I’m, not quite sure how to summarise this book other than “how gloriously batshit was that.” Body horror, flesh-goddesses, themes of love, power, autonomy and the self are all wrapped up in this small town murder mystery come inter dimensional drug trafficking ring slash coming of age, though it’s more like coming into one’s own body. Initially this was a 3.75 for me, but the more I sit on Huff’s talent and audacity, the more I love it.

Set in a small town in America - Rosetown, Idaho - Jennifer is part of an inter dimensional drug smuggling ring, and battles a daily fight for control of her own body and mind with the eldritch flesh goddess inhabiting her - The Divine Flesh. Now, when Daryl, Jennifer’s ex husband and whom The Divine Flesh happens to be currently in a relationship with, is murdered by small town bigots, Jennifer and TDF have to work together (if they can) to find the murderers. Along they way they become separated, Daryl resurrected, and they must all contend with the all-consuming hungers and desires of The Divine Flesh herself.

We follow - stumbling along in their wake - several key characters. Jennifer, The Divine Flesh, Susan, Daryl and Clay. Jennifer, our eldritch entity hosting drug mule, and The Divine Flesh, said eldritch entity, come as a pair; both inhabiting the same body, the same mind. Theirs is a relationship born of constant battle for control, of experiencing and denying hungers, of loss of autonomy, grief and trauma. Daryl, Jennifer’s ex and TDF’s current love, gets caught up in this pulsating mess of a story, flung around, taken apart and put back together and damn I feel for the guy. Susan and Clay are our Mirror People, an alien species and part and parcel of the inter dimensional drug racket Jennifer finds herself smuggling goods (Mirror People eggs).

I will say, I spent about 40% of this book oscillating between mild and moderate confusion; though I do think that this is just part and parcel of the premise.

This is, in its heart of (many mouthed, multiple) hearts, TDF is a love story; it’s a story about consent, autonomy, self acceptance, and the queasy nature of love as a force. TDF explores, in a hazy, whirlwind, trippy, confusing punch-in-the-brain sort of narrative, questions of what can be considered “love”; can something intensely volatile, possessive, controlling and domineering and still be love. It considers the power of repressed desires, examined through the lens of a flesh-hungry goddess who just wants to “love” (consume) flesh, with little understanding or concern for humanity.

I enjoyed being hurled along with TDF herself; as though she, naturally, was a character with an utterly foreign mindset being an eldritch flesh goddess and all, Huff’s writing was visceral and tangible. TDF’s desires, motivations and reasonings were expressed in a way that could, and did, resonate - the absurdity of the strength of her power conveys the absolute overwhelm of emotions when someone presses them down. Her innate call for love can resonate with someone starved of it. Her grief speaks to those still processing their own pasts.

What I loved however was Jennifer - at times a passenger in her own body, her own mind, she was the driving force for me during this bloody, gory, hallucinogenic feeling ride. Damaged by her past, and her, you know, constant state of sharing her soul with a flesh goddess clamouring to feed and deal death, Jennifer is a lost soul trying to find herself, to reclaim what’s been taken from her. Due to the breakneck speed of the plot, we don’t really have too many contemplative moments with Jennifer or Daryl, but Jennifer’s journey is one I found satisfying - if not intensely overwhelming.

Essentially, read THE DIVINE FLESH if you want a body horror that’s breakneck, filled with telepathy, an aching hunger that crawls from the pages and feasts on your organs. A relentless pace with no concern for whether you understand which reads like ‘buckle up buddy, we’re going feasting and a’murdering and you better just strap in.’ It’s brutal and wild, confusing and relentless, and I’ll definitely be reading it again to find everything I missed on the first go.

This was the cosmic horror of my dreams. My only complaint is that it got a little bit long. Other than that, the interdimensional drug mule who is also dealing with being the third wheel to the flesh goddess that possesses her being in a relationship with her ex-husband, Daryl, is an extremely fun protagonist to follow. This was also a surprisngly touching book, in between some of the most fun body horror I experienced in probably ever.

What in the fever dream cosmic fuck is this? 🤣 This book is so weird and gross, and full of the love of a monster. The Divine Flesh is easily the most interesting God (monster) I’ve read and her babies (creatures, assimilated humans, what the fuck ever) were freaky and disgusting. You’d think the most evil, horrible character in the book would be one of the Eldritch Gods; the ones trying to assimilate the population or fill their bodies with larvae, but you’d be wrong. It’s a man, and he’s the fucking worst. I think this was longer than necessary, but it was a weird, wild, ride and I liked it for the most part.

What a wild ride! Full of gore and felt like a surreal trippy ride on acid (totally in a good way). Full of body horror that made my skin crawl. Loved!

This book stands out in every way, yet it kept me completely engrossed. It’s both disturbing and gripping. The story centers on Jennifer, the main character, who is not only battling her own inner demons but is also sharing her body with a powerful eldritch goddess named Divine Flesh. As if that weren’t enough, both Jennifer and Divine Flesh are in love with the same man—Daryl, Jennifer’s husband. This creates a maddening power struggle, leading to shocking and often violent outcomes.

DNF at 30%.

I was so hopeful for this but the writing was choppy and repetitive.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dark Matter INK for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a weird, wild ride and my favorite read of 2025 so far. I haven't encountered a setting that embraced its weirdness so fully since Library at Mount Char, which is high praise! I loved that the reader was thrust into this bizarre landscape as seen through the eyes of a delightfully fucked up protagonist and trusted to put the pieces together along the way. This book had everything: phenomenal fleshy goopy body horror, a serial killer, cosmic and existential terror, and giant insect shenanigans.

The cover drew me in and the plot sounded intense. And I was right to pick it up. That was a fever dream of body horror and I'm all here for it.

I recognize this as an insanely creative story and as beautifully written I just simply think this book wasn’t for me. I’m usually not overly interested in the “alien” side of things so I was weary going into this book to begin with for that reason. The body horror was written so vividly that it is what made the book for me. I will be reading more from Drew Huff and have a few books from them on my tbr that I am anticipating reading. If you love alien weird sci-fi with a ton of descriptive body horror, check this out!

This would be a four star read - if not a full five - if I had any clue what the f*ck was going on!

In this book we follow Jennifer, a young alcoholic/drug mule who shares her body with the Divine Flesh, a cosmic entity. Jennifer is married to Daryl, though they are estranged and mostly married for insurance benefits.

I tried to figure out a way to summarize this, but my head is spinning. The main attraction is that Jennifer and the Divine Flesh are separated for the first time and all hell breaks loose. But there are some subplots that get so confusing: space larvae as drugs? A murderous real estate agent? Daryl and the Divine Flesh being in love?

This was such a cool concept, and the characters were entertaining, but the execution suffered a bit. We are thrust RIGHT into the story with very little to no explanation of what’s going on. There’s a more concrete explanation given towards the very end, but by that point I had scratched my head so many times in confusion that I could barely comprehend anything.

Oh, but the body horror was top tier! Some really creative moments there.

Overall, I think this could’ve done better had it been simplified just a LITTLE. It was very involved, but not very clear.

i'm still not entirely sure what i read, this was such a confusing rollercoaster of a fever dream, but it made sense. words twirled around each other like veins and parts of it just swept me along. a few parts actually did make me gag as well, which doesn't happen with body horror for me often. i would definitely love to read more of drew huff's books.

Jennifer has a lot going on in her life; she's a drug runner, an addict, and she shares her body with a flesh-goddess called the Divine Flesh. They're in the same body, and they don't get along at all, constantly fighting for control and destroying each other's lives in the process.

I'm not sure on this one guys. It started off really strong, with a very unique voice and a truly original idea. I've honestly never read anything like this before and at no point could I predict what was going to happen next.

There's a lot of gore and body horror throughout the book. We're thrown into it right from the start, and it doesn't let up at all. Usually I love a gory story, but I think there was just so much of it and too frequently that it lost it's 'shock value' and impact and became a little repetitive instead.

There were a lot of plots and threads going on in the story all at the same time and I did lose track of what was happening a little. I found the Mirror People and their eggs fascinating, I loved the complex dynamic between Darryl, Jennifer & Divine Flesh super interesting, and the small-town setting & characters compelling, but we jumped around everything happening so much that I didn't feel like I got a chance to enjoy any of them as much as I should've. I do wonder if the story would've worked better as a collection of novellas, with each plot point getting its own time to shine.

The Divine Flesh was a really original story that was weird in all the right ways. I loved the vibe and the idea, but unfortunately it just didn't land for me.

The Divine Flesh is an exhilarating journey that combines elements of the bizarre, the mystical, and the surreal into a story that feels almost dreamlike in its intensity. From the very first page, it pulls you into a world that is at once disorienting and captivating. The book offers a unique blend of mind-bending imagery, philosophical musings, and unexpected twists that keep you on the edge of your seat.

The narrative is a rollercoaster ride, with moments of pure chaos woven seamlessly into deeper, more thought-provoking reflections on existence, identity, and transformation. The characters are fascinating, complex, and often enigmatic, making it hard to predict where the story will go next. It's a book that doesn't just entertain – it challenges your perception of reality itself.

One of the most compelling aspects of The Divine Flesh is its ability to blend the abstract with the concrete. The writing is both beautiful and strange, as the author pulls you through vivid, surreal scenes while maintaining a core of emotional depth. It’s one of those books where you can’t help but wonder what’s real and what’s a manifestation of the protagonist’s mind, making every page feel like an exciting puzzle to unravel.

what a crazy book! a mix of cosmic/Eldritch and body horror! it is definitely a lot and can be a little confusing at point (i do wish some chapters would start of defining who is narrating/talking). i think it was a really fun and crazy concept. this is so far the only body horror book that has made me a little queasy with essentially just once sentence haha. if you was something with a lot of substance i definitely recommend this. and there are many parts where you think "why is this like this?" just wait, you'll have an explanation. overall i enjoyed this book and it definitely sucked me in and kept me reading!

This story follows a woman possessed the Divine Flesh, which takes over her body at random times. They hate each other and constantly fight for control, blaming the other for their lives being a mess. The Divine Flesh just wants to create new life (but you can’t create anything from nothing, so she needs bodies), Jennifer just wants to survive hers (former foster care kid turned drug addict and drug mule), or so they say.
The story is quite confusing at first as it just throws you into the deep end of a world where a woman sometimes blacks out and the Divine Flesh takes her over and creates her children out of Flesh. The first third of the book is a bit tough to get through because of this. The story moves fast, but I was constantly trying to slow it down, figure out if I missed anything in the world building, trying to make sense of it. But once I got over that, the story really took off and I had a really good time. There are many perspective switches, making the story feel vibrant and fleshed out (ha!), moving along at a feverish pace and dragging you along for the ride.
It’s crass, it’s gorey, it’s gross and elbow deep in the guts of everything depraved and if you allow yourself to be enveloped by that, you will have a great time. Once the story settles down in a small town in Idaho is when the character’s really get to shine, which is when the story really started to work for me. We don’t only get to explore Jennifer’s feelings, but also Daryl’s (her ex) and the Divine Flesh as she changes. There are also a multitude of side character, some worse than others and quite a few you wish would die sooner than later (looking at you Trojan!), but their perspectives also add to the unsettling feeling, add to the horror and add to the confusion and so they worked really well.
Do mind the trigger warnings, there are very few nice or kind people in this story, but if you are interested in a book about cosmic horror and filled with body horror and incredibly well written terror, this is a book to check out!

TW: ableism, abuse, animal death, animal murder, body dysmorphia, body horror, csa (mentioned), death, drugs, eating disorder (mentioned), gore, grief, gun violence, homophobia (mentioned), murder, racism, rape, sexual assault, suicide, transmisogyny (mentioned)

Where do I even begin? When I read the synopsis, I was very intrigued, it seemed like it was going to be great. But my tune changed when I actually started reading. I didn’t understand what was going on. Tbh, I still don’t know what was going on now that I’ve finished reading it. While the concept could have been so great, it was poorly executed. There were too many subplots, too many characters, too many additional names for the same character, and it was just trying to do too much that I just got lost. I really thought that it was going to be some mix of Invasions of the Body Snatchers, walking dead, alien something or other, but it was more of a hot mess. I wanted to like it, but unfortunately didn’t. Hopefully, there’s others out there that get it and enjoy it. This just wasn’t for me.

The Divine Flesh reads like the most beautiful nightmare that you have ever had - involving eldritch horrors, the most cursed love triangle you could ever imagine, drugs, murder, and meat puppets. Troubled Jennifer holds the Divine Flesh within her, a goddess that wants nothing more than to change the world with her love: except love looks a lot like turning bodies into abominations. After being offered the opportunity of a lifetime (a drug that promises to sever the connection between her and the Divine Flesh forever) Jennifer soon realizes that she has a lot to learn about love and saving the world. She is the unlikeliest of heroes - selfish, damaged, with no prospects and nobody who truly cares for her. At no point did I have a single idea of where this was going and I loved every moment of it.

If you read (or watched) John Dies at the End and wondered if it could get any more depraved or bizarre, The Divine Flesh is the answer for you. The writing is creative and unconventional, the world-building effortless, and the ending is satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dark Matter INK for this ARC - my thoughts and opinions are my own.

The premise to this called to me, and I couldn’t wait to read it, but it was too much for me. It was constantly repetitive while simultaneously being all over the place and so out of left field that I couldn’t make sense of it or really allow myself to take it all in. I love dark horror and sci-fi, but I do want a plot and this one fell short. I sat on this for weekss and tried several times to change my mind on it but ultimately I couldn’t. While I didn’t enjoy it, I do think it’s incredibly creative and that there is definitely a target audience that would appreciate it more. Thanks to Dark Matter Ink for my eARC.

I've never done mushrooms, but I feel like I did mushrooms when I was reading this. The cosmic horror/body horror kind of reminded me of Andrew Van Wey, which I VERY much enjoyed. However, I do feel like this was a much longer story than needed to be. The pieces that were excellent really stood out, but it did contain a lot of fluff to get there. Thank you for my ARC!

WTF did I just read?! There’s no denying that this author has writing talent, but WTF is this?! I was lost for the first half of it. Eventually I did start figuring it out, but there are so many different POVs, that it took a while to piece the puzzle together. Not only do we jump between the characters, but we also have sentient entities living inside the main characters, which adds an additional layer of POVs. I’m honestly surprised I kept up as well as I did, and that I was able to finish it so quickly. I read the whole thing over the course of five days. I give it a solid 3.5-4 stars. It was well written, imo. Just a lot going on. It’s also very messed up. At least a dozen trigger warnings if not more.

To briefly summarize the plot: A dimensional god gets bored, shreds her own universe, invades ours, and becomes the “God of love” as portrayed in the scriptures. Just one thing, SHE is having a mental break and she’s psychotic. She wants to eat everybody, digest them and make them “better,” because she “loves” them so much. The only person capable of stopping her is a barely functional drug addict.

This book is so twisted. Lots of body horror and gore. There’s SA, violence, death, monsters, and drug abuse. The entire thing has icky religious undertones, where religion is twisted and is not a healthy thing at all. I felt a knot of disgust in my stomach while reading. Especially the SA scenes. I recommend proceeding with caution if you are sensitive to triggers. It certainly is unforgettable. Kind of wish I could forget it, but it is what it is. I do think the writing style is unique and well-done considering what the author was trying to pull off - POV wise.

I was satisfied by how the book ended. Won’t read it again. Probably won’t read more by this author because the style is a bit too graphic and gory for my taste.

PS. I didn't see the average rating on goodreads until after I finished reviewing it. Amused that my score ended up falling in line with most other reviewers, at this time.