Please Don’t Touch the Body: Stories

by Emily Doyle

“A magnificent debut” (Laila Lalami) that explores loneliness and community, religion and repression, and the pleasure and pain of being a woman.

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by Debutiful, Lit Hub, Chicago Review of Books, and Autostraddle

By turns tender and irreverent, the 11 genre-bending stories in Please Don't Touch the Body are thrillingly concerned with the devastation-and power-of being alive today.

In the collection's first story, a Japanese woman finds healing in a secret life as a sex advice columnist after being fetishized by her white husband for decades. In the fourth story, Ronald Reagan is reincarnated as a puppy and must cope with being squeezed, dropped, and controlled by his young, queer owner. And in “Thank You No Thank You,” a young woman grapples with the rules she learned in her religious childhood, the freedoms of her new and more liberal life, and her actual desires as she vacations with her long-term boyfriend.

Together these inventive, emotionally rich stories reveal an incredible new vision and “a writer to watch” (Rita Chang-Eppig).

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Feminism, Adult, Adult Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published July 14, 2026

Reviews

[Angie Miale]

Delightfully weird.

[J.]

I had high hopes for this short story collection after the first two entries in this collection of eleven tales.

The first story focused on a housewife whose husband, for years, is abducted by aliens every week on the same day for the same amount of time - a few hours. She uses this break from her marriage to write her advice column, which is unconventional to say the least. The second story centers a woman whose elderly mother discloses the existence of a previous daughter in the post-surgical twilight. Two years later, at the elderly woman's wake, a mysterious woman attends whom the narrator begins to project the fantasies of her lost sibling. Let's just say things turn out more surprisingly than expected.

Both of these stories were inventive, creative, novel, and charmingly written. It was genius on Emily Doyle's part (or her editor's) to open the novel with them because they are, by far, the two best stories.

Sadly, however, the rest of the tales are just not as interesting, ingenious, or even as well written. In fact, the rest of the collection is rather tedious and inconsequential. Whether it's an homage to the documentary "My Octopus Teacher" (which I loathed), Ronald Reagan reincarnated as a puppy who gets castrated, or just people finding out they have cancer, reading books while pregnant, buying crickets for their kid's lizard, even just taking an elevator... the latter nine tales just did not do anything for me.

The best way I can describe what it feels like to read these stories is to assume they were written while studying to obtain an MFA. As a creative writing professor, I can pinpoint the type of creative fiction that emerges from certain types of students and the literary crutches that can become hard to break free of. In several of the stories you will have a protagonist suddenly reminisce about events in the past and the two timelines will begin to alternate conveniently and regularly because they are ACTUALLY TALKING TO ONE ANOTHER. The end result is a body of work that feels immature, of a writer who has glimpses of brilliance, but has not quite found their full voice or perspective yet, and so the generic feeling tales actually hurt her, rather than serve as a calling card and the promise of where she could go next (because heaven knows short story collections are never big sellers, lucrative, or the means to become successful).

I wanted to like this more, especially given the promise of those initial two stories. In the end is a forgettable collection, that does have two standouts worth reading and checking out.

[Mackenzie]

Stunning, hilarious, and devastatingly profound. I feel like I know all these women and at times, have been them. Highly recommend

[Juliana Park]

Admittedly, because I do not read many short stories, I set this book down in between stories and did not finish it as “fast” as I probably could have or originally intended to, and that ended up being a very happy accident.

It sat on my dining table for a couple weeks, as I was determined not to pick it back up until I had the mental bandwidth and clarity to resume, but to be honest, I think the BEST time to pick up a book of short stories like PDTTB is when you ARE feeling unsure, scatterbrained, vulnerable, uninspired, etc. etc. (@me)

These stories made me feel a very full range of emotions and each page flip left me antsy, excited, …scared even(?), curious, and super eager for more.

[Ironically] Doyle’s acknowledgments section made me cry. Happy. Tears. Streaming. Just a beautiful dedication to her village and effortlessly heart-tugging prose.

[Tracy Pollan]

I went into this collection not knowing what to expect. I absolutely loved the first story, I found it quite quirky and very funny, I liked the alien aspect. These stories move between the surreal and the extremely grounded, often within the same story. As the collection went on, my reactions were more mixed. I loved the exploration of women feeling stuck, in their bodies, marriages, and roles they find themselves in. The writing is genuinely excellent, some stories just landed more than others. A 4.3 for the writing

[Cass (the_midwest_library)]

This was a quirky debut short story collection, though a bit all over the place. There were some really well written stories in this book, and others that were a bit under baked. Some weird writing choices and some spots where editing would have tightened them up a bit.

But all that being said the stories that were good I did quite like so I would definitely keep my eyes peeled for what this author releases next.

[Alex Jiménez]

I really loved the first story, which was speculative. The rest of the stories just reminded me of the quiet melodrama realistic fiction I’ve written and then realized were kinda boring and now I focus on writing specfic mostly. I’d like to read more specfic from this author!

[Tjaša]

The Ronald Reagan story blew my mind!

[branka]

DNF on 60%

[E.]

A fairly solid 3-star read, but still not one I'd revisit most likely. Most of the stories were just general fiction, but 2 had light speculative elements (Thursdays for Haru and Please Don't Touch the Body) and one was straight-up speculative (Ronald Reagan is Reborn as a Puppy and Learns to Behave). There was also a trio of loosely-connected stories set in a retirement center called Valley Gardens and include different interpretations of what a ghost is and how it relates to memory: "The Only Child" deals with a mother's death and the untold secrets that have a linger impact; New Mercies has Alzheimer's/dementia at it's center and how it can make the living seem like shadows of their former selves; Please Don't Touch the Body has a literal ghost, but the ghost is also a metaphor for unresolved trauma (in this case, sexual abuse and rape) and how it can linger and taint the survivor's life. While I wasn't the hugest fan of any of these stories, I appreciated what she was doing with them and how it didn't click until the very last story. My favorite (and the only 5-star of the collection) was The Diver, which was written in response/as a companion to the documentary "My Octopus Teacher" and was obviously my favorite because it has to deal with the ocean and an octopus and I love reading about both of those things. My least favorites of the collection were "Copernicus is Dying," "The Elevator," and "Not One Actual Answer." Ratings and other thoughts below.

Thursdays for Haru- 3- it's literally so funny to me that this woman's husband regularly gets taken by aliens and she is apparently not at all concerned about it, she's just happy to have alone time
The Only Child- 2.5- why would she not just ask her mom who the fuck Jane is instead of letting it torture her??
The Diver- 5- loved it, no notes
Ronald Reagan...- 4- that was really weird but in a fun way? I genuinely can't tell if Ronald Reagan was actually that much of a dick in real life or if he was maybe less of a dick but is coming off more dickish since animals have less emotional nuance
Copernicus is Dying- 3.5- not super enjoyable, but I get how it relates to the general theme of the collection by paralleling the cricket shortage with our FMC's personal life
Thank You, No Thank You- 3- she kinda had me at stomach cancer, but then the protagonist doesn't even go to the doctor to check?? but I like how it explores the different pulls of the touch of her family and their religion vs the touch of her boyfriend and what he wants from her vs what she actually wants
New Mercies- 4- this was super depressing and for some reason feels like I should have been reading it during fall
The Elevator- 2- I think I get what she's doing here, but I still didn't particularly enjoy it. I hate how older men can be asshats all in the name of "it's just being polite" or "that's how I was raised"
The Pains of Finding Out- 4.5- weirdly enjoyable given that pregnancy gives me the ick. It was clever to have our protagonist's POV be so absorbed by the book she's reading and having the nanny's POV act as a kind of mirror and foil.
Not One Actual Answer- 2- dear God, no. What the hell is even wrong with Paul and why can he not just accept that Pam doesn't want to talk to him?? Also, yelling "nice ass" at a woman because you appreciate her straight-forwardness is not an appropriate reaction.
Please Don't Touch the Body- 3.5- not the most enjoyable, but thematically very strong

[this_eel]

About a third of the way into this book I started describing it to someone and said, "It feels like she is in the middle of getting an MFA." She has an MFA, so I was half right. The moments of this that work--certain turns of phrase, clarity of intention, sudden crystalline insights of character--are captivating indications of great potential. They're very, very good, and when they come along they are sometimes breathtaking.

The parts of this that don't work come in the form of overworking her themes, underpolishing her sentences, and giving the impression of doggedly chasing what an MFA program will teach you is a Good Literary Short Story. There's a quality of these stories that feels very young--still wobbly in execution, still needing someone to wring out the first impulses and leave behind discipline and precision. It's challenging, because Doyle seems to have finished school and started teaching it, and I don't know who comes around to help a writer develop their craft once the academy has already told them they're all set.

Thematically--Much of the book is concerned with taboo--experiencing the violence of its violation, questioning its validity, provoking the reader, queering without condoning. It's sometimes intriguing, sometimes revolting, and what's with all the dogs? This willingness to overstep accepted decency is not either a net positive or negative, because almost exactly half the time I felt like the transgressiveness was thoughtful, if not necessarily well-honed, and the other half it again felt like no more than a crude instrument of exploration--testing her own nerve and the audience's trust.

She loves queerness. She really seems to hate men. Let this be a neutral statement; I did not make her write only horrible men.

I've done her the grave injustice of reading Shirley Jackson AND Lauren Groff AND Daphne Du Maurier short stories in the last six months, and beside them she's coltish. But again, with ideas. With insights. With flashes of brilliance. When her novel comes around I will give it a try and if I am being very sweet I won't read her up against Groff again.

[mostlybookstuff]

#PLEASEDONTTOUCHTHEBODY by #emilydoyle confronts schisms of the self. Each story reveals the ways in which women must carve out a space for themselves in a world that shows them little regard. My favorites were the ones centered on motherhood. There is THE DIVER, where a woman is no longer a wife but still a mother. She takes up a former hobby and encounters an octopus, which she tentatively shares with her son as a way to reconnect with him. In THE PAINS OF FINDING OUT, a heavily pregnant woman remains undecided on having children. She becomes enraptured with a book on a vengeful nanny and continues reading even as her water breaks lol. It’s been years since I picked up a short story collection and I forgot how their length makes for great stopping points throughout the day! I’m delighted I get to share my thoughts on this debut during #pubweek. Thanks so much to @bloomsburybooksus for sending me a finished copy.

[Nick]

If you wish to enjoy Emily Doyle's work, don't read/listen all the way through. Either read one, avoid it for days, then come back, or pick three stories at random and stick with that. Because reading them back to back to back to back was an extremely frustrating experience. The audio makes it clearer, I'd imagine, than reading the text that it's all the same story. The same awkward woman interacting with people awkwardly, often keeping a secret, often stuck in the past, often thinking about (or having) erotic experiences. Even the biggest draw of this collection (the one where Reagan is Reborn as a Puppy) has that same format, but at least that has an more interesting narrator. That story is pretty good: nuanced in it's satire, with sharp prose. But, I'm not rating one story. I'm rating two stories, one of which is told in eight different ways. Don't let my angst get you down, though. If you follow the advice at the front of this review, you'll probably enjoy it far more than I did.

[Grant Parker]

Please Don't Touch the Body is a MUST READ debut collection from Emily Doyle. The closest work I can compare this collection to in terms of how I felt reading it is Ted Chiang's collections (Stories of Your Life and Others; Exhalation)-- introspective, surreal, whimsical, heartfelt. Doyle takes you through an amazing range of settings and characters, but the collection is cohesive and whole, with very fun but subtle easter eggs connecting stories. One overarching theme of the collection is the search for who you are when you have experience a violation, or have been stuck or forced into a role or are recovering, and something drastic has to happen to dislodge you and send you on your way. As fictional and imaginative as the stories get, the collection resonated and felt very real to me. Excited to re-read Please Don't Touch the Body again soon.

[Brigitte]

This collection of stories are all a bit absurd and mysterious. It usually talks about interactions with people while they are in the car, at a funeral wake or working. They are not necessarily funny, but a bit dreamy and absurd. And one story, about a man that rises from his ashes as a ghost to act as the lover of his elderly friend, can be considered fantasy. It reminded me sometimes of the tv-series of the tv-series Tales from the Loop and Black Mirror. You don’t really grasp what is going on.
The stories were not so long, they read easily. I’m normally not such a fan of short stories, prefer to dive into a book and follow the characters along the way, but this was do-able. I’m looking forward to a full novel of Emily Doyle is she plans to write one!
Thanks to #NetGalleyUK for the #ARC

[Aleks T (alisbookedup)]

If you like your literary fiction to have a dose of surreal storytelling, “Please Don’t Touch the Body” is the book for you! Throughout each of these stories, our characters find ways to express themselves in the ever-changing and ever-disheartening world of womanhood. Some stories will make you laugh, some will make you cry, some will make you stare at a wall- and some will make you do all 3. Each story has its own unique voice and the ability Doyle has to switch voices within these pieces is a testament to the skill and nuance the author holds.

This fun and easy-to-devour book of short stories is out now! Thank you Bloomsbury Publishing, NetGalley, and Emily Doyle for the eARC to review. It was such a joy spending time with each of these characters.

[Bernard]

This is a fantastic set of stories that manages to be both really tender and genuinely laugh out loud funny. Doyle does an impressive job of using this eclectic cast of characters to interrogate feelings of love, grief, desire, and the ultimate alienation of the self that we risk in the day to day grind of life. She intersperses these thoughtful reflections with moments of such zany amusement that this book almost instantly became a favorite of the year! I’d recommend this book to almost anyone and I will definitely be checking out more of her work in the future. Thank you to the author and publisher for sending me a review copy, i loved it!

[Olivia]

I could have finished this in one sitting if time, peace and circumstances had aligned. Each story was better than the last. There was a point in one of the stories where she described a smell with such depth that I could actually smell it. It kind of left a cloying in my throat. I really needed to lose myself and what a delightful escape this was. A debut novel has been promised. I hope she’s somewhere undisturbed, with a cup of tea, typing her little heart out. I’m ready to inhale and ruminate. This book is why I will never delete the Goodreads app. To think I almost missed the gem.

[Kaytee Pergentile]

3.5 stars rounded up

Not a novel but a collection of short stories about people who feel disconnected. Doyle uses these short stories to explore elements of loneliness and womanhood but also works in aspects like aging and identity. Each story completely stood out on its own and a lot of the concepts were other worldly and odd however, I love that Doyle didn't ever over explain what was going on. We just got the story as it was meant to be which allowed all those emotional truths to really be the stars of the show.

[Sienna]

Received the audiobook through Libro.FM ALC program.

Unfortunately, I don't recommend this. I listened to 4 or 5 stories in this collection, and the author is using weird, taboo, and sexual content on things that don't need sexualizing. i.e a girlfriend's dog and an octopus. The first two were the strongest. However, the speculative parts (like aliens and reincarnation) are too strange for my preference, and the actual emphasis and point of the stories are really interpersonal domestic drama I am bored following.

[Rachael Elizabeth]

Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the gifted eARC. All opinions are my own.

Sadly, this book was not for me. While I enjoy stories that incorporate multiple genres, I decided after the first two stories that the "genre-bending" nature of this stories was not enjoyable for me. I anticipated more magical realism vibe rather than sci-fi, which may have been a miscalculation on my part.

I will say that the prose of the stories was enjoyable and would recommend this book for fans of speculative fiction.

[zoe bradford]

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc! This is actually a 3.5 star for me. Lovely little collection of stories that I devoured within a few hours. My favorite story was definitely the title story, “Please don’t touch the body”. The themes of love, grief, and repressed trauma really resonated with me, and I thought the writing was beautifully subtle. Additionally, each story had such a unique cast of characters and plot. I will definitely read more from this author in the future!

[Monique Tutton]

This collection was an absolute delight to read. I devoured it in just a few hours. Each story felt stronger than the last, showcasing the remarkable ability to create unique characters, compelling plots, and deeply emotional themes. The exploration of love, grief, and repressed trauma resonated with me, and the writing was beautifully subtle throughout. I picked up this book hoping to lose myself for a while, and it provided the escape I needed.

[Ambi]

3.5 stars rounding up! This was a solid collection of stories, but some of them were misses for me. I particularly enjoyed the one about Ronald Reagan reincarnated as a dog for its sheer absurdism and reflections on queer longing. I also found The Diver to be very moving with its themes on motherhood and rekindling connection with children. Overall, there were some real gems here that I loved. Very excited to see what Doyle puts out next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

[Amanda]

Not usually into short story collection, but this one was so much fun. Doyle expertly crafts several completely different stories and approaches while simultaneously keeping her voice and some level of cohesion between stories.

From alien probing to Ronald Reagan as a dog, this book was a wild and satisfying read from start to finish.

[Matt Watts]

Some really good stories but others that somewhat dragged for me. It’s really hard to rate a book like that bc some of the stories were great, some almost so, some really not for me.

A few of the stories disappointed me because I wanted them to do more, others because they tried to do too much. But mostly because the ideas were all pretty good to great.

[Crista Schindler]

First time reader of Emily Doyle’s work and I really enjoyed her style! Looking forward to her novel.

A few stories that really gave me pause (in a good way):
- Thank You No Thank You
- The Pains of Finding Out
- Please Don’t Touch the Body

[Kat Lewis]

Please Don’t Touch the Body is a beautifully unsettling collection about grief, love, and the wonders (and horrors) of being a woman in today’s world. I’ve been thinking about how the women in “New Mercies” cope with loss and impending grief since I finished this story. 10/10 recommend.

[Ava F]

March 2026 ARC: Sensual, moving, and utterly bizarre. This is the kind of story collection you recommend to a queer friend that you secretly have a crush on.

[Laine King]

ewwww!!!