Thank you Abrams Books and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

Open Wide is a captivating story centering Olive’s obsession with her new surgeon boyfriend. I am a big fan of books with a weird lady protagonist getting up to weird things, and Olive definitely encapsulates that. Obsession is explored in a very fascinating way that totally caught me off guard- this book takes an unexpected turn around the 50% mark. I don’t know how I feel about that turn of events honestly, I kind of wish that the story was more ambiguous and fever dream-esque. I think Jessica Gross is a talented writer and would definitely read more from her!

If you enjoy reading about unhinged female characters, testing the limits of intimacy, or unnerving family dynamics: meet your new obsession. I pick up a lot of weird books and this is, without question, one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever read. Truly nuts in a way that made me uncomfortable and even hated at times. She really went there and it will absolutely not work for everyone (dare I say, most people?) Upon finishing, I couldn’t help but admire how she pulled this off, even though I seriously considered not finishing it multiple times.

This is singlehandedly one of the most unique and cool books I've ever read. It was gross and disgusting. I loved it. 5/5

DUUUUUUDE
Jessica, wtf. But also, I love you.

This is SO good. Anyone who knows me know that I'm most picky w my horror reads. THIS is the kinda horror I need. I couldn't get enough of this book. I didn't want to put it down, ignored responsibilities for this baby.

From the tie-in of food to create a feeling of literal nausea, for me, was unreal. The use of gross descriptions was perfectly timed and executed. The concept itself—wtf. It's SO weird but juuuust realistic enough that to jump on board w it being legit is nearly imperceptible.

I have so many more thoughts—and plan to include them before truly reviewing & posting it to IG! But had to come here in the meantime TO ENCOURAGE ANY AND EVERYONE TO READ THIS!!!! IT'S GUNNA BLOW UP!!! Mark my words :P

I buddy read this w my friend Melissa (@mel.the.mood.reader) and am so happy to have read this w her bc sheeeesh did we have a lot to talk about. And she'd made some great connections I'd totally missed! This is a great book to read w someone else, w a book club would prob be even better (well ok not better than Melissa but maybe a littttttle bit close?—doubt it but you get my point).

Thank you so so so much to Jessica Gross, Abrams & NetGalley for both the DRC & #gifted physical ARC! I am SO grateful to have been able to gone on this disturbing ride early.

Thank you NetGalley and Abrams for the early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Ah, yes. I love me my weird girls. Such a fascinating and provocative love story for the freaks!

Have you ever loved someone so much you wanted to pry them open with your bare hands and climb inside?

No? Me neither. But Olive, my current nominee for feral, obsessive weird girl of the year absolutely has. Open Wide is for the true weirdos, my fellow baddies who love David Cronenberg and Michael Haneke films, who have ever watched surgery videos on YouTube, who inhale (or make their own) Hannibal/Will Graham fan edits -shipping toxic love between two people who may also not so secretly want to eat or be eaten by the other.

In her short, sharp, novel, Jessica Gross turns the power dynamics and uncertainty inherent to our most intimate relationships into body horror. Ghostface when asked “what do you want?” in the forever iconic opening scene of Scream simply replied “to see what your insides look like”. Open Wide reframes this idea not as a horrifying declaration of murderous intent, but of utmost devotion. Can you ever truly know someone if you haven’t seen what their internal organs look like? Olive toes and then careens over the ledge separating love and obsession as her meet cute with Theo the colorectal surgeon, blooms into something serious. Olive is perpetually fearful of losing Theo, which only fuels the fire of her desire. In addition to waging an internal war with her own insecurities, Olive also has an unhealthy relationship with her mother, and the true depth and nature of this festering wound is strategically revealed as the story progresses. Fellow readers with mommy issues, consider yourself warned!

Open Wide may not blaze any new trails in terms of the central themes and ideas being discussed, but to see co-dependency and obsession unpacked in such a visceral and literal way was both exhilarating and mind boggling to behold. Also my favourite ending I’ve read so far this year.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Olive is a 30-something-year-old woman who has always struggled romantically. Desperate for her chance, she strategizes: bring a book to the bar, visit open houses across Manhattan, volunteer at a food pantry. Her other strategy: voice record every moment of her day so she can go back and listen for social cues later. When she meets Theo, she finally feels like she has her shot. As she plays back the recordings of their conversations, she grows more and more fascinated with him and just as fearful of losing him; she refuses to let that happen. In addition to her increasingly strange dynamic with Theo, readers are drawn in to Olive’s complicated relationship with her mother, allowing for parallels the be drawn between the two.

Gross uses this wildly unique, demented, and comedic novel to explore the messiness of relationships—intimate, platonic, and familial—and the intricacies of intimacy, belonging, and privacy and consent. At times repulsive and disconcerting, other times sexy and alluring, but always evocative and fun.

If you are looking to add another absurd and obsessive girl to your literary cannon and have a willingness to accept the fantastical, look no further than Open Wide. Just, beware about entering if you are squeamish about bodily functions. You may enjoy this book if you enjoy Ottessa Moshfegh, Mona Awad, and Maud Ventura.

Thank you Abrams Press for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Available Aug 05 2025

Batshit crazy in the best possible way. Boundaries of all sorts crossed in extreme ways, physically and metaphorically. This book is the best combination of body horror and codependent romance.

Open Wide is a novel that unsettles in the best way: by coaxing you into the soft underbelly of obsession, and then daring you to stay there.

This is a weird girl book. And I don’t mean quirky. I mean unwell. I mean haunting-your-ex’s-voicemails, hyper-fixated, possibly legally troubling behaviour disguised as romance. I mean compulsive recording, erotic transgressions, and a love story that made me feel like I was slowly being poisoned, in a good way.

Olive is a radio host in her 30s. She interviews authors who are floating in the no man’s land between projects, and it’s clear she relates. Her whole life is structured around recording. Ambient noise, strangers’ voices, even the people she loves, without their consent, of course. It’s not creepy to her, it’s just intimacy! It’s connection! It’s fine!

Enter Theo: a surgeon with a god complex and an equally odd hobby. He hoards strangers’ discarded trash. Naturally, Olive falls for him instantly. Naturally, it’s mutual. Naturally, things get really weird really fast.

This book is not a typical romance. It’s a slow descent into obsession, blurred boundaries, and “is this hot or is this a felony?” behaviour. Jessica Gross doesn’t ask us to root for Olive, but she dares us to relate to her. And the worst (best) part is: sometimes I did?? And yet, this isn’t just “wow, women be crazy” fiction. There’s an undercurrent of grief and trauma here, specifically the mess that comes from enmeshment, maternal control, and inherited patterns of manipulation. Olive’s relationship with her mother casts a long, strange shadow over her actions, and the novel explores that in a way that’s both metaphorical and literal.

To sum up, this is a perfect addition to the unhinged women canon! It’s short, unrelenting, and fully committed to its chaos. You will be unnerved. You will be obsessed. You might even text someone you shouldn’t.

Thank you to Abrams Books and NetGalley for an eARC! <3

Dnf at 40%

i'm so sorry but I can't read this any further & I feel even worse knowing it's an arc but as someone who's a dog owner who sees their baby as their literal child I can't push through. there's a part in this where the mc talks about using a vibrator & letting the dog lick it clean & goes even further to explain it as a "ritual". huh!? What!? no thank you.

apart from this, the chapters are long & don't hold my interest. Both the mc & her boyfriend are dull & boring. Felix needs a new owner.

From the premises this should have been right up my alley but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

This is a hell of a novel that takes the perils of intimacy and attempts to make it very literal (ie our main crawls inside the skin of her situationship). This blends the nightmare of getting to know other people with some real nightmare humans (see: Olive and her mom). Looking for something fun and fucked up? This is your book.

This book really surprised me and I couldn't put it down. I don't really know what to compare it to and I think that's a good thing. I gobbled this one up.

Delightfully strange. The pace is a little slow though, it may be hard to stay engaged for some readers. Felix needs a new owner to be honest.

OPEN WIDE is visceral, weird, surreal, and I have no idea what to make of it. Olive is a radio host who has an obsession with secretly recording people’s voices without their knowledge. Theo is a surgeon who has an obsession with secretly collecting people’s discarded trash without their knowledge. Of course they’ll fall madly and irrevocably in love! And who doesn’t love a good weird-for-weird romance?!

There are themes of privacy, intrusion, and control. This is a book about a manipulator who probably doesn’t know she is one, who has trauma surrounding her (seemingly more manipulative) mother that Olive can’t quite place. Without spoiling too much, Olive does something surreal with Theo without his knowledge or consent, under the guise of “love.” As she does it more and more often, she becomes certain that her mother also did this surreal action to her when she was young. With all of this in mind, and with the emphasis on eroticism throughout, I thought that OPEN WIDE was an extended metaphor for sexual violence and how it can be perpetrated, and I found it to be a uniquely disturbing portrayal.

...But then the final chapter happened, and I have no idea what to think, bahahah.

This will be one of those books that’ll stick with me for a while, and I adore that! The plot and characterization were both a little shaky at times, and the surreal events that occurred were, well, surreal, leaving more questions than answers. I would have loved to see Olive’s role as an unreliable narrator explored more explicitly (what if the objective “truth” of the story was revealed when the form changes to the transcription of a recording? How much does Theo know? How much is a lie? (view spoiler) Was it all a dream even though nothing in the story alludes to that and I’m just grasping at straws?) but that’s just a nitpick of mine.

I don’t often enjoy weird girl fiction (after having a bad experience with my first foray into the subgenre, more on that later), but something about the way Theo perfectly matched Olive’s freak is what made this work for me lol. It was also short enough that I ate it up in one sitting.

And bonus points for a gorgeous cover that makes diegetic sense and isn’t just for aesthetics!

olive is now one of my favorite women on the verge! she should definitely be institutionalized somewhere but until then I love her :)

If you are looking for a disturbing story about a weird girl, this is the perfect book for you. This is a really addictive book and will keep you glued to the pages to the very end. The most perfect weird girl book.

Weird, dark, and wildly original, Open Wide is a razor-sharp dive into obsession, intimacy, and the terrifying lengths we go to for connection. Olive is a haunting, unforgettable narrator—awkward, yearning, and disturbingly relatable—as her relationship with Theo unravels into something surreal and sinister.

Equal parts dark comedy, body horror, and emotional gut punch, this novel is not for the faint of heart—but it’s brilliant in its boldness. A twisted love story that lingers long after the last page.

The idea of ​​the book was interesting and the narrator's voice was convincing, but it was a rollercoaster of coincidences with no substance whatsoever. Sad, I was really invested in this book.

a socially awkward radio host, becomes increasingly obsessed with her boyfriend, Theo, hoping to forge a deep connection. As she secretly records their conversations to better understand relationships, her fixation grows, leading her to a terrifying solution to keep him close. A darkly comedic and unsettling exploration of love, obsession, and boundaries.

unsettling, disturbing, well-written, extremely codependent, and very interesting. soon to be a classic, i think. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.