This was not an 'easy' read, and certainly not for the fainthearted. The issues it deals with need a strong stomach, both on a superficial level for the very graphic descriptions of behaviour that I found genuinely challenging to read, and for what the narrative has to say about the society we've all likely contributed to. Several times I came close to not finishing this, which was no fault of the prose or the cast of characters, but because I found many of the scenes incredibly raw and confronting. Yet I'm glad I persevered, as it is probably one of the most thought provoking novels of recent times, with much to say on image, identity, consumerism, social media. The timing of publication seems fitting as, trying not to give too much away, much of the plot centres around people's willingness (and need?) to submit to what actually felt much like a pandemic, but one of their own making. Frequently deeply shocking (I certainly won't be recommending it to my mother-in-law) in its apparent inhumanity, yet perhaps one of the most human books I've read. - this will stay with me for some time.

2.5 rounded down

Sigh. I really wanted to love this novel, having throughly enjoyed Sam Byers last novel, Perfidious Albion - a bracing satire on post-Brexit Britain.

It's clear Byers likes to write zeitgeisty novels set in the UK, and Come Join Our Disease follows in PA's footsteps in that regard: we meet the protagonist, Maya, just before she is detained when the illegal encampment she is living in is raided by police. Having become homeless for a year after losing her job, Maya is earmarked during her detainment for participation in a program which will help get her back on her feet - she is given a job and a place to live, and exchange for these she is required to post about her resultant "journey" on Instagram. Things seem initially to be going ok, until Maya becomes unwell after going on a yoga retreat and doing a juice detox (at the behest of her benefactors). At the GP's she meets a woman, Zelma, who is unemployed and on benefits and living with chronic pain and spends her time wandering the streets of London and defacing adverts, billboards and images in magazines which promote "impossible wellness". Maya feels drawn to Zelma, and she begins to participate in Zelma's work.

This all takes place in the first 50% of the novel, however at the halfway point the novel takes a much darker turn. In summary, Maya and Zelma create a commune where they (and eventually four other women) live an existence which is the absolute opposite to the Instagram aesthetic. At this point the novel gets very dark, disgusting, graphic and repetitive: if you're at all squeamish about maggots or maggots I would advise avoiding the book all together. I've honestly never read a book with so many references to faeces in my life, and at times it all honestly felt like some awful fever dream.

If I was rating purely on the first half of the book I'd probably rate Come Join Our Disease 3.5* - I felt the first 50% was very well done, and accurately depicted the ennui and malaise of those who are disillusioned by having to be seen to enjoy a mundane job and live up to some Instagram ideal of life. Unfortunately things fell apart in the second half and I failed to see that the rest of the book lived up to what the first half promised and felt like it was leading to: the blurb states that the novel is about "freedom, and how much of it any of us can truly withstand", and while I guess I kind of get what Byers was trying to say to a certain extent with regard to this and the commune Zelma and Maya create (they're entirely at their own whim and yet still not happy - so we all need some sort of structure in our lives?!), it all gets lost as the second half continues, with the preoccupation with defecating and in-fighting between the women becoming way too much for my interest to be sustained.

So overall, a mixed bag. If the blurb appeals, maybe give the book a go - perhaps a lot of it went over my head and there's something deeper to be found in women rolling around in their own filth.

Wow! This book is incredibly bold and compelling. It most certainly won't be for everyone and is often very disgusting. However, it was also like nothing else I have read and I found it so thought-provoking as well as wonderfully well written. I can imagine it being divisive as it won't be what some readers are expecting from the premise. But I will definitely be recommending it!