🌟 Rating: 4/5

This book is haunting, surreal, and absolutely impossible to look away from. Beta Vulgaris isn’t your typical story—it’s weird, unsettling, and brimming with vivid, disorienting imagery that sticks with you long after you’ve finished.

Elise, the protagonist, is painfully relatable in her desperation to escape debt and find some sense of control in her life, even if it means taking on a grueling seasonal job harvesting sugar beets. But what starts as an exhausting, physically punishing gig quickly spirals into something much darker. The strange texts, the growing tension in her relationship, the hypnotic whispers from the beet pile—it all adds up to an atmosphere of creeping dread that keeps you turning pages, even as it feels like everything is falling apart.

What I found most striking about this book is how it uses its bizarre premise to explore heavier themes. Elise’s struggles with disordered eating and dissociation feel raw and deeply personal, woven into the story in a way that doesn’t pull punches. The book also digs into class, labor exploitation, and the pressures of a system that grinds people down, all wrapped in this unsettling, almost otherworldly narrative.

That said, this isn’t a book for everyone. The story’s surreal elements can feel disorienting, and some readers might find the lack of a clear resolution frustrating. But for me, that ambiguity works—it mirrors Elise’s own unraveling and leaves you with questions that linger long after the last page.

If you’re looking for something eerie, thought-provoking, and completely unique, Beta Vulgaris is worth diving into. Just be prepared to sit with its discomfort—it’s not here to offer easy answers.

2.5 ⭐

The first half of this book was incredibly strong and I thought this would be a favorite book for the year. I loved the flowery writing and the unreliable boyfriend and insecure girlfriend dynamic that was being set up. And then the story dropped off and solely focused on a lot of unnecessary dialogue between characters and it just dragged. I considered not finishing it, but since it was a quick read I powered through.

The ending is one of those that leaves you wondering WTF you just read, so I can see this book being a hit with people. For me I just couldn't relate to Elise's issues of poor spending habits, so the character came off as a "woe is me." person who didn't seem to want to work on herself.

I think a big issue is the marketing of this book as horror. This was a fever dream, weird girl lit book for sure but NOT horror, so imagine my disappointment when I got to the last page and not a single horror element was read.

I really enjoyed the writing style of this. Very sharp and raw. At the end I had a feeling as thought I was almost being gaslit… didn’t I read that earlier in Elise’s experiences??? Had me questioning myself, as thought I had misread it. The detail of Sarsfield’s writing just further pulled you into the downward spiral. The obsession of counting calories really emphasized Elise’s mental deterioration. Her ‘mental breakdown’ at the restaurant was difficult to read… but like a train wreck, you can’t look away. Perfect winter read! Bleak, in a good way, with pockets of humor, and heaps of self-loathing.

I've just emerged from the strange, unsettling world of Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield (forthcoming February 2025), where the mundane task of harvesting sugar beets in Minnesota becomes a surreal descent into one woman's spiraling depression. What begins as a straightforward story about seasonal work to escape debt becomes something far more devastating - and weirdly compelling. Through Elise's eyes, we experience not just the physical labor of the beet harvest, but the exhausting weight of existing in a mind that's constantly at war with itself. Sarsfield renders disordered eating, self-loathing, and crushing anxiety with such stark familiarity that you find yourself nodding in recognition even as you wince at the truth of it. It's all threaded through with a caustic, mean-spirited humor that somehow makes the relentless internal monologue bearable - even darkly entertaining. When mysterious voices begin emanating from the beet pile and workers start disappearing, you're not quite sure if you're witnessing a psychological unraveling or something more sinister. The genius is that both readings work, and both are equally horrifying.

This was wild. One of the most blatant and raw books I've ever read about spiraling into an unhinged and deep Depression. But also, beets?

I have never in my life seen or read a book about people harvesting beets before. But the actual beet stuff, while educational, was not that interesting. The magic of this book was in the story and the complexity of the main character, Elise. She absolutely despises herself and is convinced that everyone around her also can't stand her. This can get exhausting, but the author infuses a caustic and mean spirited humor into the tone that makes it work. (At least, for me it did.) Elise is incredibly self-aware but she can't help herself. She is a human car crash. 

Margie Sarsfield nails what it’s like to have zero confidence in yourself or how other people feel about you, and she portrays it in poetic ways. Elise isn’t even sure if her own boyfriend likes her. I don’t relate to ALL of Elise’s struggles, but the way that Sarsfield portrays a specific brand of mid-life Depression and Anxiety is frighteningly spot on. I can easily picture numerous reviewers saying things like, “I couldn’t stand this narrator! Had to DNF!” Being inside her head is NOT a picnic because of the brutal honesty, racing thoughts and relentless self hatred. And it only gets worse as bad things continue to happen on this miserable seasonal beet farm job.

Shortly after arriving at the site in their camper, settling in and meeting everyone, Elise immediately begins to come apart mentally. (Wasn’t there a weird sign on the wall earlier? Where did it go? Etc. It's little details that don't REALLY matter.) Elise has a gross rash on her neck that she can’t identify and it only gets more worrisome. (Is it beet related?) She even feels a connection to the beets themselves, imagining she can hear them speak to her. There's a surreal quality to things that mirror her deteriorating mental state, and it's done with incredible skill.

I was confused at first why numbers would occasionally pop up here and there in parentheses, and then I realized that Elise was a very strict counter of calories. This plays a large role in who she is and how she treats herself, and I caution anyone who struggles with this that the story deals with both starvation and binge eating in visceral detail. There were lots of what I would call micro-triggers in this book, meaning Elise’s internal monologue was so honest and casually dark that she would constantly drop little nuggets of confession over and over that would practically make me suck air through my teeth. She was often a bit TOO real.

And still, the weird humor throughout kept it grounded. (Example: Elise and her coworkers would go to a restaurant called “Spaghett About It,” where Elise essentially has a mental breakdown at one point that was difficult to read.) Sarsfield crafted a miserable experience with this novel that I couldn't get enough of. At the end of the book, I was questioning things. I felt like even I had misread some of Elise’s experiences, and the realizations that I reached were not fun. This author is so talented.

This is absolutely one of my best reads of the year, but I do caution that I tend to enjoy the bleak stuff. It will NOT be for everyone! And mind the triggers, of which there are many. I predict that some reviewers will state that this is not actually Horror, but if you've ever suffered from Depression this severe, I beg to differ.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own. 

Biggest TW: Sick animals (dogs), **Disordered eating, Body shaming, Substance abuse, Anxiety, Self-harm, References to Sexual Harassment of a Minor, Allusions to SA, Severe Depression/Suicidal ideation

Maybe the marketing labeling this as “horror” was lost to me.

Sure the MCs mental health was alarming at times, but I don’t think enough happened plot wise.

I read more pages about the lack of funds in her bank account than actually plot development. So sadly this didn’t work for me personally.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC

3.5 ? 4 stars? Hard to rate because there was so much I liked about this book but found the middle to draaaag. Major trigger warnings for eating disorders.

I loved the unique, atmospheric setting of the beet farm in the chilly Midwest. Elise is a broken character with a serious eating disorder / compulsive thoughts / and spends all her money on concert tickets leaving her broke and anxious, i.e she’s extremely relatable. She heads to a beet farm for seasonal work with her boyfriend and people start to go missing. The last 15% of the book shit gets WEIRD / fever dreamy / dark and I LOVED it. I just needed way more of that, and less of the nothing that went on for a good chunk in the middle. So bizarre. So cool. Need this as an A24 movie.

Wouldn’t market this as horror. It’s for the weird lit fic girlies.

I'm not quite sure how to classify this novel. Creepy at times, but perhaps not horror in the traditional sense. But that's okay because I actually enjoyed reading this book and I think it will resonate with a lot of people.

Elisa and Tom are spending some time at a gig job harvesting sugar beets. This story is read from Elisa's eyes and she is, frankly, a mess. She suffers from debt, depression, mental illness, an eating disorder, and a need to be a people pleaser no matter what.

Her thoughts are told to us and being inside her spiriling out of control mind is a surreal experience. Often disjointed and obsessive thoughts swirl around her like dust in a windstorm. Yet, even as we sympathize with her, it feels like there's something darker lurking which she tries to hold in check.

Other workers start disappearing from the job site, including her boyfriend Tom. It's weird but she is told it's normal, that it happens every year. People can't handle the job and they leave. But the beets seem to "speak" to her.

Whether this is a product of her mental health or if it's truly something supernatural is left for the reader to decide. Really, this is a deep dive into an unsettled mind more than a traditional horror novel.

But I found it fascinating and was never sure what was real or just coming from an unreliable character's mind. It's certainly different than anything I've read before and the narrative was paced wonderfully with short sharp chapters.

It's not for every horror fiction reader but no book is. However, if you want something that relies on mental manipulation and not on blood and gore, I highly recommend this one.

When I first started reading Beta Vulgaris I thought I'd love it. The author has a beautiful way of writing, and I could really connect with Elise and her problems, but then came the first Pretty Little Liar "recap". It felt out of place, but didn't bother me too much. Not yet anyways. What bothered me mostly was the repetitiveness of the book as a whole. Too much information was given more than once or twice and it felt more like filler material than actual substance. Once we got the second and third Pretty Little Liar recap, I was also tired of that. I've seen the show and loved it, but to someone that never watched it it probably wouldn't have made much sense. The book is overall very bleak and I didn't mind that, but the ending felt underwhelming even if it was tragic and on theme.

4.25/5

This felt like a fever dream. It's so crazy that most of this story only takes place within two weeks. So much, yet so little happens. I loved the narrative of this story; I never knew what exactly was real and what was in her mind.

Thank you NetGalley and W W Norton & Company for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

5 ⭐️. this book as weird. like, WEIRD weird. and I loved every minute of it. I found myself dragging the book along because I wanted to keep staying within this weird, twisted world of Elise, Tom and the beet harvesters. I will be forever have nightmares about beets and sugar now.

ty to W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Beta Vulgaris encapsulates what it feels like to spiral when off of your anxiety medication. It’s the subtle things changing around you while you panic— yet it seems to never affect those around you. It’s slow creeping, pulse quickening, anxiety on the most personal of levels. This of course works for psychological horror. While the story was fighting very hard to keep my attention in places, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy this book to some extent. I think it’s definitely unique! 2.5stars/5.

This is the kind of weird novel that I live for - I was 100% pulled into the world of sugar beets and worms and Elise. Margie Sarsfield is a magician with descriptions - I could feel the cold, the beets, the smells, the hunger, the tide of Elise's emotions. God, I just loved this book. We need a new category of novel, the weird literary novel, for the people like me who have to wade through 100 read-alikes to find these absolute treasures. Can't wait to see what the author does next! You go, girl!

A compelling debut novel that gets under your skin like a rash until you pick it away to the very last pages.

What beet me up real good:
-The cover. Don’t judge a book by its cover… but the cover made me pick it up in the first place!
-Beet overdose. I loved how the beets were everything. Recurring motif, setting, character, plot. ALL HAIL THE BEETS. Return to the dirt.
-Realism. This is a story firmly based in reality, despite the madness and light horror elements. Elise’s insecurity and anxiety were palpable. We’ve all met someone like her and maybe even have a little bit of her in us.
-Setting. I actually knew a crust punk that did seasonal sugar beet harvesting and have always been curious about it. So reading a story that takes place around said harvest really made it all the more intriguing for me!

What force-fed me beets:
-Light on the horror. I would actually not necessarily consider this ‘horror’, but more general literary fiction. It has the whole ‘slow decent into madness’ thing down, but I can’t say it was particularly disturbing. It wasn’t really scary, creepy, or unnerving.
-The final act. The last ¼ or so lost steam for me and I was not a huge fan of the conclusion itself.

Overall, this is definitely worth a read and I will be looking out for more from Sarsfield in the future!

3.5 rounded up.
I did read this in one day but kept thinking should I DNF it? It doesn’t really get exciting until about 50% and even then you still don’t really know what’s happening but hmm that was an interesting book. I was getting a lot of Death Valley, Rouge, and Piglet vibes.

Beta Vulgaris follows Elsie, our female protagonist that joins a sugar beet harvest for the season to recover from financial debt. Over the course of the harvest, Elsie starts to lose track of reality as coworkers disappear, her worries about financial status impair her ability to care for herself, and relationships form and fall apart.

The beginning and middle portions of the novel build the relationship with Elsie as the reader views her troubles and builds a sense of compassion/empathy. Subtle shifts in writing start to artfully show the cracks in Elsie's perceptions. The stream-of-consciousness writing that spans the majority of the novel really aid bringing the reader into Elsie's descent into madness (or psychosis). I found the latter parts of the novel hard to follow, as I'm sure was the intent of Margie Sarsfield when writing the first person accounts of Elsie's lost grip from reality, and had to pause periodically to make sure I still had my grips on my own reality. Toward the end I unfortunately found myself waiting for something to happen. I felt resolution was missing from the story and the ending left something to be desired.

I would recommend this book to readers who love unhinged female leads, dark elements, and peaks into mental illness. Overall this was an interesting storyline and was well written.

Thank you NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the ARC.

I love a surreal book and this book fits that perfectly. This is an odd little story but I really enjoyed it. It made me uncomfortable in a lot of different places but in the absolute best way.

I read this book and though I loved it, it left me wanting more and very curious.
I felt on edge and wanting to know what would happen next.
The main character I found her relatable. Like myself when it came to her mental health and money struggles. But like I said I wanted more because, I wanted to know if she found the answers she needed in order for her to have her happy ending. I need to know if she got her ending ugh… however overall I enjoyed it.

I loved the writing in this book. I can’t get enough of the writing in this book. Sarsfield paints a woman that is anxious and makes poor choices but I still want what’s best for her. Even though you know the genre is horror, you want her to be okay.

This is psychological horror at its best, and also a bit of Midwestern Gothic. One of my new favorites. (If you’ve struggled with disordered eating before, though, I would recommend skipping this one).


I received this book as an advanced copy and I’m leaving my review for free.

Thank you NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book took a lot out of me. Fundamentally this book is about the mental decline of our main character, Elise, after she and her boyfriend decide to go work for a month helping harvest sugar beets. The book is labelled as horror and I wouldn't say that is wholly inaccurate, but the horror here is much more mundane than what I think of when I think of horror novels. The horrors of anxiety.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone currently dealing with major mental health issues because I think all this book will do is make things worse. I think it may have made my mental state worse and I only have to deal with a fraction of what Elise has to deal with. The book is bleak and everything just keeps getting worse and worse and worse and, I can't stress this enough, worse for Elise as the book goes on.

If there is any reason to read this book it is because of Elise. She is a stunningly realized character, who you just want to shake and tell her everything will be alright, even though she would never listen to you and convince herself that you hate her. I see myself in Elise and I see a lot of young people in know in Elise.

My only real problem with the book is the pacing. The book is nearly 300 pages long which isn't crazy long, yet it still manages to feel bloated. Its sort of like if a Safdie Brothers movie was 3 hrs long, which is to say a little too long to be stuck in the worst part of any person's life. A few too many chapters which don't really push things forward, just establish how bad Elise's mental state is which we kind of already knew.

Will be looking out for more Margie Sarsfield, crazy that tis is a debut novel.