Michael Seidlinger is one of the few authors with the insane knack for upsetting me so thoroughly in his books. I haven't read another author that can get under my skin the way his works do.

A very creepy, odd, atmospheric book. Went into it now knowing exactly what I was getting into, so it shocked me a little bit. Perfect for everyone who wants to feel in control of their own lives or anyone who longs to get revenge on anyone and everyone.

Thank you NetGalley for a digital arc of The Body Harvest. This book reminded me of the movie Bliss with Salma Hayek and Owen Wilson as well as the cult classic film Fight Club with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Dizzyingly disturbing, I’ve never read anything quite like this book. I’ve also never read a book in this way—hand covering my mouth and nose with pure disgust as if the words would jump out from the page and infect me. In my mind I separated this book into three acts. The first act when we meet our ill fated couple was my favorite. The second act when the mysterious Zaff arrives was my least favorite. The last act absolutely stole the show for me and breathed back a lot of life and excitement into the story. I really loved the ending and the direction the author took with the timeline mix ups. If you enjoy unreliable narrators, disturbing characters and body horror, this is a story perfect for you.

This book has serious Fight Club vibes -- instead of toxic masculinity this one focuses on our obsession with pain and diseases. It's great for fans of Chuck Palahniuk, but it might be too much for sensitive readers. It tries to be deep and philosophical, but I think it sometimes misses the mark because this one is all over the place. I enjoyed it plenty, but I'm not sure it is one I would recommend lightly or widely.

Being sick is a feeling that most of us hate. You can’t breathe properly, you’ve got the chills, and you’re just downright uncomfortable. It’s not a fun time but what happens when your entire existence is finding ways to get sick? Getting sick sends this euphoria through your body and that’s the life you crave.

There's no way to beat around the bush here, so here we go. This was fucked up and part of me enjoyed this. Well, parts of it. The first and second parts are what got me, it was the third part that didn't interest me all that much and the ending fell kind of flat.

It was easy to follow, the characters were whacked out of their minds, and it was all very disgusting. Me being a fan of disgusting really enjoyed the fuckedupness of Will and Olivia and their quest to catch the perfect illness. I've never read anything like this. What I didn't like was the very end. I think it should have ended after we found out what happened to Olivia. A big finish for the germ queen.

The Body Harvest was interesting, disgusting, and quite enjoyable. If you're weird like me then you'll love licking doorknobs right along with Oliva and Will.

Horror for a post-Covid world. It's a challenging read but I think that's the point. The narrator is a bit to adjust to but it's a unique title that I think body horror fans will gravitate towards.

This has a really unique concept but it’s gross and disturbing. Will and Olivia are sick, inside and out and I didn’t care what happened to them.

this is a book that makes your skin feel slimy, an unabashedly gross tale. i’ve grown bored of pandemic fiction over time but this was a bold, transgressive take on the subject matter. a triptych of sorts, i do feel like this narrative had three very different through lines that made it kind of choppy at points, but i will say i still physically recoiled at so many points which was mainly what i was searching for in this story.

I confess that in a COVID world I find plague narratives generally quite boring. Not so here, as Seidlinger has eschewed tired metaphor for something entirely unique. Disease haunts us, and has for centuries, and so this tale of facing sickness head on and seeking it out is sure to disgust and delight in equal measure.

iI enjoyed this a fair bit, disturbing and gross and extremely visceral, full of horrible people being horrible. I think the level of unreliability and, for lack of a better word, pretension in the narrative style made it harder for me to appreciate the excellent bones and freaky shivers it's clearly aiming to leave the reader with. The style might work better for others, but it was a little frustrating to me by the end, and I was left feeling a little disengaged. Probably a personal taste thing, but in terms of the themes etc, I loved this, and would reccommend for anyone who likes the really disgusting, visceral, pessimistic stories. Lots of different fluids in this one.

I don’t even want to give one star to be completely honest. I kept picking up the book and trying my hardest to get thru. I’m not a person who is easily offended by stories but I found this one repulsive!! I made it halfway and gave up! I’m mot sure I would say this book is right for anyone. A story of two ppl who try to get sick to feel something. And name their illnesses like a friend or foe!!
A deeply disturbing story that is for sure.
DNF
Do not recommend at all

Psychological Thriller / Horror
NetGalley ARC - Clash Books (SMPR)
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"Waking up without any symptoms reminds a person of everything they lack"

This books is split into three acts following the protagonists Will and Olivia after very low points in their lives they start to crave feeling sick as a way of coping with depression. I assume this is similar to bodily harm in that the goal is to feel something different and as they often refer to, attempt to become immune to the world they live in. They find a group of Chasers that pass on information about where exotic illnesses are out breaking so that these people can be the first in line to experience the new infections.
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"The feeling of being immune, not to any viral strain, but rather to others. People."

Act I is like if Fight Club was about catching viruses instead of hitting people. Chasing the high of near death. Trying to feel something, anything. All about finding a way to experience sickness, licking handles, accessing used medical equipment.

"For so many the thought of infection accentuates their greatest fears. Yet for a few, the word opens doors."

Act II becomes very Thelma and Louise, Alice in Wonderland, fever dream as the two protagonists explore a bit more of the supernatural and experience some quite gruesome horror scenes. Still not fully sure what was real or what was fake in this Act, similar to how the protagonists experience the events. However, the psychological part definitely lingers and leads us into Act III

"My temperature was so high...It rewrites how you think. It makes you see past all this bullshit, the people, the money, the so-called American Dream, and it shows you just how little we have control over anything."

Act III is a bit more subtle, focusing on the human experience and what we can and cannot control in life, and when we get what we want how long can it last

The Body Harvest is a profoundly confusing reading experience. The plot sees us following protagonists Will and Olivia - in a strangely passive third-person omniscient voice, one I never got used to - two individuals who are addicted to being sick, and always chasing their next fix.

It's a simple - albeit disgusting - premise, and easy enough to understand - or, it would be, if the author didn't feel the need to obfuscate absolutely everything about it with alternately pretentious and cringe-worthy language that is at best, vague, and at worst, intentionally misleading. To give an example: Will and Olivia name the viruses they catch. These names are impossible to take seriously - ordinary names like Gregory, Charles, and Roderick - but why do they do this, other than to confuse the reader? Unless I missed it, it's ever explained, justified, or even hinted at; it's just baffling.

To revisit the passive narration: The text is littered with quotes like "Zaff is carried over to the couch, where he sleeps off an attack." He "is carried" by Will, so why not just say "Will carries Zaff to the couch"? Or "The woman is tortured" - BY ZAFF, so why not say "Zaff tortures the woman"? Or - again! - "The car takes her through the outskirts of the city", which makes it sound as if Olivia is being driven, when in fact OLIVIA IS DRIVING THE CAR. Direct action was removed as much as possible, rendering the action scenes staccato and stuttering and everything else near unreadable.

The Fight Club and American Psycho influences are clear, but The Body Harvest has none of their clarity of purpose or charm. The bottom line is, this concept is not as high-brow, weird, or interesting as Seidlinger seems to think it is, but as a post-pandemic narrative it could have stood on its own two feet had he just leant into its simplicity, rather than trying to elevate the horror. Unfortunately, he took the latter route, and this is the result. 1.5 stars.

First and foremost, reading this while in recovery from COVID made the story all the more visceral. I love depraved stories about morally bankrupt characters, and this one was a wild ride which left me surprised, shocked, and grossed-out at every turn. I’m a big fan of B-movies, and this felt like something straight out of the mind of Cronenberg or H.G. Lewis. Definitely recommend for those who like splatterpunk/extreme horror.

Three solid stars. I took a chance on this one though I always say I don't like when COVID related subjects show up in media (outside of the news of course). But after experiencing it as a society, I just don't like when it shows up in fictional work.

With that being said;

"The Body Harvest" unfolds in three distinct acts or sections. The initial act was by far my favorite. This section perfectly delivered on the promises outlined in the book's back-cover summary: two fractured individuals seeking their next viral fix within an online community that proves to be as treacherous as the viruses it peddles.

Act two, however, took an unexpected turn. Here, the narrative veered into the supernatural, presenting a fever dream of bizarre occurrences—wounds healing in the blink of an eye, actions rewound with lingering mental scars, and inexplicable Jedi mind trick moments. This departure into the supernatural realm felt abrupt and disorienting, catching me off guard with no prior indication of the subgenre shift.

The third act delves into existential territory, intertwining social commentary with the devolution of the characters—a reversal of character growth. The author's themes around media, the virality of viruses, and the perils of "success" culture are evident, as is the recurring motif of individuals feeding on each other in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

While I recognize the thematic resonance of the supernatural elements, I found myself yearning for a narrative more aligned with the gripping realism of the first act. The abrupt shift into weirdness, reminiscent of a fever dream hallucination, could have been more enjoyable if there had been a clearer indication of the book's subgenre from the outset. My initial expectations of a grim tale involving the investigation of an online forum and a group of organ harvesters, bent on inducing global sickness for their own sinister goals, were somewhat overshadowed by the unexpected turn into the supernatural.

While I acknowledge that this isn't quite my cup of tea, I suggest readers just give it a shot.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This is a strange little book! I had trouble getting into it but it picked up, it's an interesting concept for a story, and really captures the grossness of the main characters