“I pour myself a glass of water in my pink, sparkly goblet and set the ball of entropy I call my body in motion toward the bathroom. My stack of rescued and rehabilitated stuffed animals stare at me from the bed, especially the ones with the prosthetic eyes I bought at an estate sale. I wish I let them keep their normal eyes.”*

With the help of her legion of online fans, Isa raises the money she needs for facial feminization surgery. Before she can book her appointment, she’s guilted into giving up her hard earned cash to help her father, who still calls her by her dead name and refuses to accept that she is trans. A seeming miracle happens when she’s selected for a free experimental treatment that promises she’ll get the results she desires and so much more. She starts dating a hot artist, and all of Isa’s dreams seem to be within reach. Then she discovers some serious cons related to her experimental treatment that will forever change her and maybe get her killed—unless she can tap into her special talents.

Isa is a fantastic character. I absolutely loved her obsession with creepy plushies and squeeze toys. The way her family fails to accept her is nothing short of heartbreaking as is her pain over her body dysmorphia. The horror elements are on point and there’s a really fun montage scene that is an Easter egg with references to other wonderful rewind or die books. Isa’s bestie Mitzy is a blast. The characters took this book to a whole new level of awesome.

Harms did a wonderful job of getting me to care about Isa and want her to win. The plot is well structured with great romantic elements and an outstanding ending with a touch of cosmic horror. I enjoyed the social media references as several of the characters were influencers. I am in awe of Harms’s ability to pack so much goodness into a novella-sized package.

The Rewind or Die books are a blood-splattered oasis in these turbulent times. I am a huge fan of the series, which invokes the spirit of horror movies watched on videotape.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Unnerving for providing an Advance Reader Copy.

*Please note that my review is based on uncorrected text.

The premise of this book was fantastic as soon as I read the description I knew I wanted to read this. I really enjoyed the first few chapters it was good character building and really got me invested in the book.

Unfortunately I felt once the work began on Isa it seemed rushed after that. I think more building up could of been done and more explanation into why also.

The cover is extremely striking and I think wanting more of a book is actually a good thing.

If your idea of a beach read is a horror novella, the Rewind or Die series is for you! (And they are all available through Kindle Unlimited. Despite my push against Amazon these days I still am holding onto my Kindle Unlimited subscription)

I have really enjoyed every book I have read in this series and Transmuted lived up to my expectations! With the premise that a man who wants to not only transition into being a woman, but being a perfect woman the horror in this story plays out as being a social commentary on body image. There is a lot of reference to people being fat in this story, which may cause sensitivity for some readers. But the story is cringeworthy in the best sense for fans of body horror. The vivid imagery definitely won’t make you feel comfortable in your own skin! This is definitely a book that is easy to read in one sitting….that is if you don’t get too squeamish.

I’m gonna go with 3.5/5 rounded up.

Transmuted is a body horror tale about this streamer Isa who has to resort to sketchy facial feminisation surgery after having to donate the money she had raised for proper surgery to her dying dad’s experimental medical treatment.

I think the premise is really good, and there’s quite a lot going on below the surface when it explores the whole financial and medical side of things and how those things play together for a trans woman. I would have loved it if the focus had remained there more prominently, even with a healthy dose of freaky body horror thrown in. The way the author described Isa’s interaction with fans on Twitter, for example, showed a great degree of observation of a very specific subculture, and the way Isa navigates family relationships was interesting too. I actually liked the body horror early on too, but I really wasn’t sold on where the story goes in the second half. It was just a bit too much for me, and I think it kinda cheapened a very strong start. But to be honest I don’t read a lot of stuff in the genre, so maybe I’m being unfair.

The writing was pretty agile and engaging, even if it did state the obvious a few times in a way that I really wasn’t a big fan of. Still, a very enjoyable book that felt quite fresh to me. It’s pretty short and different, so I would recommend it even if I’m not sold on the way the story develops.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I really like the cover!

Isa is a twitch streamer, who has been streaming for donations in order to undergo facial feminization surgery. But just as she has enough money, her father needs it for yet another experimental treatment for his life threatening disease.

She thinks this is the end of the road, and she will never get the features she has hoped for. That is until she finds a mysterious doctor who promises a free, yet experimental gender affirming surgery. After the first treatment everything seems to go according to plan, the only problem is her body won’t stop changing.

I truly enjoyed the first part of this book. It was entertaining, funny and you can’t help but love Isa’s character. She has the same sarcastic humor as myself, and I sympathized with the struggle she went through. I was completely engrossed in the story.

Yet, after a while it all felt a bit rushed. Stuff was happening too fast, and I have to say maybe a bit too bizarre. Now, don’t get me wrong I really liked the weirdness and grotesque imagery, but at some point it kind of went way out there.

Still, a really entertaining queer body horror tale and if this sounds interesting to you, I would definitely give it a read!

Thanks to the publisher for the free copy!

All in all I give this a 2.75/5. The premise in the story was a very good horror concept, but I feel that it would have benefited from being a longer book. Parts seemed rushed which did take away a bit from the concept. Isa, the main character, had interesting interactions with other characters that I felt were well depicted. I think another 50 or so pages would have allowed for better pacing and would have brought this to around a 3.5 with that.

But if you are interested in seeing a doctor decide to pretty much play a mixture of Frankenstein and Moruea by taking advantage of a MtF individual (and her fight back), give it a read.