The description of the book had me requesting it. After starting it, I realized was not as I was expecting. It's labeled a fiction but it's more of a sci-fi which I do not like this genre. The book is too far out there for me. It wasn't for me.


I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

I was excited for this one because of the sci fi aspect but wasn’t expecting the level of gore in this. Definitely a heads up for anyone looking to read this in the future

This book starts off really dark and with an unlikable main character (at least for me). I got to about 12% and had to take a break. I may pick it up again later if I'm in a dark/ disturbing reading mood.

While I really did enjoy the premise of the book, the exaction seem to have lacked for me. I was very intrigued by the notion of combining something so deep as grief with magical realism but sadly it lacked connection to the grief itself, making it unrelatable and surface-level. The is a lot of underdeveloped ideas in the book that I would have loved to have a more in depth story on.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC,

Garden of Earthly Bodies is a deep and thought-provoking book, the antithesis of beach reads that are in mass at this time

Months after a tragic family death, Marianne wakes up to find a growth of thick, black hairs along her spine. She tries to remove them but each attempt fails. Instead, the hairs grow longer. The hairs, Marianne’s doctor tells her, are a reaction to trauma. The doctor recommends Nede, a modern, New Age rehabilitation center in a remote forest in Wales. The patients attend unorthodox therapy sessions and commune with nature. As Marianne’s memories threaten to overwhelm her, Nede offers her release from this cycle of memory and pain. Yet something is amiss and Marianne can't quite figure out what is going on in the dark rooms in the basement? Why do some people get to leave? She begins to focus on her present instead of her past.

I felt like Sally Oliver spent 2way too much time in the past. It is the hair and her journey that the reader is most fascinated with. The draw out of the past caused me to skim many areas until we truly got the horrific and traumatic incident that plagues the main character. As we get to the end, I started to understand why so much time was spent on the past: that this was all-encompassing to the character and thus caused her anxiety and depression.

But the ending, while I had an inkling of what would happen, it was powerful and Oliver expresses the character's panic perfectly. The starkness of the conclusion was powerful in itself. Because it's Marianne's view, I felt like I was missing something; I wanted to know what happened next! But the ending is all-encompassing of Marine and who she is. It's actually pretty perfect.



I received an ARC through the publisher; all opinions are my own.

The premise of this book definitely was one that captured something so different and speculative that I was immediately drawn to it. The idea of the black hairs along the spine was so creepy and there really didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to what made them grow, shrink, or attach. I really struggled with becoming invested in the story. I did not really get the sense of the true experience that Marianne was having and did not really feel her connection to her sister that led to her trauma. It was hard to be disconnected and to understand where Marianne was coming from. I did like the atmosphere in the retreat and I believe the isolation added an extra edge to the book that made it more horrific and captured my interest. I still cannot say I understand what happened during the attachment scene, but it was definitely one of the oddest things I have ever read. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley. I think that this book missed the mark for me.

Garden of Earthly Delights in a strange novel about grief, family, nature, purpose, and identity. It is centered around Marianne, who is grieving the loss of her younger sister. Her life begins to fall apart; she loses her job, her relationship crumbles, and weird, thick hairs begin to grow at the base of her spine. She is referred to an unconventional rehab facility to overcome her grief, but it quickly becomes clear that things are not what they seem.

This was a mixed novel for me. I really enjoyed Marianne’s relationship with her sister, and the parts at the mysterious rehab center, Nede. However, there were several overly verbose sections that seemed unnecessary. And to be honest, there were points where I nearly gave up entirely. However, I’m glad I didn’t because the quickening pace of the final section of the novel is fantastic. The very last few pages especially were incredibly rewarding (and unnerving).

I thought the description of this book sounded very interesting, so I was excited to request it. It is not at all what I expected and much too dark and gruesome for me, so I had to put it aside. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for giving me a chance to review it, but it was not my taste.

Garden of Earthly Bodies tries very hard to be an intellectual fever dream but falls far short and ends up being too scattershot to hold attention for an elongated period of time. While the exploration of grief through a sci-fi / horror lense was an interesting idea, the gory narrative and over the top, unrealistic characters ended up taking me out of the story too often to get fully invested.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to ABRAMS, The Overlook Press and Netgalley**

I hate to leave negative reviews. I rarely do. But, I just did not get into this novel..even for science fiction, it was just too "out there" and didn't make sense to me. This coming from someone who loves "weird fiction"

Surprisingly gory but lacking a conventional climax, Garden of Earthly Bodies attempts to mesh together discussions of grief and trauma into a doozy sci fi plot, but fails at creating an exciting or even linear narrative, with a dumb plot reveal and forgettable characters.

I really wanted to like this book, really I did, but I am 100% not enjoying this book, so I have to cast it aside.