Stasia Miller has spent her whole life warning the people around her that she’s an alien and that an invasion is coming. And then the first advance signal is received and released to the world. Everyone will have to believe her now.

This was such an interesting story! In every book of hers I’ve read, Grant does such an amazing job making me love characters, even the advance scout of a race possibly coming to destroy humanity. All of these characters were so diverse and had such unique voices.

There were a couple pacing issues. We hit the ground running with a really intense, horrific prologue, but then everything kind of slows down and doesn’t pick back up until halfway through.

The highlight of this book for me was the horror. It was so well done, the descriptions of the alien plant taking over were so gruesome and engaging. And the ending took me completely by surprise! I was thoroughly convinced it was going one way, and then everything changed.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the opportunity to review this arc!

Fascinating, absorbing sci-fi horror about an alien invasion, and the people who've insisted that they're aliens all along. As seen through the eyes of a complex character, Stasia, sympathies and sides are not so clearly drawn, and what the aliens want is not as straightforward as it might seen. This book is long, but it flies by, and I just couldn't put it down.

This took me a few tries to really get into, but once I did it really grabbed me. This is so good, definitely a new favorite. That beginning is so brutal. Definitely check the triggers on this one! I feel it’s best going in as blind as you possibly can.

A charming and yet horrifying exploration of humanity, colonization, and what it takes to be family.

Disclaimer: I read this as a tandem read with a physical ARC as well as an audiobook ARC from NetGalley and Tornightfire. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The audiobook was done very well. (See audiobook stats below for more details). I feel like the audiobook narrator did a great job, being very clear and concise with her narration, as well as holding the same speed in tempo throughout the text. I never had to adjust my speed or change any settings for the audiobook. It all played out really well from beginning to end. I felt like the narrator gave great characterization to everybody involved and did a great job differentiating each character with her voice.

This book did an excellent job of making you care about all of the characters while subtly building this creeping feeling of dread and claustrophobia as the invasion closes in on you. It was almost charming in the way the characters were portrayed. It felt so much like a cozy found family type situation, with the undercurrent of a hostile alien invasion that was going to wipe out humanity at any moment. It was very easy to root for the characters in general, even the ones you necessarily shouldn't be rooting for. I enjoyed the conflicted feelings I had for the characters, because I knew I shouldn't be caring for them and yet I ultimately did.

There was great diversity within the characters that were represented. There was representation in the way of a Mexican American character, where her language and culture was mentioned several times throughout the text. As well as a very prominent trans main character that was discussed quite regularly and was very normalized. I enjoyed that quite a bit. We also had a brief mention of Asian American characters as well. I really enjoyed that the characters were not just present within the text, but also it spoke of their background and/or trials and tribulations several times throughout the book as well which solidified that the author was really making an attempt to represent by public communities and not just checking off for some sort of "diversity checkbox".

I really enjoyed the way humanity was really explored throughout the text. What makes us human and ties us to those around us was a big theme in this book. I felt like it covered multiple facets of this theme and it was very interesting to read. Watching our main character Anastasia grapple with what made her human versus what made her "other" was at times stressful but always interesting and poignant. Relating humanity to family that you have created also was extremely interesting to read about. Blood is not always what makes us family.

I felt the overall premise of this book was extremely interesting. I've never read anything like it, and I found it to be an extremely easy book to hold my attention. I did get a little bogged down during info dumps. Some conversations I felt got a little too heavy on the "tell" and not the "show". But overall, the entire book really captured my attention and my imagination. The imagery within this novel was so amazingly done. I definitely could picture of these plant human hybrids at work consistently being revealed throughout the novel. I felt the way that the aliens were portrayed was also very unique and different from other popular portrayals throughout media.

Overall, I think this is gonna be an absolutely wonderful sci-fi release for this year. It's definitely gonna be one. I'll think about for a long time.

Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 8 hours 18 minutes
🎤: Frankie Corzo, Cynthia Farrell
Genre: Sci-fi Horror
Gore: 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio/ Tornightfire
Themes: humanity, colonization, found family
Representation: Mexican American characters, Trans characters

This was lighter and fluffier than I thought it would be. Going in I thought it would be a dark horror but it was more young adultish.I liked the beginning and it definitely started with a bang but I would be aware it is more of a young adult sci-fi than a horror.

I’m finding it hard to review Overgrowth. I liked it, I didn’t like it. The entire book is from the premise of a seedpod that kills a human child and takes over her identity. As she grows up, she continually tells everyone around her she is not human, she is an alien, but is not believed just co soldered odd. She has trouble relating to most people but has a boyfriend she loves and two good friends who believe her when she says she’s not human. She’s never really had proof that this is true only strange dreams where she’s in a forest that is unlike anything on earth. When proof comes that an alien invasion is about to start and she is definitely one of the aliens the story takes on her conflict and that of her friends as to what side they want to fight for. It’s a cleverly brilliant book with a unique version of the pod people. There are great many reasons shown why earth should not survive. I loved this part of the book however I didn’t really care for all the descriptions of the forest and the actual aliens themselves. I found myself skimming all those parts. And I wasn’t quite sure of how I felt about the ending.

Seanan McGuire never disappoints, especially when Mira Grant delivers sci-fi/horror, and this is most definitely the best of both worlds. If the blurb was enough to catch your interest, then this is why you need to read this book. The character work is wonderful. Stasia is an alien, she tells us so, and yet you find yourself rooting for her and the people she cares about. Even characters you may not agree with, you can still find yourself understanding why they do what they do. The plot and the pacing are on point. Just remember, it's only a story.

This book gave Stranger Things vibes. I was hooked from the beginning wondering where it will. And boy was it something! Lol
5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I did not care for this book. Which surprised me because I have generally enjoyed almost everything I've read by MIra Grant! I think that it boils down to a few factors. 1) I don't usually like Sci-Fi as a genre unless it has very specific requirements, and this one didn't get there for me. This is probably a 'me' issue, though I will say that Sci-Fi horror is something I have more wiggle room in if done right, and it didn't get there. 2) I thought that the pacing was a bit off, at times it felt too slow, and at other times it felt like it was speeding along too fast. And 3), and this may change once it's published, but we had no content warnings addressed, and it started with a very disturbing and graphic death of a three year old girl. And I definitely would have liked to have been warned, because these days I have a really hard time with any kind of child death in a story. I don't generally like docking points for things like this, but for whatever reason this really, really got to me and hindered my experience (and again, the final copy may have content warnings). What I did like: I enjoyed the fun little nods to LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (the cat was named Seymour!), and I like that Grant really likes to try and rep for diverse characters and thoughtful themes. The positives didn't outweigh the negatives for me, however. Sci-Fi fans make like this more!

I knew Mira Grant (aka Seanan Mcguire) was probably one of the few writers who could hook me into an alien invasion story even though this is not my usual genre. Plant girl, trans partner, ride or die best friend fighting their way through to the end of the human race. I fell for so many of these characters and I can't wait for this book to come out so I can book yell about it with people outside my head!

This was such an incredible mashup of sci-fi classics yet told in a fresh new way. I really enjoyed my time with the book and the world-building Grant put into her aliens.
I also loved how Grant mirrors her aliens with a cast of humans who feel alien in their own societies - these were characters I cared about and I think other readers will, too.
I’m worried about accidentally spoiling something so I’m trying not to say much - I think that’s how this book is best experienced.
If you enjoyed War of the Worlds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or The Ruins, I think you’ll love this book!

Thank you Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for my review copy!

Adult | Science Fiction

This one didn’t fully land for me, and that's sad because these types of books are things I enjoy read.

The premise had promise—blending elements of body horror, found family, and near-future sci-fi—but the execution felt uneven. The book starts off strong with a jarring scene that suggested we were headed into something gritty and horrific, but then it shifts into a slower, more meandering story that never quite regained that intensity until the last few pages.

The pacing was a struggle. Most of the actual plot happens around the 70% mark, and even then, much of it happens off-page. The main character spends a lot of time unconscious or removed from the action, which made it hard to stay grounded or emotionally invested.

Stylistically, I did enjoy moments where the writing felt like a story being told—it created a bit of distance in a way that worked sometimes. But overall, the narrative felt repetitive, and I didn’t connect with the main character in meaningful ways, which I guess is the point since she's an alien. The side characters emotional reactions felt flat, and even the found family element didn’t carry the weight it could have.

The book also dives into topics like gender identity, sexuality, and minority rights—which are important—but often in a way that felt more like a lecture than an organic part of the story. These moments pulled me out of the narrative, rather than enriching it.

I do hope the graphic scene in the beginning is called out as a CW since it might upset some readers.

In the end, I think I liked the concept more than the execution. The atmosphere never quite matched the stakes the story seemed to set up, and too many important moments felt glossed over or emotionally muted.

Thank you to TOR for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another sci-fi horror win for Mira Grant. From the age of 3, Anastasia has been telling anyone who will listen that she is from an alien race, coming to invade earth. By the time she is 35 years old, most of her family and friends think this is just a funny quirk, when out of nowhere a scientist picks up an alien communication signal. Anastasia now questions, is her family finally coming to get her?
The premise of this book caught me right away, but this book packed such an emotional punch, it touches on trans rights, immigration, and colonization. It also talks about big philosophical questions, is humanity worth saving? how important community is to individuals, to have that sense of belonging.
I adored the sci-fi aspects of this book, an alien race of sentient plants, sign me up! This also is very gory at parts, so beware, it lives up to its horror category.
This is a me issue, but I was hoping for more expansion on the alien front, with all the different races of alien plants.
I went into this for the gory fun, and came out contemplating philosophical concepts! A win in my book.

Anastasia Miller has introduced herself as an alien, the vanguard of an invasion, since she was three years old. Turns out, the invasion is real, and it’s already starting.

Overgrowth is a unique twist on invasion of the body snatchers with plant-based aliens. Instead of a traditional thriller focusing on the hero, however, Ms. Grant flips the script. We focus on a member of the alien vanguard who has lived, and grown up, as a human since the human child whose place she took was three years old.

This is a superb character-focused sci-fi with a solid alien invasion story as the framing device. Believable, diverse, characters. Found family (ish) fighting their way through tragedy. Difficult choices. Love / relationships through trauma. All around excellent character-driven sci-fi.

Strong recommendation.

Note that, while this is reasonably categorized as sci-fi horror, it is light horror (at least for me). This is *not* jump scares, heart racing, high tension, terrified for the characters, horror. Rather, the horror components are in the mechanism of invasion, light body horror, and end of world scenarios. This could, in my opinion, have come just as easily from Seanan McGuire as from her pseudonym Mira Grant.

Thanks to @tornightfire and @netgalley for the eArc.

Read April 28, 2025.

This is my first read from Mira Grant, and it was an interesting one, I haven't read an alien book like this. For more sensitive readers I would point out that child death is a big part of the plot. If you are a horror sci-fi fan and can look past that, this was an entertaining read.

The aliens of this story are very much trying to take over the world, their strategy being replace enough people to have the high ground and wait it out for the right moment (several years later). We follow Stasia (Anastasia) as they navigate the oncoming alien invasion, and the complication that she is actually one of them. This book took me by surprise, there were a lot of moments grappling with identity, friendship, and perseverance. I thought it was a smart and interesting choice to focus the narration from the viewpoint of one of the aliens attempting to conquer the world, and I also enjoyed how the plot navigates us through the "humanity" of Stasia. Don't let the found family heart of this story let your guard down, Grant sets up ominous and unsettling scenes very well, and the story has plenty of strong body horror elements. I look forward to reading more from Grant!

Thank you to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

This one was okay, I just think I wasn't the reader for the book. However I do see many readers absolutely love it

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire, and Mira Grant for the opportunity to read this eARC!

Alien plants taking over the earth? Say less! I actually think this one is best to go in blind but I will say, plenty of body horror and plot!

Alien plant life coming to take over the Earth, you say? I’m here for it! 🙌

This was my first read by Mira Grant (despite having the entire Newsflesh series sitting on my TBR) and I absolutely loved it! Scifi horror is my favorite genre mashup and this one does not disappoint! 👏

I do think the body horror could have been even more horrific than it was, but it was still pretty vivid. 🫣 I loved the Stasia character and the ending was excellent!! Highly recommend this one! 🤓

TW: child death, body horror

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire, and Mira Grant for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

V meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Day of the Triffids with a little bit of The Stand thrown in.
Mira Grant's latest is an alien invasion story centered around a young woman who has been telling people since she was three years old that she is an alien and that an invasion is coming. Everyone thought is was a quirk - until an amateur astronomer intercepts a signal that announces the presence of aliens, and they're coming this way.

This could easily be a classic and rote invasion novel, but Grant has a real gift for writing compelling and very real characters and giving readers plenty of insight into their motivations and thoughts while also moving the book along at a quick pace. In a short span of time, Grant finds a way to make us care about a lot of people an how events are going to impact each of them.
But where Grant really shines in this and other of her monstercentric books is in her creation of those monsters. The aliens are fascinating, both in their appearance (which she gives us in amazing detail) and their culture, while also being terrifying in their motivation and capability.

Great book in the spirit of War of the Worlds with a thing or two to say about humanity.

Mira Grant - or any penname of Seanan McGuire's - is an automatic read for me. I adore the way that the narratives and characters are built, the way that the stories just skewer away enough from what you think you know, whilst paying homage and reverence to the materials from which she draws inspiration.

I really had no idea where this story was going to take me. It rode the line between The Little Shop of Horrors, War of the Worlds, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with the kind of humor and heartbreak you expect from a Mira Grant story.

It was easy to relate to Stasia, especially in a politically fraught climate and I feel like having this story helped to heal a little part of me, and grow the parts that are ready to take a stand.