Unfortunately I was unable to download this book before the archive date, so I'm not able to leave a review. I look forward to reading and reviewing books by this author in the future.

DNF - Put simply, this didn't work for me & perhaps that's due to when I tried to read it but ultimately, I didn't vibe with the story's flow or the style.

Transformation, even mental transformation, passes through a rigorous transformative control of the body. This seems to be the message Metcalfe wants to offer with this novel in which a young woman, who comes from a somewhat insecure past and a controlling relationship, through the constant exercise by which she strengthens herself physically, transforms herself into a kind of spiritual leader, changing everyone whose life she touches. It is a very well-written, yet unconvincing novel, forced in many places, with unclear relationships and motivations. Still, one admires the author's effort to create something out of the box.

Strange and sublime, Chrysalis explores the relationship between selfhood and the body. Metcalfe's sentences are short, punchy and set the pace for the novel.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I thought it was a good book.

This was interesting, and I think that if I spent more time with it there was a feminist commentary on the way we monitor women's bodies and take them as totemic, but it was kind of oblique. I think the structure of never having the central character from her own perspective was interesting. As well, I think the way the novel is framed around desire was really intriguing. Still, it was kind of difficult to read alone, and might be better in discussion with others.

I just couldn't do all the body talk I'm sure this book is fine but I couldn't get past the first chapter without feeling icky.

chrysalis is enigmatic from start to finish. it follows a nameless woman and her transformation. to me, it felt very reminiscent of the vegetarian by han kang. this is such a fresh and unique way to angle a book and i thoroughly enjoyed it. the unnamed woman is elusive until the end, and while sometimes frustrating that i could not get more of a direct glimpse, i think that was the entire meaning. their attachment and obsession to this woman was so thrilling to read and left me feeling entirely unsettled at the end.

Chrysalis is split into three sections, in which we learn about an unnamed woman from the perspective of her mother, her colleague, and a potential lover. Through their eyes, we learn about her journey from isolated childhood to unconventional social media guru.

I love how the story unraveled; there are no “twists” in this Chrysalis, this is good old-fashioned plot progression, and Metcalfe has complete control. The narrator of each section is fully formed, with completely distinct styles. My favorite was the section narrated by the woman’s mother; Metcalfe captured the complexities of mother/grown-up daughter relationships. I saw another review comparing Metcalfe to Gwendoline Riley, and I definitely saw parallels between this novel and Riley’s superb My Phantoms.

I’m not a big fan of novels where social media is a major factor, but I was so pleasantly surprised by the intelligence of this novel. The woman’s trajectory is unconventional, and this is not an easy read. My favorite books are usually those that fall into the category of “uncanny”, and “evokes feelings of unease”, and Chrysalis checked both of those boxes.

I think this would absolutely work as a play, in a truncated version. The three sections have the feel of a monologue, and wind together perfectly.

I have never read anything like Chrysalis, and I am now a fully certified Metcalfe fan. What an exciting, refreshing, weird novel.

I enjoyed learning about the main character through the eyes of three people around her who are watching her grow and change. The story pulled me in right away. Beautiful writing.

𝟰.𝟱 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗨𝗣
In a word: mesmerizing

What a unique and wild ride! I’ve never read a book before where the main character doesn’t even have their own perspective and also doesn’t even have a name.

We are tasked with learning about our main character through the perspectives of three people: someone who wants her, her mother, and someone who essentially wants to be her. It was so fascinating to read from each person’s perspective and how they paint the picture of our main character and what they think of her. It’s even crazier to think that this is what happens in real life everyday. People make their own conclusions about who we are based on how we move about the world and how we look. And no one can ever really be right about you, because they aren’t you.

Such a thought-provoking and entrancing read and I highly recommend it!

This story is a bit of an odd one - the central plot follows an unnamed woman who becomes an online wellness cult leader and is told through the perspectives of three outsiders, which is an interesting conceit as by nature all three of the narrators paint incomplete and unreliable pictures of the protagonist. My main gripe is with the writing style - the protagonist being unnamed is so unnecessary and makes it annoying to read as the narrators constantly refer to "she" and "her" - it comes across as a lazy way to make the character seem more mysterious. I also could have done without a lot of the superfluous details (especially from the first narrator) - I skimmed over a lot of mundane text. By far the strongest was the second narrator, the protagonist's mother, as the third narrator hardly appeared to have any point of view at all.

In the end, it felt as though we missed out on the most interesting aspects of the character's transformation - becoming a supposed cult leader. The cult she builds is only ever vaguely alluded to, and it's unclear how this would have happened or if it actually happened at all. So much of the story existed in a seemingly liminal space, and it seems to be the authors' intent despite how much it left me wanting.

Very interesting, though I definitely felt something was missing. I think what was missing was obviously intentional, but the book just didn't feel complete to me.

Wow! This is one of those books that is going to stick with me for a long time. This has actually been on my NetGalley shelf for quite a while and after reading some reviews I just wasn't feeling that excited to read it. But I absolutely loved it! Chrysalis was unlike anything I've read before - there really isn't much of a plot, it's more of a character exploration. We learn about an unnamed women and her transformation from 3 different character perspectives: Elliot, Bella, and Susie. Bella's perspective was my favorite, but I really enjoyed all three (even though Elliot is kind of a creep).

There was just so much to this - an exploration of the female body and what society expects, influencers/content creation, isolation, community, relationships, loneliness. There is just so much here, I feel like this would be a great book for book club or a buddy read because there is so much to discuss.

I will read anything Anna Metcalfe writes, I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. Thank you so much NetGalley and Random House for the eARC of Chrysalis.

This book took me completely by surprise. It's a quiet, slow build that has some intricately crafted characters. As the story unfolds and the reader starts seeing all the pieces fall into place, this book becomes something truly unforgettable.

Anna Metcalfe has now cemented herself as an author that I will read anything she writes.

I did not vibe with this book, something about the writing put me off fairly early. I will not be giving a review. I don't want to give too terrible of a star rating since I did not finish, so I will give this a three, as to not tip the average star rating in any direction.

Chrysalis follows a woman amidst change, but the story never really gets close to her. Instead, we learn about her through the eyes of three people close to her: a man from the gym she briefly dates, her mother, a coworker-turned-friend. As each tries to understand her, endear themselves to her, she transforms her body and mind through meditation, exercise, and increasing isolation from the world.

I see what it’s trying to do/say about isolation, about women’s loneliness, our transformation as defense and protection. I see what it’s saying about society and expectations and assumptions. Each of the three narrators has chosen isolation to some extent, though they live within the conventional bounds of society. The difference between them and the woman they obsess over is that she, unlike them, has chosen her own singular identity. She exists, by design, in a vacuum.

I feel the sense of eeriness the author was going for. But where I wanted that eeriness to leave me unsettled, it gave me confusion. I had a hard time caring about anyone or anything, though I’ll concede that maybe that was the point. But this felt like the kind of story that would have made a really gripping short story or novella; for 270 pages, I kept expecting just a bit more.

Chrysalis follows un unnamed female narrator through her journey of mindfulness. She adopts healthy habits such as beginning yoga practice, going to the gym and meditating. The book is an interesting take on radical self care and how it varies from person to person. A compelling, unique, and engaging story.

Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe is like that weirdly captivating dream you had last night—you can't quite put your finger on what it all means, but it's fascinating nonetheless. It's told from the perspectives of three people in the main character's orbit who somehow find themselves fixated on this enigmatic woman as she undergoes a transformation. This is one of my favorite types of MC's- a nameless one.

Chrysalis is a wild exploration of desire, or perhaps more accurately, desperation. Picture a bunch of lost souls in the modern world, clinging to anything that gives their existence meaning. It's like they stumbled upon a lifeline in the form of the main character, and suddenly she becomes the epicenter of their universe. Is it her fault? Should we hold her responsible for the way people attach themselves to her, showering her with attention and devotion? The answer lies in the murky gray area this book proudly calls home. I, too, felt the way these people did at times. Sometimes I hated the main character, sometimes I wanted to be her, sometimes I just wanted to know someone like her.

Although I really enjoyed it, one thing I felt this book lacked was a deeper look inside the main character. I was hoping for a glimpse into her mind and never got it, and because of this I did feel at the end that there was that last piece missing for me.

Chrysalis is a thought-provoking exploration of selfhood and solitude. It poses the million-dollar question: Can a woman truly have agency over her body while still being a part of society? Prepare yourself for an explosive answer that'll leave you reevaluating your own existence. This book was super elusive and hard to wrap my head around, but I landed on the opinion that it's worth the journey.

Beautiful, sublime and supremely horrifying in equal measure. I greatly enjoyed it and was really moved