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Bioshifter #1
Bioshifter: Volume 1
Hannah has a routine. Wake up, take a shower, go to school, go to work, come home, and pass out. It's a perfectly normal routine for a perfectly normal girl who does not have to remember how her limbs work every morning because of haunting nightmares of being a very different creature in a very different world. But that's all she thinks they are—nightmares—until one night they're all too lucid, and her body on Earth starts to change. Slowly, Hannah's humanity starts to slip away... but surely she can continue just sticking to routine, right? It'll be fine. It has to be. A mix of urban and traditional fantasy, Bioshifter is a story in two worlds, with magic leaking in from one to the other. It's a story about love, self-acceptance, neurodivergency, and a whole lot of trauma. Strap in and enjoy!
625 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 14, 2023
67 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 14, 2023
Another one from Natalie "Thundamoo" Maher. She's quickly become one of my favorite authors out there, mostly because she presses all the right buttons when I read her stuff. This is no different. I've mentioned before that I've always liked TF fiction, where the act of *becoming* is one of the focuses in the book. Hey. It's a trans thing. I think it makes us more likely to be into the whole thing because *our* whole thing is the act of becoming something that we weren't before. For me this also extends into body horror which is one of my favorite genres of horror, which would also explain why David Cronenberg is one of my favorite directors. (I still need to watch his latest movie since he's come back to form.)
The book is divided into two parts, really. The first part is that of a highschool girl slowly transforming into something quite monstrous, and her attempts to hide it from everybody. The other half is her as a round spider-like thing in another world, very much lampshading some of the isekai tropes. I was immediately into the first half of the book since that was the kind of thing that I was here for. I'm kind of burnt out on isekai fiction, so it took me a while to warm up to the other half. I think it helps that Natalie's imaginatioin and worldbuilding is imaginative and top notch. She takes the World Tree archtype and spins it in a way that I haven't seen before.
As always, her characters feels fully fleshed out and individualized, like they could carry their own story if she so chose to write about them. I always liked how clearly their voice is different than the others and feel fully fleshed out from the beginning, even the minor characters. This is one of Natalies strong suits in her writing.
I only have a couple of criticisms of the book. The first is that we live entirely in the mind of the main character and she can be *exhausting* to be with and repetitive. The other is that the book just kinds of *stops*. There really isn't a climax or a real story arc. I think *both* of these are due to the fact that this is a collection of a serialized publication. They come in weekly intervals and reading the book is kind of like bingewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where you want to throw your remote at the screen every time you hear the words, "Last time on Buffy..." It just wasn't *meant* to be read all at once. Not that that didn't stop me.
If you like her books, and are only aware of her for her published works, I *highly* recommend following up on this with the continuing chapters on Royal Road (https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/594...) and maybe throwing money her way on her patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thundamoo/about) where you can get advanced chapters of her ongoing series. As for the book itself, I'm giving it four stars, which is a hearty recommend if you're into the same kind of things I am.
The book is divided into two parts, really. The first part is that of a highschool girl slowly transforming into something quite monstrous, and her attempts to hide it from everybody. The other half is her as a round spider-like thing in another world, very much lampshading some of the isekai tropes. I was immediately into the first half of the book since that was the kind of thing that I was here for. I'm kind of burnt out on isekai fiction, so it took me a while to warm up to the other half. I think it helps that Natalie's imaginatioin and worldbuilding is imaginative and top notch. She takes the World Tree archtype and spins it in a way that I haven't seen before.
As always, her characters feels fully fleshed out and individualized, like they could carry their own story if she so chose to write about them. I always liked how clearly their voice is different than the others and feel fully fleshed out from the beginning, even the minor characters. This is one of Natalies strong suits in her writing.
I only have a couple of criticisms of the book. The first is that we live entirely in the mind of the main character and she can be *exhausting* to be with and repetitive. The other is that the book just kinds of *stops*. There really isn't a climax or a real story arc. I think *both* of these are due to the fact that this is a collection of a serialized publication. They come in weekly intervals and reading the book is kind of like bingewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where you want to throw your remote at the screen every time you hear the words, "Last time on Buffy..." It just wasn't *meant* to be read all at once. Not that that didn't stop me.
If you like her books, and are only aware of her for her published works, I *highly* recommend following up on this with the continuing chapters on Royal Road (https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/594...) and maybe throwing money her way on her patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thundamoo/about) where you can get advanced chapters of her ongoing series. As for the book itself, I'm giving it four stars, which is a hearty recommend if you're into the same kind of things I am.
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July 25, 2023I received a gifted copy of BIOSHIFTER: VOLUME ONE by Natalie Maher from the author for the purpose of reviewing it for #SPFBO9 for the team created by @coverswithcassidy.
BIOSHIFTER follows Hannah, a teen who attends high school by day and streams video games on Twitch by night. For a long while she has been experiencing strange dreams where she doesn’t quite feel like herself and the world doesn’t feel like her own and she’s constantly digging and digging. When she finally breaks through the end of the tunnel one night she finds herself in a strange spider like body in an entirely different fantasy world. She slowly begins to learn the lore and the different races of people of this fantastical place while also learning to navigate in an entirely foreign self.
When Hannah goes to sleep in the fantasy world, she wakes back in her bed back at home, but it isn’t quite business as usual. Hannah’s human body is beginning to transform in weird and horrifying ways as her two selves and worlds begin to experience blurred lines.
I was instantly intrigued by the cover of this book (it is a fantastic cover!) and the premise of a main character living in two worlds which begin to bleed into each other. I think that the body horror aspects of the real world setting as Hannah’s body starts to transform was the biggest strength of the story. Go in expecting blood and weirdness as Hannah transforms both physically and mentally!
We are following the entire story in Hannah’s head. The overall narrative is quite conversational as Hannah observes herself, all that is around her, and questions everything she’s seeing and doing. This sort of chatty narrative isn’t my favorite style but it did sound like a worried teen so I think it made sense for the character.
I think another strength of this book is that Hannah’s anxiety feeling really comes off the page. Even before all of this starts, Hannah has been dealing with a lot of anxiety. She is a lesbian living in a religious family and conservative community and she feels that she must keep this a secret. She draws a lot of parallels between keeping her true self secret and trying to keep her physical transformation under wraps. There are a lot of good discussions on the fears she has and homophobia in the world in general which certainly feel relevant.
The story does tend to be overly detailed, especially in the real world setting. We spend a lot of time following Hannah moment by moment in slice of life type passages from Hannah’s life. I think this was in part an issue of trying to cover too much with Hannah’s various fantasy and gaming interests, her job, her friends, her romantic interests, school, Covid, etc. There was quite a bit about Pokémon and other games which aren’t things that really held attention for me.
Of the two worlds, I was much more interested in following along with Hannah’s story in the fantasy world. As she meets people and finds a way to communicate with them (Hannah’s other self doesn’t have the ability to speak out loud) she gets to ask a lot of questions about the world and the magic. This does result in some infodump conversations, but given Hannah’s foreign existence in that world, it makes sense that these conversations would take place.
The world included interesting lore, especially as Hannah and her companions begin to explore more. There are a lot of different types of magic and ways they interact and that sometimes was a little hard to keep straight in my mind, but I found the ideas quite interesting. I really liked that Hannah did spend time questioning what she was told by the people in that world. Instead of immediately believing chaos magic meant the wielder was an enemy, she did put some time into thinking whether that was information to be trusted.
In terms of the story arc overall, this felt unfinished for me. My understanding is that this was originally a serialized story published online and this is very clearly labeled as the first volume. While there is progression to the story, I wouldn’t say that this really wraps up to a conclusion. I expect some things to be open ended when it comes to the first book in a series, but I would generally prefer to have the ending feel a little more wrapped up. There were some twists at the end that could make more of an impact going forward, but they felt a bit quick and out of the blue.
Overall there were some interesting elements that worked well for me, but I think the book as a whole could be tightened up.
BIOSHIFTER follows Hannah, a teen who attends high school by day and streams video games on Twitch by night. For a long while she has been experiencing strange dreams where she doesn’t quite feel like herself and the world doesn’t feel like her own and she’s constantly digging and digging. When she finally breaks through the end of the tunnel one night she finds herself in a strange spider like body in an entirely different fantasy world. She slowly begins to learn the lore and the different races of people of this fantastical place while also learning to navigate in an entirely foreign self.
When Hannah goes to sleep in the fantasy world, she wakes back in her bed back at home, but it isn’t quite business as usual. Hannah’s human body is beginning to transform in weird and horrifying ways as her two selves and worlds begin to experience blurred lines.
I was instantly intrigued by the cover of this book (it is a fantastic cover!) and the premise of a main character living in two worlds which begin to bleed into each other. I think that the body horror aspects of the real world setting as Hannah’s body starts to transform was the biggest strength of the story. Go in expecting blood and weirdness as Hannah transforms both physically and mentally!
We are following the entire story in Hannah’s head. The overall narrative is quite conversational as Hannah observes herself, all that is around her, and questions everything she’s seeing and doing. This sort of chatty narrative isn’t my favorite style but it did sound like a worried teen so I think it made sense for the character.
I think another strength of this book is that Hannah’s anxiety feeling really comes off the page. Even before all of this starts, Hannah has been dealing with a lot of anxiety. She is a lesbian living in a religious family and conservative community and she feels that she must keep this a secret. She draws a lot of parallels between keeping her true self secret and trying to keep her physical transformation under wraps. There are a lot of good discussions on the fears she has and homophobia in the world in general which certainly feel relevant.
The story does tend to be overly detailed, especially in the real world setting. We spend a lot of time following Hannah moment by moment in slice of life type passages from Hannah’s life. I think this was in part an issue of trying to cover too much with Hannah’s various fantasy and gaming interests, her job, her friends, her romantic interests, school, Covid, etc. There was quite a bit about Pokémon and other games which aren’t things that really held attention for me.
Of the two worlds, I was much more interested in following along with Hannah’s story in the fantasy world. As she meets people and finds a way to communicate with them (Hannah’s other self doesn’t have the ability to speak out loud) she gets to ask a lot of questions about the world and the magic. This does result in some infodump conversations, but given Hannah’s foreign existence in that world, it makes sense that these conversations would take place.
The world included interesting lore, especially as Hannah and her companions begin to explore more. There are a lot of different types of magic and ways they interact and that sometimes was a little hard to keep straight in my mind, but I found the ideas quite interesting. I really liked that Hannah did spend time questioning what she was told by the people in that world. Instead of immediately believing chaos magic meant the wielder was an enemy, she did put some time into thinking whether that was information to be trusted.
In terms of the story arc overall, this felt unfinished for me. My understanding is that this was originally a serialized story published online and this is very clearly labeled as the first volume. While there is progression to the story, I wouldn’t say that this really wraps up to a conclusion. I expect some things to be open ended when it comes to the first book in a series, but I would generally prefer to have the ending feel a little more wrapped up. There were some twists at the end that could make more of an impact going forward, but they felt a bit quick and out of the blue.
Overall there were some interesting elements that worked well for me, but I think the book as a whole could be tightened up.
April 2, 2024
This is an awesome concept and it's very neurodivergent in it's writing and I love it! this book feels like it fills in those gaps that regular books leave me wondering about, the idea of adding additional thoughts all the time really makes this book stand out.
It also really gives a good example of the way neurodivergent people can feel like they're an alien in the world of neurotypicals and it's cathartic to read it written by somone who gets it instead of pretends to get it.
The nerdy references without explanation really make it extra rewarding to read cause you feel like there's an inside joke between you and the writer it's awesome. Recommended if you're nerdy, Must read if you're neurodivergent
It also really gives a good example of the way neurodivergent people can feel like they're an alien in the world of neurotypicals and it's cathartic to read it written by somone who gets it instead of pretends to get it.
The nerdy references without explanation really make it extra rewarding to read cause you feel like there's an inside joke between you and the writer it's awesome. Recommended if you're nerdy, Must read if you're neurodivergent
September 19, 2023
Interesting
Honestly, the Fantasy world is really interesting, most, especially how the magic system works. There are quite a few interesting characters that are likable, and the various creatures are entertaining. The body horror elements are entertaining, as well as the non-human instinct the main character is trying to learn to accept. My main issue with the story is that I can’t stand the main character for about 30% of the time.
She has the weirdest complaints at the artist of times that don’t really make sense for the character for me. At one point she’s complaining about Americans being arrogant or calling themselves Americans, despite the rest of the Americas existing. I feel like that complaint is about 250 years out of date and not really relevant.
She starts complaining about the nurse, not wearing a mask when her shoes are full of blood. Whatever you think about wearing a mask or not, that just seems like the oddest time to start thinking of said complaint.
When talking about her mother, who is a high-priced lawyer at some top law firm, she’ll complain about the wage gap. Even though she herself is admitted, she doesn’t exactly care about her family probably due to her inhuman origins. So if she doesn’t care, why exactly bring up such a concept into the story in the first place?
Then, when she is literally holding herself together, with magic to stop herself from dying, she starts complaining about the origin of the food she really needs. What’s the point of complaining about that when you absolutely need it or you will die?
It’s weird things like this that take me out of the story as it comes across as the author trying to push something or another. If it was the characters, thoughts outside of these emergency situation is kind of fine, but they were oddly situated.
Overall, the world is entertaining, but I don’t think I’ll go for the second volume since I don’t like the main character of a match, and the real world side characters, one of my cup of tea as well.
Honestly, the Fantasy world is really interesting, most, especially how the magic system works. There are quite a few interesting characters that are likable, and the various creatures are entertaining. The body horror elements are entertaining, as well as the non-human instinct the main character is trying to learn to accept. My main issue with the story is that I can’t stand the main character for about 30% of the time.
She has the weirdest complaints at the artist of times that don’t really make sense for the character for me. At one point she’s complaining about Americans being arrogant or calling themselves Americans, despite the rest of the Americas existing. I feel like that complaint is about 250 years out of date and not really relevant.
She starts complaining about the nurse, not wearing a mask when her shoes are full of blood. Whatever you think about wearing a mask or not, that just seems like the oddest time to start thinking of said complaint.
When talking about her mother, who is a high-priced lawyer at some top law firm, she’ll complain about the wage gap. Even though she herself is admitted, she doesn’t exactly care about her family probably due to her inhuman origins. So if she doesn’t care, why exactly bring up such a concept into the story in the first place?
Then, when she is literally holding herself together, with magic to stop herself from dying, she starts complaining about the origin of the food she really needs. What’s the point of complaining about that when you absolutely need it or you will die?
It’s weird things like this that take me out of the story as it comes across as the author trying to push something or another. If it was the characters, thoughts outside of these emergency situation is kind of fine, but they were oddly situated.
Overall, the world is entertaining, but I don’t think I’ll go for the second volume since I don’t like the main character of a match, and the real world side characters, one of my cup of tea as well.
January 2, 2026
Bioshifter is one of the greatest books I've ever read and easily the greatest book I read in 2025(even though I finished it in 2026, but ignore that). It's such an incredibly interesting story and setting that Natalie Maher has made. The low points aren't even lower than 6/10, and the high points are higher than the World-Tree that half of Bioshifter takes place on.
Where Bioshifter is at its best is its characters. Each and every one feels unique and interesting, and each and everyone could honestly have their own fleshed-out story. My mind immediately goes to Teboho and Kagiso. Despite being raised together, they're both incredibly different, yet mesh so well. Kagiso's way of speech perfectly goes together with Teboho's eloquence, for example. And Sindri mind-controlling every person in the party was foreshadowed beautifully at the beginning of the story with his "song" to lure Hannah out of hiding, evolving into straight-up manipulating her into thinking that he's a friend. And it all comes full-circle at the end; the man who manipulated and lied to everyone was lied to himself, and he paid the price by getting decapitated by Hagoro. Jesus Christ, that was my favorite scene in the entire book.
My second favorite scene, however, is definitely the first part of Chapter 20. It's all about Hannah and her being unable to control herself as she gorges on the bone marrow of her fallen enemies, and how guilty and horrible she feels because of it. It was genuinely difficult to read in an incredibly satisfying way.
Bioshifter's world building is just as good as its characters. Half of the story takes place on the Tree of Souls/Mother Tree, which is an incomprehensibly large tree- so large that entire countries live on singular leaves. Incredibly far down the tree, though, is the Slaying Stone, where humans originate from - a massive obelisk that tears into the side of the Tree of Souls, causing a cascade of sap to flow from it. Even further down than that is absolutely nothing, which is, itself, very interesting. A tree this large should have to exist on something, right ? But there's nothing there. It's as though the Tree of Souls is suspended in mid-air, uprooted by something.
This setting is already incredibly cool, and it's only enhanced further by the magic system. On the Tree of Souls, everything - from the smallest worm to the largest dentron - has a soul, and that soul can be "naturalborn" to a slew of elements. Hannah, for example, is aligned with Space, Order and Transmutation, and the way that she interacts with the world is incredibly unique. Because Space opposes Light, for a large portion of Bioshifter, Hannah doesn't even perceive light. Instead she has "spatial sense" which allows her to see through walls, into peoples organs, etc. She does eventually grow eyes later thanks to her Transmutation magic, but still retains her spatial sense.
There are incredibly few things I can fault Bioshifter for. I'll say that Autumn having DID wasn't foreshadowed especially well. Maybe I'm just stupid, but the hints to her identity weren't very easy to pick up on. I'll also say that Bioshifter could use multiple perspectives. Hannah is incredibly interesting, but her mannerisms can get quite tiring after 600 pages, and I'd love to see things from, say, Kagiso's perspective. But in my opinion, those are rather minor and don't really intrude on anything in the story - it's just a matter of preference I think. There are also several typos throughout the book, which my guess is because Bioshifter is self-published and likely didn't have a full-time editor to work on it. Again, just my guess, I don't know how Natalie Maher wrote this, I only know that it's spectacular.
I'm incredibly excited to read the second(and third) books in the series ! Even just looking at the covers is getting me giddy. Thank you Thundamoo for making such an interesting book !!!!
Where Bioshifter is at its best is its characters. Each and every one feels unique and interesting, and each and everyone could honestly have their own fleshed-out story. My mind immediately goes to Teboho and Kagiso. Despite being raised together, they're both incredibly different, yet mesh so well. Kagiso's way of speech perfectly goes together with Teboho's eloquence, for example. And Sindri mind-controlling every person in the party was foreshadowed beautifully at the beginning of the story with his "song" to lure Hannah out of hiding, evolving into straight-up manipulating her into thinking that he's a friend. And it all comes full-circle at the end; the man who manipulated and lied to everyone was lied to himself, and he paid the price by getting decapitated by Hagoro. Jesus Christ, that was my favorite scene in the entire book.
My second favorite scene, however, is definitely the first part of Chapter 20. It's all about Hannah and her being unable to control herself as she gorges on the bone marrow of her fallen enemies, and how guilty and horrible she feels because of it. It was genuinely difficult to read in an incredibly satisfying way.
Bioshifter's world building is just as good as its characters. Half of the story takes place on the Tree of Souls/Mother Tree, which is an incomprehensibly large tree- so large that entire countries live on singular leaves. Incredibly far down the tree, though, is the Slaying Stone, where humans originate from - a massive obelisk that tears into the side of the Tree of Souls, causing a cascade of sap to flow from it. Even further down than that is absolutely nothing, which is, itself, very interesting. A tree this large should have to exist on something, right ? But there's nothing there. It's as though the Tree of Souls is suspended in mid-air, uprooted by something.
This setting is already incredibly cool, and it's only enhanced further by the magic system. On the Tree of Souls, everything - from the smallest worm to the largest dentron - has a soul, and that soul can be "naturalborn" to a slew of elements. Hannah, for example, is aligned with Space, Order and Transmutation, and the way that she interacts with the world is incredibly unique. Because Space opposes Light, for a large portion of Bioshifter, Hannah doesn't even perceive light. Instead she has "spatial sense" which allows her to see through walls, into peoples organs, etc. She does eventually grow eyes later thanks to her Transmutation magic, but still retains her spatial sense.
There are incredibly few things I can fault Bioshifter for. I'll say that Autumn having DID wasn't foreshadowed especially well. Maybe I'm just stupid, but the hints to her identity weren't very easy to pick up on. I'll also say that Bioshifter could use multiple perspectives. Hannah is incredibly interesting, but her mannerisms can get quite tiring after 600 pages, and I'd love to see things from, say, Kagiso's perspective. But in my opinion, those are rather minor and don't really intrude on anything in the story - it's just a matter of preference I think. There are also several typos throughout the book, which my guess is because Bioshifter is self-published and likely didn't have a full-time editor to work on it. Again, just my guess, I don't know how Natalie Maher wrote this, I only know that it's spectacular.
I'm incredibly excited to read the second(and third) books in the series ! Even just looking at the covers is getting me giddy. Thank you Thundamoo for making such an interesting book !!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2024
(8.5/10) [Review in respect of the whole fic, not just Volume 1]
This fic bore an almighty burden, since I read it directly after Katalepsis and the two share a ton of thematic crossover. I consider it high praise to say that Bioshifter ably filled the void that Katalepsis left behind.
Aesthetically, Bioshifter has an absolute ton going on, many elements of which are deliberately not too cohesive with each other. While some of the imagery of the World Tree was amazing, and Thundamoo used a lot of its potential to come up with unique staging for climactic scenes, I overall struggled to engage with the treeside plot at times, since everything that happens there is so bonkers all the time that there's not much sense of depth to the communities there.
However, I found myself deeply invested when it came to the Earthside characters. Valerie, Ida, Jet and Alma are all excellent, unpacking a range of responses to a community that, for various reasons, turns its back on them. One of my favourite things about Bioshifter was the way it stuck to its guns and accepted the unpalatable side of its beliefs: the characters exemplify this, since they are each horribly flawed in their own way (especially Hannah), and the story accepts this about them rather than shying away.
I appreciated this same decisiveness about its themes when Bioshifter reached its ending - I was surprised and pleased with how far Thundamoo was willing to go with the plot to reach an ending that was justified in light of the rest of the story. This fic did wear its philosophies on its sleeve with some long ethical tracts that I wish had been woven through the story a bit more subtly, but I really enjoyed what it had to say regardless.
This fic bore an almighty burden, since I read it directly after Katalepsis and the two share a ton of thematic crossover. I consider it high praise to say that Bioshifter ably filled the void that Katalepsis left behind.
Aesthetically, Bioshifter has an absolute ton going on, many elements of which are deliberately not too cohesive with each other. While some of the imagery of the World Tree was amazing, and Thundamoo used a lot of its potential to come up with unique staging for climactic scenes, I overall struggled to engage with the treeside plot at times, since everything that happens there is so bonkers all the time that there's not much sense of depth to the communities there.
However, I found myself deeply invested when it came to the Earthside characters. Valerie, Ida, Jet and Alma are all excellent, unpacking a range of responses to a community that, for various reasons, turns its back on them. One of my favourite things about Bioshifter was the way it stuck to its guns and accepted the unpalatable side of its beliefs: the characters exemplify this, since they are each horribly flawed in their own way (especially Hannah), and the story accepts this about them rather than shying away.
I appreciated this same decisiveness about its themes when Bioshifter reached its ending - I was surprised and pleased with how far Thundamoo was willing to go with the plot to reach an ending that was justified in light of the rest of the story. This fic did wear its philosophies on its sleeve with some long ethical tracts that I wish had been woven through the story a bit more subtly, but I really enjoyed what it had to say regardless.
April 28, 2023
Absolutely Wild
This has to be one of the strangest books I've ever read, without question. I was glued to it from start to finish because the concepts behind the story were very unique. The closest comparison is something that's a mix between Animorphs and isekai stories, except this is both at once while being extremely well-written. This is the story of a person split across dimensions, unwillingly transforming in both of them, and having to navigate crazy complications to both lives she is living.
It was a great bonus that I was able to easily relate with the main character, Hannah, as I share many traits with her. She's very socially awkward, especially around cute girls, has had traumatic experiences with mental health professionals, plays lots of video games (and references them throughout - she names an effect Spacial Rend in reference to a Pokemon move at one point), and aces all her classes easily yet loves learning.
There's a ton of representation in this book, especially from queer and neurodiverse areas. The main character is a lesbian who has issues with depression by her own admission, and I'd argue she has some limited form of bipolar as well. Her best friend is autistic . Another character has DID.
So are there any downsides at all? Not many. I am not sure how much I like the relationship situation for the main character. She's sort of in the middle of a love triangle, and it might be growing to include more people even. That said, even if this went in a direction I totally disliked and became a harem or something, the rest of it is so good I would read all the future volumes anyway.
This has to be one of the strangest books I've ever read, without question. I was glued to it from start to finish because the concepts behind the story were very unique. The closest comparison is something that's a mix between Animorphs and isekai stories, except this is both at once while being extremely well-written. This is the story of a person split across dimensions, unwillingly transforming in both of them, and having to navigate crazy complications to both lives she is living.
It was a great bonus that I was able to easily relate with the main character, Hannah, as I share many traits with her. She's very socially awkward, especially around cute girls, has had traumatic experiences with mental health professionals, plays lots of video games (and references them throughout - she names an effect Spacial Rend in reference to a Pokemon move at one point), and aces all her classes easily yet loves learning.
There's a ton of representation in this book, especially from queer and neurodiverse areas. The main character is a lesbian who has issues with depression by her own admission, and I'd argue she has some limited form of bipolar as well. Her best friend is autistic . Another character has DID.
So are there any downsides at all? Not many. I am not sure how much I like the relationship situation for the main character. She's sort of in the middle of a love triangle, and it might be growing to include more people even. That said, even if this went in a direction I totally disliked and became a harem or something, the rest of it is so good I would read all the future volumes anyway.
December 21, 2024
4 Dimensional Hyperspiders!!!
Thundamoo's writing is so unique, among everything I read... and I love it... this is my 3rd Thundamoo book/series, after Vigor Mortis: Volume 1 -4 and Hive Minds Give Good Hugs... there's a real running theme of body horror throughout, that I've seen other readers call TransFormation stories, that explore gender identity themes and body dysmorphia that are impactful to the trans community among others, and I really see that...
Also, I just loved the Cube movies as a kid (Cube, Cube 2: Hypercube, Cube Zero, etc), and love time travel and multiverse stories...
This one could also be nightmare fuel, with the idea of your dreams/nightmares suddenly being real... I know my friends struggled with some of the content in this one, and chose to finish up our Cinnamon Bun 4-5 Buddy Reads before continuing with Bioshifter: Volume 2-3 in January 2025... can't wait...
Thundamoo's writing is so unique, among everything I read... and I love it... this is my 3rd Thundamoo book/series, after Vigor Mortis: Volume 1 -4 and Hive Minds Give Good Hugs... there's a real running theme of body horror throughout, that I've seen other readers call TransFormation stories, that explore gender identity themes and body dysmorphia that are impactful to the trans community among others, and I really see that...
Also, I just loved the Cube movies as a kid (Cube, Cube 2: Hypercube, Cube Zero, etc), and love time travel and multiverse stories...
This one could also be nightmare fuel, with the idea of your dreams/nightmares suddenly being real... I know my friends struggled with some of the content in this one, and chose to finish up our Cinnamon Bun 4-5 Buddy Reads before continuing with Bioshifter: Volume 2-3 in January 2025... can't wait...
February 17, 2024
Story is good but was hard to read personally
About halfway through this book, I thought, "I wish this book was worse so I could stop reading."
The story and plot are good and compelling. One half is more interesting than the other, unfortunately, for most of the book, but that's not necessarily the problem I have with it.
The main character is extremely unlikable. This is strange because, universally, I found all the side characters compelling and interesting, so its not an issue with the skill of the author. She's very judgemental, consistently makes bad and short-sighted decisions that are in character but frustrating, constantly commenting on women's bodies in a way I found off-putting, and worst of all constantly goes on screeds directly to the reader that are mostly superfluous.
But besides Hannah I like most everything else. World building is good and makes me want to learn more. Character motivations all more or less make sense to me and follow through. Magic is great and very inventive. The gore and body horror is leaned into, and I greatly respect that. All easily above average.
Hannah's narration style and constant contemporary references ripped me out of the story though, and made me cringe several times. This is likely a personal taste thing, and isn't a criticism I'm levying at the narrative. However, it took me three times as long to finish the book as it should have due to this. If it doesn't bother you, this book is probably 4 stars.
About halfway through this book, I thought, "I wish this book was worse so I could stop reading."
The story and plot are good and compelling. One half is more interesting than the other, unfortunately, for most of the book, but that's not necessarily the problem I have with it.
The main character is extremely unlikable. This is strange because, universally, I found all the side characters compelling and interesting, so its not an issue with the skill of the author. She's very judgemental, consistently makes bad and short-sighted decisions that are in character but frustrating, constantly commenting on women's bodies in a way I found off-putting, and worst of all constantly goes on screeds directly to the reader that are mostly superfluous.
But besides Hannah I like most everything else. World building is good and makes me want to learn more. Character motivations all more or less make sense to me and follow through. Magic is great and very inventive. The gore and body horror is leaned into, and I greatly respect that. All easily above average.
Hannah's narration style and constant contemporary references ripped me out of the story though, and made me cringe several times. This is likely a personal taste thing, and isn't a criticism I'm levying at the narrative. However, it took me three times as long to finish the book as it should have due to this. If it doesn't bother you, this book is probably 4 stars.
May 3, 2023
A nice urban fantasy/fantasy story that manages to scratch both itches very well. Neither side of the story overstays its welcome, switching frequently enough to keep things fresh and keep me in suspense about what's going to happen in the other side of the story. The spread of representation in the story was also quite nice, even with some that I wouldn't have expected to see. Overall a wonderful and satisfying story where everything just keeps getting messier and I can't wait to see how it gets even worse.
July 12, 2023
Really wanted to like this.
But man it is just . . . boring.
She's turning into an inhuman creature--but that just solves her dysphoria so she's OK with that and no one ever finds out who's a problem. Her friends and love interest are fine with it.
She's waking up in another world at night--but she likes it there so that's not a problem either.
Any emotion she goes through? The story will just stop and relay it to you over the next 2 pages. It makes Hannah so boring and unlikable.
Don't tell me how she feels, weave it into the story, SHOW me how she's feeling.
But man it is just . . . boring.
She's turning into an inhuman creature--but that just solves her dysphoria so she's OK with that and no one ever finds out who's a problem. Her friends and love interest are fine with it.
She's waking up in another world at night--but she likes it there so that's not a problem either.
Any emotion she goes through? The story will just stop and relay it to you over the next 2 pages. It makes Hannah so boring and unlikable.
Don't tell me how she feels, weave it into the story, SHOW me how she's feeling.
May 3, 2024
PLEASE NOTE THAT MY 1 STAR REVIEW BASICALLY REFLECTS THAT I AM NOT THE TARGET AUDIENCE AND NOT THE QUALITY OF WRITING.
It should also be noted that I barely began this book before putting it down. That is because the MC and setting are unreletingly high school. Of course it is possible to write such characters and setting with a more mature bent but the bit I read seemed to make it clear that that would not be the case here. In my experience books all about being a high schooler in high school only appeal to junior high kids.
Bottom line: really not written for me.
It should also be noted that I barely began this book before putting it down. That is because the MC and setting are unreletingly high school. Of course it is possible to write such characters and setting with a more mature bent but the bit I read seemed to make it clear that that would not be the case here. In my experience books all about being a high schooler in high school only appeal to junior high kids.
Bottom line: really not written for me.
July 8, 2023
Never thought I'd love this book
After reading the description of the book, I was kinda put off but decided to go for it anyway. Man, i have barely been able to put the book down. It's so much more interesting than I thought it would be and I'm really excited to see what happens next!
After reading the description of the book, I was kinda put off but decided to go for it anyway. Man, i have barely been able to put the book down. It's so much more interesting than I thought it would be and I'm really excited to see what happens next!
May 29, 2024
Beautiful urban fantasy/traditional fantasy mix with wonderfully complex characters and relationships. I have a hard time picking out a favorite character because I really came to love so many of them. This was a great introduction to the setting and to these characters. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this series goes from here.
December 20, 2023
Mandatory gay reading!
This is one of those books i could do an analysis off rip and talk about for hours. The characters, the world, the plot, the entire scope of the book serves to further the plot.
Its an examination of helplessness, and what it does to a person.
This is one of those books i could do an analysis off rip and talk about for hours. The characters, the world, the plot, the entire scope of the book serves to further the plot.
Its an examination of helplessness, and what it does to a person.
June 21, 2024
amazing fantasy book with a nice and unique twist and a refreshing look at the genre
Urban fantasy mixed with isekai in a seamless way that works perfectly and makes every chapter captivating leaving you wanting more!
Urban fantasy mixed with isekai in a seamless way that works perfectly and makes every chapter captivating leaving you wanting more!
January 23, 2025
Annoying Lead
Constant complaints and apologies. With a dash of psychotic tendencies. Only if you count wanting to eat people psychotic. And just a heads up for some peeps, it has LGBTQ+ ideals pushed here, so if that ain’t your cup of tea it’s best to pass on this one.
Constant complaints and apologies. With a dash of psychotic tendencies. Only if you count wanting to eat people psychotic. And just a heads up for some peeps, it has LGBTQ+ ideals pushed here, so if that ain’t your cup of tea it’s best to pass on this one.
September 11, 2025
Natalie Maher does a really good job of creating fun and interesting characters. We spend a lot of time in the heads of her protagonists, so it's a good thing that they're likable and have some fun neurosis.
December 26, 2025
A lifetime of repetitive dreams turns out to be the “slow burn” part of a transdimensional transformation process for a girl who thought she was human.
Read for: Real weird body horror with a side of sapphic trans romance
Avoid if: You can’t handle the main character feeling powerless
Read for: Real weird body horror with a side of sapphic trans romance
Avoid if: You can’t handle the main character feeling powerless
May 25, 2023
Without a doubt 5 stars!
Super original, funny as hell. Had me hooked from the very beginning. I really, REALLY cannot wait for volume two.
Super original, funny as hell. Had me hooked from the very beginning. I really, REALLY cannot wait for volume two.
November 6, 2023
Not my usual speed, but a fun read, and hitting some interesting address of body image.
December 3, 2023
Not for me, I don’t like the main character. Some of the descriptions are quite wonderful and really amused me.
December 25, 2023
This would be an amazing story if it weren't so woke. I just can't get past pronouns mindfuckery, ugh.
January 17, 2025
Completely great!
March 15, 2024
This is the most gen Z book I've ever read.
November 6, 2023
Not my usual speed, but a fun read, and hitting some interesting address of body image.
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