 'Open Throat' hits like a freight train when you realize the narrator isn't human at all—it's a mountain lion stalking Los Angeles. The big reveal comes when the lion starts interpreting human conversations overheard in the canyon, piecing together fragments about climate change, queer identity, and urban isolation. The real kicker? The lion develops a bizarre obsession with a homeless man who talks to himself, blurring the lines between predator and protector. This twist turns the entire story into this surreal commentary on nature versus humanity, where the most feral creature becomes the most perceptive observer of our messed-up world.
but not based on true events. The novel blends gritty urban fantasy with psychological depth, creating a world that feels startlingly real. The protagonist's struggles with identity and survival mirror real-life issues many face, which might explain why some readers assume it's autobiographical. The author has stated in interviews that while they drew inspiration from personal experiences and urban legends, the core narrative is entirely fictional. The setting's vivid details—like the underground fight clubs and the protagonist's unique abilities—are products of imagination, not documentation. If you want something with similar vibes but rooted in reality, check out 'The Night Always Comes' by Willy Vlautin for raw, true-to-life urban survival stories.