Far-out! I think this book has a well defined style, fast pace, and easy but interesting diction. The moonflow trips were described with psychedelic horrific excellence. I enjoyed the main character’s personality and point of view, and the stories progression had me on the edge of my seat rooting for her! The book is quite crude, irreverent, and vulgar. In-your-face disgusting things occur pretty relentlessly, much like a fascinating car crash I could not look away from. Entertaining through and through. I did disagree with the ending a bit, though I do not want to give spoilers away. You’ll just have to read to find out.
I think this wild ride is worth taking, so buckle up!
For fans of: cringe, eldritch horror, mycology, lesbian cults, fever dreams, gore, spooky forests, and queer/trans discourse.

Thank you to Bitter Karella and Net Galley for providing me an eARC of this book for review and consideration.

Sometimes you just need a little romp in the woods with a feminist cult that loves its psychedelic mushrooms, the musrhoom curators trying to find a specific hallucinogenic mushroom worth big bucks, and the mushroom driven chaos of cult members while you're at it. This was the best kind of fucking trip I've had in a hot minute, and even though I read in small doses, I still wanted to keep reading just to see what insanity would happen next. Highly recommended read this fall.

Bitter Karella writes the popular "Midnight Pals" series, which lovingly spoofs horror authors and their stories. It's funny and clever and, interestingly enough, how a lot of people get their book-based news.

I don't know why I thought that meant this book was going to be where Karella let her freak fly, that the book would be a trippy, extreme gorefest. Well, I know where I got the trippy from: the mushrooms.

But as to the extreme and gorefest of it all, this book isn't more gory than anything else I've read lately, and "extreme"? I think I meant extremely clever. Karella turns his satirist's eye to the lesbian separatist movement and the people who are drawn to it for good or ill, while also continuously creeping me out. The characters are all very human, and Karella does a great job of letting us see just enough through their eyes to make all the secondary and background characters seem real too.

Would recommend this to everyone but t e r f s.

The comp titles listed in the blurb are Annihilation and Manhunt. I've only read Manhunt which I wasn't a fan of and while I can absolutely see some common ground between the two (a trans MC, gritty tone, things get gross and irreverent) I liked Moonflow a lot more, the characters were more nuanced and human. The writing was also a lot less try hard/edgy for the sake of being edgy.

There's a certain sense of humor to this book that I found most delightful.

I also really liked the main cast of characters. Sarah was rather easy to root for but she was also so friggin real and relatable. I want more characters like her to exist. The Hell Slut was oddly endearing. There was a sense of longing to both Sarah and The Hell Slut that was a little heartbreaking. Andy is my favorite type of guy, the kind of socially inept but well meaning and reliable that makes you think he's stupid. Add to that the fact that weird botanical/fungus horror is something I can't get enough of, and I had a really great time.
The commentary is sometimes on the nose sometimes quite subtle, and I was absolutely here for it.

The story is laced with excerpts from a guide to common mushrooms of the Pamogo forest which added a sense of rhythm to the book and with journal entries from a settler who failed to make the land submit to his will which added to the sense of foreboding. That was a chef's kiss touch.

Many thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing me an eARC of this book for review consideration.

TLDR; It's weird, crass, queer, fun, and creepy.

*Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC*

I was promised a gory story and this book 100% delivered on that promise. If you are someone that does not enjoy brutality or morally grey characters this may not be the story for you, but it works well for this horror fan. The descriptions of violence made my skin crawl and in combination with the trippyness of the whole story made me question my sanity a few times.

The character work in the story is wonderfully done. While many of the characters are unlikeable, they are understandable and fleshed out enough to feel real, but not overly explained. The relationship between Sarah and Andy throughout their interactions strengthened both characters and created a good foil for each other. Sarah oscillates between helplessness and being a take-no-shit heroine which makes her feel like a real person and not a clean-cut archetype.

My biggest hangup is the oversexualization of the female characters (especially breasts). As a lesbian I was very excited to read a story that included a lesbian feminist cult, where it got wonky was the blatantly TERF behavior of said cult and the fact that most members were not in fact lesbians (but most do fall on the sapphic spectrum). While Moonflow does a wonderful job of representing the intangibility of gender and gender expression in the abstract, its "real-world" explorations of those same ideas did not land.

In three words Moonflow is Gory, Trippy, and Intense. I look forward to other works by this author in the future!

Quick very high level summary.
Growing mushrooms, Sarah ends up with a bad harvest. She’s desperate to grow “King's Breakfast” to make up for the loss. So she sets off deeper and deeper into uncharted woods looking for the spores she needs. While she searches deeper into the woods she soon realizes she is not alone.

My Take.
There were so many times during this read that I really felt like I may have been tripping on mushrooms myself, knowing full well I was not. The vivid imagery was that detailed. While I loved the imagery the rest of the story was just ok. I enjoyed the humor and banter at first but then it became repetitious and lost its purpose. I was also expecting a more feminine vibe but it felt very male in the descriptions and fascination bordering on obsession with all things sexual organs. Overall the writing at times could be beautiful but the cults attempt to warship all things female really just came off as masculine and I am not sure the was the intention.

Rating: 2.5

This went on for way too long, it should have just been a short story or novella. I lost interest at a little over halfway through. I also don't really like books about cults.

Well if you couldn’t tell from the cover… this book is trippy. Your either going to love it or hate it. Unfortunately it wasn’t my cup of tea but the prose was excellent and hey if trippy weird is your thing this own might be for you!

"Sarah is a trans woman who makes her living growing mushrooms. When a bad harvest leaves her in a desperate fix, the lure of the King’s Breakfast has her journeying into those vast uncharted woods. Her only guide is the most annoying man in the world, and he's convinced there’s no danger. But as they descend deeper, they realize they’re not alone. Something is luring them into the heart of the forest, and they must answer its call."

With that said, I absolutely loved this book for its unhinged uniqueness! While it didn't have the typical flow of a horror novel, it was a wild ride. I highly enjoyed the humor and the characters. I will absolutely be recommending this book to my friends in the horror book community!

I'm all for raunchy humor, but this had way too much of it. There was an excessive amount of swearing, like a kid first learning the words who feels like it's cool to swear all the time. This was just way too much for me, and I found myself skimming a lot because it just made me uncomfortable to read.

I did, however, enjoy the botanical and hallucinogenic horror aspect. The mix between exploring trans identity and throwing some wacky vibe in there was great, and I enjoyed it.

If you're okay with a lot of swearing, and enjoy the botanical horror genre, then this would probably be something you would enjoy!

Okay, this is one of the unintentionally funniest books I've read. Phallic Alecs?? Hell Slut?? Virginia Dentata? HELLO??? You know what, I'm gonna say it, I would absolutely join that cult. And why the fuck not?

I enjoyed Sarah as the vehicle to talk about the biggest trip of your life and how everything is interconnected and yes, that includes gender.

Some of the descriptions, though, just felt soooo male. The huge, hanging breasts with nipples as big as corks? Get over yourself!! I don't care if it's the moonflow that makes her breasts like that, it's just an insane description meant to both gross you out and make your mouth water? Who knows lol. That's basically my biggest gripe, that amid all of the incredible culty women and mushrooms and god knows what else, is that the author is clearly objectifying them, too.

Still, it was very compelling and strange and weird, and I like that that.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Run For It for the ARC*

Wild, trippy, and raunchy- This book had the right amount of humor and horror. Around the 70% mark, I couldn’t put my phone down. I don’t want to give too much away in the review, so I’ll just say if you’re into the violent, sexy horror allure this book is giving off, then please give it a read. (And do heed the warnings at the beginning of the book)

I wish more could be explored about the characters, their setting, their history, but I guess in the grand scheme of the forest and it’s old, waking entities, it doesn’t always have to be told. Looking forward to when this releases so I can urge people into buying copies.

unique, hilarious, and a perfectly freaky wild ride through a forest, a cult, and the minds of some seriously messed up characters. i loooved this, an excellent little submission into what i call the “sapphic trans woman horror collective”. perfect for those who want a horror book starring a trans woman and sapphics that reckons with gender ideology, political lesbianism, etc. but isn’t quite as brutal as something like manhunt by gretchen felker martin. this is a book to have fun with and be terrified by in equal measure.

This is unlike anything I've ever read before and I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I had a tough time in the beginning understanding the world and humanity of Skillet and Hell Slut and felt myself gravitating a lot more toward Sarah and Andy's story hoping that they didn't converge until the end. If that were true, Moonflow would have followed a predictable horror novel pattern which would have been enjoyable to follow but wouldn't have been the same ride. The middle half of Moonflow is at times corny and heavy handed, but I genuinely don't know a better way the author could have set us up for the ending. If you can stay through it's campiness, Moonflow is bound to lodge itself in your mind - for better or for worse.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a trip. A hallucinogenic-mushrooms-induced one. It is a bit on the nose as a comment, but it extremely feels right for this book.

I liked both writing and plot. It was a truly enjoyable read.

First and foremost, I believe every book has an audience. I am not that audience.

The story sounded promising. It reminded me a little bit of Annihilation. The way the book is written reminds me of authors that try very hard to be bold, provocative, especially with offensive terms or simply swearing constantly. I swear a lot and I found this book to have to much of it. It felt immature. The characters were equally shallow and hollow, lacking any sort of depth. The writing style was perhaps the most difficult to get through. I simply could not "vibe" with it. It felt confusing at times, making the pacing too difficult to keep a focus on. I do love dark/ black humor and this book simply didn't appeal to my humor. May it was just to... crude.

I firmly believe this has a target audience that love provocateur's genre, or may be looking for a good time where the story and characters are just a good time.

Thank you for NetGalley for the advanced copy of Moonflow.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of Moonflow!

Unfortunately I made the decision to stop reading around 15%. I think the story has a lot of promise, however I just could not get past the excessive and unnecessary profanity, it made the writing seem immature and lacking any sort of depth. I found myself very confused about the characters and setting but had no desire to keep reading to find out more.

Regrettably, I didn’t make it past the first few chapters. I’ve always believed that a novel and its reader must meet in a shared headspace—and for now, "Moonflow" and I seem ever so slightly misaligned, not for any fault of its content. My four-star rating reflects genuine admiration for the writing, the storytelling, and the premise’s quiet power. I hope to return to it one day, ready to absorb the full weight of its intent.

DNF two chapters in. Maybe this is harsh, but this is horrendously written. Borderline unreadable because of how noticeably the writing takes me out of the story every few seconds. I am always on the lookout for new horror authors, and I'm disappointed I did not find one. I will not be finishing this, nor will be I reading anything from this author in the future unless I hear their writing has improved.

Thank you, Bitter Karella NetGalley, for the ARC. I leave this review voluntarily and happily. Also, thank you publishers for your hard work!

Oh my god, this book was such a wild trip. Half the time, I was wondering if I, too, was high on something. The vivid imagery and just the details of everything has this whole book playing out like a movie in my head. Plus, I just couldn't believe what was happening chapter after chapter. I truly had no idea what I was getting into when reading this, and im so glad that I didn't. This writing is some of the most unique I've read so far, and it's definitely going in my top five of wtf did I just read. It might take the very top spot. When you think of mushrooms, you don't think horror, but this book is definitely twisted and creepy. There are so many levels to this book it will leave you reeling.

Sarah grows mushrooms for a living and sells them to her Seller, but one day, her seller looses interest in what she grows, and she's desperate. So that leaves her going into the unknown looking for the King's Breakfast and who's to lead her but the most annoying guy in the whole world, but there's something out there... something strange and not human. What is it, and will the both of them make it out alive?

This book was truly phenomenal. I just can't get over everything that happened in this book. It's like you're on shoots the entire time you read this. It's just a wild ride start to finish.