I love how this story bends genre but never loses its emotional core. It’s speculative and gothic and psychological and terrifyingly intimate. And underneath all the creeping horror, there’s a devastating exploration of vulnerability, of what it means to want to be healed, to be whole, even if it costs everything. I didn’t just love it; I felt it, deep and aching and breathless.

Margaret is on an experimental trial which requires a hospital stay and around the clock care. She has a rare disease that requires a medication called SWAIL that will completely destroy her immune system. Once her immune system is destroyed that's where in theory they build it back up and get rid of her disease.
Unfortunately not everything goes to plan, she tries to leave the trial and is unable. to escape the hospital.
This was an absolutely fantastic read, I was hooked the whole way through.
Margaret is a classic example of an unreliable narrator as the paranoia, the hallucinations, the fever takes over her brain.
I am never disappointed when reading a Caitlin Starling book!
She gave me hospital horror lockdown!

I immediately went from The Starving Saint into this one, so my expectations were a tad high but, while I loved the premise of this one, the execution left a little to be desired. I thought the chronic illness representation was fantastic, but felt like the climax happened far to quickly for what was promised and from Caitlin Starling's other works. There was just an oomph factor that wasn't quite there in terms of the horror aspect. Overall I liked it, but it's not my favorite Starling work

4 stars

This is an extremely dark medical horror that was difficult to read while still propelling me through to the end. Our main character, Margaret (Meg) Culpepper suffers from a rare disease and is given an opportunity to enter a clinical trial with the hope of a cure. What starts as unsettling soon moves into confusing, then horrifying, reaching a ambiguous ending that might leave some readers scratching their heads.

The story is told by the main character who is an unreliable narrator. As the plot moves forward, we question whether what the character is experiencing is real or a side-effect of a brutal treatment regimen. There is an abundance of gore, which includes body horror and medical procedures, so if you are squeamish, I might give this one a pass.

I would recommend this book to fans of medical horror, body horror, unreliable narrators, and ambiguity.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5 stars!

This felt like a delirious (and twisty) fever dream. Think: unreliable narrator who has a compromised immune system, living in a hospital, where there is no sense of time or space.. emphasis on the unreliable narrator part. The story is unlike anything I have read before in the horror space. I think anyone who liked a medical horror would love this!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much! The author has this unique style that fills the reader with absolute terror and dread, pulling you right into the helpless state of the main character. Thought provoking, emotional, scary as all hell, and an all around fantastic novel! Will definitely search out more novels by the author.

Oh my word! I have no words, the suspense the intrigue, the just the whole storyline. I didn’t want to put this book down. The ending has me wondering and how I’m hoping that there will eventually be a second one. I have to know what happens. The book was so good, and I can’t pick a favorite part of it without spoiling the book, but it was such a good horror/thriller book to read. If you love medical thrillers then you should definitely pick this book up:

Thank you so much to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC!

I was very intrigued by this book, experiencing our mc slipping deeper and deeper into madness while seemingly dragging us with them was such a wild ride. The characters were very well-done as well as the relationships with each other. I will be buying a physical copy for my trophy shelf!


Holly Collins

3/5 Meg has an autoimmune disease that makes her life hell. Meg has decided to go along with a trial study aimed at healing her syndrome. As times goes on she begins to wonder if everything they have told her about the study is true.
The premise of this book hooked me right in. I love a good sci-fi, hospital thriller. The beginner of the book was slow at first but it helped set the pace to see Meg’s everyday life in a hospital. As we gradually go on we see her emotions about being sick, helpless, and what it’s like to basically live in a hospital without contact with the outside.
The dreams and descriptions are told in a way that keeps you wondering if it’s real or not. Some of Meg’s thinking could have been cut out because it seemed to drag on. The excitement finally comes when we think Meg is going to be a hero. But the ending fell flat and I was confused. I guess there could have been more to the end. Maybe better clarification on what’s going on.

A woman enters a hospital for an experimental treatment for a rare disease. The treatment is expected to take months, and as it progresses, she experiences disorientation, hallucinations, and paranoia. This is written from the patient's point of view so the reader doesn't have any more information than the patient. The ending is definitely confusing. At that point, we don't trust the patient's thoughts at all so who knows how this ended.

Overall, well written and enjoyable. I enjoyed most of the book. The ending was to ambiguous for me. 3.5 stars.

I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher.

This book surpassed all my expectations and crushed all of my hopes in the best way possible.

I connected very heavily with Margaret from the start as someone who deals with chronic pain and have been in and out of hospitals my whole life. Her veiled hope in the beginning is something I’ve felt many times before, something to grasp and hold close in fear that it will be stripped away from you when you have nothing else left.

The literary device of her hallucinations and delusions made me question what was real and what wasn’t, it was hard for me to discern as well which blurred the lines for me as much as it did Meg. The perspective and emotion was very well portrayed in my opinion.

I think the way each of the characters was written was so well done, especially Meg’s relationship with Isobel and Veronica. Two of her main relationships and lifelines were broken so suddenly and so painfully, the loss and consumption, fear and guilt, were all so raw and intense.

I loved the imagery in this book as well, I was flipping out at the ending. The book was a wild ride from beginning to end, I’ll probably buy a physical copy. I love medical thriller books and this one did not disappoint. I would recommend this to anyone who likes psychological thrillers/horror, really anyone who’s a fan of the genre. The Graceview Patient will be on my mind for a long while after reading for sure.

Full disclosure: Caitlin Starling is my favorite author, hands down. Her specific niche of speculative gothic horror never fails to delight me. And while this book didn't dethrone my current favorites (a tie between Last to Leave the Room and The Death of Jane Lawrence), I enjoyed every single page of this novel.

The Graceview Patient follows our MC, Meg, through a grueling experimental medical trial, breaking down and rebuilding her immune system in an attempt to cure her chronic illness. And the body horror is visceral. The descriptions of medical procedures and complications are unwavering. While describing a particularly brutal scene involving a port-a-cath, I found my hand clutching my chest, as if I were the one in pain. When Meg grew paranoid, I found myself searching every word for signs of betrayal. I was locked in with her.

The writing is masterful, a perfectly crafted fever dream of creeping horror, contagious paranoia, and dread. The presentation of the horror and frustration of living in a chronically ill body was perfect. The human body is a horrifying thing, and Caitlin Starling uses that expertly. While I'm a sucker for a perfectly-wrapped ending, the openness of the ending didn't bother me here. It felt right. (but maybe I'm biased)

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Caitlin Starling for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This book had me immune to boredom from the very first page! It’s like Misery crashed a creepy hospital party with Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and honestly, I was here for it. Margaret’s experimental trial is no joke — she basically signs up to have her immune system wiped out and rebuilt from scratch. Talk about a breakdown that’s literally life or death!

The hospital itself is basically a master of hostile takeovers, turning from a place of healing to a claustrophobic nightmare where you’re never quite sure what’s real and what’s just some funky side effect of the meds. The way the story blurs those lines had me questioning my own reality — and maybe the sanity of my snack choices while reading.

Margaret’s journey had me immune to distractions, hooked by the slow-building dread that sneaks up like a virus no one saw coming. The atmosphere is thick with paranoia and suspense infection — and I loved how the author made the hospital feel like its own creepy character, lurking in the shadows.

My only tiny gripe? I wanted just a bit more emotional vaccine to hit me right in the feels. But even so, this story’s a real prescription for fans of medical gothic and psychological thrillers. If you want a read that will inject a little suspense into your life and keep you guessing what’s real until the very last page, this one’s a perfect dose!

I am hesitant to give this book a low rating as I might not be it's primary audience. I was excited to read this book after reading the description on Net Galley.

I'll start with the good. The authors description of the environment really made you feel like you were there with Margaret (our lead character). The more moody & creepy scenes stood out as you felt the atmosphere shift and the dread increase.

The problem was, those moments were few and far between until later chapters. I felt the book meandered too much but not in a positive way. I found myself struggling to care about the character after awhile and just needed to slow through to the end. I didn't feel any closure at the end of the story and maybe that's the point. Our character doesn't receive the ending she may want, so why should we?

Overall I'd give this book 2 Stars. The concept is solid and the execution is just okay.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced digital reviewer copy.

4.25 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I was starting to feel a little bit of reading slump coming on and this book cleared that right up. The Graceview Patient was gripping and creepy and dark, a lot of the time a literal fever dream descent into madness, and it just kept me reading. I can understand people not liking the ending, it felt like a bit of cliffhanger, but also kind of worked? More vibes than resolution.

At this point I've read 5 of Caitlin Starling's books and each book is so different from the others. This feels closest to Last to Leave the Room which I loved, but sort of like the weather in New England, if you didn't love one of her books maybe wait for the next one.

✨✨✨Absolutely chilling & a m!ndf*k!!✨✨✨

New crippling fear of hospitals has been unlocked 🔓

I loved The Graceview Patient! This book made me feel like I was slowly becoming trapped in this hospital and descending into a harrowing madness. In a good way of course! The writing is just that spectacular. I felt like I was right there with Margaret the whole way through.

The Graceview Patient is a new favorite book for me FOR SURE. This is a mind blowing, disorienting, atmospheric, and creepy story!

I’m very happy this book wasn’t too over the top. The author did a perfect job balancing giving the reader just enough, without ever going too far, and making it cheesy and thus ruining it. The ending was excellent as well and I’m very pleased with the direction the author went with it.

Perfection. Chef’s kiss. 👩‍🍳

I HIGHLY recommend this one to fellow horror fans!! I have not read a horror book that’s this good in so long. This one is going to stick with me!

I can’t get over how much I this LOVED one. Words truly can’t describe how much I enjoyed it!! I need it to be made into a movie ASAP!!

If you like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Cocoon, and a creepy hospital setting then this book is totally your vibe!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is expected to be released October 14, 2025.

Margaret is tired of her life with an autoimmune condition and decides to undergo an experimental medical trial at Graceview Memorial. After checking into the hospital she experiences both physical and psychologically effects she was not prepared for. As her body declines Margaret has trouble differentiating between reality and delusions while believing something else is living in the hospital. She is no longer sure who she can trust, including herself.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a good mix of thriller, gothic and horror.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to read this; thank you! I was quite interested in this - unique plot and a new-to-me author. It didn't hold for me, and I'm not sure if it was the pacing (a little slow) or the characters (I didn't care much about what happened to Margaret). I generally like an unreliable narrator, but this seemed a little too back and forth...? The cover is awesome, though!

✨The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling✨

Genre: Thriller
Pages: 304
Pub Date: Oct 2025

📚Margaret lives with a rare autoimmune condition that has destroyed her life, leaving her isolated. It has no cure, but she’s making do as best she can—until she’s offered a fully paid-for spot in an experimental medical trial at Graceview Memorial.

The conditions are simple, if grueling: she will live at the hospital as a full-time patient, subjecting herself to the near-total destruction of her immune system and its subsequent regeneration. The trial will essentially kill most of, but not all of her. But as the treatment progresses and her body begins to fail, she stumbles upon something sinister living and spreading within the hospital.

Unsure of what’s real and what is just medication-induced delusion, Margaret struggles to find a way out as her body and mind succumb further to the darkness lurking throughout Graceview’s halls.

📝I still don’t think I understand this book. I think there’s a symbolism at play, but it went over my head. Personally, this wasn’t for me.

What the book did well - the atmosphere. Kudos to the author for creating a truly suffocating asylum atmosphere. The whole time reading this I felt trapped and that is exactly what you want for this kind of book.

What the book didn’t do well - the pacing. I think the slow pacing made it incredibly difficult for me to get into this story. I felt like nothing happened in the first half of the book.

💫Thank you @stmartinspress for my eARC💫

Caitlin Starling proves once again that she knows how to capture what a fever dream feels like.

The Graceview Patient is about a woman named Meg that suffers from an autoimmune disease. She gets invited to try out an experimental treatment. With nothing left to lose, she checks herself into Graceview Memorial. Things start out well, but quickly everything starts falling apart. Meg can’t quite figure out what is real and what is a dream. Is the medication making her paranoid? Or is something more sinister going on?

This story intrigued me from the very beginning. Almost immediately you could start to feel the dread slowly creep in. If you’re into confusing stories that leave you with more questions than answers, this is perfect for you. It has psychological horror with a little bit of body horror thrown in. It’s creepy and even quite gross at times.

4.25 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!