Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling is a psychological body-horror story of a chronically ill young woman who optimistically enrolls in a cutting edge medical study in hopes of changing her life. What she finds is a terrifying, confusing, and painful ordeal that strips her of her agency and highlights the worst of the ethical horrors the medical field can inflict.

So to preface this, I’m a healthcare worker in my day job. For me, the accuracy and detail with which Starling described medical equipment, hospital interactions, and medical procedures was wonderful. I felt fully immersed because there was no moment where I thought “ok, this author clearly has watched a lot of House and nothing else.” The accuracy not only detailed but slightly triggering. If you have medical trauma or are a healthcare worker who wants to escape your workplace during your reading, I would caution you. The details are intense, accurate, and come in a constant onslaught. This novel is deeply atmospheric, cultivating a feeling of dread always immediately. You can immediately feel the sense of foreboding, disorientation, and loss of control. This is executed at a high level. However, this book is not particularly plot-heavy. While there are events that move things forward, they are separated by long periods of evocative but relatively action-free reflection. For fans of really sensory, immersive horror, this is great. If you need highly action-rich scares or a plot with concrete resolutions, this may not be an option for you.

Overall, I really did enjoy The Graceview Patient. I felt like the author did an incredible job of creating a truly overwhelming story of medical gaslighting, lack of control, and complete disorientation. The horror is in the fact that unlike an alien or a ghost, the fear of being trapped in a medical system that robs you of virtually everything is much, much closer to most people’s reality.

I think that this is going to be a divisive title. Some readers are simply going to be put off by the heavy medical jargon and the slow pace. However for those who love creeping, psychological horror, this is a great read that’ll have you thinking twice about your faith in the medical system. For me it’s a very solid 4/5.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling had me hooked from the start. The eerie hospital setting, the secretive medical treatments, and the overall sense that something wasn’t quite right created a creepy, suspenseful vibe I couldn’t get enough of. I loved how the story kept me guessing, was the main character really experiencing all of this, or was it all in her head? That uncertainty made the book even more intriguing.

I was fully into it… until the ending. It felt really abrupt, like the story just stopped without giving any real closure. I kept flipping pages thinking I missed something. It left me with more questions than answers and made the ending feel a little unfinished.

Still, the ride getting there was worth it. If you enjoy psychological suspense with a medical twist and a touch of the surreal, this one’s definitely worth a read, just be prepared for an ending that might leave you hanging.

✨ Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley.

This book is a masterclass in dread. The book is a tense, claustrophobic fever dream of illness, liminal space, and paranoia.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

This book had an interesting premise but it fell flat for me. It's a medical gothic-horror in which the FMC has an autoimmune disease and goes to get experimental treatment but impacts her mentality. Everything blends together and it's difficult to discern what is real and what is imagined. It did get repetitive and the ending was underwhelming. The main character was decent and the dialogue felt natural. I still recommend this book, it was well done

I couldn't put this down or stop thinking about it when I did!
Gothic medical horror is the best way to describe this! The slow unraveling and paranoia of the mind mixed with ethical and uncertain questions. Definitely found myself saying "What!?" A lot.

While some moments were a bit too chaotic for me to fully understand and some bits dragged a bit - it very much kept my attention the whole time.

I do wish there was more to the ending... but overall this was a very entertaining if claustrophobic read!

I think the plot needed a bit more fleshing out to me. I really loved the main character, but really the whole world Starling crafts comes apart once you start questioning how everyone got there. Most of the book was droning on. I really wanted to like this one.

This book really pulled me in, but towards the end, it was really repeating itself only to have an open ending without closure. I was really disappointed.

Something about how Starling writes her books, keeps me hooked and unable to put them down. I never felt like I knew what was happening and I’m still not entirely sure how much of it was in the FMC Meg’s head and how much of it was real.
I do feel like part of what made this book so horrifying was the very real aspect of how unaffordable healthcare is and how isolating life can be for a disabled person. Meg’s situation even before checking into the hospital was terrifying. Her desperation to go through this ordeal felt realistic.
At times I felt a little disgusted with the descriptions of what was happening especially when Meg tries to cut out her IV port.
I enjoyed the metaphor of the hospital as an organism with many parts working in tangent.
I really need to pick up more of Starling’s books.

From the very first chapter, The Graceview Patient had its hooks in me. This book reads like a fever dream in the best way possible… disorienting, intense, and utterly compelling.

The premise is what really pulled me in: a woman with a debilitating autoimmune disease agrees to undergo a brutal experimental treatment that essentially destroys and rebuilds her immune system. But as her body breaks down, so does her grip on reality, and that’s where the story really shines. The ambiguity between hallucination and horror is handled masterfully, and the slow descent into something darker and more sinister lurking in the hospital is deeply unsettling.

That said, the ending left me underwhelmed. After such a tense, immersive buildup, the final act felt abrupt and frustratingly unresolved. I don’t mind an open ending, but this one felt like it cut out just before the emotional or narrative payoff could land.

Also, I have to disagree with the comp of “Misery meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” While I see the body horror and psychological isolation that Invasion brings to mind, Misery doesn’t quite fit for me.

Thank you so much for the ARC!

I devoured this. Starling masterfully combines the dehumanization of being someone with a chronic illness subjected to what doctors think is best with a slow reveal horror that brings that feeling to a literal close. The hospital claustrophobia, the visceral prose, the chilling addition of the clinical board to watch the progression all work in making this a fantastic piece of horror.

I was lucky to be an eARC reader for this book. The cover is what caught my eye.

I wasn’t too sure about this book, I’m still trying to wrap my head around what I just read. The story line was promising but I felt like I was reading nothing. Was Margaret hallucinating or was she just drugged up on experimental drugs? Was she talking to a ghost or the actual person? What side effects was she having to these drugs? It wasn’t mentioned. I wish there were more details but there wasn’t. I didn’t find this one to be very “thrilling” but I continued to see how it ended and it was abruptly.

2.5 stars. The horror in this is subtle and by the end of the book you're questioning everything you just read. There's extreme isolation and gaslighting and experimental medical trials are a definite horror, after the whole COVID disaster/tragedy. But, for me, it became impossible to determine what was actually happening and what was imagined. You can really feel Meg's disorientation and desperation but I'm not a fan of ambiguous stories and endings. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

The Graceview Patient delivers a slow-building, immersive horror that sneaks under your skin. Starling’s powerful writing forces you to confront physical suffering and psychological fragility—and it lingers long after the final page. While it’s not for the faint of heart, readers who favor intelligent, character-driven horror with real thematic depth will find it a memorable and rewarding read.If you want horror that affects body, mind, and conscience, and can sit with ambiguity and dread for a while, I recommend you read this book

"The Graceview Patient" is a wildly creepy fever dream that I did not see coming! Unlike anything I've read lately, this book kept me up late into the night and wondering what could possibly be happening next. A scary thriller with medical drama mixed in, I would definitely recommend and would love to try other books by this author.

As someone who has recently gotten into body horror fiction, The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling was a very enjoyable read. This was very much a fever dream type of book which I sometimes struggle with but I thought it was well done and enjoyed the ride. The writing kept my attention and the story was different from a lot of what I’ve previously read.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review! I have posted the following to Goodreads as of 06/26/2025 and will post to retail sites when requested.

I would rate the first half of this book 5 stars, completely, but ultimately gave 4 stars just because the ending wasn't quite there for me.

Here is my up front disclaimer: this book was VERY personal for me. I am a former healthcare worker that had to stop working due to chronic illness. Both of those facets played heavily into how I perceived this book.

First, I am stunned at the medical accuracy. The most minute details were attended to, even the fact that most of us will write "pt" instead of "patient" in our notes. I nearly snorted when the end of a note capped off with "will continue to monitor". But anyway...

The first half of this book is poignant from both perspectives. Isobel, the main nurse, clearly is struggling with burnout before it's even stated, and has a lot of things she wants to say but can't due to her position. I've lived it, I've been there, and it was very true to life. On the flip side, Meg is on a tide being carried along through her treatment with little understanding, little trust for her care team and feeling left with no options.

Any woman trying to get treatment for a rare disorder will have faced this. It was expressed thoughtfully, and truthfully. The bitterness, the loss of hope, the exhaustion at being poked and prodded.

Shortly into the book the fever dream starts. I think anyone that was a fan of Last to Leave the Room will enjoy the unreliable narrator aspects, the stilted forward progress of the plot, and the prose. It's easy to get caught up in the circles that are spinning around Meg, watching her jump from point to counter point and back again. Who does Meg trust? Who do we as the readers trust?

The second half of the book truly goes off into outer space, especially the last few chapters. I didn't mind it, there were a lot of very interesting concepts and I was along for the ride. But ultimately the ending did feel very rushed, and I agree with other reviews that turning the final page made me go, "that's all there is??"

Still, I'll be thinking about this one for a while. I read it in a day, couldn't put it down, and I'll definitely be checking out Caitlin Starling's other books.

I am not a fan of books that are fever dreams. They make me question everything in a bad way, like what was the point of this even being written.

I generally don’t read horror and I’m being reminded why after having read The Graceview Patient, which I thought would be more a psychological thriller. It is definitely more horror, and makes me never want to have to be admitted to a hospital, ever.

I actually worked for a hospital system for years, though it was administrative for clinical care. But that and someone I care about getting critically ill with sepsis are a not so healthy reminder of all the things that are lurking around a hospital where the goal is supposed to be for a patient to come out in better shape than they went in.

For Meg, the possibility of a cure for a chronic illness that is robbing her not only of vitality but a general ability to just function on a daily basis is irresistible to pass up. Sure, pain will be part of the process, but the chance to live normally is worth it, right?

And yet the pain is pretty unbearable. The delusions she begins suffering are quite possibly worse, and when she thinks there’s a possibility of still getting discharged she starts getting sicker, and her only access to the outside world in her phone and her laptop disappear from her room.

Battling her very real physical illness, Meg has to consider whether the threats she sees everywhere are real or part of her treatment’s impact on her mental health.

Most readers will never be in the hospital for the reasons Meg is. My mom was there for extended periods during her cancer battle. I don’t think she ever had reason to question her nurses, doctors or sanity, but just being trapped in a hospital, with limited energy, reduced control of your body, and the constant interruptions and sounds would be pretty horrifying, and hard to deal with day in and day out.

If you don’t love horror read at your own risk. I’ll probably be having nightmares tonight.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a good title to choose if you are interested in exploring body horror but don't want to jump head first into full-on stabby eyeball books. Anyone who has ever lived with or loved someone with chronic illness will see themselves reflected in this book. The exhaustion, the boredom, the relentlessness are all well-represented in this tale of what is left when your illness takes everything away from you. As always in medicine, beware the suits and be nice to your nurses.

I loved this - I could not put it down, I just kept reading it. Scary, gross horror in all of its forms, and the medical system, which isn't exactly user-friendly, is the perfect destination for it.

Super scary but in a realistic way!