Transformation, even mental transformation, passes through a rigorous transformative control of the body. This seems to be the message Metcalfe wants to offer with this novel in which a young woman, who comes from a somewhat insecure past and a controlling relationship, through the constant exercise by which she strengthens herself physically, transforms herself into a kind of spiritual leader, changing everyone whose life she touches. It is a very well-written, yet unconvincing novel, forced in many places, with unclear relationships and motivations. Still, one admires the author's effort to create something out of the box.

Strange and sublime, Chrysalis explores the relationship between selfhood and the body. Metcalfe's sentences are short, punchy and set the pace for the novel.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I thought it was a good book.

This was interesting, and I think that if I spent more time with it there was a feminist commentary on the way we monitor women's bodies and take them as totemic, but it was kind of oblique. I think the structure of never having the central character from her own perspective was interesting. As well, I think the way the novel is framed around desire was really intriguing. Still, it was kind of difficult to read alone, and might be better in discussion with others.

I just couldn't do all the body talk I'm sure this book is fine but I couldn't get past the first chapter without feeling icky.

chrysalis is enigmatic from start to finish. it follows a nameless woman and her transformation. to me, it felt very reminiscent of the vegetarian by han kang. this is such a fresh and unique way to angle a book and i thoroughly enjoyed it. the unnamed woman is elusive until the end, and while sometimes frustrating that i could not get more of a direct glimpse, i think that was the entire meaning. their attachment and obsession to this woman was so thrilling to read and left me feeling entirely unsettled at the end.

Chrysalis is split into three sections, in which we learn about an unnamed woman from the perspective of her mother, her colleague, and a potential lover. Through their eyes, we learn about her journey from isolated childhood to unconventional social media guru.

I love how the story unraveled; there are no “twists” in this Chrysalis, this is good old-fashioned plot progression, and Metcalfe has complete control. The narrator of each section is fully formed, with completely distinct styles. My favorite was the section narrated by the woman’s mother; Metcalfe captured the complexities of mother/grown-up daughter relationships. I saw another review comparing Metcalfe to Gwendoline Riley, and I definitely saw parallels between this novel and Riley’s superb My Phantoms.

I’m not a big fan of novels where social media is a major factor, but I was so pleasantly surprised by the intelligence of this novel. The woman’s trajectory is unconventional, and this is not an easy read. My favorite books are usually those that fall into the category of “uncanny”, and “evokes feelings of unease”, and Chrysalis checked both of those boxes.

I think this would absolutely work as a play, in a truncated version. The three sections have the feel of a monologue, and wind together perfectly.

I have never read anything like Chrysalis, and I am now a fully certified Metcalfe fan. What an exciting, refreshing, weird novel.

I enjoyed learning about the main character through the eyes of three people around her who are watching her grow and change. The story pulled me in right away. Beautiful writing.

𝟰.𝟱 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗨𝗣
In a word: mesmerizing

What a unique and wild ride! I’ve never read a book before where the main character doesn’t even have their own perspective and also doesn’t even have a name.

We are tasked with learning about our main character through the perspectives of three people: someone who wants her, her mother, and someone who essentially wants to be her. It was so fascinating to read from each person’s perspective and how they paint the picture of our main character and what they think of her. It’s even crazier to think that this is what happens in real life everyday. People make their own conclusions about who we are based on how we move about the world and how we look. And no one can ever really be right about you, because they aren’t you.

Such a thought-provoking and entrancing read and I highly recommend it!

This story is a bit of an odd one - the central plot follows an unnamed woman who becomes an online wellness cult leader and is told through the perspectives of three outsiders, which is an interesting conceit as by nature all three of the narrators paint incomplete and unreliable pictures of the protagonist. My main gripe is with the writing style - the protagonist being unnamed is so unnecessary and makes it annoying to read as the narrators constantly refer to "she" and "her" - it comes across as a lazy way to make the character seem more mysterious. I also could have done without a lot of the superfluous details (especially from the first narrator) - I skimmed over a lot of mundane text. By far the strongest was the second narrator, the protagonist's mother, as the third narrator hardly appeared to have any point of view at all.

In the end, it felt as though we missed out on the most interesting aspects of the character's transformation - becoming a supposed cult leader. The cult she builds is only ever vaguely alluded to, and it's unclear how this would have happened or if it actually happened at all. So much of the story existed in a seemingly liminal space, and it seems to be the authors' intent despite how much it left me wanting.

Very interesting, though I definitely felt something was missing. I think what was missing was obviously intentional, but the book just didn't feel complete to me.

Wow! This is one of those books that is going to stick with me for a long time. This has actually been on my NetGalley shelf for quite a while and after reading some reviews I just wasn't feeling that excited to read it. But I absolutely loved it! Chrysalis was unlike anything I've read before - there really isn't much of a plot, it's more of a character exploration. We learn about an unnamed women and her transformation from 3 different character perspectives: Elliot, Bella, and Susie. Bella's perspective was my favorite, but I really enjoyed all three (even though Elliot is kind of a creep).

There was just so much to this - an exploration of the female body and what society expects, influencers/content creation, isolation, community, relationships, loneliness. There is just so much here, I feel like this would be a great book for book club or a buddy read because there is so much to discuss.

I will read anything Anna Metcalfe writes, I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. Thank you so much NetGalley and Random House for the eARC of Chrysalis.

This book took me completely by surprise. It's a quiet, slow build that has some intricately crafted characters. As the story unfolds and the reader starts seeing all the pieces fall into place, this book becomes something truly unforgettable.

Anna Metcalfe has now cemented herself as an author that I will read anything she writes.

I did not vibe with this book, something about the writing put me off fairly early. I will not be giving a review. I don't want to give too terrible of a star rating since I did not finish, so I will give this a three, as to not tip the average star rating in any direction.

Chrysalis follows a woman amidst change, but the story never really gets close to her. Instead, we learn about her through the eyes of three people close to her: a man from the gym she briefly dates, her mother, a coworker-turned-friend. As each tries to understand her, endear themselves to her, she transforms her body and mind through meditation, exercise, and increasing isolation from the world.

I see what it’s trying to do/say about isolation, about women’s loneliness, our transformation as defense and protection. I see what it’s saying about society and expectations and assumptions. Each of the three narrators has chosen isolation to some extent, though they live within the conventional bounds of society. The difference between them and the woman they obsess over is that she, unlike them, has chosen her own singular identity. She exists, by design, in a vacuum.

I feel the sense of eeriness the author was going for. But where I wanted that eeriness to leave me unsettled, it gave me confusion. I had a hard time caring about anyone or anything, though I’ll concede that maybe that was the point. But this felt like the kind of story that would have made a really gripping short story or novella; for 270 pages, I kept expecting just a bit more.

Chrysalis follows un unnamed female narrator through her journey of mindfulness. She adopts healthy habits such as beginning yoga practice, going to the gym and meditating. The book is an interesting take on radical self care and how it varies from person to person. A compelling, unique, and engaging story.

Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe is like that weirdly captivating dream you had last night—you can't quite put your finger on what it all means, but it's fascinating nonetheless. It's told from the perspectives of three people in the main character's orbit who somehow find themselves fixated on this enigmatic woman as she undergoes a transformation. This is one of my favorite types of MC's- a nameless one.

Chrysalis is a wild exploration of desire, or perhaps more accurately, desperation. Picture a bunch of lost souls in the modern world, clinging to anything that gives their existence meaning. It's like they stumbled upon a lifeline in the form of the main character, and suddenly she becomes the epicenter of their universe. Is it her fault? Should we hold her responsible for the way people attach themselves to her, showering her with attention and devotion? The answer lies in the murky gray area this book proudly calls home. I, too, felt the way these people did at times. Sometimes I hated the main character, sometimes I wanted to be her, sometimes I just wanted to know someone like her.

Although I really enjoyed it, one thing I felt this book lacked was a deeper look inside the main character. I was hoping for a glimpse into her mind and never got it, and because of this I did feel at the end that there was that last piece missing for me.

Chrysalis is a thought-provoking exploration of selfhood and solitude. It poses the million-dollar question: Can a woman truly have agency over her body while still being a part of society? Prepare yourself for an explosive answer that'll leave you reevaluating your own existence. This book was super elusive and hard to wrap my head around, but I landed on the opinion that it's worth the journey.

Beautiful, sublime and supremely horrifying in equal measure. I greatly enjoyed it and was really moved

I will probably be thinking about Anna Metcalfe’s “Chrysalis,” and mostly not in a positive way. My first thought after finishing the novel was frustration and puzzlement. It should be noted that the marketing comparing “Chrysalis” to Han Kang’s “The Vegetarian” is completely off the mark and very superficial. Yes, both texts have women who, at one point, think that they are becoming trees. However, the contexts for these transformations are very different and, in my opinion, the reason for the transformation in Kang’s book is much more compelling than in Metcalfe.

The other reason for my frustration was the inability to tell whether Metcalfe’s book is “serious”, whether it was intended as a critique or as an affirmative approach to the behaviours and topics raised in “Chrysalis.” Some will probably read this novel as a character study of an unnamed woman who captivates the people in her life with her behaviour, perspective, and sometimes even beauty. She might be seen as a symbol for the way modern life has resulted in restlessness, how young people are leading movements calling for other to unplug, step away, detox themselves from people and things in their lives that no longer bring them joy. At the same time, these very same topics are brought up by Metcalfe in a way that could easily be interpreted as a sly remark, a portrait of society that the reader is meant to feel no sympathy for, even jeer at in the hopes that everyone gets their just rewards.

The novel is divided into three sections, each told from a different point of view, with all three characters having some connection to the central, unnamed female protagonist: Elliot, a man who goes to a local gym and lives a pretty regular, even mediocre life, who meets the protagonist at said gym; Bella, the female protagonist’s mother; and Susie, the protagonist’s friend/coworker. Together, the three sections add different details about the mysterious woman at the center of Metcalfe’s novel, although of the three, Elliot’s seems the most conventional (it adds a somewhat expected romantic plot to the novel) but also turns out to be the most important one, as he reappears towards the end of the text through indirect mention in a way that causes society in the novel to question the protagonist’s intentions. Bella’s chapter provides the most complete psychological portrait of the protagonist; it was also the section that made me realize that, whatever Metcalfe’s intentions were, I hate the protagonist of “Chrysalis.” Susie’s section felt the most extraneous. Her point of view and what she discussed felt the most unnecessary, in part because Metcalfe tries to develop Susie as an individual, a separate character, and this approach does not work.

I cannot tell if the female protagonist was meant to be the mysterious quasi pixie dreamgirl, quasi influencer caricature of a health-obsessed millennial who is depicted as being so selfish that it is hard not to feel genuine anger. I think “Chrysalis” could have been an interesting social critique if only it took a more original route, whether by avoiding the kind of structure it ended up using or by including more details in the actual story. Metcalfe’s prose reads very easily but it is also not particularly minimal. It is sparse in a way where none of the text actually feels vital, like it is capturing ideas or images that will then linger in the reader’s mind. Maybe I will continue being frustrated with “Chrysalis”, or maybe I will simply forget about the novel, treating it as just an attempt to capture the current climate without seemingly grasping the deeper issues some of the characters and scenarios inherently raise.

𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦/𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.

𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 (𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳) 𝘣/𝘤 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘗𝘖𝘝 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦. 𝙎𝙋𝙊𝙄𝙇𝙀𝙍𝙎 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙊𝙒:

𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘺𝘮, 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 “𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴” 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦/ 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦…𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘤𝘬. 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩/ 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩… 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘥𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦.

𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘖𝘝 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳; 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘖𝘝𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤.

𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 3 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦; 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘤𝘬. 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 “𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴” 𝘣𝘺 𝘬𝘢𝘧𝘬𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦/ 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 “𝘮𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯” 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘧𝘦𝘨𝘩.

𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘤, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺.