The Body Harvest

by Michael J. Seidlinger

JG Ballard’s Crash meets Albert Camus's The Plague in a transgressive horror novel for the TikTok Generation.

Will is a fraud. Olivia is a wreck. They meet at a grief share group and quickly bond over their brokenness. They also have a peculiar hobby; they seek out sickness. Will hunts for the latest strain of flu. Olivia doesn’t feel comfortable in her body if she isn’t suffering from a fever. They become virus chasers, finding confidence in their ability to conquer every affliction they come across. They soon discover an online community of chasers called The Source and realize that their hobby isn’t all that odd when seen from the right distance. And then the mysterious Zaff literally walks into their life, claiming that he has the goods, knows where the latest outbreak will drop. Intrigued, Will and Olivia decide to take their hobby to the point of obsession, believing that if they can conquer the newest strain, nobody can hurt them.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Ebooks, Adult

224 pages, Paperback

Published July 23, 2024

About the author

MICHAEL J. SEIDLINGER is the Filipino American author of The Body Harvest, Anybody Home?, and other books. He has written for, among others, Wired, Buzzfeed, Thrillist, Goodreads, The Observer, Polygon, The Believer, and Publishers Weekly. He teaches at Portland State University and has led workshops at Catapult, Kettle Pond Writer's Conference, and Sarah Lawrence. You can find him at michaeljseidlinger.com.

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.0 Stars
Video Review https://youtu.be/ylbSUYXdIsI

I really enjoyed the author's first novel despite a strange narrative style. Once again, the narrative felt off-kilter but not in a good way. I struggled a lot with this novel and ultimately did not enjoy the execution of this plot.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Life is a series of important lessons. Among them is one regarding people. People will always let you down."

Being sick is a feeling that most of us hate. You can’t breathe properly, you’ve got the chills, and you’re just downright uncomfortable. It’s not a fun time but what happens when your entire existence is finding ways to get sick? Getting sick sends this euphoria through your body and that’s the life you crave.

There's no way to beat around the bush here, so here we go. This was fucked up and part of me enjoyed this. Well, parts of it. The first and second parts are what got me, it was the third part that didn't interest me all that much and the ending fell kind of flat.

It was easy to follow, the characters were whacked out of their minds, and it was all very disgusting. Me being a fan of disgusting really enjoyed the fuckedupness of Will and Olivia and their quest to catch the perfect illness. I've never read anything like this. What I didn't like was the very end. I think it should have ended after we found out what happened to Olivia. A big finish for the germ queen.

The Body Harvest was interesting, disgusting, and quite enjoyable. If you're weird like me then you'll love licking doorknobs right along with Oliva and Will.

[Ghoul Von Horror · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW/CW: Language, anxiety, toxic family relationships, abusive relationship, cheating, self harm, death by suicide (attempts), depression, body dysmorphia, covid mention, gory scenes, blood, violence

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Will is a fraud. Olivia is a wreck. They meet at a grief share group and quickly bond over their brokenness. They also have a peculiar hobby; they seek out sickness. Will hunts for the latest strain of flu. Olivia doesn’t feel comfortable in her body if she isn’t suffering from a fever. They become virus chasers, finding confidence in their ability to conquer every affliction they come across. They soon discover an online community of chasers called The Source and realize that their hobby isn’t all that odd when seen from the right distance. And then the mysterious Zaff literally walks into their life, claiming that he has the goods, knows where the latest outbreak will drop. Intrigued, Will and Olivia decide to take their hobby to the point of obsession, believing that if they can conquer the newest strain, nobody can hurt them.
Release Date: July 23rd, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 244
Rating:

What I Liked:
1. Loved the writing style

What I Didn't Like:
1. Repetitive at times
2. Some parts just rambled on & on

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Getting to know the characters we learn that Will was a successful businessman who worked with a man named Chase to steal $250,000. Chase throws them under the bus and pretty much says it's all Will's fault. Will of course gets fired and he's not allowed to work in any other big business companies. Will gets violently sick. He's sick for a month vomiting and everything and when he finally comes out of being sick he feels "light" and he gets hooked on that feeling. Is it odd that I know what he's talking about? That feeling when you've been sick for so long and you're finally feeling good, I can definitely relate to that.

Olivia is raised by parents that emotionally and physically abuse her constantly. She ends up meeting a man called B. At first he's wonderful and great and they end up moving in together. She works for his resale business. He ends up cheating and pretty much beating her too. A month later she gets very sick and doesn't talk about him anymore. This part was really confusing was trying to figure out why she was sick and what made her so sick that she got like a bacterial infection. Anyways after she's released from the hospital they give her a brochure for grief as she goes to an website chatroom.

Olivia and Will end up going for a walk after the landlord is after them for rent. And then we get this montage of gross things they're willing to do to get sick. They start with licking the doorknob, then jump into looking through dumpsters, and decide to go to a pet daycare where Olivia lets a dog lick inside her mouth, and now Olivia has fallen and gotten a gash so they're going to go to the emergency room to see what they can pick up in there.

I'm guessing that they give their sicknesses names because so far we've had (I'm guessing);
• Gerry (maybe flu)
• Amanda (food poisoning)
• Charles (Kawasaki disease)
• Gregory (unsure)
• Charles again (Std this time)

Will Pockets a bunch of syringes from The Biohazard box. Olivia ends up leaving with nothing other than being told she just has a scrape and she'll be fine. Then they proceed to go back to the apartment where they split up the syringes and start playing with them. Just to see what they can get from them. This is insane. I can't even imagine trying to get sick and using other people's needles to see what I can get from them.

Okay this very weird and out of place masturbation scene. I do learn that Will's only had sex one time and Olivia is a virgin. Which I found very odd considering she was dating that man, B for a while and they never had sex? I'm not saying that Olivia can't be in a relationship and not have sex, but I found it odd that she wouldn't have written about it before even a mention in her journal.

I had to laugh because the author wrote that Olivia settled on untasted wheat bread so bread. Not sure why we had to put on toasted in there.

Will goes over some emails talking about how he got out of jail time but people are still mad at him. I'm just curious why no one brought a civil suit against him when his company decided not to press charges. He's still $250,000 I can't imagine that individual people wouldn't want to get their money back. Also not sure how he avoided jail time.

It's pretty interesting because Will gets this email from a group called The Source and they are a group of like-minded people that are interested in sickness. There are chasers and terminal people. Honestly I guess there would be a group for anybody who's really interested in anything. Curious to see how this email made its way to Will.

Also there's a question that kind of sets will off asking if he has ever had an STD before. He starts talking about how sex is gross and he hates his penis. So it seems that Will might suffer from Sexual Aversion Disorder.

They end up talking to the mod because they make a mistake sending out the introduction publicly. The mod ends up sending them a pledge that they have to sign. They have to agree that they have to sign in and update their health status within 48 hours. This just seemed like such a ludacris idea to have to do because this is a community that's based on getting sick and when you're sick - depending on the sickness are you going to be able to update your status?

That group ends up making them think that the sickness is in Roanoke when it's somewhere else. Will and Olivia sneak onto a bus to try and get the sickness but find out that the mods lied about where it's at and they're nowhere near it.

Will ends up meeting a man outside the bus station and they have oral sex. He's hopeful when he gets back trying to give it to Olivia but weirdly they name it Charles, and they already have a disease name of Charles so it's confused why they would reuse the name. Perhaps an error of the author.

This man is off just randomly shows up in their house spewing about sickness and stuff like that. He knows where the knives are in the drawer, he knows about their history, he knows about how all the websites and things are fake. That's weird it's like they said almost like they manifested him at a time in their need.

I still don't understand why this group would send them Olivia and Will an email to join this community only to then abandon them because they don't trust them. Just like who sent this email? Why do they send this email to them? Why do they abandon them?

Honestly I'm starting to wonder if Olivia and this new person is a figment of Will's imagination. Whenever he's feeling down he just imagines another person

I can't tell if something is happening with Olivia and will because this soft guy shows up and magically he is able to give them this illness that they've been craving forever and now he is healing hands from Cuts he gave to starting a Corvette from just touch alone. Are they even like a fever dream?


Final Thoughts:
I'll be honest with you I did not enjoy the book Crash. I love the movie but the book is so dry and boring. I thought it would be interesting to read a book that's in the same kind of genre as that book thinking maybe it would do better for me as a reader and I could enjoy this book instead.

There's just something so interesting about a person's obsession with something that's so weird and taboo. Things like sexual attraction to car accidents or in this case attraction to being sick is a fascinating thing to study.

I have zero idea what the last half of the book was trying to be. It felt like a totally different book though. I can't tell you what even happened since it felt complete nonsense. That's real shame because the first half of the book I was really enthralled with it and drawn in with the characters.

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley (ebook) and Clash book for the gifted book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Body Harvest is a profoundly confusing reading experience. We follow protagonists Will and Olivia - in a strangely passive third-person omniscient voice, one I never got used to - two individuals who are addicted to being sick, and always chasing their next fix.

It's a simple - albeit disgusting - premise, and easy enough to understand - or, it would be, if the author didn't feel the need to obfuscate absolutely everything about it with alternately pretentious and cringe-worthy language that is at best, vague, and at worst, intentionally misleading. To give an example: Will and Olivia name the viruses they catch. These names are impossible to take seriously - ordinary names like Gregory, Charles, and Roderick - but why do they do this, other than to confuse the reader? Unless I missed it, it's ever explained, justified, or even hinted at; it's just baffling.

To revisit the passive narration: The text is littered with quotes like "Zaff is carried over to the couch, where he sleeps off an attack." He "is carried" by Will, so why not just say "Will carries Zaff to the couch"? Or "The woman is tortured" - BY ZAFF, so why not say "Zaff tortures the woman"? Or - again! - "The car takes her through the outskirts of the city", which makes it sound as if Olivia is being driven, when in fact OLIVIA IS DRIVING THE CAR. Direct action was removed as much as possible, rendering the action scenes staccato and stuttering and everything else near unreadable.

The Fight Club and American Psycho influences are clear, but The Body Harvest has none of their clarity of purpose or charm. The bottom line is, this concept is not as high-brow, weird, or interesting as Seidlinger seems to think it is, but as a post-pandemic narrative it could have stood on its own two feet had he just leant into its simplicity, rather than trying to elevate the horror. Unfortunately, he took the latter route, and this is the result.

Thanks to NetGalley and CLASH Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Becky Spratford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review in the June 2024 issue of Library Journal

Three Words That Describe This Book: illicit, menacing, obsession

Draft Review

This reading experience reminded me of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by LaRocca. It is the same alluring and compelling reading experience filled with illicit and extreme disgust, but also there is a lot to think about here.

It is menacing and disturbing but also very thought-provoking.

This is the first post-Covid novel I have read that takes the fear we all felt living though a pandemic and spins it around into something terrifying in a whole different way.

Like Anybody home, he doubles down on the extreme discomfort and draws the reader in, even makes them participate in the story. The framing of how we know what happened to Will and Olivia at the end is even creepier-- and adds another level of thought-provokingness. Is that a word? It introduces even more real world things to be anxious about.

Unlike Anybody Home? which had not overt supernatural elements, this one does. More dark magical realism, but it is there. Things that could not happen in the real world happen, but they do so in a way that makes sense in the story, like any good Horror novel set in a speculative version of the current world. Weird fiction for sure. Not cosmic, but weird.

Marginalized voices author who looks at disease, wealth, who has access to wealth and power-- all in ways that are part of the not so subtle subtext here.

Readalikes: The Seventh Mansion by Meijer, Things Have Gotten Worse Since we Last Spoke by LaRocca and This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno.

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is sold as J.G Ballard meets Albert Camus, but there's some Chuck Palahniuk in there too. It reminded me of his novel Rant a lot, but without much of the breakneck humour. There's some Don DeLillo in there too.

I loved how atypical it was and Michael Seidlinger often is assumedly weird and off-beat and that's one of the best things about what he does. He's original and highly conceptual and there's definitely a lot going on in there: COVID, low self-esteem, death drive, social unrest, conspiracy theories, The Body Harvest is a very rich novel from an intellectual perspective. As it is often the cas with Seidlinger the characters serve the concept and it doesn't always work, but this is my favorite novel from his.

The chapters could almost function as self-contained episodes from shows that feature the same characters, but doesn't tell the same chronological story each time. Somehow this disconnectedness make it better, not worse.

[Ryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ballard’s Crash meets Camus’s The Plague my ass

Coming back to this after I've gotten my thoughts together because this might be one of the most disappointing books I've ever read. It was so promising in the beginning but by Part Two we start losing steam and then by Part Three any inclination to finish the book just flies out the window.

The back of the book says that this is like Crash meets The Plague. If you know me irl you know that I'm obsessed with Crash. Both Ballard's novel and Cronenberg's adaptation. It's honestly unhealthy and I'm 90% sure that everyone is tired of hearing me talk about it but whatever I love my freaky little story of people getting hot and bothered over car accidents. It's a fantastic satire on our growing reliability on technology, but I'll stop there because this isn't a review for Crash lol. Comparing this to The Plague is where the publisher kind of loses me. I'd say that it's more in line with Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral, the pathogen chasing culture seen in that movie. With that in mind, this should've been the book for me. My two favorite things combined, sign me up, I'll take thirty of them thank you.

But now I'm here, at the end. And yeah saying it was a disappointment hurts.

The novel follows Will and Olivia. They're two addicts chasing pathogens and feed off of one another. The venture their city looking for the next big illness, lick doorknobs and subway handles, and use needles they dug up at their local urgent care. They've reach the point where they're searching their "last big chase". In comes in a mysterious online forum called The Source, filled with people just like them trying to find, and spread, the next big virus.

Sounds interesting, right? Well Part One certainly was. The narrative structure was a little odd. It felt as if there was an unseen third force watching Will and Olivia and commenting on them. The story was interesting so I gave it a pass. As odd as it is to say, watching their spiral towards self-destruction was fascinating and I was hooked in my seat. This was the Crash comparison that I was looking for. And The Source? I love stories about weird internet forums so I was absolutely frothing at the mouth for more.

Then enters Part Two.... and the character Zaff. I fully believe that Zaff is the reason this book goes off the rails. He's eccentric in a very dark subject matter of a book book, out of place, and oddly enough an omnipresent being. You read that right. An omnipresent being. It's never stated in the book but he knows everything about everyone, knows the location of every specific person they're looking for, and becomes a 'guru' for Will and Olivia. The narrative structure crumbles by this point. It was odd before but now it becomes non-sensical and hard to follow. Things don't make sense and Will and Olivia have essentially become different people by this point.

But wait there's more!

There's a Part 3.... that somehow makes the book even worse. Will and Olivia completely change personalities again, the story makes zero sense, and one of the more interesting aspects of the story becomes a "gotcha!" moment that culminates into a finale that had me scratching my head and re-reading sections of the book. Because honestly what was that ending? I'm so open to someone explaining how we got here because I have no idea. Then again, reading other reviews I'm sure all of us are in the same, very confused, boat. Imagine reading Part One and Two and then having the Men in Black erase your memory of it but then you read Part Three, because that's how confused I was lol

I love Clash books because they take such risks in publishing out there horror that normally wouldn't have saw the light of day. However, this feels like it needed at least two more rounds of editing to smooth out the narrative structure as well as the story. I'm not turned away by Michael J. Seidlinger's other works (I'm very interested in Anybody Home? and My Pet Serial Killer so let me know if they're any good) but I'd probably would be very hesitant to pick something up from them if it wasn't from the library.

[Marguerite Turley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok let me start off saying that I loved Anybody Home, but I have to admit I struggled with this one. This felt like Fight Club but with viruses. Michael writes incredibly, and I did enjoy the last third of the book. It just felt so bleak and I love bleak but someone chasing the rush of being sick just to feel like they could overcome it and feel good about themselves for a few minutes? Too much for me. It just wasn’t for me but I know there are many out there that will love it.

[Nina The Wandering Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It’s interesting, you know, our relationship with pathogens. We see them as parasites, as things that take, when really they are alive, struggling to exist, just like us. Though they are invisible to the human eye, we feel them more deeply, perhaps the deepest of which being how we must endure their worst before we can learn and grow. They change our lives, every single time. It could be a passing cold or an ongoing spell, the virus grips hold of our lives. It makes itself known, perhaps because it was not given the same body, the same extent we have been given. It needs help and we unknowingly give it life. They are so damn resilient, eventually no antibiotic or vaccine will combat them. Give a virus time and it’ll grow to change the world.”

Damn...this was weird and gross. I loved it and at the same time, finished this book feeling so confused. I gotta let this one simmer for awhile.

[Brooklyn Attic Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description of this book is: "JG Ballard's Crash meets Albert Camus's the Plague in a transgressive horror novel for the TikTok generation." As a big fan of Albert Camus, this is nowhere near like his book, The Plague. Scratch that from your head. This is 1000% more like a dark fantasy, Chuck Palahniuk book with Fight Club-like characters. The two protagonists are hopeless, strange derelicts of society that have taken on an alternative form of seeking existence. Like the description says, they are 'virus chasers'. WTF is that you ask? Well, apparently its a real thing!

Trigger Warnings: Nosophobia, Body Horror

The book is split up into 3 parts. The protagonists are presented like drug addicts looking for their next "fix". Doing anything from not showering or washing their hands, to licking subway poles to catch an illness. They apparently enjoy the recovery feeling after they have a crash from being sick. The backgrounds are kind of weak for these characters, 1 is a 25 yr old woman who dropped out of college and still blames her parents for pushing her too hard in life and the other is a disgraced former employee of a Fortune 500 company who embezzled $250k and was setup by his partner. It's hard to empathize with them, not that its the author's intention for us to empathize with the characters. It's just hard to care to continue reading about characters we don't really like.

Then comes a new character, our antagonist Zaff, who is sort of fantastical in his own right. This is where the story changes quite a bit, as I did not expect so much dark fantasy. We don't know where Zaff comes from. He just sort of walks into their apartment one day. He is able to heal himself, tell people what to do or think or feel, etc presenting the two main characters with a new terminal illness that somehow can grant them anything in life. I don't know if all the "magic" is part of the delusions of having a fever of 105degrees or if it is an actual symptom of this new virus they are given.

Oh yeah, and somewhere along the line the two got involved with an organization that is probably behind orchestrating the whole thing. There's a lot that happens in the book and I am not sure how to feel about it just yet. I don't know if this book is genius or if its pretentious. This review might change within the next few days. I need to sleep on it.

Thank you to Clash Books for my physical ARC.

[Ai Jiang]

The irony of me catching the flu when I started this book but also having a record recovery from it as I finished reading.

This book is a wild cluster of things: obsession, downward spirals, toxic relationships where pain feeds on more pain, and reverse mentors that lead astray rather than sound guide. THE BODY HARVEST questions what would we do if there are no consequences for our actions? The characters showcase the terrible thoughts we have eating us from the inside, the way the mind can be just as diseased, if not more so, as the body; the way the characters hide inner demons but also befriend them. At its core, the story shows us how the thing that makes us ill may well be what we had always believed to be the cure.

A few titles that this book reminded me of include My Strange Addiction (the show), Soft Targets by Carson Winter, It Follows (the movie).

[Katie Murray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you CLASH for sending me an ARC, you are awesome and I so appreciate it!

I want to like this so much. The concepts in this book are really interesting, but everything felt only half baked. Honestly I think if this was longer and given some more time and thought, this could be something really incredible... but as it stands, it's a few really good ideas that aren't fleshed out enough and don't connect to each other very well.

[Jacs Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay this book starts out extremely gross but in a way that's just kinda yucky, but it definitely gets GROSS and violent later on.

While at the beginning it is about the characters chasing illness just for the high that get from that feeling but it becomes more...supernatural? Speculative? Just really weird as it goes on.

It can be a little confusing at times but ultimately it is a book about grief and control and the lengths we will go to to become who we most want to be, particularly to prove it to those who have held us back, neglected us, or actively abused us. I liked a lot about it but it was a bit of a mixed bag. I would say it's 3.5 stars rounded up but I will definitely be reading this author's first book now!

[Sabrina Amor · Rating 1 out of 5]

What. The. Fuck? (Derogatory)
At first I was curious for like the first 120 pages, it was written pretty well, an interesting concept, I wanted to see where it developed. (I will say I am negatively biased bc it reminds me of my hypochondriac ex… trigger warning!) Anyway, then there magic that isn’t really magic? The one random sex scene where she blows air out her coochie???? Then Zaff feels like a fedora wearing, “hewwo pwincess” mother fucker with his three page monologues….
Honestly, thank god they died.

Edit: it is my fault for going in blind. I did not see the description on HERE that says “FOR THE TIKTOK GENERATION”. That’s my bad, y’all. Totally on me. Still hated it though.

[Becca]

DNF @ page 66.

Thank you to CLASH books for providing me with an ARC of The Body Harvest!

It felt like a chore to get through the 66 pages that I did read.

I was really looking forward to The Body Harvest — I love weird and I knew this was gonna be that, but unfortunately the writing style/perspective threw me off? This just wasn’t a hit for me.

[Jenny Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor poor Olivia. 🥹
This was fantastic. Thanks to Clash Books and Michael J. Seidlinger for an advanced copy of the book!

[Kaysey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently this is an unpopular opinion but I liked this. Review to come because lots to think about. But it’s not near as bad as the low star reviews make it seem.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did I enjoy this book? No, not really. Was it a bad book? No, not really.

[Dex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of The Body Harvest by Michael J Seidlinger in exchange for my honest review. I was intrigued by the premise of two virus chasers and an online community promising to help them find their next fix.

After Covid lockdowns and losing so many people to the virus, I picked up this book with the feeling that I was pressing on a bruise or picking a scab on a wound that was not far along enough in the healing. I felt that emotional bleeding was going to happen but I dove in anyways.

The Body Harvest is separated into three distinct acts or sections. The first one I loved. Getting to know Olivia and Will in their trauma, in their filth, in their addiction to being sick was intense. The vibe of the beginning of the book was a blend of Requiem for a Dream and Kathe Koja's The Cipher (fantastic book btw). This section is just what the summary on the back of the book promised. Two broken people looking for their next viral fix and an online community promising just that. The thing is, the community is just as tricky and vicious as the viruses they promise.

Act two comes out of nowhere. Zaff, the man with the virus that he is determined Will and Olivia want reeks of Tyler Durden from Fight Club. He is full of violence and graffiti philosophy and infects Oliva and Will with that same drivel and rage along with his terminal illness.
The thing is, the story takes a turn for the supernatural with some fever dream weird shit at this point. I don't think its spoiler to let people know that things like wounds healing in a blink of an eye and actions rewound as if they never happened but leaving scars on the brain as if they did, and magical Jedi mind trick moments fill the book from the introduction of Zaff onward.
The supernatural aspects of the book felt jarring after the first act and it was definitely something I had to sit with as a reader with no warning as to what subgenre this book was in.

The third act is where things get really existential with the social commentary and the devolution of the characters - think the opposite of character growth. I believe the author's points about media, viruses going viral, and "success" culture are very clear as well as the ongoing idea of people feeding on each other with survival of the fittest is certainly evident.

I think I would have enjoyed The Body Harvest more if the second and third sections were more like the first. I get the vibe that supernatural, high speed weirdness is reflective of a fever dream hallucination when sick. I can appreciate that for what it is. However, I came into the book thinking this would be a grim tale of two people investigating an online forum and group of organ harvesters set on making the world sick for their own goal(s).

It is however a great book for people who enjoy reading existentialist literature and are wanting a horror novel that hits that philosophy of disconnectedness in this world of viral media connection. This is, admittedly, not my jam as I prefer horror where characters grow and bond and that yea the world is harsh but not everyone in it is awful - but that the horrors in it prevail even when you do try to help. That to me hits harder than depressive commentary of everyone is out for themselves and no one cares.

I do recommend The Body Harvest for fans not only of existentialist literature but also of weird horror like The Cipher. The grungy real world setting for something wholly unreal that keeps you on your toes and turning the pages to try and make sense of it is why I couldn't put this book down until the very end.

[Remy · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF just over halfway through.
First half was interesting. As soon as Zaff is introduced the book goes downhill fast. I kept on for a bit but was annoyed at the drawn out "foreshadowing" which was just OOHH JUST YOU WAIT THINGS WILL GET SO BAD. The premise completely changed and it was like I was reading a different book all together. A much worse one.

[Kara Grant · Rating 1 out of 5]

Almost was a DNF. It felt like the author was trying to make some point or metaphor that never came to fruition, leaving the "deep" sounding moments feeling out of place and the storytelling pretty nonsensical. A bummer considering the description was so interesting.

[Nathaniel Darkish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just as things started to get interesting, the book suddenly became confusing and difficult to follow.

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf around 60%

The moment zaff enters the story it gets hard to follow and not in a good way. He's a bad character.

[bookcapulet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5 stars

Fuck. I mean. Fuck!! I kinda just started it on a whim, just to try it out, but I noticed immediately how the writing style sucked me in. The first sentences caught me, then when I wasn’t reading the book I kept looking forward to when I could continue, and I found myself thinking of the book constantly, and now after finishing it, I still can’t stop thinking about it. It’s one of those books that just, that you just have to reread to properly get closure I think, because this book is haunting me in the best way possible but also goddamn I have a life to live.

Why do I love this book. Why. First of all, I absolutely love characters who just- whose life just sucks. They suck. They aren’t happy. They are lost. They got nothing going for them. Will and Olivia was like that. Then the writing style. GOD what I love a writing style that notices the small things— how a character silently react to some words, small details in the surroundings; paint up a scene. I adore character heavy plot and descriptions. I mean the way this writing style could zero in on DROPLETS leaving one of the mcs when he coughs. GOD. It’s like crack to me. And the writing style? This third voice ominous watcher writing style was absolutely fucking mad. I cannot express how obsessed I am with it. I generally prefer first perspective but this? this buttered my toast. Pickled my pickle. Whatever the fuck you say.

Obsessed with the concept of this book. Obsessed with the story. Obsessed with how Zaff appeared. Obsessed with the end. Obsessed with Will and Olivia’s arcs. I mean?? This book checked off so many of my boxes— sucky mcs, detailed POV, fucked up concepts, horror, gore, deeper meaning behind the misery, conspiracy. Ah!!! I loved it. I loved it so much. I’m reading more by this author so help me god.


SPOILERS BELOW!





Specific things I liked:


Zeff lol. The way the illness consumed him. How he could black out in violent attacks and come back with confidence and grace. Such a fascinating character he’s giving Tyler Durden

When Will screamed at his former friend when he tortured the guy that he had made will suck dick nfjekfk I mean from our pov it makes sense but from the the guy’s pov it’s just so out of context it’s so funny

Olivia’s arc of her having her sickness look like performative art?? That was so fuckinf COOL goddamn aaaaah

The ending… THE ENDING!!!!! The source… the.. source……. god


________________________

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

[Joshua Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Psychological Thriller / Horror

NetGalley ARC - Clash Books (SMPR)

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"Waking up without any symptoms reminds a person of everything they lack"

This books is split into three acts following the protagonists Will and Olivia after very low points in their lives they start to crave feeling sick as a way of coping with depression. I assume this is similar to bodily harm in that the goal is to feel something different and as they often refer to, attempt to become immune to the world they live in. They find a group of Chasers that pass on information about where exotic illnesses are out breaking so that these people can be the first in line to experience the new infections.

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"The feeling of being immune, not to any viral strain, but rather to others. People."

Act I is like if Fight Club was about catching viruses instead of hitting people. Chasing the high of near death. Trying to feel something, anything. All about finding a way to experience sickness, licking handles, accessing used medical equipment.

"For so many the thought of infection accentuates their greatest fears. Yet for a few, the word opens doors."

Act II becomes very Thelma and Louise, Alice in Wonderland, fever dream as the two protagonists explore a bit more of the supernatural and experience some quite gruesome horror scenes. Still not fully sure what was real or what was fake in this Act, similar to how the protagonists experience the events. However, the psychological part definitely lingers and leads us into Act III

"My temperature was so high...It rewrites how you think. It makes you see past all this bullshit, the people, the money, the so-called American Dream, and it shows you just how little we have control over anything."

Act III is a bit more subtle, focusing on the human experience and what we can and cannot control in life, and when we get what we want how long can it last

[Ross Jeffery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might just be Michael J. Seidlinger’s magnum opus. The Body Harvest is an unapologetically radical novel, both in scope and execution and its pages are dank and dripping with nihilism, body horror, conspiracy theories and the self-destructive nature of the human condition. Seidlinger has written a deeply harrowing and disturbing glimpse at a subculture everyone is dying to join.

Ross Jeffery, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of I Died Too, But They Haven’t Buried Me Yet & The Devil’s Pocketbook

I’ve feared recently that Chuck Palahniuk has gone off the boil, but Michael gives me hope that the depravity that man used to create (Chuck) and I coveted in equal measure, will continue and grow!

[Rebecca Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

😵‍💫😧🫨

This was my introduction to reading body horror and 👀👀👀. What???

Ok. I can see this as a movie. Earlier this year I watched The Substance (my actual intro to the idea of body horror) and, although that was a horrible movie… I can see this as an equally as horrible movie 😅. Carrie, American Horror Stories, The Substance, that one slasher clown movie. You get it.

Yet, somehow this was a better read than I imagine a movie would be.

This was confusing. Hard to follow at times. But I kept up. I’m glad I did. I probably won’t read another book claiming body horror. It’s just gross. But. This was still good! It kept my attention. I recommend giving it a try. You’ll probably be disgusted. But not disappointed.

[Carina Stopenski · Rating 4 out of 5]

thanks to netgalley and clash books for an arc of this title in exchange for an honest review. this is a book that makes your skin feel slimy, an unabashedly gross tale. i’ve grown bored of pandemic fiction over time but this was a bold, transgressive take on the subject matter. a triptych of sorts, i do feel like this narrative had three very different through lines that made it kind of choppy at points, but i will say i still physically recoiled at so many points which was mainly what i was searching for in this story.

[brideofbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for a digital arc of The Body Harvest. This book reminded me of the movie Bliss with Salma Hayek and Owen Wilson as well as the cult classic film Fight Club with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Dizzyingly disturbing, I’ve never read anything quite like this book. I’ve also never read a book in this way—hand covering my mouth and nose with pure disgust as if the words would jump out from the page and infect me. If you enjoy unreliable narrators, disturbing characters and body horror, this is a story perfect for you.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really liked this book. And I'm kind of shocked, given how low the overall rating is. But I couldn't flip the pages of this little book fast enough. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. What crazy thing would they do next? What absolutely bonkers situation would I be thrust into when I started the next chapter? It was fascinating. I don't think I really understand what was going on, or what the ending meant, but that doesn't change the fact that I loved the ride this book took me on.