Decomposition Book

by Sara van Os

An emotional, electrifying, and darkly hilarious debut about a woman who finds a dead body and can’t give up its ghost, for fans of Mona Awad, Yellowjackets, and weird girl fiction.

Spiraling from a disastrous falling-out with her best friend, Savannah retreats to her parents’ empty lake house in upstate New York to tend her wounds. Isolated and reeling from rejection, she spends her days in a fog, drinking and overthinking in equal worrisome measure. Until she wakes up one morning in the woods behind the house—next to a dead body.

Instead of calling the police, Savannah reads the journal she finds nearby, reliving the last desperate months of this woman’s life lost in the wilderness, fighting for survival. Ava, as it turns out, is more than just a cold, lonely corpse. She was funny. She was smart. And Savannah has finally found someone she can talk to…

As she pushes deeper into Ava’s harrowing story, Savannah notices a change, a shift in her reality. Each page brings her closer to the Ava from the journal…and the ghost before her now. Before long, Savannah feels something for Ava she hasn’t felt for anyone else—and there’s a good chance letting go would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Is Savannah finally losing her grip? Or has she found the friend she’s needed all along?

Genres: Horror, Queer, Fiction, LGBT, Adult, Gothic, Audiobook

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 19, 2026

About the author

Sara van Os is a Mexican-American decomposition nerd who lives in Harlem with her wife and two cats. She has a bachelor’s degree from NYU in English and German and a minor in Clarinet Performance, because she loves a good side quest. Since college, she has been working in hospitality as everyone’s favorite manager and lives to gather stories of weird happenings at work. Decomposition Book is her debut novel.

Reviews

[hania · Rating 1 out of 5]

author should uninstall tiktok from her phone and im being so serious right now. i never want to see "gaslight gatekeep girlboss" or "gay math" in a book EVER again!!!!

[Vicki Herbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry...
I'm So Sorry

DECOMPOSITION BOOK
by Sara van Os

2 stars. I'm sorry. So sorry that I didn't DNF this book. Instead, I stuck with it to the bitter end...

Ava Brown kept a journal in a composition book of their camping trip. It started out as Ava and two others...

Now it's not...

She was the only one who knew what happened. If she lived through this, she'd turn the journal into a memoir...

Ava and her coworkers Megan Steele and Chad Bottswell were hiking in the Adirondacks...

They got lost...

That was in September 2022. It was now January 2023. They were lost a day before they realized they were lost...

They'd left the trail to find some waterfalls. A tip from Chad's friend Brian...

By 6.30, no waterfall in sight. They decided to stop, make camp, and eat dinner. They all hoped the situation wasn't as bad as it seemed...

But, it was much worse...

Meanwhile...

Savannah, distraught over the breakup with her BFF Michelle, was staying at her family's lake house, found a woman's body in the woods...

And she was sorry. So, so sorry...

This was a very disappointing novel. Very little made sense right up to the end. The maudlin dialog between everyone was enough to drive me to drinking. There were 3 women in the story, and, by a strange coincidence, they were all gay. What are the odds? All the crying and carrying on throughout was just a bore.

SORRY was the theme of my review because it was repeated over and over again as part of the dialog. Sorry summed it up for me.

Warning to some readers: explicit lesbian sex

[luceski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing says “self‑care” like waking up beside a corpse and accidentally gaining a free therapist.

Decomposition Book is one of those stories that sneaks up on you - darkly funny, deliciously descriptive and quietly devastating. It opens with a hike gone wrong and spirals into a reality‑bending duet between Ava (who is very much decomposing) and Savannah - who is very much not okay.

Two POVs, two unraveling minds and one emotional‑support corpse she definitely didn’t sign up for.

Savannah’s intrusive thoughts? Relatable. The way their realities start to blur and intertwine? Chef’s kiss chaos.

If you like your fiction a little weird, a little tender, and a little decomposing around the edges… this one’s for you!

[Esmay Rosalyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Look, Decomposition Book honestly should have been a book I avoided like the plague because I am deadly afraid of anything to do with death, corpses and all the gross biological realities of being a human-shaped meat suit, but I am so glad I just blindly trusted Sara van Os because this turned out to be exactly the kind of feral, emotionally devastating, and wonderfully unhinged nightmare that I live for. It’s part survival horror, part weird girl fiction, part mental health spiral, part ghostly sapphic horrormance, and just 100% queer perfection, and I love it for that.

Now, within the first three chapters of Decomposition Book, I already found myself audibly saying: “what the fuck am I reading?!”, and I mean that as the highest compliment possible. Like, a mentally and emotionally spiralling woman wakes up beside a corpse and then semi-accidentally becomes best friends with her… or maybe more than friends? You know, casual stuff. This book just knows exactly what it is and refuses to waste time on a drawn-out mystery while pretending to be any less weird than it is, and I absolutely respect the hell out of it for that.

And look, I realise that this all sounds completely ridiculous and almost silly on paper, but somehow Sara van Os takes this deeply bizarre setup and uses it to explore loneliness, trauma, rejection, grief, mental illness, obsession, and the desperate need to connect with another person in a way that completely wrecked me emotionally. I especially loved the way that Decomposition Book uses the stages of decomposition to gradually expose more layers of rot, pain, trauma, and emotional messiness. Every time things got worse, I was somehow having more fun while revelling in all the hurt, which probably says something deeply concerning about me, but we're not unpacking that today.

The unreliable narration through the eyes of my messy babe Savannah had me in an absolute chokehold, and I really appreciated how her extreme OCD and trauma were so deeply woven into who she is as a person instead of being used as shock value or cheap plot convenience. The intrusive thoughts, the obsessive spirals, the overwhelming loneliness, and the constant overthinking all felt so painfully real and relatable, and while I can absolutely see some readers getting frustrated or exhausted by her, I honestly think that's totally the point. See, living with mental illness is exhausting, living inside a neurodivergent brain can be exhausting, existing while your own mind is actively trying to attack you is exhausting, and that is exactly why I loved her so much.

Meanwhile, Ava's storyline through the diary entries is probably the more exciting and conventionally enjoyable part of the plot for a lot of readers as we get this intense survival horror narrative unfolding in the woods, but I honestly loved both of these disaster sapphic equally. Also, can someone please explain to me how van Os managed to write a character who is literally dead for the entire novel and somehow make her feel more alive than half the living characters I've read this year?! Ava completely captured my heart, and I honestly can’t even blame Savannah for slowly falling for her because girl, me too. Like, I did not pick up a book about decomposition expecting to end up rooting for a woman and her dead ghost crush, but I was living for the sapphic horrormance vibes of it all. Don’t ask me why that was so hot to me, I still don't have an answer.

Anyway, I thought the reality-bending dual timeline and dual POV narration of Decomposition Book was just executed to perfection (especially in combination with the brilliant dual audiobook performance), and I loved how everything gradually became stranger and more emotionally intense until the lines between reality, memory, grief, obsession, and love completely dissolved into each other. Especially the clever narrative shift at the end was just masterful storytelling to me, and it made for one of the most cathartic, bittersweet, weird, satisfying, and honestly perfectly imperfect endings I have read in a long while.

There is no denying that Decomposition Book will not be a book for everyone, but I am honestly so glad I gave it a shot despite my wariness because this is just a macabre masterpiece in my eyes. It’s unapologetically weird, unconventional, feminist, queer, messy, and morbidly funny, and I love how it just embraces every unhinged corner of its premise and somehow turns rot, loneliness, ghosts, and emotional breakdowns into something so beautifully bittersweet. I savoured every single rotten second of it, and I am already desperate for whatever Sara van Os writes next.

[Erin Larson-Burnett · Rating 2 out of 5]

To put it as eloquently as I can, this book is a major cringefest and not the good kind

[thatmillennialbookgirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this one sounded interesting to me.
Morbid but interesting! Unfortunately I wasn't a big fan of this book.

Savannah's parts were very repetitive and honestly not much happens so you're in her head a lot, which is quite exhausting. She has OCD so I understand the repetition, l really do. It just wasn't very interesting being in her head so much and I wasn't invested in her chapters. There are a lot of pop culture references that really made me cringe and took me out of the story. I wasn't a fan of the humor.

I would have DNFed if not for Ava's chapters (Ava is the woman whose body Savannah discovers). Ava's chapters are excerpts from a journal she had been writing about what happened after she and some coworkers got lost in the forest and are trying to survive. I felt more invested in Ava's story as I do tend to have an interest in wilderness survival stories (even though in this case we learn very early on that Ava obviously doesn't survive).

The story is entertaining and mostly held my interest (at least Ava's chapters did). I was hoping for a few big twists but honestly it mostly played out the way I expected. This one does have lots of rave reviews so far though so take my review with a grain of salt! I do think a specific type of reader may really enjoy this story especially if you appreciate weird girl lit and pop culture references.

[BookishlySonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah I cried. A lot.


In Decomposition Book we follow Savannah and Ava, two women at very different points in their lives. Reeling from a traumatic friendship breakup, Savannah is hiding away in a cabin in the woods when she stumbles across a dead body and begins reading the nearby journal documenting Ava’s time lost in the wilderness.

Ava’s timeline is filled with tension and horror as she fights to survive with seemingly no way out. It’s an incredible and harrowing survival story that had me completely gripped. Savannah’s timeline is quieter but equally devastating, filled with despair, raw vulnerability, and increasingly intrusive thoughts as she tries to piece herself back together.

This book felt pretty damn flawless to me. The pacing, the plotting, the way the timelines complement each other, the prose that manages to be both witty and raw, every piece of it worked. It’s such a technically impressive book that I could’ve loved it for that alone, but it’s also incredibly moving, vulnerable, honest, and genuinely heart wrenching.

It’s also sapphic as fuck, and in a world where that label gets slapped onto books where the main relationship is with a man until the final pages, I really appreciated that this story is unapologetically about women loving women. It’s also deeply a coming-of-age story and a realization of queerness, and as someone who didn’t come out until 30, this felt painfully authentic despite the character being younger. You can tell the sapphic label meant something real to this author beyond just marketing.

Another layer that really stood out to me was the handling of mental health. At no point did it feel exploitative or careless. Everything was written with empathy, nuance, and respect, even in the hardest moments.

I also had the ALC, and the audiobook production was phenomenal. Jess Nahikian and Gail Shalan were absolutely transportive. So often narrators sound like they’re simply reading from a script, but both of them fully embodied these characters. The sighs, pauses, cracks in their voices, the moments of pain, tenderness, and wonder, I felt all of it. It genuinely elevated an already incredible story into one of the best audiobook experiences I’ve had in a long time.

Huge thank you to The Hive and NetGalley for the ALC. All thoughts are my own.

[charliefrancesca · Rating 1 out of 5]

i fear my opinion is controversial but if i hadn’t have spent $30 on it, i would have dnf’d. the constant pop culture references and the random 180 into softcore lesbian porn sandwiched between what is supposed to be the most gut wrenching conclusion was definitely a choice.
i literally dont even know what the point of this was. the ending was so quickly wrapped up with a nothing bow I am just so mad i spent money on this lmfao
another beautiful cover strikes again 😭

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am at a loss for how to describe this book and feel a bit conflicted. This was equal parts disturbing, moving, and at times very tedious, though I believe the last part is entirely intentional. I don't think I will ever read this again, but I don't think that's a sign of the book's quality so much as how unsettled I feel.

Savannah's mental illness (OCD) is a lot, and her chapters are written in an almost stream-of-consciousness way, so sometimes I felt incredibly overwhelmed having such clear access to her thoughts and compulsions. Savannah's discovery of Ava's corpse and journal is pretty much the start of both a mental break that was always going to happen and the healing process that follows. Her chapters eventually start to feel like a fever dream as she spirals more, and it isn't until the reason behind her not being friends with Michelle (her ex-BFF) is revealed that her seeming insanity starts to make some sense. When I think about why Michelle would even do something like that based on what I know of her, I was taken aback at how cruel she actually is.

Ava's chapters detail her loss and eventual demise in the woods before Savannah finds her and are far more compelling compared to Savannah's point of view. What starts out as a nightmare-fuel-inducing story ends as a disquieting and moving journey filled with a horror that I think would make anyone go crazy and still cause nightmares. When I think of the scenes that stood out the most or impacted me the most, all but one happen during Ava's POV. I found myself haunted by what she experienced, and her sections were poignant. In a way, I think death was the preferable option to surviving this for Ava, and there's a sort of sadness and relief at the end of her story.

There are certainly parts I didn't care for. There are far too many cringey references to modern culture, particularly in the first 40%, and they started to irritate me. I also could not stand Savannah's POV at times. I'm aware that she has OCD, but sometimes the repetitive thoughts were so excruciating that I enjoyed the book less and almost DNF'd in the middle portion. I was often begging for the chapter to end so I could get back to Ava's chapters. It does, however, get better in the final 30%, which I think aligns with the moment when Savannah actually starts to process her friendship breakup.

Part IV is probably the most moving section of the story, as everything comes to an end and there's this sort of, admittedly rushed, emotional relief. It didn't exactly make up for the dragging middle section, but it did leave an impression as far as open endings go.

I would say that people who like dark, sad, emotionally draining stories that discuss grief and healing, albeit in a very unconventional manner, might enjoy this story.

[Nikki Lee (Nikkileethrillseeker) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️ RTC. Audio is great

[Clara Gauthier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE novel for fans of Yellowjackets, especially if you’re looking for homoerotic hauntings, a compelling survival narrative, lesbian repression, and mentally ill young woman coping.

Von Os’s stunning debut follows Savannah, a 21 year old on a semester off collage due to a dramatic fall out with her manipulative ex-best friend currently staying at her mom’s house in the woods. Her days consist of her waning away the hours until she can take her Ambien at midnight, usually by self-medicating with wine, until after one night of mixing the two when she wakes up next to a dead girl, Ava, in the forest. However, Savannah can’t make herself report the body. She makes herself a promise: she’ll call the cops about the body when it is fully decomposed, taking the time in between to read the mysterious journal left behind.

I was obsessed with both perspectives in this novel, especially Ava’s. Van Os’s prose is spectacular and she conveys such feeling in her imagery. This novel also has lots of brilliant lesbian feelings, both sad and sweet, that just really made me love it all the more. Definitely more atmospheric than scary, but not a bad thing when done well, which this one definitely does! I can’t wait for May when I can shove the physical version into everyone’s hands. Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!!

[Carissa | the.grim.readers · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

Really, really enjoyed my time with this one - this was the perfect example of “weird girl horror” and I am SO here for it. All of the hilariously inserted millennial references, unhinged main character narrative, grossly descriptive body horror, and sapphic vibes were woven together perfectly.

I loved this one and am so thankful my friend suggested I pick it up. As was perfectly summed up in the synopsis, this is a perfect read for lovers of Mona Awad or any and all weird girl lit.

[quillnqueer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding a New Best Friend in the form of a corpse in the woods is great until you remember that they were a Real Person With Feelings

This had a very shaky start for me, and I almost DNFd - the author seemed fixated on mentioning Every Brand Ever, but luckily this petered out after 50 pages or so as the story found it's footing. This is a dark, sad story focused on grief, and healing.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid idea, pretty questionable execution. I know a lot of other reviews have mentioned the kind of cringey pop culture references and I don't want to belabor the point but MAN. It's hard to emphasize how much reading "oh the scream that I screampt" and "I wonder if Edward ever turned Bella’s Diva Cup into a shot glass, for a little treat" will take you out of a book. It's one thing if they're original thoughts/jokes related to pop culture, but most of them (including the ones quoted above) are basically word-for-word references to tweets/tumblr posts. I really like books that are super dark and also funny, but it's a hard thing to balance and I don't think this book really manages it.

I also have to flag this passage because it single-handedly made me really dislike the protagonist and the book as a whole. For context, the protagonist is talking about a dead body in a state of livor mortis: "The other difference is that she’s splotchy. Her exposed skin has patches of reddish purple, green, and dark blue. It has the same vibes as that condition everyone says Michael Jackson had, but instead of making her look like she’s both black and white at the same time, she looks like she’s both asleep and a zombie."
Comparing Vitiligo, a totally normal condition for melanated skin, to the color of a corpse when blood starts to pool is, quite frankly, disgusting behavior. Saying that vitiligo makes people look "both black and white at the same time" also really rubs me the wrong way. I don't really think it's my call to deem it problematic or something but that one bit made me so grossed out I can't believe no one in the writing/editing process called it out.

[LX · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for the E-ARC

4.5 ⭐ Rounded up!

This was a wild ride from start to finish. I was enthralled, confused, invested, wondering, laughing, grimacing you name it!

Honestly, best thing to do is go in blind! LOOOOOL unhinged but also with heartfelt, relatable moments.

The way that I felt Savannah was written throughout her story was great because the struggle felt real as well as the spiral we go on. As well as reading about Ava and Megan's development. One part got me just looking away from my phone like oof okay.

The blur further on in the story is really one that just leaves you wondering wtf is going on in the best way!

Some parts I preferred than others and I do sort of wish there was more to help me settle my questions but that's just me!!!

Truly a weird, wild and a great ride of a debut!!

[Kurryreads (Kerry) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars - knocked off a quarter star for the use of the R word. There’s plenty of ways to show a character is awful without the use of slurs. Character didn’t receive any pushback nor was their commentary surrounding it.

Beyond that one instance, I was truly obsessed with this book

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTBFLVq7J/

[shyra ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

wlw weird girl fiction!
so come lay beside my rotting corpse in the mossy woods and let us both be damned!

⟢ ”i keep going until my warm forehead rests against her cold one. and in this weird moment of one-sided intimacy, something happens that hasn’t happened for months: i feel safe.”

devastating, bizarre but oh so soo soooo beautiful!
we listen & we never judge

⟢ ”i’m dazed by her deadness and therefore her complete inability to hurt me.”

you spiral in between dual timelines. one dead. one alive
savannah awakens next to ava’s maggot infested corpse in the wilderness, reads her decomposition book revealing diary entries leading up to her death written in ink while she got enraptured with another woman ‘megan’
savannah lies to her therapist, she considers reporting her to the authorities but decides otherwise.. falling madly in love with her and talks to her lingering ghost.
it’s wayyyy more than just being attached to her bones.
i held my breath through this voyage.. it shattered me before i reached the destination

sara van os you are crowned for giving us this phenomenal debut wlw novel dealing with mental health, loneliness, healing, & representing ocd that i associated myself in entirely.
it made my experience much more touching!
this book is easily one of my memorable upmost reads of 2026.
savannah & ava are wholeheartedly inseparable!
more gorgeous lesbians immediately added to my live laugh love lesbian shelf!
my home is where they are!
enamoring queer romance is endlessly knotted to my soul! ∞

⟢ ”we’re just about at the end of the story and i’m running out of space in the notebook, but that’s fine. i wanted her to take up most of it.”

i am in ill grief. never in a million, billion years would i survive either as i read this part of ava’s notebook with tears in my eyes
‪‪❤︎‬ rest in peace angel ava! i fear i am never recovering

⟢ ”new parts of her skeleton revealed themselves like she was decomposing in front of me. and every night i wished i would somehow die first. i knew i wouldn’t survive mourning her.”

[The.ghost_reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5
Spiraling from a falling out with her best friend, Savannah retreats to her parent’s empty lake house in upstate New York. She spends her days isolated and, in a fog, while drinking and overthinking in a worrisome manner. But one day she wakes up in the woods behind the house, next to a dead body. Instead of calling the police, Savannah reads a journal she finds nearby that relives the last desperate months of this woman’s lie as she was lost in the wilderness fighting for survival. As Savannah pushes deeper into Ava’s story she notices a change, a shift. Each page brings her closer to the ghost of Ava who one day appears before her. Before long Savannah feels something for Ava that she hasn’t’ felt for anyone else. Has Savannah found the friend she’s needed all along or is she losing her grip on reality? All she knows is that letting go of Ava could haunt her for the rest of her life.
This book deals with a lot of tough themes, but in a very Gen-Z sort of wat. The themes of loss, grief, trauma, and survival are mixed with pop-culture puns to keep you laughing through the tears. You’ll quickly be invested in the lives of our two main characters: Ava and Savannah, and as you read about the toughest moments of their lives you won’t want to stop until you’re finished.
Savannah’s storyline of exploring her sexuality while also attempting to heal from a traumatic event was perfectly written and one of the best plot lines. I really enjoyed the OCD representation told through Savannah’s life, as well as the anxiety that Savannah deals with constantly on a daily basis. Overall, I enjoyed Savannah as a character but at the same time her character made this book feel tedious. Honestly not much happens. A lot of ramblings happen and not much decomposition. You have to dig through the long, monotonous ramblings to get into the story and at times that just feels like a chore. Mix that along with the over used cringy pop culture references and this book was almost boring while also trying too had to be entertaining at the same time. I would have loved more of Ava’s story and less repetitiveness from Savannah.
There is a backstory of survival, grief and sadness mixed with another story of trauma, love and horror that does mesh well if you wade through the ramblings long enough to find it. The story is haunting overall, and you’re made to feel for both characters differently. I was hoping for a little bit more decomposition given the name, but also, it’s still a dark and sad read. This book is perfect for the Gen-Z girlies that love emotionally draining stories to read on their next camping adventures.

[Erica | wittyreading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This was so incredibly well done. It's raw, beautiful, unhinged and has the perfect amount of body horror. There is trauma, obsession, survival elements and even some spicy scenes. I cried when it was over because the emotions of these characters transcended through the author's words. They felt real to me and I was overwhelmed with grief for each of them in separate ways. I really appreciated Savannah's OCD representation and how it was realistically portrayed in the story.

The audiobook narration is absolutely fantastic and enhances the overall reading experience. Both narrators did an incredible job of bringing the characters to life.

Thank you Harlequin Audio for providing this advanced listening copy for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Title: Decomposition Book
Author: Sara van Os
Publishers: Hanover Square Press + Harlequin Audio
Pub Date: May 19, 2026
Dates Read/Listened: July 5, 2026 – July 6, 2026

🗣️ 𝚀𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔(𝚒𝚜𝚑) 𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎: After seeing all the rave reviews for Decomposition Book, I was excited to start it, but this is one of those times I feel like I read something different from everyone else. It is pretty much the epitome of weird girl lit (love) with incredibly heavy themes, and if you have triggers, you will most definitely need to look them up before reading this. The book is told through the eyes of Savannah as well as Ava’s journal, and I found myself preferring Ava’s chapters the most. Savannah’s character embodies some very important traits and themes that deserve more discussion, but I found Ava’s POV the most interesting. The last chapter leaves things pretty open-ended, and we don’t get much closure, and for some reason, that didn’t sit with me as well as it should have. While not one of my personal favorites, I definitely recommend this to anyone who thinks it sounds good. I am very much on outlier island, and I would also still read whatever Van Os writes next.

🎧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬: Jess Nahikian & Gail Shalan were both very talented narrators and perfectly cast for their appropriate characters. While the characters were already very different on their own, Nahikian & Shalan made them even more memorable. This was a great ear-listening experience that I only occasionally had to turn down a bit for Savannah’s panicky moments because that’s how good Nahikian was at narrating her.

T͏h͏i͏s͏ B͏o͏o͏k͏ i͏n͏ 5͏ E͏m͏o͏j͏i͏’s͏ o͏r͏ L͏e͏s͏s͏: 📔🐻🍄‍🟫😔

𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐
𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
𝙼𝚢 𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 🌶️

I received an advanced listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I wonder if Edward ever turned Bella’s Diva Cup into a shot glass, for a little treat."

Don’t Live. Laugh. Eat flesh.

Okay, so this book sounded like something I would be obsessed with. It’s definitely weird enough for me to devour. It just didn’t hit for me.

Parts were extremely twisted but they just weren’t as twisted as I was led to believe. The most f**ked up thing I thought was going to happen at the end didn’t happen but it was wrapped up too neatly. I wanted all the craziness that had potential to make me scream with insanity and puke but it just didn’t happen that way.

The story definitely had me intrigued and glued to the pages. Worth the read. Just not as crazy as I had hoped.

[Casey Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book blind, all I knew was that the cover had me sold. I didn't know what to expect, but what I didn't expect was such an emotionally intense story. It's really weird, and simultaneously really sad. It has occasional humorous moments with some of the references to Twilight and Finding Nemo and such, which means it will land with some and not with others. At its core, this is really about loneliness, trauma, and mental health. Savannah is in such a low place and so desperate for a friend, that when she discovers a corpse in the woods, instead of reporting it, she befriends it. Ava will listen without judgement. I am not going to say much, the book actually leaves me feeling bereft and not wanting to write a lot. While Savannah might be an extreme case, it does make me sad to know that people feel this lonely and this despondent. I did really enjoy it, because I like weird and sad things, but it won't be for everyone. Major TW on grape, btw.

Thanks to The Hive for providing an early ALC. The audio was well done with dual narration. Book releases 5/19/26.

[Amy Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way I absolutely inhaled this! Absolutely LOVED. Yes, Savannah is… a lot. And I really went back and forth between wanting to shake her and tell her to get it the f*ck together, to relating to her intensity & messiness, to wanting to hug her, to being pissed off at how she’s handling things. But despite my love/hate feelings towards her, the talent the author has in creating such a complex yet compelling character! I appreciate that so much. Ava’s story was tense and absolutely heartbreaking. Literally had me SOBBING. She’s a great character and really likable, the perfect balance to Savannah. Loved the way the two stories wove together. Really fantastic read.

[domsbookden]

DNF 39%

I never quite got into this because I’m simply not the intended audience for it. There is an abundance of quippy dialogue and pop culture references, and while there is nothing inherently wrong with these elements, I personally don’t enjoy stories with that tone. This narrative style is very distracting to me.

I think readers who enjoy the works of Tatiana Schlote-Bonne will have a better experience with this.

[Kendall Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decomposition Book surprised me in the best way. Truthfully, I was so annoyed with our main character at first that I wasn’t sure if I was even going to like this one at all. Her choices seemed beyond wild, her internal monologue was a bit childish, and she was just unlikable in general at first. However, as the story progressed, what she did and her actions really started to make sense.

This gorgeous, raw, profound novel is hard to characterize, but the best way I can think of is grief horror with LGBTQ themes and a tinge of weird girl lit. We have multiple POVs with two heart wrenching and tragic stories weaved together, aligning perfectly to have you gutted by the end.

The audiobook was done flawlessly. The narrators Jess Nahikan and Gail Shalan performed this story incredibly well, and I would absolutely recommend consuming this book in an audio format.

Thank you @netgalley & Harlequin Audio for this ALC!

[alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

”I don't believe in the afterlife and never have. I always hoped it would be a nice cozy void of nothingness. No work, no stress, no money, no problems. Lights out. But now I'm kind of hoping my parents are right so I can find her again. I'd do eternity anywhere if I could do it with her.”

BIG trigger warnings for death, sexual assault, illness, bodily harm, trauma, mental health struggles, cannibalism.

what a strange, wonderful, dark, decrepit, little novel. this book was marketed “for fans of mona awad and yellowjackets” and i fall under both of those categories. it has the surviving-the-woods-with-your-friends-but-it-inevitably-gets-dark-as-shit vibe of yellowjackets mixed with the mentally unstable woman narrator à la mona awad.

ok, brief synopsis: this book follows two women: savannah, a 21 year old taking a semester off of college at her parents adirondack lake house after a traumatic experience, and ava, a 33 year old who went on a hike gone wrong with two of her coworkers. the narrative is split between savannah’s perspective and excerpts from ava’s “decomposition book” that she kept while surviving the wilderness. savannah ends up coming across ava’s body near her lake house, and reads about ava’s journey from the decomposition book. also a pretty significant part of the story is that both of these women are lesbians and have very different relationships with their sexuality.

mental health is a HUGE factor in this story, especially regarding savannah. as mentioned, her break from school was caused by a traumatic betrayal by her best friend michelle, who becomes the voice of her OCD. savannah struggles with her OCD, self harm, self worth, and severe loneliness. as a fellow OCD baddie, i related heavily to savannah (to a degree). the author herself struggles with OCD so it makes sense that her portrayal of the condition was done in an accurate, non romanticized manner. her mental health never takes on a glossy, romantic quality. it’s real and raw and deeply sad, and often gross like mental illness can be.

i overall really enjoyed this novel. although it contained familiar elements, it felt unlike anything i’ve ever read before. savannah was such a well crafted character who, despite her endless questionable actions, i found myself genuinely rooting for. she is a deeply unwell person, but at her core she is trying to do the right thing, trying to get people to love her. she’s a classic representation of someone who has given up so much of themself and received nothing in return. watching her find comfort in ava was just really heartbreaking. she truly feels that the only person she can confide in and love is someone who is incapable of either reciprocating feelings or denying her.

i’ve yapped a lot. i just think this book is brilliant and super well written, besides the overuse of what i assume to be tiktok speak. it did feel a little out of place and cringe, but it didn’t distract too much from the story. i also, as usual, found the ending a bit lackluster. i wanted to see more!

tl;dr: a book about lesbians, trauma, death, light cannibalism, mental illness, corpse hoarding, and a shit ton of wine consumption.

[David Washburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A girl choosing to stay alone finds another woman’s body in the woods and among her things left behind are some beef jerky and a composition notebook chronicling the events leading up to… well… the body.

In Sara’s debut novel, this one is an expedition into grief and some creative ways for coping. This one is funny, as we follow alongside a lovable character with flaws, but enough self-awareness to make light of them. Self-discovery holds hands with the sapphic nature while disgust toils in the sadness.

Savannah’s isolation made this story compelling and relatable, while her OCD called out some familiar traits that had me questioning my own mental health at times. Somewhere the line between anxiety and OCD is blurred, and this story is a perfect storm of healing and giving yourself permission to push through those brain clouds.

I love the voice in this book so much. Beautiful writing (the prose 🤌🏻), inner monologues that are stirred with sarcasm (uncomfortable), and a plot that never lets up, taking a bad situation and seeing how much worse it can get (while showing us its bloody beating heart the entire time).

“…it’s hard keeping the conversation going when it’s just me talking, but nothing comes out of Ava’s mouth except maggots.”

That’s a random quote I was mindful enough to snag while reading, but this one makes me wish I was more of the annotating reader type.

I expect to be annoying when I recommend this book to people moving forward.

[Paige Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book BROKE me. Absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful. I'm calling it. This is my top read for the year. I still can't believe this was a debut! I sure hope Sara van Os puts more books out soon because I am eager to read more from them ASAP.

Decomposition Book follows Savannah. After having a traumatic experience involving her best friend she finds herself taking a hiatus from school and staying at her family's remote cabin in the woods. It is here that she discovers a dead body after waking up from a drunken-ambien-induced night and no recollection of what happened. Did she do this or did she happen to find this body out of pure stupid chance? Savannah's downward spiral was utterly fascinating to read yet simultaneously sad as hell and I truly felt for her. She has been going THROUGH IT.

The journal entries were so good! I loved the alternating POV between Savannah and Ava and between past and present. Everything was done in such a meticulous way and I have no notes for this one at all. It was pure perfection from page one. I could seriously talk about this book nonstop and never get sick of it.

[Eve 🐦‍⬛ 🗡️💘 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book felt like someone threw body horror, OCD, anxiety, dark humour, and relationship drama into a compost bin and somehow got a flower out of it. Weird as hell, yet surprisingly heartfelt. It wasn’t nearly as horror-heavy as I expected, but I went in completely blind and ended up enjoying the ride. I had a great time and this was a gorgeous debut by the author.

[endrju]

I've gotten about halfway through, but I'm not going to continue. Something about the style simply doesn't gel with me, and I can't force myself to finish it. I had been looking forward to the novel, though, because I found Kissed, Lynne Stopkewich's 1996 film, a fascinating study of female necrophilia—a subject so far removed from public view that it is hardly even thinkable. Unfortunately, this novel is not that. While Stopkewich depicts necrophilia not as something ghoulish or violent, but as a deeply intimate, spiritual, and transcendent communion with the dead, the novel instead centers on a self-absorbed protagonist with whom I had no desire to spend my time.