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Shy Girl
Win a free kindle copy of this book!
28 days and 17:34:38
100 copies available
U.S. only
Lonely, broke and depressed with a serious case of OCD, Gia finds herself at a crossroads when financial troubles lead her to Nathan, a mysterious and affluent man she encounters on a sugar dating website. Desperate for a solution, Gia is intrigued by Nathan's unconventional offer: in exchange for living as his devoted pet, all of her debts will be erased. But the longer Gia is in captivity, the more animalistic she becomes.
For fans of Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder and Lisa Taddeo's Animal, Shy Girl is a harrowing tale of girlhood, survival, autonomy, and revenge.
For fans of Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder and Lisa Taddeo's Animal, Shy Girl is a harrowing tale of girlhood, survival, autonomy, and revenge.
237 pages, ebook
First published March 1, 2025
297 people are currently reading
31512 people want to read
About the author
Mia Ballard
3 books406 followersMia Ballard is an American poet and fiction writer. She loves all things horror and is passionate about writing stories focused on feminine rage. She lives with her partner and dog in Northern California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,643 reviews
February 1, 2025
nightbitch found dead in a ditch
March 28, 2025
OHMYGOD THIS WAS CRAZY WHAT
Shy Girl is about Gia- a depressed, broke, unemployed girl with OCD that’s at her wits end and who’s at risk of being evicted from her apartment. Desperate, she decides to become a sugar baby and meets Nathan, who gives her a choice: become his pet, and he will pay off all her debts. She eventually agrees, and her nightmare begins.
This is extreme horror and definitely reads a such (😅), but Gia’s characterizations and depictions of her mental health + inner monologues was very nuanced and just something I wasn’t expecting knowing this was extreme horror. I ended up highlighting many passages.
Other than the like outright disturbing graphic violence and graphic SA, I thought this was extremely claustrophobic at times, and was just overall a deeply upsetting book.
“I used to think about killing myself like it was something I might get around to eventually, like folding laundry or cleaning out the fridge.”
“Me? I exist in grayscale. I am thirty, alone, and unraveling quietly enough that no one’s noticed. Yet.”
“But the job was a mask, not a cure. It hid the cracks but didn’t fix them. I’ve been depressed far longer than I’ve been unemployed. The firing just stripped away the pretense, left me raw and exposed, with no one to preform for.”
Shy Girl is about Gia- a depressed, broke, unemployed girl with OCD that’s at her wits end and who’s at risk of being evicted from her apartment. Desperate, she decides to become a sugar baby and meets Nathan, who gives her a choice: become his pet, and he will pay off all her debts. She eventually agrees, and her nightmare begins.
This is extreme horror and definitely reads a such (😅), but Gia’s characterizations and depictions of her mental health + inner monologues was very nuanced and just something I wasn’t expecting knowing this was extreme horror. I ended up highlighting many passages.
Other than the like outright disturbing graphic violence and graphic SA, I thought this was extremely claustrophobic at times, and was just overall a deeply upsetting book.
“I used to think about killing myself like it was something I might get around to eventually, like folding laundry or cleaning out the fridge.”
“Me? I exist in grayscale. I am thirty, alone, and unraveling quietly enough that no one’s noticed. Yet.”
“But the job was a mask, not a cure. It hid the cracks but didn’t fix them. I’ve been depressed far longer than I’ve been unemployed. The firing just stripped away the pretense, left me raw and exposed, with no one to preform for.”
April 27, 2025
"Women have always been cast as caretakers, peacekeepers, and forgivers. We're told to endure, to adapt, to rise above. But sometimes, the only way to heal is to rage. Sometimes, justice isn't quiet or clean; it's feral and bloody and unapologetic."
This is a disturbing and gut-wrenching book and unlike any other horror book I've read. I'm obsessed with the way Mia Ballard writes. I loved it.
🩷🐇📖 Read for The Fluffle Book Club
This is a disturbing and gut-wrenching book and unlike any other horror book I've read. I'm obsessed with the way Mia Ballard writes. I loved it.
🩷🐇📖 Read for The Fluffle Book Club
April 3, 2025
1.75
i feel like the same group of hot girls who enjoyed Bunny by Mona Awad would love this book!!
i want to be like you all and i envy you all, but i’ve come to the conclusion that i’m the basic white bitch of readers. give me rom-coms and fantasy.
this was… exactly what the premise says it is.
i feel like the same group of hot girls who enjoyed Bunny by Mona Awad would love this book!!
i want to be like you all and i envy you all, but i’ve come to the conclusion that i’m the basic white bitch of readers. give me rom-coms and fantasy.
this was… exactly what the premise says it is.
December 18, 2025
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This book is ruff. Nathan is one sick puppy. This is paws-itively disturbing in every way. Howl I sleep tonight?
Seriously though, this book is bonkers, but I couldn’t put it down. I grew more disgusted with every word. This was the reading equivalent of a bloody car crash with fragmented bones and severed limbs scattered about. There’s no turning away once your eyes have witnessed the gore.
That “Year One” section title hit hard. That was the point at which I knew I was in for some s@!&. I squirmed in my seat and settled in for the deranged ride. This is completely unhinged and I loved every minute of it…
This book is ruff. Nathan is one sick puppy. This is paws-itively disturbing in every way. Howl I sleep tonight?
Seriously though, this book is bonkers, but I couldn’t put it down. I grew more disgusted with every word. This was the reading equivalent of a bloody car crash with fragmented bones and severed limbs scattered about. There’s no turning away once your eyes have witnessed the gore.
That “Year One” section title hit hard. That was the point at which I knew I was in for some s@!&. I squirmed in my seat and settled in for the deranged ride. This is completely unhinged and I loved every minute of it…
January 10, 2026
This book is perfectly unhinged. It oozes madness—sinister darkness, creeping eeriness, and full-on goriness—and it is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. This is a dark, dangerous, wildly insane ride, and you should absolutely be warned before jumping in. It’s the kind of book that will divide readers cleanly into lovers and haters, with no middle ground.
Some haters may claim the writing is repetitive or even suggest it feels AI-generated, which I completely disagree with. What I see here is nothing but a fearlessly creative mind inviting readers into a thought-provoking, deeply disturbing horror story, layered with unsettling feminist undertones and self-explanatory, uncomfortable truths.
Normally, I approach books centered on women’s captivity and abuse with hesitation. I often give myself permission to stop reading the moment I feel overwhelmed. I did exactly that here—or so I thought. But the writing pulled me in. The chapters were tight, urgent, and attention-grabbing. Contrary to what some reviewers claim, I never found it repetitive. It was compulsively readable.
Gia’s story caught me completely off guard. She is a loner, a deeply broken woman struggling with OCD, trying to keep her life together through routine and control. When she loses her job and financial stability, her carefully structured world collapses. Desperate for a way out, she turns to an idea shaped by abandonment, trauma, and unresolved daddy issues—especially tied to her alcoholic, emotionally absent father, who failed her at her lowest point.
Her solution? Finding a sugar daddy.
That decision leads her to Nathan—a mysterious, charismatic businessman she meets online. At first, she believes the arrangement will benefit them both. But Nathan is… different. His desires are dark, disturbing, and deeply dehumanizing. He wants Gia caged. Literally. He wants her to live as a dog: to sit, bark, stay. For eight hours a day, she will drink from a bowl, wear a collar, sleep in a cage—like an office job she can supposedly quit at any time.
Gia hesitates. Every red flag is waving violently in her face. But when the eviction notice arrives, urgency overrides fear. She convinces herself she’s in control. She convinces herself she can walk away.
She’s wrong.
Nathan is not a man who keeps his promises—and he has no intention of letting her go. Gia soon realizes she has taken her first step into a carefully constructed hell, one built for animals. With every passing moment in her new “home,” she loses another piece of her humanity.
I don’t want to give too much away, but I have to warn you: there were moments in this book that made me stop reading just to gasp. I screamed. I physically recoiled. At times, I had to fight the urge to vomit. The content is viscerally disgusting, relentlessly shocking, and pushes boundaries far beyond what you expect. You’ll think, It can’t possibly go further than this—and then it does. Your jaw will drop. Your eyes will widen. You’ll whisper, What the hell did I just read?
And the ending? Pure perfection. Completely earned. A standing ovation from me.
I genuinely hope Martin Scorsese’s book club adds this to their reading list, because this wild, brutal, unhinged story begs to be adapted for the big screen. It has Cannes- and Sundance-level indie film potential written all over it. Producers should buy the rights immediately—this would be a chilling, unforgettable cinematic experience.
As you can probably tell, I’m firmly on the lover side. This book shook me to my core and left me emotionally drained. I was planning to watch the season finale of It: Welcome to Derry afterward—but no thank you. This book wore me out in the best and worst ways. Sometimes the darkest, most brutal stories carry their own kind of brilliance and intelligence—and this book absolutely does.
I will be reading anything Mia Ballard writes in the future.
P.S. Don’t skip the bonus story—Harold is a creepy, spine-tingling short that I thoroughly enjoyed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m giving this five “woman-who-bites-back” stars.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books / Run For It for providing me with a digital reviewer copy of this twisted horror novel in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
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Some haters may claim the writing is repetitive or even suggest it feels AI-generated, which I completely disagree with. What I see here is nothing but a fearlessly creative mind inviting readers into a thought-provoking, deeply disturbing horror story, layered with unsettling feminist undertones and self-explanatory, uncomfortable truths.
Normally, I approach books centered on women’s captivity and abuse with hesitation. I often give myself permission to stop reading the moment I feel overwhelmed. I did exactly that here—or so I thought. But the writing pulled me in. The chapters were tight, urgent, and attention-grabbing. Contrary to what some reviewers claim, I never found it repetitive. It was compulsively readable.
Gia’s story caught me completely off guard. She is a loner, a deeply broken woman struggling with OCD, trying to keep her life together through routine and control. When she loses her job and financial stability, her carefully structured world collapses. Desperate for a way out, she turns to an idea shaped by abandonment, trauma, and unresolved daddy issues—especially tied to her alcoholic, emotionally absent father, who failed her at her lowest point.
Her solution? Finding a sugar daddy.
That decision leads her to Nathan—a mysterious, charismatic businessman she meets online. At first, she believes the arrangement will benefit them both. But Nathan is… different. His desires are dark, disturbing, and deeply dehumanizing. He wants Gia caged. Literally. He wants her to live as a dog: to sit, bark, stay. For eight hours a day, she will drink from a bowl, wear a collar, sleep in a cage—like an office job she can supposedly quit at any time.
Gia hesitates. Every red flag is waving violently in her face. But when the eviction notice arrives, urgency overrides fear. She convinces herself she’s in control. She convinces herself she can walk away.
She’s wrong.
Nathan is not a man who keeps his promises—and he has no intention of letting her go. Gia soon realizes she has taken her first step into a carefully constructed hell, one built for animals. With every passing moment in her new “home,” she loses another piece of her humanity.
I don’t want to give too much away, but I have to warn you: there were moments in this book that made me stop reading just to gasp. I screamed. I physically recoiled. At times, I had to fight the urge to vomit. The content is viscerally disgusting, relentlessly shocking, and pushes boundaries far beyond what you expect. You’ll think, It can’t possibly go further than this—and then it does. Your jaw will drop. Your eyes will widen. You’ll whisper, What the hell did I just read?
And the ending? Pure perfection. Completely earned. A standing ovation from me.
I genuinely hope Martin Scorsese’s book club adds this to their reading list, because this wild, brutal, unhinged story begs to be adapted for the big screen. It has Cannes- and Sundance-level indie film potential written all over it. Producers should buy the rights immediately—this would be a chilling, unforgettable cinematic experience.
As you can probably tell, I’m firmly on the lover side. This book shook me to my core and left me emotionally drained. I was planning to watch the season finale of It: Welcome to Derry afterward—but no thank you. This book wore me out in the best and worst ways. Sometimes the darkest, most brutal stories carry their own kind of brilliance and intelligence—and this book absolutely does.
I will be reading anything Mia Ballard writes in the future.
P.S. Don’t skip the bonus story—Harold is a creepy, spine-tingling short that I thoroughly enjoyed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m giving this five “woman-who-bites-back” stars.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books / Run For It for providing me with a digital reviewer copy of this twisted horror novel in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
medium blog
May 15, 2025
nightbitch but for the girlies that don't want kids
December 13, 2025
I AM FERAL FOR THIS BOOK OMFG - go into it blind you guys.. also you can get it from Blackwells with free shipping to the US if you don’t want to wait until April for the new publisher release date
Video review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTrVbSgDV/
Video review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTrVbSgDV/
February 16, 2025
Gia is a woman who’s pretty down on her luck and having a rough go in life, desperate for money after losing her job and looking for ways to retrieve some stability. this leads her to trying out a sugar dating site, which later brings her into the crossfire of a man named Nathan. he offers to pay her a large amount of money, but his request isn’t at all what she’d expected— he wants her to pretend to be his pet dog for eight hours every day. Gia agrees, but when he goes back on his word she’s forced to adjust to her new disturbing reality.
“The rage leaves slowly, like the last embers of a fire. What remains is something hollow, a calm so thin it feels like the edge of a blade.”
this book truly was visceral in every sense of the word cause the anger, disgust, frustration and anxiety i experienced while reading it felt like a living thing. Gia is stripped of her humanity and becomes a shell of who she used to be, until she’s broken down to the most basic animalistic parts of herself and turns that inner rage into fuel that will gain her back her own autonomy over her body and her life.. bathed in blood. there were so many scenes in here that really had me speechless, i always love when horror garners strong reactions out of me. i liked the way the author tackled a very real issue that many women face and made it into something so unflinching, all while showing that there’s no lengths that women can’t or won’t go to in order to survive. this was by no means an easy read, but an impactful one. i’ll definitely keep my eye on Mia Ballard’s future releases.
quote from the authors note that really stuck with me:
“Women have always been cast as caretakers, peacekeepers, and forgivers. We’re told to edure, to adapt, to rise above. But sometimes, the only way to heal is to rage. Sometimes, justice isn’t quiet or clean; it’s feral and bloody and unapologetic.”
→ many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Victory Editing Co-Op for the arc, all opinions are my own.
“The rage leaves slowly, like the last embers of a fire. What remains is something hollow, a calm so thin it feels like the edge of a blade.”
this book truly was visceral in every sense of the word cause the anger, disgust, frustration and anxiety i experienced while reading it felt like a living thing. Gia is stripped of her humanity and becomes a shell of who she used to be, until she’s broken down to the most basic animalistic parts of herself and turns that inner rage into fuel that will gain her back her own autonomy over her body and her life.. bathed in blood. there were so many scenes in here that really had me speechless, i always love when horror garners strong reactions out of me. i liked the way the author tackled a very real issue that many women face and made it into something so unflinching, all while showing that there’s no lengths that women can’t or won’t go to in order to survive. this was by no means an easy read, but an impactful one. i’ll definitely keep my eye on Mia Ballard’s future releases.
quote from the authors note that really stuck with me:
“Women have always been cast as caretakers, peacekeepers, and forgivers. We’re told to edure, to adapt, to rise above. But sometimes, the only way to heal is to rage. Sometimes, justice isn’t quiet or clean; it’s feral and bloody and unapologetic.”
→ many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Victory Editing Co-Op for the arc, all opinions are my own.
March 17, 2025
Title/Author: Shy Girl by Mia Ballard
Page Count: 248 (NetGalley seemed much shorter, so I'm confused)
Publisher: Galaxy Press
Format: digital arc from NetGalley
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Sugar (debut)
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/979834827...
Release Date: Bookshop.org says 2/25/25 NetGalley & Goodreads say 3/1/25
General Genre: Extreme Horror/Trauma
Sub-Genre/Themes: girlhood, survival, autonomy, and revenge. Depression, OCD, "sugar daddies", dating apps. (a little spoilery) Content Warnings: abuse, kidnapping, rape, sexual subjugation, imprisonment, pregnancy (as a result of rape), miscarriage
Writing Style: I love that I can see the author honing their skills from book one, SUGAR, to what we get with SHY GIRL. Visible growth. Loved it.
What You Need to Know: "Lonely, broke, and depressed with a serious case of OCD, Gia finds herself at a crossroads when financial troubles lead her to Nathan, a mysterious and affluent man she encounters on a sugar dating website. Desperate for a solution, Gia is intrigued by Nathan's unconventional offer: in exchange for living as his devoted pet, all of her debts will be erased. But the longer Gia is in captivity, the more animalistic she becomes."
"I am thirty, alone, and unraveling quietly enough that no one’s noticed. Yet."
My Reading Experience: Shy Girl begins as a bizarre but seemingly straightforward arrangement between two adults that quickly spirals into something much darker.
"Not stripped of clothes, but of myself, my dignity, my humanity."
The author does an excellent job setting up the story with a "lobster in a boiling pot" kind of way. Gia's choices that lead her into danger unfold just slow enough that the reader is aware of the red flags (we can see there is something more sinister going on beyond just a garden variety sexual kink, but the unease lurks at the edges) I couldn't quite predict everything that is going to happen. There are some great blindsides.
Gia finds herself subjected to increasing levels of humiliation, control, and manipulation. The novel's tension escalates as the full extent of Nathan’s depravity is revealed, leaving Gia—and the reader—questioning how far this situation will go (which is the real horror).
Gia’s journey is hard to watch. At first, she enters the arrangement with a degree of agency, but her autonomy is slowly chipped away piece by piece, leaving her trapped in a situation far worse than she could have imagined. I've said it before, and it bears repeating: human monsters are far more threatening than anything paranormal or supernatural.
"Let him see it, I think. Let him see what he’s created. Let him see me."
Final Recommendation: Mia Ballard has crafted a deeply unsettling book. This is the perfect book for horror readers looking for feminist stories willing to push the boundaries and disrupt the status quo. I just want to be sure I set the proper expectation for the level of explicit violence and trauma- be prepared.
Comps: If the book Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder was extreme horror, At Dark I Become Loathsome by Eric LaRocca, Deliver Me by Elle Nash
From the author: "Shy Girl holds a mirror to the darkest parts of control and trauma while also asking questions about survival and resistance. What does it mean to escape a cage, whether physical or metaphorical? How do you reconcile the parts of yourself shaped by those cages? And what does freedom truly cost?"
Page Count: 248 (NetGalley seemed much shorter, so I'm confused)
Publisher: Galaxy Press
Format: digital arc from NetGalley
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Sugar (debut)
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/979834827...
Release Date: Bookshop.org says 2/25/25 NetGalley & Goodreads say 3/1/25
General Genre: Extreme Horror/Trauma
Sub-Genre/Themes: girlhood, survival, autonomy, and revenge. Depression, OCD, "sugar daddies", dating apps. (a little spoilery) Content Warnings: abuse, kidnapping, rape, sexual subjugation, imprisonment, pregnancy (as a result of rape), miscarriage
Writing Style: I love that I can see the author honing their skills from book one, SUGAR, to what we get with SHY GIRL. Visible growth. Loved it.
What You Need to Know: "Lonely, broke, and depressed with a serious case of OCD, Gia finds herself at a crossroads when financial troubles lead her to Nathan, a mysterious and affluent man she encounters on a sugar dating website. Desperate for a solution, Gia is intrigued by Nathan's unconventional offer: in exchange for living as his devoted pet, all of her debts will be erased. But the longer Gia is in captivity, the more animalistic she becomes."
"I am thirty, alone, and unraveling quietly enough that no one’s noticed. Yet."
My Reading Experience: Shy Girl begins as a bizarre but seemingly straightforward arrangement between two adults that quickly spirals into something much darker.
"Not stripped of clothes, but of myself, my dignity, my humanity."
The author does an excellent job setting up the story with a "lobster in a boiling pot" kind of way. Gia's choices that lead her into danger unfold just slow enough that the reader is aware of the red flags (we can see there is something more sinister going on beyond just a garden variety sexual kink, but the unease lurks at the edges) I couldn't quite predict everything that is going to happen. There are some great blindsides.
Gia finds herself subjected to increasing levels of humiliation, control, and manipulation. The novel's tension escalates as the full extent of Nathan’s depravity is revealed, leaving Gia—and the reader—questioning how far this situation will go (which is the real horror).
Gia’s journey is hard to watch. At first, she enters the arrangement with a degree of agency, but her autonomy is slowly chipped away piece by piece, leaving her trapped in a situation far worse than she could have imagined. I've said it before, and it bears repeating: human monsters are far more threatening than anything paranormal or supernatural.
"Let him see it, I think. Let him see what he’s created. Let him see me."
Final Recommendation: Mia Ballard has crafted a deeply unsettling book. This is the perfect book for horror readers looking for feminist stories willing to push the boundaries and disrupt the status quo. I just want to be sure I set the proper expectation for the level of explicit violence and trauma- be prepared.
Comps: If the book Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder was extreme horror, At Dark I Become Loathsome by Eric LaRocca, Deliver Me by Elle Nash
From the author: "Shy Girl holds a mirror to the darkest parts of control and trauma while also asking questions about survival and resistance. What does it mean to escape a cage, whether physical or metaphorical? How do you reconcile the parts of yourself shaped by those cages? And what does freedom truly cost?"
December 15, 2025
“Hope is what gets you dragged out back, the leash tightening around your throat as you’re led to where no one will find you……” 🔥🖤🐾🔪
I was hooked from the dedication alone! 📖💘 This book moves fast, throwing you into a sugar baby arrangement that spirals into something completely unhinged. 🤯💸💔 This was literally the ultimate worst-case scenario for a sugar baby/sugar daddy relationship, and it just kept getting worse and worse. 😱 My jaw was scraping the floor—I need someone else to read this ASAP so we can debrief! 🫠😵💫 I’m officially a fan of Mia Ballard and will read anything she writes from now on! ✍🏾✨
The writing is lush, and I could tell Mia was a poet because her words flow like magic. 🖋️📜 I literally have so many sentences and quotes highlighted!
This has got to be the craziest thing I’ve ever read, and I mean that in the best way possible. 🤪🔥 The twists, the tension, the sheer WTF moments—it’s all there! I have no idea how her mind put this story together, but it grabs you from page one and never lets go. 😵💫🐾 You will never read another book like this! I have no words… but at the same time, there’s so much I want to say, but I can’t because it would spoil everything. 😭👀
Just read it! And don’t let the cover fool you. 🖤📖💀
Quotes That Still Have Me Thinking… 🤯🐾
🐾 “Humans are like that. Always craving someone when they’re no longer accessible to us.” 💔
🐾 “I have a problem with men. I am either obsessed with them, or I want nothing to do with them at all, depending on the state of my life at the moment.” 😵💫🔥
🐾 “Comfortable is dangerous. Comfortable keeps you asleep when the house is on fire.” 🚨🔥
I was hooked from the dedication alone! 📖💘 This book moves fast, throwing you into a sugar baby arrangement that spirals into something completely unhinged. 🤯💸💔 This was literally the ultimate worst-case scenario for a sugar baby/sugar daddy relationship, and it just kept getting worse and worse. 😱 My jaw was scraping the floor—I need someone else to read this ASAP so we can debrief! 🫠😵💫 I’m officially a fan of Mia Ballard and will read anything she writes from now on! ✍🏾✨
The writing is lush, and I could tell Mia was a poet because her words flow like magic. 🖋️📜 I literally have so many sentences and quotes highlighted!
This has got to be the craziest thing I’ve ever read, and I mean that in the best way possible. 🤪🔥 The twists, the tension, the sheer WTF moments—it’s all there! I have no idea how her mind put this story together, but it grabs you from page one and never lets go. 😵💫🐾 You will never read another book like this! I have no words… but at the same time, there’s so much I want to say, but I can’t because it would spoil everything. 😭👀
Just read it! And don’t let the cover fool you. 🖤📖💀
Quotes That Still Have Me Thinking… 🤯🐾
🐾 “Humans are like that. Always craving someone when they’re no longer accessible to us.” 💔
🐾 “I have a problem with men. I am either obsessed with them, or I want nothing to do with them at all, depending on the state of my life at the moment.” 😵💫🔥
🐾 “Comfortable is dangerous. Comfortable keeps you asleep when the house is on fire.” 🚨🔥
March 30, 2025
what a massive disappointment. i was so intrigued by the blurb because i love extreme horror/splatterpunk especially when intersected with bdsm and social commentary (think eric larocca, alison rumfitt, etc). this was not that...and it didn't do what it thinks it did. i was led to believe this would be a violent and graphic yet gratifying story of rage and revenge, but there was actually very little of this. instead, i got to read a vapid, superficial, poorly executed commentary on 'female autonomy' that hopped onto the 'female rage' bandwagon of literary fiction yet somehow didn't do anything to meaningfully distinguish itself from its counterparts. here's roughly the composition of the novel:
the first 30% is giving some background to our protagonist, gia. she's extremely naive for a 30-year old woman. yes, i know she struggles with ocd, is at a lowpoint in her life due to unemployment, and grew up in an unhealthy environment with little parental guidance. these factors don't really justify the dumb shit she decides to do, especially at her big age. she seeks a sugar daddy to remedy her financial adversity (so valid, been there done that). goes with the first one she meets up with ?? who immediately tells her he has a pet fetish (this should have had her running for the hills at this point). she decides to pass on a job opportunity (which would have remedied the financial adversity that was causing so many problems in her life???) to be this man's pet for 10k a month. doesn't tell ANYONE what she plans to do or where she's going. doesn't make a safety plan with her close friend kennedy in case something goes wrong. doesn't meet up with other sugar daddies and field her options before agreeing to what's basically a sex slave arrangement. trust me girlie, you could have gotten a cushy 10k/month from a different sugar daddy AND worked a 9-5 without having to be a full-time sex slave for this pscyho. this was a major plot hole to me. absolutely glaring. she ignored all warning signs and put herself in danger with the justification of "financial desperation" even with a job offer on the table. girl you did NOT have a financial need that was this serious. her reasons for going into this arrangement were not well-motivated from a writing standpoint.
the next 65% is torture porn. gia gets humiliated, tortured, and raped relentlessly by her captor for 7 years straight. she doesn't try to fight back. she only tries to escape once in those 7 years and is unsuccessful. reading this part felt like being dragged over hot coals. i kept waiting for the moment when the light would finally switch on for her, when she'd finally snap, shrug off the shackles of her mind and this oppressive dynamic and embrace her autonomy, her raw anger, and invoke her well-deserved vengeance. unfortunately, this doesn't happen until the very very very end. some readers may find this section interesting because it kind of explores the psychological turmoil of people made to live in captivity, how their brains get rewired to endure the trauma, and why escaping such abusive situations is harder than one might think. this section was just wayyy too long. could have cut it in half and you would have still got the point across. nothing was super graphic (if we're using let's say "tender is the flesh" as a metric for 'graphic', this book is a lot less descriptive and visceral during its torture scenes), but just felt gratuitous and unnecessary after a point.
then we get to the last 5% of the novel. it's over before you even know it's begun. she finally retaliates and kills her captor after he's already decided to release her. he dies a quick, unsatisfying death. she embraces her inner wild animal that's been developing over the last 7 years and scampers into the wilderness, leaving behind her last opportunity at a normal human life for good. FLOP. i waited the entire book for this?? i wanted the ending to be cathartic and satisfying as she FINALLY enacts her revenge. why was this portion so short...
i finished the book not knowing what the message was at the end of the day. funnily enough, the author's note seemed to be completely at odds with the actual novel. do you even know what you wrote?? this was not a female rage story. your protagonist was tortured for basically the entire book and almost never tried to resist or fight back. she wasn't full of rage, she became so psychologically damaged and coerced into submission that she started to lose her tether on reality. this novel was not empowering; it was sad and depressing. i didn't think this was what i was signing up for when i read the blurb. so much happened but nothing meaningful was said at the same time. the commentary felt misguided and like the author didn't really understand how to appropriately get her message across without exploiting aspects of shock value that saw commercial success in other novels. just write your own thing, stop piggy-backing off other authors/concepts to be edgy. authors, repeat after me: we can write about female body autonomy without gratuitous torture porn! we can write about the female experience without torture porn! to my horror girlie mutuals, i do not recommend :(
the first 30% is giving some background to our protagonist, gia. she's extremely naive for a 30-year old woman. yes, i know she struggles with ocd, is at a lowpoint in her life due to unemployment, and grew up in an unhealthy environment with little parental guidance. these factors don't really justify the dumb shit she decides to do, especially at her big age. she seeks a sugar daddy to remedy her financial adversity (so valid, been there done that). goes with the first one she meets up with ?? who immediately tells her he has a pet fetish (this should have had her running for the hills at this point). she decides to pass on a job opportunity (which would have remedied the financial adversity that was causing so many problems in her life???) to be this man's pet for 10k a month. doesn't tell ANYONE what she plans to do or where she's going. doesn't make a safety plan with her close friend kennedy in case something goes wrong. doesn't meet up with other sugar daddies and field her options before agreeing to what's basically a sex slave arrangement. trust me girlie, you could have gotten a cushy 10k/month from a different sugar daddy AND worked a 9-5 without having to be a full-time sex slave for this pscyho. this was a major plot hole to me. absolutely glaring. she ignored all warning signs and put herself in danger with the justification of "financial desperation" even with a job offer on the table. girl you did NOT have a financial need that was this serious. her reasons for going into this arrangement were not well-motivated from a writing standpoint.
the next 65% is torture porn. gia gets humiliated, tortured, and raped relentlessly by her captor for 7 years straight. she doesn't try to fight back. she only tries to escape once in those 7 years and is unsuccessful. reading this part felt like being dragged over hot coals. i kept waiting for the moment when the light would finally switch on for her, when she'd finally snap, shrug off the shackles of her mind and this oppressive dynamic and embrace her autonomy, her raw anger, and invoke her well-deserved vengeance. unfortunately, this doesn't happen until the very very very end. some readers may find this section interesting because it kind of explores the psychological turmoil of people made to live in captivity, how their brains get rewired to endure the trauma, and why escaping such abusive situations is harder than one might think. this section was just wayyy too long. could have cut it in half and you would have still got the point across. nothing was super graphic (if we're using let's say "tender is the flesh" as a metric for 'graphic', this book is a lot less descriptive and visceral during its torture scenes), but just felt gratuitous and unnecessary after a point.
then we get to the last 5% of the novel. it's over before you even know it's begun. she finally retaliates and kills her captor after he's already decided to release her. he dies a quick, unsatisfying death. she embraces her inner wild animal that's been developing over the last 7 years and scampers into the wilderness, leaving behind her last opportunity at a normal human life for good. FLOP. i waited the entire book for this?? i wanted the ending to be cathartic and satisfying as she FINALLY enacts her revenge. why was this portion so short...
i finished the book not knowing what the message was at the end of the day. funnily enough, the author's note seemed to be completely at odds with the actual novel. do you even know what you wrote?? this was not a female rage story. your protagonist was tortured for basically the entire book and almost never tried to resist or fight back. she wasn't full of rage, she became so psychologically damaged and coerced into submission that she started to lose her tether on reality. this novel was not empowering; it was sad and depressing. i didn't think this was what i was signing up for when i read the blurb. so much happened but nothing meaningful was said at the same time. the commentary felt misguided and like the author didn't really understand how to appropriately get her message across without exploiting aspects of shock value that saw commercial success in other novels. just write your own thing, stop piggy-backing off other authors/concepts to be edgy. authors, repeat after me: we can write about female body autonomy without gratuitous torture porn! we can write about the female experience without torture porn! to my horror girlie mutuals, i do not recommend :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2025
"the rage leaves slowly, like the last embers of a fire. what remains is something hollow, a calm so thin it feels like the edge of a blade."
MIAAAA 📢📢...put a collar around my neck & call me shy girl because what did I just read & why did I love it so much!?
Gia is sitting front row on the struggle bus ok, babes is not having a good time. just lost her job, bills & debt piling up, eviction is looming. what's a girl to do?? join a sugar dating website, where she meets Nathan. Nathan offers to pay her a hefty amount of money in exchange for one thing, be his pet.
this was a slow burn, the beginning drags juuust a little bit but then when it starts picking up it's like bang bang bang! it's not just our average female rage story from Mia we all know & love, this was about survival & doing what it takes to get out. there's a few moments i was like whaaaat (the bathwater thing), this is graphic so definitely check trigger warnings.
I've read all of Mia's work & every single time I'm left speechless, I never know where her stories are going to go & I love that about her so much. I want to look inside her mind & see where she gets these ideas from. as always her writing was so captivating & i always love the way she writes her characters. this was wild, it's weird, it's disgusting & we support the chaos 100%.
Mia is the queen of weird girl & female rage. she's an automatic buy in my household, I don't care what it's about just take my money. please & thank you. 🐶
mia if you need help, blink twice...i'll come rescue you sis
MIAAAA 📢📢...put a collar around my neck & call me shy girl because what did I just read & why did I love it so much!?
Gia is sitting front row on the struggle bus ok, babes is not having a good time. just lost her job, bills & debt piling up, eviction is looming. what's a girl to do?? join a sugar dating website, where she meets Nathan. Nathan offers to pay her a hefty amount of money in exchange for one thing, be his pet.
this was a slow burn, the beginning drags juuust a little bit but then when it starts picking up it's like bang bang bang! it's not just our average female rage story from Mia we all know & love, this was about survival & doing what it takes to get out. there's a few moments i was like whaaaat (the bathwater thing), this is graphic so definitely check trigger warnings.
I've read all of Mia's work & every single time I'm left speechless, I never know where her stories are going to go & I love that about her so much. I want to look inside her mind & see where she gets these ideas from. as always her writing was so captivating & i always love the way she writes her characters. this was wild, it's weird, it's disgusting & we support the chaos 100%.
Mia is the queen of weird girl & female rage. she's an automatic buy in my household, I don't care what it's about just take my money. please & thank you. 🐶
mia if you need help, blink twice...i'll come rescue you sis
January 30, 2025
Okay, I will say I'm real into feminine rage but I've never read anything like this. Maybe others don't feel this way but for me this felt like extreme horror, a lot of things I'm terrified of in here. So many thoughts, so many feelings, honestly and truly a rollercoaster of emotions while reading, none of which I don't think I can fully articulate. The thoughts I have are this:
1. Good for her, we support women's rights and wrongs in this house.
2. I am always in favor of out crazying someone. Oh, you're crazy? Well guess what bitch, I'm completely fucking insane.
3. Having read Night Bitch last year (because I wanted to watch the movie and then hated the book so much I never ended up watching the movie), Night Bitch W I S H E S it was Shy Girl. Shy Girl is exactly (ok, maybe not exactly but I didn't hate it, clearly!) what I wanted and was envisioning when I picked up Night Bitch.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
1. Good for her, we support women's rights and wrongs in this house.
2. I am always in favor of out crazying someone. Oh, you're crazy? Well guess what bitch, I'm completely fucking insane.
3. Having read Night Bitch last year (because I wanted to watch the movie and then hated the book so much I never ended up watching the movie), Night Bitch W I S H E S it was Shy Girl. Shy Girl is exactly (ok, maybe not exactly but I didn't hate it, clearly!) what I wanted and was envisioning when I picked up Night Bitch.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 14, 2025
I predicted part of the ending because I have consumed similar movies and books before, but at the same time so much of this made me sick to my stomach yet stay up late finishing it regardless. Also, the commentary on female autonomy through this disturbing story is BRILLIANT. Absolutely read the author's note if you're not fully grasping it, and if you like the movie Good Boy, definitely read this. 👏🏼
April 15, 2025
i love everything that mia ballard writes apparently. this was heavy, traumatizing, and depraved. it escalates really fast, and made me feel actually sick at times. not for the faint of heart, has some very intense fore scenes. but that ending?! good for her!!! if only he suffered for longer
October 21, 2025
HorrWoofying!🐩
September 10, 2025
EDIT: Found out today that the cover art for this book is artwork by Whyn Lewis and was used without their permission. I will not be selling/giving away my physical copy as this bum ass book does not deserve to be read by anyone else 🫶
So I recently started this book and recently DNFed this book and I’m so confused by it. I have a physical copy and there are a lot of weird formatting issues. It’s almost like she wrote the entire book in a word document and inserted forced page breaks, there are pages ending in the middle of the paper but continuing on to the next page. There are paragraphs that carriage down in the middle of a sentence, there are glaring typos, it’s so weird.
I thought maybe it was intentional, like the main character was losing her mind so her writing became unorganized. But now I’m thinking maybe it’s entirely AI written. Especially with the repetitiveness of the writing.
On the back of my book, it has a logo for “Galaxy Press.” After looking this up, the only thing that pops up is related to L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. I assume “Galaxy Press” is Mia Ballard’s independent publishing venture, as her Instagram handle is galaxygrlmia, I just don’t get how you’d name your company “Galaxy Press”, not look it up, or look it up, see it’s related to Scientology, and still go forward with that name?
I can barely find any bad reviews about this book, the tik tok girlies love this book, I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. Did I get a weird bootleg copy? Is someone pranking me? I love weird girl books so I’ll put up with a lot of bull shit, this was just bizarre lol
So I recently started this book and recently DNFed this book and I’m so confused by it. I have a physical copy and there are a lot of weird formatting issues. It’s almost like she wrote the entire book in a word document and inserted forced page breaks, there are pages ending in the middle of the paper but continuing on to the next page. There are paragraphs that carriage down in the middle of a sentence, there are glaring typos, it’s so weird.
I thought maybe it was intentional, like the main character was losing her mind so her writing became unorganized. But now I’m thinking maybe it’s entirely AI written. Especially with the repetitiveness of the writing.
On the back of my book, it has a logo for “Galaxy Press.” After looking this up, the only thing that pops up is related to L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. I assume “Galaxy Press” is Mia Ballard’s independent publishing venture, as her Instagram handle is galaxygrlmia, I just don’t get how you’d name your company “Galaxy Press”, not look it up, or look it up, see it’s related to Scientology, and still go forward with that name?
I can barely find any bad reviews about this book, the tik tok girlies love this book, I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. Did I get a weird bootleg copy? Is someone pranking me? I love weird girl books so I’ll put up with a lot of bull shit, this was just bizarre lol
February 18, 2025
makes nightbitch look like an episode of paw patrol
February 5, 2025
Gia is drowning. No job, eviction looming…so she turns to a sugar daddy website out of desperation. She latches onto Nathan, hoping he’ll save her, but instead, he traps her, forcing her into submission in ways that are both gut-wrenching and terrifying.
What starts as a grim but relatable story of financial and emotional vulnerability quickly turns into something much darker. This book is filled with feminine rage, digging deep into control, power, and survival in a way that’s brutal but impossible to look away from. And despite all the horror, at its core, it’s a story of resilience—of clawing back autonomy and making the man who took everything pay for it.
What starts as a grim but relatable story of financial and emotional vulnerability quickly turns into something much darker. This book is filled with feminine rage, digging deep into control, power, and survival in a way that’s brutal but impossible to look away from. And despite all the horror, at its core, it’s a story of resilience—of clawing back autonomy and making the man who took everything pay for it.
July 13, 2025
absolute fucking garbage. overwritten, repetitive, poorly executed, atrocious formatting. nothing to do with actual feminine rage and revenge. extremely disappointed.
p.s. I genuinely thought I was reading a draft at first
p.s. I genuinely thought I was reading a draft at first
June 9, 2025
"Sometimes, justice isn’t quiet or clean; it's feral and bloody and unapologetic."
Deserving of more attention, Shy Girl by Mia Ballard is an intense, unsettling, and deeply psychological novel that explores manipulation, violence, sexual assault, and so much more. Beware the trigger warnings, as there are too many to list, and I’ll refrain from naming all to avoid spoilers.
Gia is lonely and depressed, with a serious case of OCD that is exacerbated by the fact that she has no money, no job, and no one to lean on. Every day is a struggle. She has been searching for a job for the past five months with no success, and her savings have dried up. Desperate for money, she creates a profile on a sugar baby website, where she meets Nathan, a sugar daddy with a kinky proposition: to be his pet in exchange for financial support. With an eviction notice looming over her, Gia reluctantly agrees, only to find herself trapped in a situation she could never have imagined.
Ballard does an outstanding job of portraying Gia’s internal struggles. Her OCD is handled with both care and ruthless precision, particularly in one scene where she realises that being treated like a dog is far from hygienic. These moments are visceral, making the reader feel her discomfort and pain through Ballard’s vivid prose. The psychological tension in Shy Girl is a highlight for me. Brilliantly executed. Nathan’s presence is suffocating and ever-present; he circles and traps, dominates and subdues. He is terrifying, not just for what he does but for how Gia perceives him. She gaslights herself, trying to rationalise her situation, unable to see him as the predator he truly is. Ballard writes about these internal struggles brilliantly. Gia undermines herself, twisting reality in an attempt to make sense of the nightmare she is trapped in.
Ballard’s prose is haunting, poetic, and unflinching. Every sentence carries weight, drawing the reader deeper into the suffocating atmosphere of Gia’s mind. The writing is both beautiful and harrowing. This story it is thought-provoking and should be reflected upon beyond the situation's absurdity. The violence, both psychological and physical, is unforgiving but executed with prowess. The tension builds at a perfect pace, making it impossible to look away. I dare you to! The characters are emotionally complex and tragic. Nathan is not a one-dimensional villain, and Gia is not completely submissive. What’s fascinating is observing how Ballard handled the nuances in the character’s behaviour and power dynamics.
The narrative feels claustrophobic and tense, forcing the reader to stare, gasp, and hyperventilate while navigating the emotional chaos of Gia’s captivity. The novel also touches on themes of control and self-harm—when people feel powerless, they often resort to self-harm as a way to regain agency. This is particularly evident when Gia contemplates a moment that feels devastating yet tragically inevitable.
Shy Girl is not for the faint of heart, but for readers who appreciate psychological horror that delves deep into the rottest aspects of human experience, this is an unforgettable read. The novel is deeply disturbing and I highly recommend it for those looking to drop their jaws on this female rage spree.
Rating: 5/5
Highly Recommended
Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Quotes might differ slightly from the final printed version:
“Reality creeps back in, messy and unwelcome. The mental list reassembles itself. Today, I need to apply for more jobs. Again. My cover letters have become mechanical, tweaked and polished until the words feel like they belong to someone else.”
“But his words are still there, circling like vultures, their wings heavy with meaning. They loop endlessly, setting deeper each time, carving out a hollow I don't know how to fill.”
“I tell myself it’s nothing, that it’s just him testing me. Pushing my limits. A first-day trial to see if I’m worth the effort. This is what I repeat, over and over, like a mantra. This is fine. This is normal. He’s testing me.”
Deserving of more attention, Shy Girl by Mia Ballard is an intense, unsettling, and deeply psychological novel that explores manipulation, violence, sexual assault, and so much more. Beware the trigger warnings, as there are too many to list, and I’ll refrain from naming all to avoid spoilers.
Gia is lonely and depressed, with a serious case of OCD that is exacerbated by the fact that she has no money, no job, and no one to lean on. Every day is a struggle. She has been searching for a job for the past five months with no success, and her savings have dried up. Desperate for money, she creates a profile on a sugar baby website, where she meets Nathan, a sugar daddy with a kinky proposition: to be his pet in exchange for financial support. With an eviction notice looming over her, Gia reluctantly agrees, only to find herself trapped in a situation she could never have imagined.
Ballard does an outstanding job of portraying Gia’s internal struggles. Her OCD is handled with both care and ruthless precision, particularly in one scene where she realises that being treated like a dog is far from hygienic. These moments are visceral, making the reader feel her discomfort and pain through Ballard’s vivid prose. The psychological tension in Shy Girl is a highlight for me. Brilliantly executed. Nathan’s presence is suffocating and ever-present; he circles and traps, dominates and subdues. He is terrifying, not just for what he does but for how Gia perceives him. She gaslights herself, trying to rationalise her situation, unable to see him as the predator he truly is. Ballard writes about these internal struggles brilliantly. Gia undermines herself, twisting reality in an attempt to make sense of the nightmare she is trapped in.
Ballard’s prose is haunting, poetic, and unflinching. Every sentence carries weight, drawing the reader deeper into the suffocating atmosphere of Gia’s mind. The writing is both beautiful and harrowing. This story it is thought-provoking and should be reflected upon beyond the situation's absurdity. The violence, both psychological and physical, is unforgiving but executed with prowess. The tension builds at a perfect pace, making it impossible to look away. I dare you to! The characters are emotionally complex and tragic. Nathan is not a one-dimensional villain, and Gia is not completely submissive. What’s fascinating is observing how Ballard handled the nuances in the character’s behaviour and power dynamics.
The narrative feels claustrophobic and tense, forcing the reader to stare, gasp, and hyperventilate while navigating the emotional chaos of Gia’s captivity. The novel also touches on themes of control and self-harm—when people feel powerless, they often resort to self-harm as a way to regain agency. This is particularly evident when Gia contemplates a moment that feels devastating yet tragically inevitable.
Shy Girl is not for the faint of heart, but for readers who appreciate psychological horror that delves deep into the rottest aspects of human experience, this is an unforgettable read. The novel is deeply disturbing and I highly recommend it for those looking to drop their jaws on this female rage spree.
Rating: 5/5
Highly Recommended
Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Quotes might differ slightly from the final printed version:
“Reality creeps back in, messy and unwelcome. The mental list reassembles itself. Today, I need to apply for more jobs. Again. My cover letters have become mechanical, tweaked and polished until the words feel like they belong to someone else.”
“But his words are still there, circling like vultures, their wings heavy with meaning. They loop endlessly, setting deeper each time, carving out a hollow I don't know how to fill.”
“I tell myself it’s nothing, that it’s just him testing me. Pushing my limits. A first-day trial to see if I’m worth the effort. This is what I repeat, over and over, like a mantra. This is fine. This is normal. He’s testing me.”
December 25, 2025
This gave Nightbitch, Bunny, and every other book that’s trying to say something profound about womanhood through metaphors that make me feel nauseous. I know I’m supposed to walk away feeling empowered or shaken or transformed, but mostly I just felt grossed out and confused.
I kept waiting for the moment where everything would click and I’d go, “Ah, this is what everyone’s raving about!” It never came. Instead, I finished the book and thought, “Was that it?” Meanwhile, everyone else is writing five-paragraph think pieces about shame, embodiment, and the female psyche, and I’m just sitting here going… huh? How’d you manage to glean all of that… from this book?
If this kind of surreal, metaphor-heavy feminist horror is a genre, I think I’ve officially decided it’s not for me. And that’s okay. I’ll be over here, rereading something that makes me feel something other than existential confusion and extreme disgust.
I kept waiting for the moment where everything would click and I’d go, “Ah, this is what everyone’s raving about!” It never came. Instead, I finished the book and thought, “Was that it?” Meanwhile, everyone else is writing five-paragraph think pieces about shame, embodiment, and the female psyche, and I’m just sitting here going… huh? How’d you manage to glean all of that… from this book?
If this kind of surreal, metaphor-heavy feminist horror is a genre, I think I’ve officially decided it’s not for me. And that’s okay. I’ll be over here, rereading something that makes me feel something other than existential confusion and extreme disgust.
February 12, 2025
MIAAAAA!!!!! Mia girl you’re kicking ASS. I loved this book. Shy Girl is now my 3rd book of hers I’ve read and each one is better than the last. What a strange, upsetting, wild read.
It’s clear her growth as an author is happening quickly and her confidence is shining through these pages. This book takes her signature character-driven storytelling and cranks it way the hell up. I loved how absolutely feral this book got. Ballard is on a roll, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
It’s clear her growth as an author is happening quickly and her confidence is shining through these pages. This book takes her signature character-driven storytelling and cranks it way the hell up. I loved how absolutely feral this book got. Ballard is on a roll, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
May 21, 2025
I was very onboard with the book's premise, but the execution was absolutely horrible and ruined anything this book had going for it. Bizarre formatting, typos, and repetitive turns of phrase (often to describe the same thing) are everywhere. It's also just a really poorly done story? Please, please skip this one.
December 16, 2025
Mia, you little FREAK. I love it.
May 15, 2025
This was one of the best things I've read in a long time. WOW.
July 11, 2025
if that’s a serious case of ocd I’m done for
September 20, 2025
So, it looks like Mia Ballard stole from an artist for this book, and I can't support that—and even aside from that situation, the book was terrible. I did some digging and compiled the sketchy shit here, along with my thoughts on the book, for posterity, but the one-star rating is entirely unrelated to the sketchy shit that seems to be going on. Some (alleged) information has appeared as recently as last week, and I happened to finally finish reading Shy Girl while away on vacation over Labor Day, so I suppose it’s actually pretty good timing considering I’m about six months late on this review to begin with.
The Book Review:
I liked Ballard’s first release, Sugar, enough to give Shy Girl a try. I thought Sugar was a reasonable debut novel, and I called it a positive 2.5; it felt about halfway to being a good book, and I was genuinely curious to see if there would be improvements with her sophomore release. Unfortunately, what I got was everything that didn’t work about Sugar rather than everything that worked very well.
Like Sugar, this starts out strong with an interesting character and premise and then immediately loses momentum as the author tries to get past that surface level. To quote myself about Sugar: “Overall, there was a point where everything just stopped making sense and the bad plot direction and underdeveloped characters overwhelmed the good points of the writing and the excellent concept.” That is literally exactly how I feel about Shy Girl, but worse.
To be fair, there are a lot of things I really liked about this. There were good moments in the writing, there was an interesting main character, and I absolutely love the concept of Gia’s transformation. It’s on the nose in a way that felt fun. I enjoyed what I did get to learn about Gia’s character. I wasn’t crazy about most of the big horror scenes, but the rat scene was actually pretty good.
But at about 30%, everything stops making sense, and there’s no sign of editing. I spent ages wondering what I missed/why the dumbass main character wasn’t simply escaping because the cage she’s thrown in is described as latching shut. Then the author randomly decided it also locks at one point, which I guess was supposed to be true the whole time?
Gia is held captive for seven years and only tries to escape once, a year and a half in. She immediately gives up for the sole purpose of the plot needing her to stay kidnapped long enough for the magical realism of Gia’s transformation to kick in. As much as this might come off as victim blaming, this degree of immediate capitulation, even from this character, is absolutely fucking insane to me, mostly because she had about 4,000 explicit opportunities to go for the eyes or just plain book it before she’s become too weak, injured, and manipulated. Does Nathan have a taser out and ready literally all the time? No? Then Jesus fuck, this isn’t MMA! You’re allowed to eye gouge to escape your kidnapper.
My other issue was that we breeze by the years way too fast with only a couple scenes from each. This book could’ve been longer and benefited from the fleshing out. The whole bit about Nathan’s clients could’ve been interesting, but just felt like it was thrown in there. There’s something here, and normally I love books like this, but I really didn’t care for this one.
Alleged Issue:
EDIT: There are 4 important screenshots in this section of the review which are visible on the web version of Goodreads, but of course I can't figure out how to get them to show up in the app. Forgive me. This is a link to an imgur album of all 4.
This book appears to use art by Whyn Lewis, known for her paintings of Whippets, on the cover, with some obvious edits like the tear, the saturation, and the background.
Lewis is not credited in the early copy I have. This is not normal. Using and altering existing art and photography for book covers is normal; however, even ARCs include credits with the publication information. I don’t think I’ve ever received one without it, actually, even from other self-published authors (which the original edition of this does seem to be; ‘Galaxy Press’ is definitely Ballard’s personal venture, unless she’s somehow being published by the Church of Scientology, which I doubt, considering they only publish L. Ron Hubbard’s asinine ramblings).
This book / consequently this version of the cover are also suddenly unavailable, which has caused some confusion (and also means I can’t exactly get my hands on another copy to double-check the credits on the published version). I imagine this is because Ballard sold the rights, and this is being picked up and republished in November by Headline Books.
It does make sense that the cover would be redesigned to begin with, but it also makes sense that it would need to be redesigned if Ballard had this put together while she was publishing independently and didn’t have permission from the artist.
^^ And now, a week after I wrote the above paragraph, all traces of the cover art for the original edition have suddenly been wiped from Goodreads, which is also not really SOP when releasing a new one.
As for last week, some discussion cropped up on Reddit that seems to point to Lewis’ art being stolen:
On top of this, the released version had significant formatting issues, which also suggests that a lot of carelessness occurred throughout the entire process of this book, writing and design alike.
I held out on this for about a week and reached out to the artist personally a couple of days ago, as I did and do have concerns about posting this and would’ve liked to confirm as this is all alleged, but I did not receive a response (understandable), and the situation has continued being suspicious. I imagine this is in some way already being addressed, hence The Case of the Disappearing Cover, but this is just pretty concerning all around, so…I guess I’m going ahead with it, because this is probably not an author I would want to give my money to, both because of this and because of the writing quality.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review.
The Book Review:
I liked Ballard’s first release, Sugar, enough to give Shy Girl a try. I thought Sugar was a reasonable debut novel, and I called it a positive 2.5; it felt about halfway to being a good book, and I was genuinely curious to see if there would be improvements with her sophomore release. Unfortunately, what I got was everything that didn’t work about Sugar rather than everything that worked very well.
Like Sugar, this starts out strong with an interesting character and premise and then immediately loses momentum as the author tries to get past that surface level. To quote myself about Sugar: “Overall, there was a point where everything just stopped making sense and the bad plot direction and underdeveloped characters overwhelmed the good points of the writing and the excellent concept.” That is literally exactly how I feel about Shy Girl, but worse.
To be fair, there are a lot of things I really liked about this. There were good moments in the writing, there was an interesting main character, and I absolutely love the concept of Gia’s transformation. It’s on the nose in a way that felt fun. I enjoyed what I did get to learn about Gia’s character. I wasn’t crazy about most of the big horror scenes, but the rat scene was actually pretty good.
But at about 30%, everything stops making sense, and there’s no sign of editing. I spent ages wondering what I missed/why the dumbass main character wasn’t simply escaping because the cage she’s thrown in is described as latching shut. Then the author randomly decided it also locks at one point, which I guess was supposed to be true the whole time?
Gia is held captive for seven years and only tries to escape once, a year and a half in. She immediately gives up for the sole purpose of the plot needing her to stay kidnapped long enough for the magical realism of Gia’s transformation to kick in. As much as this might come off as victim blaming, this degree of immediate capitulation, even from this character, is absolutely fucking insane to me, mostly because she had about 4,000 explicit opportunities to go for the eyes or just plain book it before she’s become too weak, injured, and manipulated. Does Nathan have a taser out and ready literally all the time? No? Then Jesus fuck, this isn’t MMA! You’re allowed to eye gouge to escape your kidnapper.
My other issue was that we breeze by the years way too fast with only a couple scenes from each. This book could’ve been longer and benefited from the fleshing out. The whole bit about Nathan’s clients could’ve been interesting, but just felt like it was thrown in there. There’s something here, and normally I love books like this, but I really didn’t care for this one.
Alleged Issue:
EDIT: There are 4 important screenshots in this section of the review which are visible on the web version of Goodreads, but of course I can't figure out how to get them to show up in the app. Forgive me. This is a link to an imgur album of all 4.
This book appears to use art by Whyn Lewis, known for her paintings of Whippets, on the cover, with some obvious edits like the tear, the saturation, and the background.
Lewis is not credited in the early copy I have. This is not normal. Using and altering existing art and photography for book covers is normal; however, even ARCs include credits with the publication information. I don’t think I’ve ever received one without it, actually, even from other self-published authors (which the original edition of this does seem to be; ‘Galaxy Press’ is definitely Ballard’s personal venture, unless she’s somehow being published by the Church of Scientology, which I doubt, considering they only publish L. Ron Hubbard’s asinine ramblings).
This book / consequently this version of the cover are also suddenly unavailable, which has caused some confusion (and also means I can’t exactly get my hands on another copy to double-check the credits on the published version). I imagine this is because Ballard sold the rights, and this is being picked up and republished in November by Headline Books.
It does make sense that the cover would be redesigned to begin with, but it also makes sense that it would need to be redesigned if Ballard had this put together while she was publishing independently and didn’t have permission from the artist.
^^ And now, a week after I wrote the above paragraph, all traces of the cover art for the original edition have suddenly been wiped from Goodreads, which is also not really SOP when releasing a new one.
As for last week, some discussion cropped up on Reddit that seems to point to Lewis’ art being stolen:
On top of this, the released version had significant formatting issues, which also suggests that a lot of carelessness occurred throughout the entire process of this book, writing and design alike.
I held out on this for about a week and reached out to the artist personally a couple of days ago, as I did and do have concerns about posting this and would’ve liked to confirm as this is all alleged, but I did not receive a response (understandable), and the situation has continued being suspicious. I imagine this is in some way already being addressed, hence The Case of the Disappearing Cover, but this is just pretty concerning all around, so…I guess I’m going ahead with it, because this is probably not an author I would want to give my money to, both because of this and because of the writing quality.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review.
Review of advance copy
I am quite certain that this was written by ChatGPT.
As an editor, I've read a few specifically ChatGPT written books, and this has not only all the hallmarks, but some specific repeated phrases that I've read in other ChatGPT works. "His amusement curled like smoke," is one. If it's not AI, and I'm truly quite sure that it is, then this author needs to be ruthlessly edited. Every noun is preceded by a flaccid adjective, every action is followed by a repetitive, boring simile.
I've since done a little googling and found that she was in trouble for stealing artwork in the past and found to be using AI for cover art. DNF, in any case. Even if it's not ChatGPT and just extremely reminiscent of AI in every sentence, this specific style of clunky, pseudo poetic writing gives me a headache.
As an editor, I've read a few specifically ChatGPT written books, and this has not only all the hallmarks, but some specific repeated phrases that I've read in other ChatGPT works. "His amusement curled like smoke," is one. If it's not AI, and I'm truly quite sure that it is, then this author needs to be ruthlessly edited. Every noun is preceded by a flaccid adjective, every action is followed by a repetitive, boring simile.
I've since done a little googling and found that she was in trouble for stealing artwork in the past and found to be using AI for cover art. DNF, in any case. Even if it's not ChatGPT and just extremely reminiscent of AI in every sentence, this specific style of clunky, pseudo poetic writing gives me a headache.
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