Warning: Just a Bite is gory, gruesome, and not for the faint of heart. Trust me this will make your skin crawl!

Now, that you have been warned, I shall move on. I will start at the beginning, Jesse, is out on a date, where she sees a stray dog. Being the kind and loving gal she is, she approaches the dog to show it kindness, however, in return the stray bites her. She fluffs it off, forgiving the dog for the nasty bite.

Jesse moves on with her day, until she notices the bite is not healing. At this point and at her nagging roommate's suggestion, she gives in and sees her doctor. Good ole doc, determines it is indeed Just A Bite. From here, the story just takes off into a direction, I did not see coming!

This novel is a quick, fast paced read that kept me wanting me more than Just a Bite. I loved the cliff hangar of an ending and it got me asking myself, since when does Just a Bite, open up a can of worms? Enough said, get your hands on this book and judge for yourself.

One more note, this amazing novel is creative, brilliant, gory and very entertaining.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC for a honest review.






A creative, brilliant, gory and entertaining read

Melanie’s life is turned upside down after what assumes to be a harmless bite from a stray dog. I went into this blind and I’m glad I did. This book hooked me from the start and was such a fun read. The author did a great job with the descriptions, by the end my skin was crawling. With that being said, this book is not for the squeamish. Overall this was a solid read, that I would highly recommend.

When a stray dog that looks harmless bites Melanie, her life takes a drastic turn. Not for the squeamish. A page turner for sure

My thanks to Butterdragons. Boris Bacic and Netgallley.
Truth is that I managed to make it to 45%. Even that was a long haul! I just didn't care.
This sounded like it would rock my footies off! It didnt. Heck. It was more like a wet sock that someone is forcing me to wear on a cold Montana night! Not a fan.

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Firstly I want to thank Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
MY SKIN. IS SO. ITCHY.
That was a wild ride. I went into this book blind, I don’t know what I expected. Judging by the cover I expected a Zombie book. But BOY was I off. This book focuses on a parasite living in a host and OHHH man. The way the author explains each thing in detail is skin crawling yet amazing, it almost felt like you were going through the same things to character was going through. My head STILL itches and I feel this book is going to stick with me for a long long time. If you enjoy skin crawling, disgusting in a good way horror. Then this book is 100% made for you.

It's been a while since I finished a book in one sitting, but that is exactly what happened with this one.

The story starts out quite normal, but after a dog bites the main character things go absolutely crazy.

The characters were all relatable and "normal", what I mean by that is they felt like normal human beings, they weren't the chosen one, or "not like the other girls" which I did appreciate and it really made the book better.

The whole virus/parasite thing reminded me of Resident Evil, and I loved everything about that. I've been looking for books that have the same vibes, and this one was exactly that (although I must mention that when I say it has resi vibes, I mean evil scientists and a virus, not zombie apocalypse).

The descriptions were really gross, even to the point that while I was reading it I became really nauseous, and at this one scene, I literally had to get up from bed and shake my pillows and blanket out because of the stuff I read. It definitely got a reaction out of me while reading, and I think that it's awesome and it shows how great of a book it is.

I pretty much loved everything about this book, but I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. I think it was a little rushed, and fell a bit flat. I was waiting for something bigger to happen, but I do understand that the ending was the way it was in order to get a plot point across.

This was my first book written by the author, but I'm pretty sure that I will check out some of his other works in the future.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves horror, and who is okay with gore. I think if you like zombies you will appreciate this book too, although it isn't a zombie apocalypse book.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Just a Bite opens with Phillip summoned to a laboratory, where Dr. Curtis meets him. Phillip is not used to being summoned in the middle of his sleep, so he knows this must be urgent. Still, Dr. Curtis’s secrecy is maddening, and Phillip is frustrated until he sees a petri dish of PT-104, a man-made parasite that necrotizes the host and feeds on its flesh until it dies, but not before moving to another host. Elsewhere, Melanie is on a date with Darren, which seems to go quite well until she’s bitten by a stray dog. She doesn’t think much of it until the wound starts wriggling with maggot-like creatures. Suddenly, she’s starting to act strange, as though her body isn’t her own. Will somebody be able to help Melanie before it’s too late, or will her body rot and die in front of her while she slowly goes mad, dripping maggots that infect everyone around her?

Just a Bite tells an interesting tale that combines elements of mystery, body horror, and medical horror. All the elements are there for a solid, engaging narrative, but they lack the emotional depth that some readers might seek in reading. To be sure, Bacic is not setting out to write a Nobel-prize winning novel chock full of literary merit and layered meaning, but there are times when the prose seems a bit sloppy or cliched. However, the language and the writing isn’t the point of this book; they are just tools used to propel the characters through the narrative, and if readers suspend their imagination and enter knowing that this is not a profound or deeply resonant book, they should have fun and enjoy themselves.

Just a Bite is an amusing novel, especially if readers don’t take it too seriously. Bacic has written the equivalent of a B-horror film, but there are no pretenses about what it is or why it was written. Bacic has set out to tell an engaging medical horror tale with intriguing mystery and gruesome body images and has succeeded in that task. Especially in the wake of the COVID pandemic, medical horror like Just a Bite takes on an interesting social twist that will capture and engage readers. This is a short read, and one that’s both engaging but not so over-the-top as to be cheesy or unbelievable, and horror fans who are willing to let a little sloppy writing or underdeveloped characterization slide for the sake of an entertaining tale will surely not be disappointed.