Unfortunately, just not my cup of tea. The writing is very good, but the topics are genuinely unsettling and made me nauseous.

The title is fitting as this is definitely odd. I really thought I would love this. I could see where the author was going with some of the stories but then it would abruptly end. Others just went over my head and I didn't fully understand the point of it. This would have benefitted by just picking 3 or 4 short stories and creating a more flushed out narrative. So while this was not a fave, I did enjoy some of the journey and I would continue to read more from this author in the future. 2.5 stars rounded up

3.5 - I enjoyed these stories - they're weird, gory, and made me squirm. I love anything weird and bizarre in my books. However, I just didn't find it to be anything too groundbreaking or different. I feel like body horror short stories are 'in' enough right now that you really need to differentiate, and I don't think any of the stories did that. I found them all super well-written and interesting, just not any different than any other collection like this that I've read. If you're a self proclaimed 'weird girl/guy/person' reader, I'd recommend you check these out!

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

Now THIS is how you do a collection of short stories, especially in the weird girl lit fic genre. The most recent short story collection that I loved in this genre was by Eliza Clark, and this is quite comparable to that. I liked the visceral writing and descriptions and related to many of the stories.

When I say this is the perfect weird girl book I mean it as a compliment.
I can’t help but to allegorically compare the author’s short stories to woman/girlhood experiences. Each story is a bomb that explodes and trickles down into bizarre concepts that you slowly uncover. I don’t know how to explain it, every story was outlandish, gross, grimey, hard to visually conceptualize. It makes you think and the style of writing is so imaginative and peculiar, you have to sit there and visualize the oddities described. Reminds me of the work of Junji Ito in terms of body horror.
I can already see the discourse of people “not getting” this book and then there will be some that will appreciate its brilliance. I have an appreciation for abstract and bizarre reads and this was up my alley.

This would make a great discussion group to see what each individual took for each short story. There are some that I quite didn’t understand like “The Test” and would love to hear someone’s interpretation of it. I enjoyed this book and I would love to see what else Rose Keating has up her sleeve.

This story collection was certainly “odd”. The stories contained in this collection were all very strange, but they were strange enough to keep me reading without being too weird. But, the stories all just seemed to lack a conclusion. On some of these, it’s almost as if the author just stopped writing and I had no idea where the stories were going. I really liked the fantasctial world where some of these stoires took place becasue they were so strange (sheep growing on stalks like corn: very interesting), but I just wish the author did more with the worlds and build stronger stories around them. Not a win for me at least.

3 stars. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is an interesting collection of short stories. I normally love Irish writers - this one I enjoyed but it wasn't exactly my taste. It was interesting and odd, but not quite for me. Three stars.

🥚🐑🪽👻Oddbody👻🪽🐑🥚

You ever finish a book and then stare at a wall contemplating life and asking yourself what the hell did I just read?

This is the embodiment of that.

"...Change, any kind of change. It would feel ecstatic, even if it was a bad thing..."

In this cornucopia of bizzare short stories, we get a bit of everything, weird girl lit, sci-fi, horror, bodyhorror, a look into grief, body dismorphia, the complexities of human relationships, the never ending cycle of trying to fit in into a society that keeps changing, and the relationship within ourselves, all in the light of a feministic POV. I absolutely loved it!

Some of the stories straight out turn my stomach, others made me sad, some made me pause and think and others just freaked me out! Every story has two views if you look close enough.

If you like weird girl literature, bizzarre horror tales and enjoy Bora Chungs work you will absolutely will love Oddbody!

I would love to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this awesome debut e-book ARC!

Thank you to @netgalley and @simonbooks for approving me to read the #eARC for #ODDBODY by @rose_keating_ ❣️

ODDBODY is a collection of bizarre short stories. Even though all the stories are very distinct from each other, I can imagine them all happening in the same universe because they all flow so well together.

I thought this collection was the perfect mix of sad girl/weird girl lit, body horror, and just bizarre imagery— my favorites. There was a lot of discussion about complex relationships, especially with yourself, parents, and romantic partners. With this came themes of depression, existential dread, and tenderness.

I thoroughly enjoyed ODDBODY, easy five stars! It’s out July 31!

Some interesting stories and a well laid style, I liked some more than others but that isn't surprising based on the genre.

I have a tendency to pass out or get woozy when dealing with body horror. Despite this, I persisted through this entire novel, laying flat on my bed, because I liked Rose Keating that much. She’s got a lot of really interesting short stories in here that explore all the right things. Sexuality and the body is at the center of this collection, tied intrinsically to ever piece. The best anthologies feel as though each piece builds off of the ideas of the prior one, complicating and expanding on the ideas throughout. I felt a profound sense of grief and loss in these stories, for the bodies of ourselves and those around us.

If you’ve ever seen the 2008 film “Slither” and wished it had been a literary fiction about the grief of caring for a dying parent, Oddbody by Rose Keating will be perfect for you.

I started out enjoying this book but a little bit further I to it i found some disturbing co tent and decided to stop reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc. I went in blind, I just saw the cover and loved it and wanted to read it. This was a really good and fun read. I enjoyed it very much. I would rate this book a 4.5 stars.

Author Rose Keating has written an immensely entertaining and thought provoking series of short stories in her work Oddbody. This will not be everyone's cup of tea, but like with any great endeavor, the journey matters most. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Oddbody is a deeply unsettling book, but that is done with intention. I think Rose Keating has really nailed the anxiety, the trauma, and the terror of losing control of your own body in ways that are poignant and at times hard to look at. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with most of the stories in this collection and some are stronger than others, but overall... if you don't mind existential dilemmas and a bit of body horror, these tales are enthralling and hard to turn away from despite the subject matter.

Oddbody by Rose Keating is a chilling and thought-provoking exploration of body horror, driven by the author’s exceptional writing. Keating's narrative weaves a gripping tale of transformation, where the protagonist, whose body begins to change in grotesque and unexplainable ways, is forced to confront the terrifying implications of losing control over one's own physical form.

The writing in Oddbody is superb—immersive, detailed, and laced with an eerie tension that keeps readers on edge. Keating’s prose captures both the visceral horror of the protagonist’s deteriorating body and the emotional turmoil of living in a body that no longer feels like one's own. The descriptions are vivid and disturbing, creating a palpable sense of discomfort that lingers long after turning the page. The horror here is not just about grotesque physical transformation, but also about the psychological unraveling that accompanies it.

In terms of body horror, Keating excels by examining the fragility of the human body in a way that is deeply unsettling yet compelling. The book raises profound questions about identity, autonomy, and the horror of losing control over one's most intimate self—our bodies. Oddbody is a striking, disturbing read, showcasing Rose Keating's talent for crafting both psychological and physical terror.

Oddbody: Stories by Rose Keating is an impressive debut collection made up of ten relatively short stories. As you can probably infer from the title, most of these stories are focused on the body and there’s a good dose of visceral body horror in almost every one. The protagonists are of the slant so popular in a lot of contemporary litfic today: the seemingly apathetic, burdened, and often bafflingly passive young woman/girl. While this gives the collection a tone of sameness throughout many of the stories, each one has its own startling take (which is often where the body horror comes in) that makes it unique. The tone of apathy comes in in the way shocking and often grotesque realities surrounding these characters (and their bodies) are related to the reader through minimal prose and scant description of emotions. And yet, Keating displays a striking ability to convey a lot in a very few words.

The descriptions of bodily functions, trauma, and injuries that make up the horror of these stories often made reading them an uncomfortable experience, but once I sat with them and took the time to process the meaning and message of each work, they became that much more impactful and appreciated. Of course, I won’t say that I “got” them all, but I do love the use of body horror to reflect emotional and psychological trauma and Keating does it well.

My favorites included:

“Oddbody” – This is probably the most on the nose story in the collection, a metaphor for depression and mental illness, but it was still pretty devastating.

“Pineapple” - A woman in a stifling relationship undertakes of new hobby of extreme body modification.

“The Vegetable” - A woman living alone tends the isolated family farm which has an unusual harvest, when a potentially threatening stranger sets up camp nearby. This is the story from which the beautiful cover art is taken.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a digital advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. Oddbody: Stories is set for release July 1, 2025. I’d highly recommend this one for fans of weird girl lit and body horror. I’m excited to see what Rose Keating comes out with next.

Releasing July 1st is Oddbody, the intriguing, and sometimes downright bizarre, debut short story collection from Rose Keating.

I find this collection to be aptly named as the stories are a bit odd and the main focus of it all is body horror. Even weeks later, I am still trying to work out if I enjoyed these stories and like them in a strictly traditional sense, but there is no denying that this collection, as a whole, has impact. These stories are not easily shaken off—especially “The Vegetable”, which provides the collection with an admirably strong finish. These tales will work their way into the deepest crevices of the back of your mind and set up camp for as long as they want to. Another thing I will say confidently: Not only would I re-read Oddbody, but I would also gladly read more from Keating and recommend Oddbody to the right readers. One of the best things an author can do, to get me reading, is to pique my curiosity and Oddbody has definitely managed that. I suppose, then, I’ll be hopefully looking forward to more releases from Rose Keating.

Many thanks to Simon Books for the digital ARC!

Oddbody is a strange and unique collection of ten short stories that all revolve around women and women’s bodies. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. I don’t read a lot of weird lit, but I am drawn to the genre. These stories were very odd and a little too weird for me, but I did think they were very imaginative, and the writing was visceral and captivating. Some of the stories were very sexual in nature. There is also a lot of body horror.

My favorite stories in this collection are Oddbody, Bella Lugosi Isn’t Dead, and Next To Cleanliness.

I would recommend this short story collection to lovers of weird fiction. I did enjoy the author’s writing style, so I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

3.5⭐️

David Cronenberg + Junji Ito, Oddbody is a potent collection of short stories observing the female experience in today's society (relationship, sex, beauty standard, etc), through the wonderfully grotesque imagination of Rose Keating. Thoughtfully written with intense frankness, this might not be suitable for the faint of heart, as the stories and description involve a lot of body distortion, violence, and very detailed, textural description of unearthly things. (the cover art is beautiful and peculiar, but how this 'thing' actually shows up in its story is much more monstrous and unsettling.)

My only small gripe is the overall curation; there's a bit of redundancy with some of the stories featuring very similar characters and scenarios—it's as if the author has written versions of the same story, and simply put all the iterations here to beef up the page count. Still, overall this is an excellent introduction to a new-to-me author, and definitely a fresh literary voice I will keep my eye on in the future. Personal favorites from the collection: Oddbody, Squirm, Pineapple.

- - -

Oddbody: 4.5 stars
A great opener, a dark comedy about a woman and her 'third wheel' ghost. Very candid and readable. It can easily be interpreted metaphorically.

Squirm: 5 stars
This is some Junji Ito level weirdness and I love it!

Mouthful: 4 stars
Kirby comes to mind! Another enjoyable, visceral read, if very short and ends rather abruptly.

Bela Lugosi Isn't Dead: 3.75 stars
Quite a fever dream, a whirlwind of ideas and interesting juxtapositions, feels a little frenzy and unfocused as a whole.

Pineapple: 5 stars
Exploring being comfortable in one's skin in a literal sense—has some very unsettling scenes that give me goosebumps.

Next to Cleanliness: 4 stars
Still really good, but feels like a remix of elements already seen in some of the previous stories. At this point the impact is not hitting as hard.

Notes on Performance: 3.5 stars
An interesting reversal focusing on the 'non-final' girls in a slasher, but could've gone much deeper.

Eggshells: 4 stars
A very outlandish, fascinating premise, it's more vibe than plot, but I really enjoyed it.

The Test: 3.75 stars
Really like the fairy tale elements (vastly different from all the previous stories), the ending is a little strange and inconclusive.

The Vegetable: 4 stars
Similar to my reaction to Eggshells, containing a very memorable key visual, but the narrative surrounding it emphasizes more on vibe than plot.