I saw this on Instagram and picked it up because the cover is so cool! The setting in the world of competitive bodybuilding was interesting, but the book did not hold together for me, The second half was chaotic and the characters turned kind of arch. I just could not care about any of them. Really wanted to love it but it missed for me. 2-1/2 stars rounded up to 3.

Bodies To Die For is an original thriller with an intriguing storyline. Unfortunately, it did not work for me. The beginning of the book was super interesting and I was very invested, but the more I got into the story the less I was invested.

The characters were all super interesting and highly unreliable, I had no idea who to trust which I loved. There was definitely a lot of drama between these girls which sometimes felt very high schoolish to me. I didn't really like any of the characters so it was hard for me to care about what happened to them.

The ending also just fell flat for me, it was just missing that final shock factor for me. I am definitely in the minority for this one and I do think a lot of people will enjoy this book, it just did not work for me in my personal opinion.

✨️ Thank you to @netgalley, Blackstone Publishing & Lori Brand for my gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

What a great debut! I mean who doesn’t like a good serial killer read who has their sight set on fit girls and stalking them? I enjoyed this unique setting and the different personalities of the characters. Makes you take a second and third look at social media and what influences us…

Thanks so much for the opportunity to read as a part of the @thrillerbookloversthepulse tour! Bodies to Die For is twisty and fun, and I'm so happy to help build the buzz!

🏋🏼‍♀️👙Book Review👙🥊

Title: Bodies to Die For
By: Lori Brand
Pub Date: June 11, 2024

A huge thank you to Lori Brand for the opportunity to read and review Bodies to Die For. This book was packed with interesting characters and I think all of us @thrillerbookloversthepulse felt like we could relate to someone.

Ashley is at an all time low. Her weight has gotten out of control and her overall confidence is in tatters. When a man in an Escalade nearly runs her over after yelling obscenities regarding her size, Ashley decides she’s had enough. Scrolling thru Instagram she finds weigh loss coach and body builder Gemma who promises fitness and weight loss with one-click. Should she sign up for coaching or will this prove to be another failed attempt at weight loss? Deciding Gemma isn’t for her, she attends a weight loss surgery seminar where she meets Lydia. Lydia believes fat is beautiful and empowers Ashley through their shared despise of body shaming. But when strange things start happening to fitness models, Ashley starts to think twice about her entanglement with Lydia.

Gemma used to be like Ashley. Once referred to as Fat Gemma, she’s now an in-demand trainer, well-endorsed, and competes for the coveted Olympia competition each year. With the competition fast approaching, Gemma decides she’ll compete one last time in an attempt to win the top spot. But when fitness models start dying in mysterious way, Gemma begins to fear she might be next. Should she pursue her passion, or cut and run?

This book was a slow burn, but definitely kept me well-entertained. With a variety of intertwined characters, there was a great twist I didn’t see coming. I will say pay attention so you don’t miss out on a minute of the good stuff! Whether you’re Team Ashley or Team Gemma, this book will definitely give a behind the curtain look at the fitness industry. Just be careful where you look! 👀

#thepulse #thrillerbooklovers #booksbooksbooks #readmorebooks #reader #reading #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #authorofinstsgram #booknerd #booked #thrillers #bibliophile #bookworm #mystery #bookreview #pulsepoint #thrillerreader #thrillsandchills #thrilleraddict #booknerd #readersofig #thrillerbooks #thrillerbookloversthepulse #readers #bookreview #netgalley

This one has a really unique storyline and a somewhat different execution . Although we have 2 primary POVs, we do get to “hear” others POVs through out the story which was enjoyable.
For me the story started off pretty slow and at times hit too close to home - especially since fat on me has been winning over here for the last 5 years 🤦‍♀️. I enjoyed the last third of the book much more as the various stories started to intersect and we got closer to finding out who is killing the bikini body competitors .

Fair warning that this novel revolves around Diet Culture and could definitely be triggering for some people. That said, it’s a compelling whodunnit with a lot of depth. The characters felt fully developed, as if they were real, and that’s a testament to the authors skill. There were just enough suspects to not be able to pin it down until the very end, and I absolutely loved that!

I absolutely devoured and adored this campy, twisty, thought provoking thriller from Lori Brand! I can't believe this is her debut novel!

Gemma lost 100 pounds and is living the perfect Fit Girl life; she has a hot husband, she's competing in Bikini bodybuilding, and is sponsored by a premiere athletic brand. But fears of losing control and gaining weight again plague her as she prepares for the Olympia.

Ashley is 100 pounds overweight and gets roped in with a seething group of Fat Activists, feeling empowered for the first time in a long time.

At the same time, Fit Girls are showing up dead. Gemma fears if she will be next, and Ashley finds herself crossing path with the danger as well. Multiple character's stories intertwine together toward an explosive thriller climax, with a poignantly emotional final image.

I thoroughly enjoyed the way Brand wove together nuanced conversations about body image, social commentary about beauty standards and some fun snarky tones from both sides of the body perspective while also remaining a neutral, compassionate tone overall.

On top of serving an empowering emotional journey, she created a perfect fitness-thriller-campy world, with perfect thriller pacing, and a bombastic, exhilarating final sequence.

This is such a unique book in how strong it as as a thriller, and how empowering its core message is about the way we see our bodies. For anyone concerned that this book will either fat-shame, thin-shame or anything-shame, that is not a part of this book at all, and I encourage you to pick it up for an enlightening view on the body wars!

Wow! This book was so good—interesting, engaging, and it really made me think. As someone who has struggled with my own weight over the years, I loved the dialogue around what it means to be healthy, thin, fat, angry, hurt, and all the emotions that come with it and what that can shift into. This book was absolutely amazing and had some great twists. Psychological thrillers are my one of my favorite genres and Lori Brand hit it out of the park with this one! Easily a million stars, but I’ll settle for 5!

Fast paced psychological thriller that mainly follows two female main characters that are connected in more ways than they think. This book is getting all the buzz at @thrillerbookloversthepulse. #pulsepoint #thepulse.
Gemma used to be heavier and now is a fitness competitor. She has a huge social media following, sponsorships and coaches others. You’d never know she struggles internally with “fat Gemma”.
Ashley is heavy set and wants to be someone like Gemma. Until she meets Lydia, a fat activist that wants to destroy diet culture. She teams up with her until fitness models start to get murdered. She starts thinking Lydia’s group is far more dangerous than she thought.
As someone who has struggled with my weight since a teen, I loved this book. It covers the toxicity in the fitness world, body positivity, being strong and lifting each other up.

"She's not worried about how she looks or losing weight. She simply wants to get stronger." Bodies to Die For manages to pull off a murder mystery while simultaneously pointing a finger at the body shaming that woman of all sizes encounter.
Gemma, formerly Fat Gemma, is a bikini competitor and Fitness influencer. Meanwhile, fat and fabulous Ashley is tired of people telling her "...I'm not okay the way I am. That I need to shrink."
The battle becomes a war when women in the fitness industry begin dying. Will Gemma be next? Does Ashley's suspicious new friend Lydia have anything to do with the bodies piling up?

Gemma, a weight loss/fitness influencer has documented her journey of losing 100lbs on her Instagram. She is preparing for an upcoming body building bikini competition, Bikini Olympia. In the lead up to the competition Gemma's friend and main competitor is murdered.

Ashley, is an overweight woman who has struggled with her weight for a long time. She aspires to be like Gemma, until she meets Lydia.

Lydia is an activist trying to destroy diet culture and end fat shaming. Lydia encourages Ashley to join the ranks of the Phoenix and help fight the battle against unrealistic body standards and expectations.

After 4 murders among fitness gurus, could Gemma be next?

This was a really interesting read, from the stand point of a thriller reader I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding who the killer could be. I felt like the book dealt with a serious topic surrounding what a healthy body is and societal expectations very well.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

💪🩸𝙱𝙾𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙸𝙴 𝙵𝙾𝚁💪🩸
𝙿𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛
𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟷𝟷, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺(𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝!)
𝙼𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝟺.𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

🤏𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚋𝚒𝚝…”Bodies To Die For takes a hard look at social media, the $70 billion diet industry & the war against women’s bodies”

🗣️𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢..The most uniquely plotted thriller ever! I mean damn!👏 I can’t believe how expertly this topic was tackled..women’s bodies & our obsession over them. You know that toxic war we have all been at in some point of our lives. You have two protagonists in this book..one who is a bikini fitness 👙💪influencer(who once was obese) & the other an IT 💻specialist that is overweight & has yo yo dieted for years while trying to remain body positive. Their worlds intertwine(how, right🤔? Just wait..it works!) & now both have to find out who the hell is killing people around them! 😱A wonderfully unhinged thriller that you must read this summer! ☀️👙🍉🩸🏋️

Thank you @blackstonepublishing @netgalley & @loribrandwritesandlifts for my gifted copy. We @thrillerbookloversthepulse have been talking about this one!

This compelling thriller weaves an entertaining story while taking a good look at some of the weight loss and body shame issues that plague our society today. It was actually fascinating to enter the world of body builders and personal trainers to gain an understanding of the stress that people at the top of the fitness industry experience as they compete and try to stay on top.

GEMMA, the main character, still wrestles with her inner “Fat Gemma” as she makes daily decisions to stay on track with her diet and health regimen. As she prepares for an upcoming competition, she realizes her competitors are slowly being killed off (in quite dramatic ways)!

Meanwhile, ASHLEY, deals with body shame and constant not to subtle hints from her mother and others to lose weight. Fed up, she joins forces with a group of activists who protest against the diet industry and fitness world. But how far are they willing to go to make a change?

This novel moves at a fast pace, with short chapters, interesting (often shallow) characters, and multiple points of view. I really enjoyed the story, and I give it 4 stars, with 1 star lost because of the frequent use of crude terms for body parts and bad language use throughout the otherwise entertaining story.

Read this book if you are reading for a gripping story! Diving deep into the world of thin or overweight people and female bodybuilders, it hits on social topics as well and making a great story. Read the authors note at the end of the book to see wha inspired the book (I was fascinated). The debut novel is a great read that I read in one day. I can’t wait to read more books by this author!

This was a very different and interesting thriller.

Body positivity and fitness among women especially is always a big/hot topic and this one addressed that while still giving a top notch thriller.

Gemma is a fit female, competing in fitness competitions that require a strict diet and fitness routine. She's one of the top of the industry; however, "Fat Gemma" still lurks in her mind and she struggles with that.

Ashley works in IT, is plus size and has been fat shamed by her mother her entire life. She meets a woman and is brought in to work with a group of women's activists who are protesting nationwide, targeting fitness influencers and competitions, including the one Gemma is participating in.

This was a wild ride with some baddy women on both sides! And the ending . . . loved!

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing, NetGalley and Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse for an eARC.

I have mixed feelings about Bodies to Die For. Many of the characters live their lives as fitness influencers, tracking every gram of carbs they eat every day, terrified of becoming fat. But the author did a pretty good job of creating a fat character who gets involved in a radical fat liberation group, over her head, but finds self-acceptance and love along the way. And the main fitness influencer character, who is a former fat person, finds out that life isn't all about staying thin, and maybe she will find family where she least expected to.

And it's all wrapped up in a high body-count thriller! I would recommend it with the warning that it primarily takes place around a bodybuilding contest and you can't really avoid the anti-fat bias that is inherent to those events and the fitness influencer industry. But the author did a good job of making the fat characters whole people and not stand-ins for negative qualities.

It's a satisfying genre mystery/thriller with a feel reminiscent of the brilliant Dietland.(https://www.saraiwalker.com/dietland/)

This book was such a surprising read for me! Ok, mostly because I made it a surprise, just because I started reading it with an opinion that wasn’t based on anything real, which turned out to be absolutely wrong. So, it was a *me* thing.

Before I started reading the book, I, a fat person, stalked the author, an extremely fit person. Wow, I was in awe. SHE CAN DO THAT? OMG, I WANT TO BE HER WHEN I GROW UP. Wow. Then I looked at the book and looked at her again. And my mind decided for me – I bet that will be some fit propaganda book, ok. I’m a photographer among other things, I took promo photos for several local IFBB girlies for many years, and I know what’s it all about, ok. I’m ready for this, bring it on, I’ll be the old fatty reading a fit book, cool.

Daaaang. Was I wrong? And was I happy to be so wrong? You bet, on both accounts! The book is this action-filled rollercoaster of whirlwind drama, it somehow made a grotesque soap-opera-style exaggerated drama feel real. It started out tame – and then it picked up the speed and went into a full-blown crazy mode. Also, it somehow was extremely hilarious at times, and extremely entertaining.

While it might feel that there were oh-so-many different characters and it was hard to keep tabs on who was what, each of those was perfect. So. Many. Weirdos. And all of them are so well-written. Not a single “normal” person is in sight, yet everyone cosplays a normal person.

Now, please excuse me while I go stalk the author some more, I now need to know if she has ever written anything else, if she is planning to write more, and, most importantly, howwwww could I get my body that is used to slow jogging only to do the monkey bar swing thing she does with what seems to be some wild ease.


p.s. There is no fit propaganda in this book, ok. It might actually be one heck of the most body-positive read I have seen in a long time. Don't be me. Don't assume weird shit. Just read it.

This book is so different than anything I have read in a while, and I absolutely loved it. This has two fantastic sides - a fun yet gripping thriller, and a social commentary on a very serious subject. The two combined to make for quite an unputdownable book.

Gemma is a weight loss/health influencer and fitness trainer getting ready for the Bikini Olympia, an annual bodybuilding competition. She’s lost 100 pounds, and documented her journey on Instagram, from a morbidly obese woman to a toned and thin one, through strict diet and exercise.

Ashley is a plus-size girl who originally aspired to be like Gemma until she met Lydia, a “fat activist” out to destroy Diet Culture. She soon starts to despise fitness influencers and their unrealistic mentalities. She begins to embrace her body for what it is, eat what she wants, and become a constant thorn in the side of several influencers. She decides to go to the Olympia to protest unrealistic body standards, and that’s when things get crazy. Influencers and weight-loss gurus are being targeted for murder - will Gemma be next?

The story is great, with excellent characters, an original plot and a compelling look at how social media distorts the reality of what a “healthy” body looks like. Is it the larger woman who exercises, is strong and mentally healthy, or the exhausted woman counting macronutrients and working out until she is about to vomit? ARCs aren’t really supposed to be quoted, as things may change, but I hope this makes it into the final draft. “Fuck Fat Gemma. Fuck Thin Gemma, too. Their battle sucks. It’s stupid.” That pretty much sums it up perfectly. Five stars for a thrilling and thoughtful debut.

(Thank you to Blackstone Publishing, Lori Brand and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on June 11, 2024.)

This was a great book. This is unlike any thriller I have ever read and I couldn't not put it down. A great read!!!