2.5 stars

Isa is struggling with her looks and has finally gotten enough money to look more like the woman she is on the inside. Things take a turn when she has to give up her money for surgery and finds a windfall opportunity for experimental research that can give her what she wants. Things take a dark turn and a Frankenstein body horror novella ensues. I felt bad for Isa, but being inside of her mind was insufferable. She would go from being level-headed to drooling over someone who just tortured her. It had me going, "Girl, what are you doing?" Let's get it together, Isa. The body horror aspects also weren't always clear to me and I think that could've been because I was listening to the story on audio, but I found myself becoming lost by the descriptions of Isa's transformation. I didn't care for the last act of conflict/showdown. Some Rewind or Die novellas can be real hit or miss because the level of camp is turned up to 100. The campiness was fun, but it did make me drop my rating and affected my overall enjoyment. Not a bad horror novella and a fun audio listen, but I don't think this will be that will stay with me long-term.

I give this one a 2.5 rounded up to a 3. It was an interesting take on body horror but I thought the writing was just okay.

Eve Harms Rewind or Die novella Transmuted follows Isa, a micro-celebrity who runs a successful fundraiser to make her gender affirming surgery possible. When she has to give up her money, she’s crushed and left with few options until she finds a sketchy ad seeking a transgender women for a free, experimental procedure. She answers the ad and meets Dr. Skurm, whose methods are terrifying, but give Isa the results she’s been looking for. However, there are unexpected side effects to the treatment and Isa must race against time to figure out Dr. Skurm’s secrets before it’s too late. Transmuted is a brilliant body horror novella that features some of the most wild, unique scenes in recent memory. Harms debut is jaw-droppingly awesome and I can’t wait to devour more of her books in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for an e-arc in exchange of my honest review.

Transmuted is a quick read about an online gamer who is Trans and hates how she looks. She eventually is able to get an experimental procedure done but things go awry. This short has a bunch of body horror and shocking moments that I couldn't help but love. It gets weird and bizarro as you follow the MC's transformation.

I recommend this to people who like "monster" horror and a wild storyline.

“When she sees a glimpse of my face, she screams, shredding the oxygen in the building to pieces.”
Eve Harms, Transmuted

Transmuted is the 30th installment of Unnerving’s Rewind or Die series of novellas. It proves this series has no plans to slow down or produce anything less than spectacular reads. Eve Harms takes readers on a wild ride of body horror and action, all the while infusing deeper meaning throughout.

The main character, Isa, is a game streamer who finally manages to raise enough money for her facial feminization surgery. As referenced in the synopsis above, her father’s health forces her to go down a darker path in order to achieve the results she wants. It definitely gives new meaning to the words “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”

Isa is a great character. Readers are given insight into her innermost thoughts. She struggles with body dysmorphia, with her family, and with society. Harms manages to infuse this throughout the novella and causes the reader to become heavily invested in what happens to Isa. This is crucial for a horror novella. There isn’t much time to build this and the author succeeds.

Transmuted contains a mixture of sinister and bizarre happenings to create a truly unique reading experience. Readers will feel anger and hope for Isa, all while being captivated by the strange turn of events they won’t be able to look away from. Eve Harms has crafted a novella that both entertains and provokes thought; be sure to check this one out.

Transmuted is #30 in Unnerving Press’ wonderful Rewind or Die series. Eve Harms delivers everything I wanted and more in this book, all while giving me the 80’s horror VHS vibes that the series is so well known for.

Isa is a trans video game streamer who has finally raised the funds for FFS (facial feminization surgery). In a turn of events, she has to instead use the money on treatment for her ailing father, leaving her feeling lost and hopeless. When she comes across an ad for an experimental treatment looking for a trans woman, she jumps at the opportunity to finally feel comfortable in her own skin. Of course, this is usually where things end up going wrong, and this is no exception for Isa…

I absolutely adore Isa. I like flawed characters, and Isa is definitely that. her struggle for self-acceptance is totally clear from page one, and the way she conveys it is so real and raw. She’s relatable, and even early on, when we hardly know her, I’m crushed right along with her when she hears her father needs a new treatment for his illness.

I also totally unerstand Isa going out and doing what she can to try and make herself feel better. I didn’t realize at the moment I read it, but I completely understand Isa’s dysmorphia when getting ready to go out for that night on the town with her best friend. When she meets what she views as the girl of her dreams, I understand her worry when it came to talking to her.

The romance subplot was perfect, and honestly one of the most relatable romances I’ve read as someone who is known to be self-conscious about my own appearance. I love Isa’s awkwardness, and the way it doesn’t actually go away, even when in the throes of her treatments (you know, before things start to go south). It really drives home the fact that just because your looks change, the person inside can take longer to adjust than the outside.

The novel took a strange (and yet oddly believable) turn that really gave it that 80’s movie vibe that I really adored about it.

This book was amazing, and brutal, and disgusting, and beatiful. It did all of these things, evoked all of these incredibly visceral reactions, all in the span of my reading it. I couldn’t put it down, and I was really glad I read it while on vacation, so I didn’t ever have to. One of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

(I received a copy of this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)

So unapologetically queer and strange.

I think I went into this book with completely different expectations of what it would be so I found myself feeling a little lost and struggling to get a grip on the story however it was definitely a get experience and unlike anything that I had ever read before. I would be intrigued to read more books in this vein.

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending a review copy of this my way!

This is the sort of horror I love most: experimental and weird and aggressive, all while never overstaying its welcome. <i>Transmuted</i> is a wicked little novella that can be read in a single setting—if not for length then the fact that the narrative reaches out and grabs you and doesn’t let go.

I loved the setup and the building tension as the story went on, but I feel the climax was a bit over-the-top and got a little too silly for me. But that isn’t too big a deal; the characters and situations Eve Harms has created felt totally real, and I was invested all the way through.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was one of those books that I enjoyed, but its impact didn't really hit me until weeks afterward when I was still rolling it over in my mind. The horror of the American healthcare system and its inherent transphobia aside, the body horror was phenomenally done, and it was the perfect length. I was delighted with the ending, too!

The Fly, Dead Ringers, American Mary, The Skin I Live In, The Hellbound Heart by Barker, Skin by Koja, Geek Love by Katherine Dunn - these are some of my forever favorites in the body horror genre and Transmuted will be another added to my most memorable list. If you’re a fan of mad scientists and body horror I feel pretty safe saying you need this book in your life. Even if you’re not a fan of either, you likely need this book in your life if you’re a fan of horror fiction. It’s fast-paced and gruesome and kind of brutally fun in the vein of these Rewind or Die books. You also really get into the head of the main character so when the terrible things begin to happen it makes everything all the more cringe-inducing!

Isa is a popular game streamer who doesn’t show her face but now that she’s crowd-sourced enough cash to get the facial feminization surgery she’s desired for so long, she’s anxious to get it done and move on with her life. Unfortunately life throws a depressing obstacle in her way and she’s forced to spend the money elsewhere. Now, she’s in a desperate bind. How can she face her fans who funded the surgery she can no longer afford? How can she continue to face her own mirror when the person there isn’t a reflection of herself?

Ahhh, this book was so raw and grounded in such a great character. Isa has familial guilt even though they treat her like shit, she’s trapped in a body she despises and now her cash is gone. When she sees a sketchy ad on Instagram promising free experimental feminization treatments you’ll want to scream “DON’T DO IT” but you can completely understand why she does it. The treatment is strange and what eventually follows is even stranger and I don’t want to give it away by saying too much more. Well that’s a lie, I’d love to tell you about all of the imaginative and disgusting and shocking things that happen here and it’s kind of killing me to be so vague. I’ll only say there was just the right mix of romance, dark humor and what the hell?! It’s a book you’ll want to read in one sitting, if you’re fortunate enough to be able to do that.

The plot is incredibly sinister and absurd and mixes in some elements in the last act that were nightmarishly wild but painted so well I could picture it all vividly in my head. Told from Isa’s point of view, the first half of the story is an intimate look into her daily life. You learn her struggles, her desires, and you meet her best friend and support system before everything you could never imagine happens! I adored the twists and the wtf moments but I especially enjoyed Isa.

I hate these damn number ratings more every single day and I don’t know why I’m developing such a hatred for them but since I have to do it, I’ll rate the story a 4.5 because I was wishing it were a wee bit longer in sections and that’s a compliment coming from me so I’ll bump it up to a 5.

TRANSMUTED is a deep dive into the life and mind of one transwomen and the evil scientist set to transform her. There is a lot to unpack in such a short book. We get a no affirming parent, and severe body dysphoria with the desperation surrounding fixing it forcing her to make a rash decision that ultimately defines her life.

I really enjoyed this one. The doctor was a perfect evil genius and comes equipped with a secret weapon. I am excited to read more from Eve Harms.

Cw: transphobia and fatphobia (see in a negative way) body dysphoria

Wow. What a story!

Body horror, cults, mystery and intrigue, and a mad scientist all in 71 pages. What more could you ask for?

Isa is a streamer and has finally crowd sourced all of the funds she needs for her facial feminization surgery. Her father’s cancer treatments stop working, and the only option is an experimental treatment. It’s expensive, and Isa gracefully gives up her money to help her father.

Isa soon gets a strange Instagram ad offering free surgeries for trans women, for study purposes. She thinks nothing of it, but she is soon in Dr. Skurm’s office, and though the treatment was terrifying, you can’t deny the magnificent results. Except… they don’t stop. More and more changes happen to Isa’s face and body that take her far past passing and into monstrosity.

More trans horror, please!!! I loved that not only was this a gross novel, but it is very poignant. It touches on topics about passing as a trans person, including gender dysphoria. I don’t experience as much dysphoria as others may, but it hits on another level being a GNC person.

This story added perfectly to the Rewind or Die series, and I’d definitely love to see this turned into a movie.

Thank you Net Galley, Unnerving Books, and Eve Harms for this advanced review copy! Transmuted releases on Thursday, July 15th.

In the first scene of Transmuted (Unnerving), protagonist Isa has achieved something incredible. Thanks to her impressive streaming fanbase, she’s raised $40,000 toward gender affirming surgery. It’s a dream come true. Finally, Isa will be able to transform the aspects of her appearance that have caused her to suffer years of gender dysphoria. But just when everything seems to be going her way, Isa’s sister calls. Dad’s cancer is getting worse, and the best chance he has for survival costs somewhere around—you guessed it—$30,000.

From this first soul-crushing setback, author Eve Harms’s effortlessly readable prose takes readers on an unpredictable journey that is guaranteed to delight and horrify in equal measure. Clocking in at 71 pages, Transmuted is a quick read, but don’t let the length deceive you. This is a novella working on an epic scale. Harms weaves together multiple storylines with the precision of a surgeon at the top of their game. Chance encounters with beautiful golden-eyed women, experimental medicine, and poignant moments of personal discovery all play out in a world that grows larger with each discovery Isa makes.

Just when Isa thinks everything is lost, she happens upon an Instagram ad for a new kind of feminization treatment. Dr. Skrum claims that his procedures can do everything. In just three sessions, Skrum promises he can shift Isa’s facial features, clear her skin, and even reduce the width of her shoulders. And the best part? It’s all free. But even as Isa begins to see incredible results, something sinister is boiling beneath the surface. You get what you pay for, as the old saying goes. And in Isa’s case, she’s about to get disturbingly more.

Transmuted is a home run for the body horror sub genre. Those that love the prickling feeling of terror that comes from rotting, wrenching, ripping, and reconstructing have much to be excited for in Harms’s newest work.

Body horror fans, where ya at? I have a feeling this is right up your alley. It's been a while since I've felt a bit freaked out reading a book. I need that feeling every now and then, and I sure got it from this one.

Eve Harms has written an awesome short story that crosses multiple genres. I was laughing. I was groaning. I was pondering. I loved the way that she incorporated tweets and parts of chats into the story as well as Isa's (the main character) thoughts.

Thank you NetGalley and Unnerving. I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WAYWARD MAGAZINE -- UNEDITED REVIEW, FOR PUBLICATION SATURDAY JUNE 26
MEDIUM.COM/WAYWARD-MAGAZINE

Eve Harms' bizarro-horror "Transmuted" is a weird and snappy little snake of a novel that refuses to bend to convention - part Kafka, part King, and all "the awkward goth kid at the punk show, just staring at her shoes in the corner."

"Transmuted" follows Isa, a trans woman who recently raised funds for facial-feminization surgery thanks to her small-scale internet stardom. This isn't just cosmetic surgery - it's crucial for her mental and physical wellbeing. But after some tough guilt, she caves to moral obligation and donates the money to her estranged and bigoted father instead, to pay for his potentially life-saving cancer treatment. Penniless and broken-hearted, Isa instead enrolls in an experimental surgery for trans women performed by the "mad scientist" plastic surgeon Dr. Skrum. Skrum promises Isa the body of her dreams. In the opening scenes of the novel, however, Dr. Skrum is shown attempting to turn a human being into a living church organ. So it's no surprise when Isa begins to undergo weirder and more concerning bodily changes. 

"Transmuted" feels like a rare and important book, thanks to the way Isa vividly comes to life. Rarely are trans women portrayed by an author with such a gift for characterization. Even more rarely do fully formed trans women serve as the protagonist and not the villain in horror fiction. In all genres, trans identities are more frequently used to generate pity, disgust, lust, or applause for the author's allyship. 

But here, we get the rare treat of fully embodying a trans woman - including her desires, dreams, lusts, fears, and insecurities. Her identity colors every angle of the story, but it never becomes the story. This is body horror for everyone, but also body horror only a trans woman could've written. In a cultural moment where arguably transgender representation has never been more important, characters like Isa are what we need. 

The first two acts of "Transmuted" are pitch-perfect. Grotesque and bizarre bodily horrors intertwine confusingly with the mundane, everyday horrors of the weird machine that is the human body. It's puberty in a haunted house, but it's a hell of a lot more fun than that would sound. 

"Transmuted" wobbles a little in the final act. There's a tonal shift from grisly to cartoonish and campy. Fans of the bizarro subgenre may actually appreciate this shift, but from a conventional storytelling perspective, it lets the air out of an otherwise perfectly paced story. 

Either way, "Transmuted" makes it clear that Eve Harms is a critical voice with a lot to add to the genre.

This book was a lot of fun! I really do enjoy the books in the rewind or die series because they are short, fast paced and often times highly amusing and sometimes gruesome. They just have good vibes, especially if you’re in a reading slump.

Isa is a video game streamer who raises money for her facial feminization surgery.
But she is guilt tripped, by her sister, into giving it to her father for an experimental treatment as a last ditch effort to save him from dying. She struggles over this because her father doesn’t accept her identify and refuses to call her Isa.

As luck would have it, she stumbles on an add on social media to be a participant in an experimental trial which could give her the body she’s always dreamed of.

It begins when she throws herself into a vat of black goo that smells like silly putty.

But this trial is more than what she bargained for. Especially after she sneezes and her nose flies off her face......

4⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Unnerving for my copy of this e-arc!!

Right off the bat I want to say I love the premise and the representation with the protagonist being a lesbian trans woman. The story feels like a combination of The Fly, Society and Re-Animator all in one. Writing it out that doesn't make sense but throughout reading I kept being reminded of those 3 movies (And I love 80s horror movies so I didn't mind at all). While I am familiar with the Rewind or Die series and know the stories are relatively short, but this one felt too short for me. There were a few instances where I felt it was going too quick and telling rather than showing. There were some points such as when Isa is chocking I felt like there could've been more detail. If it wanted to, it could be fleshed out into a longer novella. The ending especially felt very rushed. The explanation in the last chapter felt very tagged on. I also wish we could to know a bit more of Isa's inner thoughts with her arc of learning to love and accept herself, not just physically but mentally. It also felt a bit random when she became a tattoo artist at the end, maybe have a little hint of that somewhere earlier on. Overall, this was a fun read, I was able to finish it in one sitting.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

First, we absolutely need more trans horror. Please! Second, Eve Harms is a wordsmith. Third, you need this book.

It starts with Isa, a trans woman working toward paying for her FFS. Her plan goes astray when she finds herself accepting medical care from a mysterious doctor who promises not only the perfect female facial features, but a body to go along with it. It seems to good to be true...and it is. What started as a dream procedure quickly unravels into a nightmare with Isa fighting for her life.

Harms weaves a tale of terror and desperation that will have readers glued to the pages. In true Rewind or Die fashion, there is just the right amount of bonker-ness to give it that B-movie vibe. But this story is far from camp. At it's heart is a trans woman fighting for validation and love. I loved every moment.

Holy hell, what did I just read . . . and what is wrong with me that I loved every bizarre moment? This was a blood-splattered, gore-soaked, sexualized immersion in body horror, and it’s utterly fantastic. With Transmuted, Eve Harms has layered multiple stories and genres atop one another, stitching them together in a freakish, monstrous tale about beauty, obsession, and love.

Isa is a social media celebrity, a transgender video game streamer who has been crowdsourcing the funds for facial feminization surgery. Just when it seems her dreams are about to come true, however, a family emergency guilts her into sacrificing her own gender-affirming surgery for her estranged father’s experimental treatment. Having missed her chance, not to mention let down her fans, she’s in a depressed, vulnerable state when the too-good-to-be-true offer of a free, experimental feminization treatment comes her way.

For starters, I thought Harms did a fantastic job of capturing Isa’s situation, depicting her gender dysphoria perfectly, and making her struggle between identity and expression something with which any reader should be able to empathize. Hers is a familiar sort of body horror, and the scene in which she confronts her reflection speaks volumes.

The body horror isn’t hers alone, however – the whole book is full of it. The stuffed animals with human eyes and dentures, the beautiful artist disfigured by a nose scar, the alchemical horrors of her paintings. Everywhere we look, there are vivid, horrifying reminders of the tortured and the tormented, the victims of self-esteem as much as social prejudices. It all begins to come together when Isa undergoes her first experimental treatment, a nightmarish affair of suffocation and drowning, melting flesh and splintering bones, that may have all been inside her head, but which prove to have real-world implications.

Beneath all that horror, that desperate search for self-validation, there’s a wonderful friendship that keeps Isa anchored, and a sweet romance that gives us hope – until it doesn’t. There are three moments where the book pivoted hard for me, three twists that shocked me, disgusted me, and just left me reeling. When Harms goes all-in on the body horror, it’s like Edward Lee, Clive Barker, and Carlton Mellick have been Transmuted into something freakish . . . and entirely fascinating.

The last third of the book is almost too much, too distanced from the personal horror of Isa’s dysphoria, but the interplay of art and identity, of passion and obsession, works, and the way Isa transforms herself is the kind of heroism you witness with your stomach in your throat and your fingers over your eyes. It’s intense, over-the-top, and increasingly bizarre, but goddamn if I didn’t love where it takes us.

“I pour myself a glass of water in my pink, sparkly goblet and set the ball of entropy I call my body in motion toward the bathroom. My stack of rescued and rehabilitated stuffed animals stare at me from the bed, especially the ones with the prosthetic eyes I bought at an estate sale. I wish I let them keep their normal eyes.”*

With the help of her legion of online fans, Isa raises the money she needs for facial feminization surgery. Before she can book her appointment, she’s guilted into giving up her hard earned cash to help her father, who still calls her by her dead name and refuses to accept that she is trans. A seeming miracle happens when she’s selected for a free experimental treatment that promises she’ll get the results she desires and so much more. She starts dating a hot artist, and all of Isa’s dreams seem to be within reach. Then she discovers some serious cons related to her experimental treatment that will forever change her and maybe get her killed—unless she can tap into her special talents.

Isa is a fantastic character. I absolutely loved her obsession with creepy plushies and squeeze toys. The way her family fails to accept her is nothing short of heartbreaking as is her pain over her body dysmorphia. The horror elements are on point and there’s a really fun montage scene that is an Easter egg with references to other wonderful rewind or die books. Isa’s bestie Mitzy is a blast. The characters took this book to a whole new level of awesome.

Harms did a wonderful job of getting me to care about Isa and want her to win. The plot is well structured with great romantic elements and an outstanding ending with a touch of cosmic horror. I enjoyed the social media references as several of the characters were influencers. I am in awe of Harms’s ability to pack so much goodness into a novella-sized package.

The Rewind or Die books are a blood-splattered oasis in these turbulent times. I am a huge fan of the series, which invokes the spirit of horror movies watched on videotape.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Unnerving for providing an Advance Reader Copy.

*Please note that my review is based on uncorrected text.