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Carrying
AN AUDACIOUS, INVENTIVE DEBUT AND A CULT CLASSIC IN THE MAKING, FROM A THRILLING NEW TALENT IN FICTION
'A BANGER OF A TRANS FEMINIST BODY HORROR COMEDY' CARO CLAIRE BURKE
'CAMPY, EROTIC, PROVOCATIVE AND UTTERLY ESSENTIAL' LUCY ROSE
‘TRANGRESSIVE, GROTESQUE AND TOTALLY COMPELLING' ALICE SLATER
'A TOTALLY ORIGINAL, LAUGH-OUT-LOUD, HORRIFYING WORK OF ART' MARISA KASHINO
'I COULDN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT IT' TOMMY DORFMAN
Martha is a flawless woman. After primping, waxing and maybe a little surgical help, she’s finally become the impeccable housewife she dreamed she’d be, with an adoring husband, a loving stepdaughter and a body to die for. But Martha is so stealth that even her husband has no idea that she’s actually trans. Everything she’s ever wanted, she’s made for herself. But, while pretending to be trying for a baby, even Martha is shocked to find herself pregnant.
As her body begins to rapidly transform, and a mysterious chronic illness threatens to upend her existence, she starts a series of experimental treatments and gives in to some new, unsettling cravings … until it looks like her perfect life might crumble around her.
Equal parts inventive, funny and compulsive, Carrying mixes the sensational body horror of The Substance with the transgressive camp comedy of John Waters in a style that’s all its own, and announces the arrival of a thrilling new talent in fiction.
'A BANGER OF A TRANS FEMINIST BODY HORROR COMEDY' CARO CLAIRE BURKE
'CAMPY, EROTIC, PROVOCATIVE AND UTTERLY ESSENTIAL' LUCY ROSE
‘TRANGRESSIVE, GROTESQUE AND TOTALLY COMPELLING' ALICE SLATER
'A TOTALLY ORIGINAL, LAUGH-OUT-LOUD, HORRIFYING WORK OF ART' MARISA KASHINO
'I COULDN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT IT' TOMMY DORFMAN
Martha is a flawless woman. After primping, waxing and maybe a little surgical help, she’s finally become the impeccable housewife she dreamed she’d be, with an adoring husband, a loving stepdaughter and a body to die for. But Martha is so stealth that even her husband has no idea that she’s actually trans. Everything she’s ever wanted, she’s made for herself. But, while pretending to be trying for a baby, even Martha is shocked to find herself pregnant.
As her body begins to rapidly transform, and a mysterious chronic illness threatens to upend her existence, she starts a series of experimental treatments and gives in to some new, unsettling cravings … until it looks like her perfect life might crumble around her.
Equal parts inventive, funny and compulsive, Carrying mixes the sensational body horror of The Substance with the transgressive camp comedy of John Waters in a style that’s all its own, and announces the arrival of a thrilling new talent in fiction.
Audible Audio
First published October 6, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 346 reviews
April 13, 2026
“You’re too cunt to die” is my favorite quote from a book
Review of advance copy
You know how The Rocky Horror Picture Show is secretly a horror movie for homophobes? Where the just-engaged happy hetero couple stumbles upon a haunted house that seduces them into (the horror!) a bisexual cross-dressing alien madness?
In the same way, Carrying is a horror story for transphobes, where the fantasy of a perfect straight-girl wife—think green juice and Pilates, the best boob job money can buy, and to top it all off, a soon-to-be mother—is infiltrated by the reality of trans-ness. “A trans woman, pregnant?” thinks the transphobe, “The horror!” Well, it just so happens that we at Aardvark love giving nightmares to transphobes.
Not to mention, we love ourselves some hot girl lit. The crazy downward spiral, the stakes raised so damn high that we’re certain this time, finally, things have been pushed the farthest they can go…only to have our jaws drop so far they’re practically unhinged from our faces. Because reader, things can always be pushed farther.
In the same way, Carrying is a horror story for transphobes, where the fantasy of a perfect straight-girl wife—think green juice and Pilates, the best boob job money can buy, and to top it all off, a soon-to-be mother—is infiltrated by the reality of trans-ness. “A trans woman, pregnant?” thinks the transphobe, “The horror!” Well, it just so happens that we at Aardvark love giving nightmares to transphobes.
Not to mention, we love ourselves some hot girl lit. The crazy downward spiral, the stakes raised so damn high that we’re certain this time, finally, things have been pushed the farthest they can go…only to have our jaws drop so far they’re practically unhinged from our faces. Because reader, things can always be pushed farther.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
wow wow wow! i'm just now realizing this is a debut?! Samantha Josephs i've got my eye on you. if you're a fan of "weird girl" horror or lit fic this is for you. Carrying is by far the most original, completely unhinged book i've read recently, & to say it's a lot is an understatement. at no point did Carrying have any chill—it goes from crazy to crazier by the end.
she did what i needed her to do when i picked her up. i laughed, i cringed, i read some parts of this peeking through my fingers while saying "oh no pls don't do thaaaat!" i really enjoyed how the author was able to mix body horror, nasty pregnancy horror (the more pregnancy horror i read, the more i don't want kids) & social commentary together while still finding a way to make it comedic.
i PROMISE i am not typically one of those girls that's like "i HaTe AlL MeN blehh", i dislike us all equally, but why is it always a man that has the audacity to tell a woman how to live her life & what to do with our bodies??? i'm talking to you LEON. ooooHHHHH i despised this man & how dare Samantha make me take his side later on in the book!? Leon was so caught up in having a soccer team family that he had ZERO sympathy for Martha & her wellbeing. it felt like every time he was on pg he just walked around dry humping Martha's leg begging "give me a baby, give me a baby, give me a baby!" SIR CAN MY GIRL RECUPERATE?! she is suffering from a mysterious illness can you leave her alone, now is not the time?! i hate to say it, but his reaction to her “treatments” was valid. ugh, what else was he supposed to do?? how else does one react to something like that?
where the story lost me was maybe the last 20% of the book. it goes completely off the rails & not in a good way in my opinion. the ending is just too ridiculous that i could not take it seriously at all. it went from 100-1,000,000 real fast... STOP IT.
another thing that kind of got under my skin was the half explanations...we find out HOW Martha was able to get pregnant but we don't find out how she got sick or like a firm confirmation of what exactly it is? it seems like she got pregnant & sick at the same time, so i thought it was connected but then we find out they're not? HOW WHEN WHERE & WHY does Bruce find these so called cures...GASOLINE HELLLOOOOO? is the explanation in the room with us? how were these treatments not affecting the baby while in the womb like at all?! i don't always need everything spelled out for me but i do think these are important questions? for these reasons i've settled on a 3.25 rounded down for gr.
it's still a fun wildly entertaining read & i definitely recommend to anyone who thinks it sounds even a little bit interesting — there's a certain part in this that gave Frankenstein vibes, but make it freaky iykyk. i honestly can't wait to see what else Samantha Josephs cooks up for us in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review
she did what i needed her to do when i picked her up. i laughed, i cringed, i read some parts of this peeking through my fingers while saying "oh no pls don't do thaaaat!" i really enjoyed how the author was able to mix body horror, nasty pregnancy horror (the more pregnancy horror i read, the more i don't want kids) & social commentary together while still finding a way to make it comedic.
i PROMISE i am not typically one of those girls that's like "i HaTe AlL MeN blehh", i dislike us all equally, but why is it always a man that has the audacity to tell a woman how to live her life & what to do with our bodies??? i'm talking to you LEON. ooooHHHHH i despised this man & how dare Samantha make me take his side later on in the book!? Leon was so caught up in having a soccer team family that he had ZERO sympathy for Martha & her wellbeing. it felt like every time he was on pg he just walked around dry humping Martha's leg begging "give me a baby, give me a baby, give me a baby!" SIR CAN MY GIRL RECUPERATE?! she is suffering from a mysterious illness can you leave her alone, now is not the time?! i hate to say it, but his reaction to her “treatments” was valid. ugh, what else was he supposed to do?? how else does one react to something like that?
where the story lost me was maybe the last 20% of the book. it goes completely off the rails & not in a good way in my opinion. the ending is just too ridiculous that i could not take it seriously at all. it went from 100-1,000,000 real fast... STOP IT.
another thing that kind of got under my skin was the half explanations...we find out HOW Martha was able to get pregnant but we don't find out how she got sick or like a firm confirmation of what exactly it is? it seems like she got pregnant & sick at the same time, so i thought it was connected but then we find out they're not? HOW WHEN WHERE & WHY does Bruce find these so called cures...GASOLINE HELLLOOOOO? is the explanation in the room with us? how were these treatments not affecting the baby while in the womb like at all?! i don't always need everything spelled out for me but i do think these are important questions? for these reasons i've settled on a 3.25 rounded down for gr.
it's still a fun wildly entertaining read & i definitely recommend to anyone who thinks it sounds even a little bit interesting — there's a certain part in this that gave Frankenstein vibes, but make it freaky iykyk. i honestly can't wait to see what else Samantha Josephs cooks up for us in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review
October 19, 2026
This was a sharp, biting, and stressful read! The writing reminded me of Boy Parts by Eliza Clark and Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth which I loved.
There were a few character beats that were a bit clunky, and I thought this was going to have way more body horror based on a few reviews I’ve seen and I thought it was leading up to a massive confrontation/unhinged conclusion (this is solidly a literary character study and was a bit underwhelming in the end) but I still really liked it and flew through it!
There were a few character beats that were a bit clunky, and I thought this was going to have way more body horror based on a few reviews I’ve seen and I thought it was leading up to a massive confrontation/unhinged conclusion (this is solidly a literary character study and was a bit underwhelming in the end) but I still really liked it and flew through it!
October 8, 2026
yesteryear for gay people
October 8, 2026
This horror-comedy is MAGA’s worst nightmare and I absolutely loved it! Engrossing, totally unique, with a social commentary to boot—this book is body-horror at its best. The audiobook narration by Christine Rose Schermerhorn is absolutely incredible! My only regret is that I didn’t know about this book until the pub day this past Tuesday. Samantha Josephs, you have a fan in me!
September 23, 2026
Most unhinged book of the year. Not for everyone. I laughed my ass off and loved it though. Audio was 🔥
RTC
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
RTC
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
May 17, 2026
5 ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!!
In the words of Martha, the main character of this lovely trans body horror, she is mega cunt. She is super cunt. She is so cunt, that she is pregnant. She is a pregnant trans woman, and she will do ANYTHING it takes to have this baby. Oh… and she has a craving for spoiled meat.
Trans body horror will always have a special place in my heart, because being in the wrong body is pretty fucking horrific. Even though Martha has her faults, like roping her doctor best friend in on her schemes, and being a bit judgmental, I think we can all relate to her anxieties over having full control of her life. We see the good & bad sides of her, and that makes me like this story even more. Dealing with body dysmorphia and missing out on motherhood can make anyone feel bitchy and insane, while also feeling ooey gooey inside about finally having a mini you.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!!
In the words of Martha, the main character of this lovely trans body horror, she is mega cunt. She is super cunt. She is so cunt, that she is pregnant. She is a pregnant trans woman, and she will do ANYTHING it takes to have this baby. Oh… and she has a craving for spoiled meat.
Trans body horror will always have a special place in my heart, because being in the wrong body is pretty fucking horrific. Even though Martha has her faults, like roping her doctor best friend in on her schemes, and being a bit judgmental, I think we can all relate to her anxieties over having full control of her life. We see the good & bad sides of her, and that makes me like this story even more. Dealing with body dysmorphia and missing out on motherhood can make anyone feel bitchy and insane, while also feeling ooey gooey inside about finally having a mini you.
September 3, 2026
Too cunt to die 💅🏼
October 11, 2026
This was absolutely insane and I never wanted it to end. I think one minute of this audiobook would fully send your conservative granny into a coma… like if you played it outside Capitol Hill I think it would probably be enough to finally put Mitch McConnell in the grave. (Put an end to that motherfuckers eternity leave.) Anyways, I ate this up like a raw, rancid chicken.
October 7, 2026
Thanks to @prhaudio, I listened to the audiobook version of this book. The narration was 5 stars.
As for the book, it is utterly unhinged, and I mean that as a compliment. Ms. Josephs did an incredible job taking everything motherhood is supposed to be and turning it inside out. I love Martha and loathed her husband. This is an insane roller coaster ride and even though I was freaked out, I didn't want it to stop. I was left unsatisfied in the sense that I had burning questions that were never answered. If they were about inconsequential plot points, I would mind, but the plots depended on these things.
As for the book, it is utterly unhinged, and I mean that as a compliment. Ms. Josephs did an incredible job taking everything motherhood is supposed to be and turning it inside out. I love Martha and loathed her husband. This is an insane roller coaster ride and even though I was freaked out, I didn't want it to stop. I was left unsatisfied in the sense that I had burning questions that were never answered. If they were about inconsequential plot points, I would mind, but the plots depended on these things.
October 9, 2026
It’s very easy for me to say this: a new queer classic.
Brilliantly funny, extremely unhinged, smart, ridiculous, and will hold your attention in a vice grip for every page. An original take on the body horror genre with The Substance-esque freakiness (although I’d argue this one goes further and in a more interesting direction). Comedy is very difficult to do but Samantha Josephs has a clear vision with vibrant characters and a quipiness that usually is only reserved for Good Judy’s. Beyond the comedy and the body extremism, lies a smart narrative that subverts transphobic thinking and gives the trans main character complete control. There’s a lot here and it’s so nice to read a book that has something to say and is completely entertaining.
A new hall of famer in the “She Did Nothing Wrong” universe.
Brilliantly funny, extremely unhinged, smart, ridiculous, and will hold your attention in a vice grip for every page. An original take on the body horror genre with The Substance-esque freakiness (although I’d argue this one goes further and in a more interesting direction). Comedy is very difficult to do but Samantha Josephs has a clear vision with vibrant characters and a quipiness that usually is only reserved for Good Judy’s. Beyond the comedy and the body extremism, lies a smart narrative that subverts transphobic thinking and gives the trans main character complete control. There’s a lot here and it’s so nice to read a book that has something to say and is completely entertaining.
A new hall of famer in the “She Did Nothing Wrong” universe.
October 17, 2026
"Because Martha didn’t just need to pass; she needed to be hot, so hot that no man could deny her. She had to diet and work out and carve herself up for the attention of men who still didn’t care if she lived or died."
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book was published in the US by G.P. Putnam's Sons on October 6th, 2026.
This is an absolutely unhinged book. I was so weirded out and grossed out the entire time I was reading it, but somehow I finished it both in awe and completely in love with it. Samantha Josephs has created something really special.
Carrying follows Martha, a 39-year-old stealth trans woman whose carefully constructed life as a picture-perfect housewife begins unraveling when a mysterious illness awakens grotesque new appetites and leaves her impossibly pregnant.
Audacious, irreverent, and deliciously camp, Josephs blends grotesque body horror with razor-sharp satire to interrogate the violent demands of cisheteronormative womanhood. Through Martha's impossible pregnancy and increasingly monstrous transformation, Josephs exposes how beauty, desirability, reproductive capacity, and proximity to men become measures of feminine legitimacy and survival.
And Martha herself? Gloriously vain, sharp-tongued, profoundly vulnerable, and frequently insufferable. She's internalized the very patriarchal beauty standards and systems of transmisogyny that threaten her survival, wielding her femininity as both armor and a weapon against other women. She's deeply human in all her contradictions, simultaneously the architect and prisoner of her own performance, and ultimately impossible not to root for.
Beneath all the bodily fluids, rotting flesh, and increasingly outrageous absurdity is a surprisingly tender exploration of trans motherhood, bodily autonomy, and the precariousness of safety achieved through secrecy and assimilation. Carrying asks what becomes possible when a woman refuses to sacrifice her body, her autonomy, or her future to remain palatable to the people who claim to love her.
I'm so glad this book ends where it does for Martha. This is a beautiful, if extraordinarily gory, story of trans motherhood, transformation, and liberation. You'll be better off for giving it a chance.
📖 Read this if you love: Transgressive queer fiction full of grotesque body horror; morally complicated and deeply flawed transfemme protagonists; explorations of trans embodiment, reproductive autonomy, and the violent expectations of womanhood; or The Substance.
🔑 Key Themes: Trans Motherhood and Autonomy, Gender Performativity and Legitimacy, Transmisogyny, Patriarchal Beauty Standards and the Male Gaze, Passing and the Politics of Assimilation, Survival and Radical Reinvention.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Blood (severe), Miscarriage (severe), Car Accident (severe), Sexual Content (severe), Suicidal Thoughts (severe), Medical Content (severe), Pregnancy (severe), Vomit (severe), Sexual Assault (severe - 54%), Body Horror (severe), Transphobia (moderate), Mental Illness (moderate), Confinement (moderate), Death of a Parent (minor), Deadnaming (minor), Infidelity (minor), Alcohol (minor), Child Abuse (minor), Forced Institutionalization (minor), Murder (minor), Panic Attacks (minor), Abortion (minor).
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book was published in the US by G.P. Putnam's Sons on October 6th, 2026.
This is an absolutely unhinged book. I was so weirded out and grossed out the entire time I was reading it, but somehow I finished it both in awe and completely in love with it. Samantha Josephs has created something really special.
Carrying follows Martha, a 39-year-old stealth trans woman whose carefully constructed life as a picture-perfect housewife begins unraveling when a mysterious illness awakens grotesque new appetites and leaves her impossibly pregnant.
Audacious, irreverent, and deliciously camp, Josephs blends grotesque body horror with razor-sharp satire to interrogate the violent demands of cisheteronormative womanhood. Through Martha's impossible pregnancy and increasingly monstrous transformation, Josephs exposes how beauty, desirability, reproductive capacity, and proximity to men become measures of feminine legitimacy and survival.
And Martha herself? Gloriously vain, sharp-tongued, profoundly vulnerable, and frequently insufferable. She's internalized the very patriarchal beauty standards and systems of transmisogyny that threaten her survival, wielding her femininity as both armor and a weapon against other women. She's deeply human in all her contradictions, simultaneously the architect and prisoner of her own performance, and ultimately impossible not to root for.
Beneath all the bodily fluids, rotting flesh, and increasingly outrageous absurdity is a surprisingly tender exploration of trans motherhood, bodily autonomy, and the precariousness of safety achieved through secrecy and assimilation. Carrying asks what becomes possible when a woman refuses to sacrifice her body, her autonomy, or her future to remain palatable to the people who claim to love her.
I'm so glad this book ends where it does for Martha. This is a beautiful, if extraordinarily gory, story of trans motherhood, transformation, and liberation. You'll be better off for giving it a chance.
📖 Read this if you love: Transgressive queer fiction full of grotesque body horror; morally complicated and deeply flawed transfemme protagonists; explorations of trans embodiment, reproductive autonomy, and the violent expectations of womanhood; or The Substance.
🔑 Key Themes: Trans Motherhood and Autonomy, Gender Performativity and Legitimacy, Transmisogyny, Patriarchal Beauty Standards and the Male Gaze, Passing and the Politics of Assimilation, Survival and Radical Reinvention.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Blood (severe), Miscarriage (severe), Car Accident (severe), Sexual Content (severe), Suicidal Thoughts (severe), Medical Content (severe), Pregnancy (severe), Vomit (severe), Sexual Assault (severe - 54%), Body Horror (severe), Transphobia (moderate), Mental Illness (moderate), Confinement (moderate), Death of a Parent (minor), Deadnaming (minor), Infidelity (minor), Alcohol (minor), Child Abuse (minor), Forced Institutionalization (minor), Murder (minor), Panic Attacks (minor), Abortion (minor).
Want to Read
October 8, 2026Aardvark treated me this month, and I'm very excited for this one! More details on Bookstagram, but this premise sounds delightfully insane!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Martha is absolutely Mother!
In this book we follow Martha who is a stealth trans woman who has it all: an adoring husband (I know, we'll get there ok), an adorable stepdaughter, and the jealousy of every other mom in the neighborhood. What more could a girl want? The thing is her husband really wants another kid and that's kind of a problem because Martha can't...really...do that. Except for it turns out apparently she can because Martha falls impossibly pregnant. Insanity ensues from there.
I do find pregnancy horror to be especially horrifying for me personally. Listen, the treatments Martha does to cure her mystery illness may have raised my eyebrows, it was definitely weird. But did it disgust me? Turn my stomach? Make me squeamish? Not really. Martha's illness aligning with pregnancy symptoms such as losing teeth & hair and her feet & hands ballooning painfully had me writhing in horror and reading on my phone between my fingers.
I wanted this book to be to my personal taste of horror comedy and campy, but I fear this book lost me in the last 30%. The pacing got absolutely bonkers and the climax was a little silly. Both forgivable sins. You know what's not forgivable? You get NO answers for Martha's illness! When she gets sick and meets other people who suffer from her illness (most of whom appear to be trans and queer) and I thought there might be a reason for that, but then something else is mentioned that throws a wrench in my theory. That's fine, I don't NEED to be right, I have fun speculating while reading so no worries. I thought there might be a correlation between her pregnancy and her illness. Not that we discover. How did Bruce figure out the ah, creative use of gasoline as a cure? No idea. Honestly you, dear reader of this review, have the same amount of knowledge about the hows and the whys of Martha's mystery illness as I do and I read the book.
Also I HATE when a book makes me defend a man. Especially a man as shitty as Leon,. That man did not care about Martha and just treated her as an incubator for his baby eeeyyuuuuccckkkk! But I fear that if I came home and found my spouse doing the treatments Martha was doing, I would lose my shit too.
I found a lot of the spoken and unspoken social commentary of this book really interesting, particularly how it seemed the way society treated Bruce, a trans man vs Martha, a trans woman. And their lived experiences with sexism. Bruce kind of irritated me but I wish we had gotten to know more about him over say, Roger. Who, without getting into spoilers, I don't think Martha treated very kindly in the end. Like girl he was literally just worried about you and your health & safety as his oldest friend! (Although Roger has his shitty moments too.) And of course the commentary regarding motherhood and pregnancy I found to be interesting as well. And since we're talking about mothers & motherhood, I would adopt Enid in a second. She seemed so sweet!
I will absolutely commend this book for being the most unpredictable book I have read in quite a while. I thought I knew where the plot was going at every turn and it turns out I had literally no idea what was going to happen next and I do love a book that can surprise me! I will be very interested in seeing what Samantha Josephs comes out with next, this is an author we're all going to want to keep our eyes on!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance DRC and provide a review, all opinions are my own.
In this book we follow Martha who is a stealth trans woman who has it all: an adoring husband (I know, we'll get there ok), an adorable stepdaughter, and the jealousy of every other mom in the neighborhood. What more could a girl want? The thing is her husband really wants another kid and that's kind of a problem because Martha can't...really...do that. Except for it turns out apparently she can because Martha falls impossibly pregnant. Insanity ensues from there.
I do find pregnancy horror to be especially horrifying for me personally. Listen, the treatments Martha does to cure her mystery illness may have raised my eyebrows, it was definitely weird. But did it disgust me? Turn my stomach? Make me squeamish? Not really. Martha's illness aligning with pregnancy symptoms such as losing teeth & hair and her feet & hands ballooning painfully had me writhing in horror and reading on my phone between my fingers.
I wanted this book to be to my personal taste of horror comedy and campy, but I fear this book lost me in the last 30%. The pacing got absolutely bonkers and the climax was a little silly. Both forgivable sins. You know what's not forgivable? You get NO answers for Martha's illness! When she gets sick and meets other people who suffer from her illness (most of whom appear to be trans and queer) and I thought there might be a reason for that, but then something else is mentioned that throws a wrench in my theory. That's fine, I don't NEED to be right, I have fun speculating while reading so no worries. I thought there might be a correlation between her pregnancy and her illness. Not that we discover. How did Bruce figure out the ah, creative use of gasoline as a cure? No idea. Honestly you, dear reader of this review, have the same amount of knowledge about the hows and the whys of Martha's mystery illness as I do and I read the book.
Also I HATE when a book makes me defend a man. Especially a man as shitty as Leon,. That man did not care about Martha and just treated her as an incubator for his baby eeeyyuuuuccckkkk! But I fear that if I came home and found my spouse doing the treatments Martha was doing, I would lose my shit too.
I found a lot of the spoken and unspoken social commentary of this book really interesting, particularly how it seemed the way society treated Bruce, a trans man vs Martha, a trans woman. And their lived experiences with sexism. Bruce kind of irritated me but I wish we had gotten to know more about him over say, Roger. Who, without getting into spoilers, I don't think Martha treated very kindly in the end. Like girl he was literally just worried about you and your health & safety as his oldest friend! (Although Roger has his shitty moments too.) And of course the commentary regarding motherhood and pregnancy I found to be interesting as well. And since we're talking about mothers & motherhood, I would adopt Enid in a second. She seemed so sweet!
I will absolutely commend this book for being the most unpredictable book I have read in quite a while. I thought I knew where the plot was going at every turn and it turns out I had literally no idea what was going to happen next and I do love a book that can surprise me! I will be very interested in seeing what Samantha Josephs comes out with next, this is an author we're all going to want to keep our eyes on!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance DRC and provide a review, all opinions are my own.
September 15, 2026
Carrying is a redefinition of the phrase “mother is mothering.” This book was bonkers bananas batshit insane and if you also love weird girl books: you know that’s a perfect review.
Brb, getting “you’re too cunt to die” tattooed on my body.
*thank you to the publisher for the free review copy.
Brb, getting “you’re too cunt to die” tattooed on my body.
*thank you to the publisher for the free review copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of Carrying by Samantha Josephs from Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.
⭐ 2.5 ⭐
Many, many, MANY years ago my husband and I went to see Delbert McClinton perform in person at a casino in Mississippi. Pretty sure it was in Philadelphia, that would’ve been the closest one to where we were living at the time.
Anyway, it was a 90-minute concert, as most casino shows are, and when it was over that man had not performed Two More Bottles of Wine.
I. Was. Livid.
I mean, do I like the Emmylou Harris version better? Yes, yes, of course I do—I am a Southern Woman Of A Certain Age, for heaven’s sake. But still, it was **the whole principle of the thing.**
What does this have to do with Carrying, which I read with my eyes sort of squinted partly shut, kinda I like I do at ridiculously gory horror movies?
The warehouse. I don’t know if it was in West L.A. or not, but it was a warehouse in L.A., and I’m sure it was in dire need of being swept in all manner of ways.
Gosh I just can’t stand Los Angeles (in real life or in books), and I think had I realized from the outset this book was set there I might’ve passed on it. Then I probably should’ve quit reading when rancid meat got involved. But, again like with the gross horror flicks, I just couldn’t look (completely) away.
Weirdly, you’d think something else that would’ve bothered me was the sex stuff, Prude That I Am, but it seemed proper part and parcel of the story so I was fine with it. And while I wasn’t quite as fine with the repeated use of the word cunt, that also was in context.
OK, I think that’s about all coherent I have in me in regard to this one. You’ll just have to make up your own mind whether it’s a path you want to travel.
The Whole Principle Of The Thing
I don’t know what it is with me and certain performers, but I went to see David Allan Coe and that sorry fucker didn’t play You Never Even Called Me By My Name at that show, even with me just right THERE up front with my head stuck in a speaker. As a full-grown adult. Ah, well. May he rest in whiskey and music, in spite of that.
AND, in the category of I Still Can’t Believe It: My Beloved Husband & I traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the express reason of seeing Ry Cooder in concert, and HE didn’t play Jesus on the Mainline.
That was 17 years ago and I am still in a snit over it. Just about as much of one as I’m in because Norman Mailer died without finishing the sequel to Harlot’s Ghost, and he’s been dead for 19 years.
What is it with you people?
DESCRIPTION
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
She’s serving.
She’s eating.
She’s . . . Carrying.
In this electrifying horror debut that’s equal parts funny and harrowing, a stealth trans woman desperate to maintain her picture-perfect life discovers that she’s seemingly—impossibly—pregnant.
Everything Martha’s wanted, she’s made for herself.
Meet Martha: perfect wife, perfect stepmother, perfect woman. She’s got an adoring husband who wants more kids with her, a loving stepdaughter who looks up to her, and a body to die for. She’s an absolute pro: Salon-quality blowouts at home? Done. Perfectly plated meals on the table every day? Effortless. Meticulously faked miscarriages so her husband won’t suspect the truth? Just hand over the Oscar now.
Martha is trans, so stealth even her family has no idea. She carved the woman she is out of the marble of a boy, and she’ll do whatever it takes to protect what she’s built. When a mysterious chronic illness and its debilitating symptoms threaten to upend her existence, she starts experimental treatments and gives in to her surprising, unsettling cravings. She’s even more shocked to discover that she’s undeniably, impossibly pregnant.
With her body changing rapidly outside of her control and her choices dwindling, Martha struggles to maintain the life she’s fought so hard to live while preparing for the motherhood she never thought she’d have.
Received a complimentary copy of Carrying by Samantha Josephs from Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.
⭐ 2.5 ⭐
Many, many, MANY years ago my husband and I went to see Delbert McClinton perform in person at a casino in Mississippi. Pretty sure it was in Philadelphia, that would’ve been the closest one to where we were living at the time.
Anyway, it was a 90-minute concert, as most casino shows are, and when it was over that man had not performed Two More Bottles of Wine.
I. Was. Livid.
I mean, do I like the Emmylou Harris version better? Yes, yes, of course I do—I am a Southern Woman Of A Certain Age, for heaven’s sake. But still, it was **the whole principle of the thing.**
What does this have to do with Carrying, which I read with my eyes sort of squinted partly shut, kinda I like I do at ridiculously gory horror movies?
The warehouse. I don’t know if it was in West L.A. or not, but it was a warehouse in L.A., and I’m sure it was in dire need of being swept in all manner of ways.
Gosh I just can’t stand Los Angeles (in real life or in books), and I think had I realized from the outset this book was set there I might’ve passed on it. Then I probably should’ve quit reading when rancid meat got involved. But, again like with the gross horror flicks, I just couldn’t look (completely) away.
Weirdly, you’d think something else that would’ve bothered me was the sex stuff, Prude That I Am, but it seemed proper part and parcel of the story so I was fine with it. And while I wasn’t quite as fine with the repeated use of the word cunt, that also was in context.
OK, I think that’s about all coherent I have in me in regard to this one. You’ll just have to make up your own mind whether it’s a path you want to travel.
The Whole Principle Of The Thing
I don’t know what it is with me and certain performers, but I went to see David Allan Coe and that sorry fucker didn’t play You Never Even Called Me By My Name at that show, even with me just right THERE up front with my head stuck in a speaker. As a full-grown adult. Ah, well. May he rest in whiskey and music, in spite of that.
AND, in the category of I Still Can’t Believe It: My Beloved Husband & I traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the express reason of seeing Ry Cooder in concert, and HE didn’t play Jesus on the Mainline.
That was 17 years ago and I am still in a snit over it. Just about as much of one as I’m in because Norman Mailer died without finishing the sequel to Harlot’s Ghost, and he’s been dead for 19 years.
What is it with you people?
DESCRIPTION
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
She’s serving.
She’s eating.
She’s . . . Carrying.
In this electrifying horror debut that’s equal parts funny and harrowing, a stealth trans woman desperate to maintain her picture-perfect life discovers that she’s seemingly—impossibly—pregnant.
Everything Martha’s wanted, she’s made for herself.
Meet Martha: perfect wife, perfect stepmother, perfect woman. She’s got an adoring husband who wants more kids with her, a loving stepdaughter who looks up to her, and a body to die for. She’s an absolute pro: Salon-quality blowouts at home? Done. Perfectly plated meals on the table every day? Effortless. Meticulously faked miscarriages so her husband won’t suspect the truth? Just hand over the Oscar now.
Martha is trans, so stealth even her family has no idea. She carved the woman she is out of the marble of a boy, and she’ll do whatever it takes to protect what she’s built. When a mysterious chronic illness and its debilitating symptoms threaten to upend her existence, she starts experimental treatments and gives in to her surprising, unsettling cravings. She’s even more shocked to discover that she’s undeniably, impossibly pregnant.
With her body changing rapidly outside of her control and her choices dwindling, Martha struggles to maintain the life she’s fought so hard to live while preparing for the motherhood she never thought she’d have.
October 12, 2026
Jedyne czego absolutnie nie rozumiem w tej pozycji to konieczność wykorzystania mięsa. W sensie rozumiem jaką funkcję spełniało dla głównej bohaterki ale no nie było to konieczne, mięso można było zastąpić innym produktem (zresztą później się tak stalo). A mówię o tym dlatego że zastanawia mnie ta nowa fascynacja mięsem, która odchodzi od metaforyki śmierci, zepsucia lub dyskusji nt praw zwierząt hodowlanych a wpada już w “magiczne rozwiązanie na różne kobiece problemy”. Ale dobra poza tym uważam że była znakomita. Wybitne wykorzystanie gatunku body horroru do przekazania samotności z jaką muszą mierzyć się kobiety, ze strachem jaki dotyka na każdym etapie życia trans kobiety, z decyzjami jakie należy podjąć będąc w ciąży, tego uczucia bycia oszukanym przez własne ciało. Autorka pisze bardzo ostro, wnioski które wysnuwa się z tej książki są jak igiełki szybko wbijane w ciało- przeszywające i zebrane w formie ciekawej i pełnej napięcia powieści.
October 20, 2026
what a wild ride
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Samantha is an old friend from college, so I was super grateful to get an arc of her book from netgalley. This book is completely outside my wheelhouse — I read very little general fiction and satire so I'm not particularly familiar with the genre. With that said, this was absolutely batshit in a way that worked really well for me. From the get-go it's clear that this story is gross and outrageous and at times very uncomfortable. I think most people will know whether this works for them from the first few pages. This is a story focused on what it means to survive as a trans woman at any — and I do mean any — cost.
This book is grotesque in its reflection on womanhood and pregnancy and bodily autonomy, but at its core there's also a deep affection for womanhood and motherhood, despite what they cost Martha to maintain. The setting of LA, and Martha's life as a housewife within it, defines the shape this story takes and some specifics of the social pressures, but the impossible standards Martha faces (and reinforces herself) are very familiar. There's an obvious dissonance between how Martha talks about her own body and value and the bodies and perceived value of the adult women around her, and how she wants her 11 year-old step-daughter to view herself. I found this really compelling in its inconsistency and how realistic this is to many women's relationships with their mothers. There are so many forms of motherhood in this book — pregnancy and biological motherhood, step-motherhood, old and new found family — and so much respect for all of them and for the ugly costs they can bring.
This story centers on Martha seeking very controversial treatments after developing a debilitating chronic illness. These treatments are, frankly, disgusting. I kept wanting her to stop, to talk to her doctors, to do anything but continue these treatments. This reading experience was so interesting because as the reader, I did not trust Martha or her medical decisions, but the narrative did. Martha's experiences lie at the uncomfortable intersection between the real dangers of pseudo-scientific home "medicine" and the reality of people who are dismissed by the medical system and whose life-saving treatments are often labeled as disturbing or "perverted" by outsiders.
There's so much more I could say, I find myself wanting to discuss and analyze this book for hours. But beyond how interesting I think Carrying's ideas are, I genuinely enjoyed the reading experience, even in its most uncomfortable moments. I didn't always like Martha as a person, but I did sympathize with her and I was invested in her story. At least as someone with minimal experience in the genre, this was an incredibly unique reading experience. The more I think about it, the more I appreciate this story.
This book is grotesque in its reflection on womanhood and pregnancy and bodily autonomy, but at its core there's also a deep affection for womanhood and motherhood, despite what they cost Martha to maintain. The setting of LA, and Martha's life as a housewife within it, defines the shape this story takes and some specifics of the social pressures, but the impossible standards Martha faces (and reinforces herself) are very familiar. There's an obvious dissonance between how Martha talks about her own body and value and the bodies and perceived value of the adult women around her, and how she wants her 11 year-old step-daughter to view herself. I found this really compelling in its inconsistency and how realistic this is to many women's relationships with their mothers. There are so many forms of motherhood in this book — pregnancy and biological motherhood, step-motherhood, old and new found family — and so much respect for all of them and for the ugly costs they can bring.
This story centers on Martha seeking very controversial treatments after developing a debilitating chronic illness. These treatments are, frankly, disgusting. I kept wanting her to stop, to talk to her doctors, to do anything but continue these treatments. This reading experience was so interesting because as the reader, I did not trust Martha or her medical decisions, but the narrative did. Martha's experiences lie at the uncomfortable intersection between the real dangers of pseudo-scientific home "medicine" and the reality of people who are dismissed by the medical system and whose life-saving treatments are often labeled as disturbing or "perverted" by outsiders.
There's so much more I could say, I find myself wanting to discuss and analyze this book for hours. But beyond how interesting I think Carrying's ideas are, I genuinely enjoyed the reading experience, even in its most uncomfortable moments. I didn't always like Martha as a person, but I did sympathize with her and I was invested in her story. At least as someone with minimal experience in the genre, this was an incredibly unique reading experience. The more I think about it, the more I appreciate this story.
March 29, 2026
Carrying centers the unclockable (to cissies) and inimitable Martha as her stealthily maintained heterosexual marriage is threatened by the unexpected proliferation of her life's dream: she is carrying a child. After her neovagina turns medical miracle pussy, blossoming into full blown reproductive system (ovary: check, cervix: cunt, i mean check, uterus: present), her trusted gay best friend-cum-gynecologist wants to make a fortune from her unexpected fruit, meanwhile her husband just wants to keep her, and their unborn child, alive. As Martha grapples with the possibility of maternal mortality, she seeks treatment (fed to her by her TikTok algorithm) for strange cravings in the night that unexpectedly offer her a glimpse of T4T butt-chugging ecstasy she left behind in the pursuit of perma-passing. DIY vaginal discharge recipes and phrases like "newborn-baby cunt" counterbalance the horrors Martha undergoes--and eventually engineers like a madwoman, enacting her transsexual (re-)birth right to hysteria. This novel reads like a John Waters movie. It horrified me to no end but left me splitting with laughter. Samantha Josephs is a talent to watch.
April 16, 2026
I fear I will never shut up about this book. It is the pinnacle of girlhood — you’re laughing, crying, screaming, throwing up, and throwing your book across the room. Everyone I’ve convinced to read it (and I’ve convinced A LOT of people) has come back to me with a different takeaway, and they all loved it just as much as I do.
This story is truly something special, and Samantha should be so proud of what she’s created.
This story is truly something special, and Samantha should be so proud of what she’s created.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
*I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*
Highlights
~the freaky ick is only the fig leaf over the real horror
~more layers than an onion
~the Horrors Of WomanhoodTM via a trans perspective
~the opposite of pregnancy body-horror
~horror as 4D chess
This is one of those genius horror novels where the horror is not what you think it is. The big obvious freaky/gross stuff is not the nightmarish part, for all that it is still very freaky and gross. Carrying manages to be incisive social commentary and cathartic wish-fulfilment and ironic satire and a great big metaphor all at once, while still being compulsively readable. I ate this up like popcorn and I suspect everyone else drawn to it will as well!
Also, because we’ve had several ghosty/demonic pregnancy novels lately and that made me make assumptions – this is not supernatural horror. Which in retrospect I think was a very good thing, but as a reader I was initially kind of disappointed, because my preference is definitely for supernatural horror.
But Carrying is so addictively moreish, and so freaking clever, that even I could tell that it’s excellent! I hope it’s clear how much of a compliment that is.
So: Martha is a trans woman, one who passes flawlessly as a cis woman. (If you’re new here, ‘cis’ is the term for everyone who is not any flavour of trans or nonbinary.) Only one person in the world knows that she’s trans, and only because he knew Martha pre-transition. Nobody else has a clue, which is exactly how Martha likes it. As the book opens, Martha is in the process of faking a miscarriage, as part of her long-term plan to get her husband Leon to accept that they can’t have biological children, without the need to come out to him as trans. But as the book description says, she soon becomes life-changingly ill, and after the deeply gross, freaky ‘treatments’, discovers that she’s pregnant for real. Thankfully the one friend who knows she’s trans is also qualified to play doctor to her pregnancy, which means Martha gets to have everything she wanted – she can be pregnant and give birth, by some miracle, and get through it all without having to out herself to anyone new. Win/win!
Superficially, the horror in Carrying comes from the treatments for Martha’s mysterious chronic illness: the only thing that vanishes her symptoms and leaves her feeling good and healthy again…is eating rancid meat. The longer the book goes on, the more extreme the treatments get, levelling up in grossness and taboo-ness. This is the obvious source of ick, the thing that makes us reflexively flinch and sets our skin crawling. But only the shallowest possible read could leave anyone thinking that that is where the real horror is, what the real horror is.
Carrying is a book about being trans: specifically, about being a trans woman. It’s suffused with the history of trans culture in the USA – for example, the ‘ballroom foremothers’ of the quote above refers to ball culture, which is so foundational to modern trans and queer culture that I can’t get into it without completely derailing this review (if you want to learn more about it, I strongly recommend the tv show Pose). The title itself comes from trans slang, and other examples abound (though readers who aren’t familiar with terms like ‘tea’ and ‘fish’ don’t need to worry, because the meaning is always explained or clear from context). And a big, vital part of the book is…what it took Martha, what it cost her, to get where she is now.
When I was reading Carrying, I was confused at first by how easily Martha took to things like eating rotten meat. It rang false to me, seemed unrealistic, unbelievable. But Josephs quickly made me understand: the things Martha has to do in this book to treat her illness?
Are NOTHING compared to what she’s already done to have the body she needs.
It’s not preachy, and it’s not info-dumped on us, but Josephs lays out very starkly how much physical and psychological pain Martha went through in order to transition. The various surgeries were the least of it. So eating rotten meat (and everything else her illness goes on to demand)? Is NOTHING. Is EASY. Especially since her illness makes the meat etc taste and feel good, like she’s giving her body exactly what it needs. This doesn’t even hurt! Of course it’s fairly straightforward for her. Having to hide meat around the house so it’ll rot, sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to get her dose, is nothing to bat an eye at, not after dilating religiously with medical dildos after her vaginoplasty surgery.
That realisation was a galaxy-brain moment for me. I reeled.
For me, this was the main source of the horror: that it’s this hard, and this painful, to be a trans woman who wants to pass. (Not all do; people’s relationships to their gender identity are as many and varied as are people themselves. But that’s another discussion entirely.) That all of this is demanded by the rest of the world – because none of it would be necessary if our ideas of what a woman is meant to look like reflected reality instead of…whatever weird societal hallucination we’re all living in. If no one batted an eye at a woman with facial hair, if we all viscerally, reflexively understood and believed that a woman with a beard is still a woman, if we didn’t look at people and reflexively assign them a gender – then probably it would not be necessary for someone like Martha to go through the throat-slitting agony of anaesthetised facial electrolysis.
But there is plenty else to be terrified of in this book!
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
Highlights
~the freaky ick is only the fig leaf over the real horror
~more layers than an onion
~the Horrors Of WomanhoodTM via a trans perspective
~the opposite of pregnancy body-horror
~horror as 4D chess
This is one of those genius horror novels where the horror is not what you think it is. The big obvious freaky/gross stuff is not the nightmarish part, for all that it is still very freaky and gross. Carrying manages to be incisive social commentary and cathartic wish-fulfilment and ironic satire and a great big metaphor all at once, while still being compulsively readable. I ate this up like popcorn and I suspect everyone else drawn to it will as well!
Also, because we’ve had several ghosty/demonic pregnancy novels lately and that made me make assumptions – this is not supernatural horror. Which in retrospect I think was a very good thing, but as a reader I was initially kind of disappointed, because my preference is definitely for supernatural horror.
But Carrying is so addictively moreish, and so freaking clever, that even I could tell that it’s excellent! I hope it’s clear how much of a compliment that is.
So: Martha is a trans woman, one who passes flawlessly as a cis woman. (If you’re new here, ‘cis’ is the term for everyone who is not any flavour of trans or nonbinary.) Only one person in the world knows that she’s trans, and only because he knew Martha pre-transition. Nobody else has a clue, which is exactly how Martha likes it. As the book opens, Martha is in the process of faking a miscarriage, as part of her long-term plan to get her husband Leon to accept that they can’t have biological children, without the need to come out to him as trans. But as the book description says, she soon becomes life-changingly ill, and after the deeply gross, freaky ‘treatments’, discovers that she’s pregnant for real. Thankfully the one friend who knows she’s trans is also qualified to play doctor to her pregnancy, which means Martha gets to have everything she wanted – she can be pregnant and give birth, by some miracle, and get through it all without having to out herself to anyone new. Win/win!
Superficially, the horror in Carrying comes from the treatments for Martha’s mysterious chronic illness: the only thing that vanishes her symptoms and leaves her feeling good and healthy again…is eating rancid meat. The longer the book goes on, the more extreme the treatments get, levelling up in grossness and taboo-ness. This is the obvious source of ick, the thing that makes us reflexively flinch and sets our skin crawling. But only the shallowest possible read could leave anyone thinking that that is where the real horror is, what the real horror is.
From their ballroom foremothers: To carry is to do something with so much drama, so much flair, so exceptionally well as to utterly annihilate the competition, even to the point of going overboard, of doing too much, of being extra extra. She is carrying to the highest degree.
Carrying is a book about being trans: specifically, about being a trans woman. It’s suffused with the history of trans culture in the USA – for example, the ‘ballroom foremothers’ of the quote above refers to ball culture, which is so foundational to modern trans and queer culture that I can’t get into it without completely derailing this review (if you want to learn more about it, I strongly recommend the tv show Pose). The title itself comes from trans slang, and other examples abound (though readers who aren’t familiar with terms like ‘tea’ and ‘fish’ don’t need to worry, because the meaning is always explained or clear from context). And a big, vital part of the book is…what it took Martha, what it cost her, to get where she is now.
When I was reading Carrying, I was confused at first by how easily Martha took to things like eating rotten meat. It rang false to me, seemed unrealistic, unbelievable. But Josephs quickly made me understand: the things Martha has to do in this book to treat her illness?
Are NOTHING compared to what she’s already done to have the body she needs.
It’s not preachy, and it’s not info-dumped on us, but Josephs lays out very starkly how much physical and psychological pain Martha went through in order to transition. The various surgeries were the least of it. So eating rotten meat (and everything else her illness goes on to demand)? Is NOTHING. Is EASY. Especially since her illness makes the meat etc taste and feel good, like she’s giving her body exactly what it needs. This doesn’t even hurt! Of course it’s fairly straightforward for her. Having to hide meat around the house so it’ll rot, sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to get her dose, is nothing to bat an eye at, not after dilating religiously with medical dildos after her vaginoplasty surgery.
That realisation was a galaxy-brain moment for me. I reeled.
This is the madness of transsexuality: The physical pain of changing is less than the psychological pain of staying the same.
For me, this was the main source of the horror: that it’s this hard, and this painful, to be a trans woman who wants to pass. (Not all do; people’s relationships to their gender identity are as many and varied as are people themselves. But that’s another discussion entirely.) That all of this is demanded by the rest of the world – because none of it would be necessary if our ideas of what a woman is meant to look like reflected reality instead of…whatever weird societal hallucination we’re all living in. If no one batted an eye at a woman with facial hair, if we all viscerally, reflexively understood and believed that a woman with a beard is still a woman, if we didn’t look at people and reflexively assign them a gender – then probably it would not be necessary for someone like Martha to go through the throat-slitting agony of anaesthetised facial electrolysis.
She’d tilt her head back for the electrologist and almost wish the lady would slit her throat instead, end all the pain.
But there is plenty else to be terrified of in this book!
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
October 9, 2026
THIS BOOK COOKED AND SERVED C*NT.
Martha is giving deep-fried tradwife simulator, running a flawless white picket fence blueprint and serving absolute c*nt. The irony is literally dripping. The hubby thinks he’s the main character, clueless that his perfect wife is running the whole operation in stealth trans mode.
Well stealth until her body starts dropping receipts (and bodily fluids).
You’re pregnant. Wait, what…YOU’RE PREGNANT?
Roll back the tapes.
She’s been femininity-MAXXING literally so hard out of fear of being clocked that the clean girl aesthetic has become a full-time job. And alongside that she’s been meticulously faking miscarriages to keep her cover intact. Now somehow her body's decided to make the whole pregnancy thing canon, and she’s got to face the final bosses of the femininity performance review.
She’s carrying the deep lore.
Carrying the hyper-feminine scripting.
Carrying a body that’s officially crashing out.
And now she’s quite literally…carrying.
But let’s be real for a second. The perfect life was already eating Martha alive before her body started glitching. Illness doesn’t introduce horror. It just makes horror visible. Because how much of yourself can you actually delete in order to stay digestible to others before there’s nothing left there to protect?
Josephs takes the blueprint of the perfect woman, feeds it into a biological meat grinder, and just lets the whole thing rot from the inside. It’s grotesque, darkly funny, tenderised, and deeply f*cking upsetting. THIS is literally everything transgressive feminist body horror is supposed to be.
This has something to say. Not gore for the aesthetic. And I think the ultimate horror is that Martha’s body was never actually supposed to owe anybody receipts in the first place.
Five stars and bodily fluids for dayyyyys.
Samantha Josephs didn’t just understand the assignment. She literally pumped gas.
Carrying • Samantha Josephs
UK pub 28|01|27
Thank you @4thEstate for the gifted proof
Martha is giving deep-fried tradwife simulator, running a flawless white picket fence blueprint and serving absolute c*nt. The irony is literally dripping. The hubby thinks he’s the main character, clueless that his perfect wife is running the whole operation in stealth trans mode.
Well stealth until her body starts dropping receipts (and bodily fluids).
You’re pregnant. Wait, what…YOU’RE PREGNANT?
Roll back the tapes.
She’s been femininity-MAXXING literally so hard out of fear of being clocked that the clean girl aesthetic has become a full-time job. And alongside that she’s been meticulously faking miscarriages to keep her cover intact. Now somehow her body's decided to make the whole pregnancy thing canon, and she’s got to face the final bosses of the femininity performance review.
She’s carrying the deep lore.
Carrying the hyper-feminine scripting.
Carrying a body that’s officially crashing out.
And now she’s quite literally…carrying.
But let’s be real for a second. The perfect life was already eating Martha alive before her body started glitching. Illness doesn’t introduce horror. It just makes horror visible. Because how much of yourself can you actually delete in order to stay digestible to others before there’s nothing left there to protect?
Josephs takes the blueprint of the perfect woman, feeds it into a biological meat grinder, and just lets the whole thing rot from the inside. It’s grotesque, darkly funny, tenderised, and deeply f*cking upsetting. THIS is literally everything transgressive feminist body horror is supposed to be.
This has something to say. Not gore for the aesthetic. And I think the ultimate horror is that Martha’s body was never actually supposed to owe anybody receipts in the first place.
Five stars and bodily fluids for dayyyyys.
Samantha Josephs didn’t just understand the assignment. She literally pumped gas.
Carrying • Samantha Josephs
UK pub 28|01|27
Thank you @4thEstate for the gifted proof
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The next generation of body horror is here folks, and I honestly can't wait to see how far it goes.
Last years You Weren't Meant to Be Human was an absolute breath of fresh air in the body horror and lit-fic spaces. The wave of books using feral imagery as a metaphor for motherhood was becoming stale... You Weren't Meant to Be Human addressed not only how horrific motherhood could be, but incorporating it with trans identity to create a new terrifying experience unlike any I've ever read. It resuscitated the sub-genre and opened the gates for a wave of new stories with an LGBTQ twist. Not since Alien have we had a piece of media address how horrifying and grotesque the invasion of bodily autonomy is for everyone. The loss of identity and independence whilst being subjected to something you have absolutely no say in is a terrible reality millions (honestly billions) of people are under threat and are even subjected to daily.
Now enter Carrying. I'm speechless on how this book made me feel. It's gross, endearing, shocking, depressing, hilarious, thought-provoking, you name it. I think I felt every kind of emotion humanly possible while reading this.
Samantha Joseph is an author to keep your eye on. She absolutely hit it out of the park here. I could not stop reading. The mystery of it all mixed with the dark comedy was truly something else. I could've read a thousand more pages of this and never gotten bored.
If this sounds even remotely interesting, PICK THIS UP!!!!! It's an absolute ride from start to finish and quickly shot up on my list of best books of 2026. Give this one a chance, you won't regret it!
*Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own*
Last years You Weren't Meant to Be Human was an absolute breath of fresh air in the body horror and lit-fic spaces. The wave of books using feral imagery as a metaphor for motherhood was becoming stale... You Weren't Meant to Be Human addressed not only how horrific motherhood could be, but incorporating it with trans identity to create a new terrifying experience unlike any I've ever read. It resuscitated the sub-genre and opened the gates for a wave of new stories with an LGBTQ twist. Not since Alien have we had a piece of media address how horrifying and grotesque the invasion of bodily autonomy is for everyone. The loss of identity and independence whilst being subjected to something you have absolutely no say in is a terrible reality millions (honestly billions) of people are under threat and are even subjected to daily.
Now enter Carrying. I'm speechless on how this book made me feel. It's gross, endearing, shocking, depressing, hilarious, thought-provoking, you name it. I think I felt every kind of emotion humanly possible while reading this.
Samantha Joseph is an author to keep your eye on. She absolutely hit it out of the park here. I could not stop reading. The mystery of it all mixed with the dark comedy was truly something else. I could've read a thousand more pages of this and never gotten bored.
If this sounds even remotely interesting, PICK THIS UP!!!!! It's an absolute ride from start to finish and quickly shot up on my list of best books of 2026. Give this one a chance, you won't regret it!
*Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own*
October 13, 2026
Thank you Putnam for my free copy of Carrying by Samantha Josephs — out now!
» READ IF YOU «
🥩 want body horror that's equal parts hilarious and horrific
🔀 love a plot that truly grips you from the start
💅 have ever done things you'd rather not yap about
» SYNOPSIS «
Martha has built herself a dream life: gorgeous home, perfect husband, flawless appearance, and a verrrry carefully guarded secret. But then she falls mysterious ill, her desperate treatments get weird, and she ends up, impossibly, pregnant. Which is a gigantic problem, but also the thing she's always wanted.
» REVIEW «
Oh man, I was engrossed from the first page to the very last, and I genuinely never knew where we were headed. Every time I thought I had Martha figured out, the story would swerve somewhere stranger and more insane, and I absolutely loved being along for the ride!! I binged this audiobook in a few hours, I could not stop listening.
Martha herself is an absolute delight! She's messy and hilarious, soooo human even in the most outlandish moments, and I found myself completely in love with her by the end of the book. She's the kind of FMC you root for even when you're HORRIFIED about the things she's doing.
If you love your body horror with sass, cvnt, and a shocking amount of heart, this is the book for you, babe. Debut of the year contender, methinks.
» RATING «
🍗 I'm Stuffed 🍗
» READ-A-LIKES «
• Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
• Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
• Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
• The Substance (2024 film)
» READ IF YOU «
🥩 want body horror that's equal parts hilarious and horrific
🔀 love a plot that truly grips you from the start
💅 have ever done things you'd rather not yap about
» SYNOPSIS «
Martha has built herself a dream life: gorgeous home, perfect husband, flawless appearance, and a verrrry carefully guarded secret. But then she falls mysterious ill, her desperate treatments get weird, and she ends up, impossibly, pregnant. Which is a gigantic problem, but also the thing she's always wanted.
» REVIEW «
Oh man, I was engrossed from the first page to the very last, and I genuinely never knew where we were headed. Every time I thought I had Martha figured out, the story would swerve somewhere stranger and more insane, and I absolutely loved being along for the ride!! I binged this audiobook in a few hours, I could not stop listening.
Martha herself is an absolute delight! She's messy and hilarious, soooo human even in the most outlandish moments, and I found myself completely in love with her by the end of the book. She's the kind of FMC you root for even when you're HORRIFIED about the things she's doing.
If you love your body horror with sass, cvnt, and a shocking amount of heart, this is the book for you, babe. Debut of the year contender, methinks.
» RATING «
🍗 I'm Stuffed 🍗
» READ-A-LIKES «
• Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
• Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
• Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
• The Substance (2024 film)
October 20, 2026
She’s serving, She’s eating, She’s…..Carrying.
Wow! What a flippen debut. Clutch those pearls transphobes because I have your worst nightmare lol The spiraling, the scheming and the perfecting are all top notch. Yes, this novel is “horror” and there are so really deranged parts BUT this story is so much more. It’s showing that you need to love yourself, except yourself and be yourself.
I can’t imagine the real-life horrors of being in a body that doesn’t feel like your own. This has a special place in my heart as I was along the ride of a very dear friend who also transitioned and it is a VERY difficult process. This book is honest, funny, real and emotional. Just perfect. Martha is so cunt. Thank you to my bestie @kelseylitsliftsanddips for buddy reading this with me. We devoured it-pun INTENDED. LOL
Wow! What a flippen debut. Clutch those pearls transphobes because I have your worst nightmare lol The spiraling, the scheming and the perfecting are all top notch. Yes, this novel is “horror” and there are so really deranged parts BUT this story is so much more. It’s showing that you need to love yourself, except yourself and be yourself.
I can’t imagine the real-life horrors of being in a body that doesn’t feel like your own. This has a special place in my heart as I was along the ride of a very dear friend who also transitioned and it is a VERY difficult process. This book is honest, funny, real and emotional. Just perfect. Martha is so cunt. Thank you to my bestie @kelseylitsliftsanddips for buddy reading this with me. We devoured it-pun INTENDED. LOL
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚, 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏...𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒔. 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏.
This book is equal parts hilarious and horrifying. Written by a trans woman about a trans woman, this feels like an ode to the absolutely wild things the human body is capable of creating while also taking a flamethrower to the ridiculous expectations we place on women's bodies. Martha has painstakingly constructed the life she wants, becoming the woman she has fought incredibly hard to be while keeping the truth about herself hidden from the people closest to her. Then her body decides to throw the biggest f*cking wrench imaginable into that carefully controlled existence. When Martha discovers she's impossibly pregnant, she's forced to confront something far more complicated than the physical changes happening to her. What does she actually want? What does motherhood mean to her? I loved watching her wrestle with those questions while simultaneously trying to keep everyone from discovering the truth.
And let's be clear: I truly think the only people who are going to find the horror in this book particularly upsetting are the pearl-clutching transphobes who apparently believe trans people existing is some kind of personal attack. For everyone else, buckle up. Samantha Josephs has created something wildly original that can be funny one minute and deeply uncomfortable the next, while never losing sight of Martha's humanity. This is a book about bodies, identity, womanhood, control, and what happens when the body you've spent so much time fighting to make your own suddenly has plans of its own. I laughed. I cringed. I stared at the page wondering what kind of beautiful fever dream I had wandered into. Many thanks to Putnam for this early read that publishes October 6, 2026.
This book is equal parts hilarious and horrifying. Written by a trans woman about a trans woman, this feels like an ode to the absolutely wild things the human body is capable of creating while also taking a flamethrower to the ridiculous expectations we place on women's bodies. Martha has painstakingly constructed the life she wants, becoming the woman she has fought incredibly hard to be while keeping the truth about herself hidden from the people closest to her. Then her body decides to throw the biggest f*cking wrench imaginable into that carefully controlled existence. When Martha discovers she's impossibly pregnant, she's forced to confront something far more complicated than the physical changes happening to her. What does she actually want? What does motherhood mean to her? I loved watching her wrestle with those questions while simultaneously trying to keep everyone from discovering the truth.
And let's be clear: I truly think the only people who are going to find the horror in this book particularly upsetting are the pearl-clutching transphobes who apparently believe trans people existing is some kind of personal attack. For everyone else, buckle up. Samantha Josephs has created something wildly original that can be funny one minute and deeply uncomfortable the next, while never losing sight of Martha's humanity. This is a book about bodies, identity, womanhood, control, and what happens when the body you've spent so much time fighting to make your own suddenly has plans of its own. I laughed. I cringed. I stared at the page wondering what kind of beautiful fever dream I had wandered into. Many thanks to Putnam for this early read that publishes October 6, 2026.
October 12, 2026
On the NYPL's list of Best New Horror 2026
This book held my attention right from the start. Read under 24 hours. I would say this is definitely more "weird girl lit" than outright horror, although the body horror was pretty good. While the story itself was gripping, I felt there were a lot of holes in the plot that we were expected to just accept and move on with.
Lots of outright fears brought up: pregnancy, teeth falling out, rancid food, etc.
If you like unhinged queer characters, this is definitely the book for you.
This book held my attention right from the start. Read under 24 hours. I would say this is definitely more "weird girl lit" than outright horror, although the body horror was pretty good. While the story itself was gripping, I felt there were a lot of holes in the plot that we were expected to just accept and move on with.
Lots of outright fears brought up: pregnancy, teeth falling out, rancid food, etc.
If you like unhinged queer characters, this is definitely the book for you.
October 14, 2026
nothing has ever been so cunt
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