I can see why this short story collection might not be for some people but it was a hitter for me & I cannot wait to get my grubby hands on a physical copy!

Oddbody is a collection of ten short stories touching on themes like womanhood, sexuality, fear & shame. every story gets even more bizarre but I literally could not flip the pages fast enough!

it's not just weird for the sake of being weird, each story has a metaphor underneath that makes you think. some are clear & straightforward while others you might need to read through again before they click.

the writing was so descriptive, the body horror was great & I really like how the author weaved magical realism throughout each story.

my favorites: notes on performance(this was literally so so good), pineapple, & oddbody.

if you're into weird girl fic & body horror, this is for you.

Review of Oddbody: Stories by Rose Keating
Oddbody is a wonderfully strange, sharply written collection that blends body horror, dark humor, and surrealism with emotional insight. Keating’s voice is bold and fresh, and her stories explore identity and transformation in ways that are both unsettling and deeply human. Some stories are more abstract than others, but the originality and style make this a standout for fans of offbeat, literary horror.

DNF @ 20%

I was not particularly a fan of Oddbody unfortunately. I don't know why and it's unfortunate because I was really excited about getting into the body horror genre. I just felt like I was getting really lost in the writing but in the worst way possible.

apologies but anything implying an animal is going to get hurt or is describing it,...just it's a no from me. the rest of the stories I read were pretty good.

Well that was a weird trip. This whole book felt like a Mark Ryden painting. I will say that some of these stories really stuck with me and I plan to go back to in the future, I can see myself annotating a copy. Thank you so much NetGally and the publishers for sending over this e-arc for my honest review.

This was such a fascinating and provocative collection of short stories. For a debut collection, Rose Keating exceeded my expectations! I really liked how it explored themes of womanhood and the body. The body horror was great! The writing was vivid and descriptive. Some of the scenes made me shudder (in a good way!). My favorite stories were Squirm, Pineapple, Notes on Performance, Eggshells, and The Vegetable. I understand that it may not be for everyone, but I really hope more people give it a chance. I can’t wait to see what Keating will release in the future!

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, for the ARC.

This just was not for me. With all short story collections, some are gonna be good and some are gonna be misses. Unfortunately this one was more misses for me. I do think for anyone who enjoys more weird, gory, lit fic/horror, that this will be a huge hit for you!

A deeply unsettling, visceral set of stories. There were 2 excellent standouts (“Pineapple” and “Notes on Performance”). Some were a bit too much for my taste. I found the first half much harder to get through than the second half. This was overall an unflinchingly weird collection, chock-full of body horror.

Oddbody is a... well... odd short story collection from debut author Rose Keating. Present are 10 short stories with themes on womanhood, sexuality, existence, human anatomy but with a nice little body horror twist.

I really did enjoy Keating's writing and the way she writes visceral imagery with such subtlety. I also loved how she presented these themes throughout each of the stories, each story was fresh and engaging. With short story collections, I often categorize them into "hits" and "misses" but surprisingly there was only one story in here that I didn't enjoy--and that's because it was too short!

Certainly won't be a book for everyone when it releases but I enjoyed my stay with it and highly recommend if you love "weird girl lit" or just horror in general.

Rose Keating’s debut, Oddbody, is a short story collection that explores themes like the weirdness of bodies and of its existence in itself. This collection has 10 stories that are immersive, strange and reflective. The stories themselves were each well fleshed out and executed. The only detraction for me was that some of the stories portrayed very similar characters and scenarios. Not necessarily bad just something I noticed during my reading experience. If you enjoy "weird girl" fiction, definitely check this out. Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC. You can pick this up when it publishes July 01, 2025!

This book is definitely full of odd. It’s like receiving a box of various dark chocolates with different fillings inside. Some you find alluring and others just aren’t your thing. The stories I did enjoy, I found dark, mysterious, relatable, and absolutely odd. Macabre, metaphorical, some of them absurd. Interesting complication of stories!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC of this dark and twisty collection!**

I love a good short story collection, even when it has its ups and downs. Not every story in this one was a win for me but I did appreciate the writing across the board.

I think this is one that I will revisit to try and gain an appreciation for some additional stories. I wasn’t in the right headspace for body horror and want to give this one another go soon!!

This short story collection lured me into a macabre carnival of bodily oddities that's occasionally stomach-turning but magnetic in its strangeness. Women lay eggs during breakfast shifts, fathers become worms in bathtubs, and ghosts become unwelcome third wheels in relationships - all described in sparse, matter-of-fact prose that makes the bizarre feel strangely normal. I'm usually pretty oblivious to metaphors, so while other readers point out heavy-handed symbolism about depression, relationships, and societal pressures, I just enjoyed each story at face value, letting the visceral imagery of consumption, transformation and rupture burrow under my skin like a grotesque parasite I'm both repulsed and transfixed by. Keating creates these deeply uncomfortable scenarios where the women protagonists accept their bizarre circumstances with a shrug while continuing about their daily lives. The collection feels like witnessing ten different fever dreams where bodies betray, transform, and consume in ways that made my skin crawl but somehow left me hungry for more.

Shocking & visceral are two words that describe this collection of short stories. Keating took body horror to use for the personification of the emotional and physical impact certain aspects of life have on women. Many of the stories will leave you uncomfortable and others will leave you pondering the strangeness of it. Some of the stories I got the meaning of but others went right over my head. I struggled on how to rate this one due to my varying opinions on the stories. I know a big aspect of the stories was body horror, but I do wish there had been some trigger warnings for some of the stories.

❗️TW: animal death & r*pe

Stories I enjoyed:
•Notes on Performance - focuses on a “non-final girl”, seemed to me to show how women will do anything to feel loved and seen even if it means giving pieces of ourselves away
•Oddbody - about a woman who carries around a ghost with her, I took it as how women carry their depression with them always but are expected to handle it and meet the expectations of how women should be
•Pineapple - about a woman who goes through temporary body modifications, an interesting tale about becoming comfortable in your skin and dealing with the judgement of those closest to you

I got through 50% before I decided that I do not really like short stories. I requested this in the hopes I could be a short story collection girlie, and I should have known myself better than that.

3 stars

I was not in the right headspace for this one at the time. The writing is well done but the content was a little too weird and dark for me at this time. I can see myself loving this in the future though.

So weird, so odd, so transfixed.
This collection of short stories is EXACTLY the kind of weird I search for.
To comprehend some of them, just be sure to take any concepts of our current reality out of your brain. 🧠
One story really brought a new outlook to the saying “would you love me if I was a worm?”🪱 That was hands down my fav. My only complaint w the book was I just wanted MORE stories. Hoping for a second one in the future.

Thank you NetGalley, publishers, and author for this ARC read!

Unfortunately I did have to DNF this at 51% just because I don’t think I have the stomach for these types of stories. I’m not rating it because that doesn’t feel fair, especially since I can objectively appreciate the quality of this authors writing and imagination. I just don’t think it was meant for me, which is fine!

If you like “weird girl literature” this collection of stories will be PERFECT for you!! I think this book is very unique and I would recommend it if you are in to that vibe.

***Please keep in mind that if you have issues with things like animal harm or body horror this might not be the book for you.

Had to DNF—Loved this cover and was excited for the weird girl litfic which I usually tend to love. The writing was good, but I didn't feel invested enough to endure the nauseating parts.

Thank you to Rose Keating, and NetGalley for this eARC.

DNF @ 51% | Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Loved the premise of this collection and was excited for weirdness. While this delivered on the “weird,” the stories were not engaging enough for me to continue. Some of the stories I read felt too short and not fleshed out enough or ‘weird for the sake of weird’ to keep me engaged or want to continue. I read through the end of “Pineapple.” I didn’t feel invested in any characters and many of them felt like the exact same from previous stories but with different names.

I thought about soldiering on through the end, as many short story collections I’ve read are genuine mixed bags, but there were more misses than hits in the first half.