I was excited about this story and the premise sounded great. However, I chose to DNF this book because I didn't enjoy the writing style. It was unnecessarily complicated and a lot of words were used to say something short. I truly believe the story is/would be good, but the writing style wasn't for me. That being said, I'm sure plenty of others will have no issue with the writing and enjoy this much more.

4.25🌟

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc of this.

This book was weird, like the kind of weird that I eat up all day. Like what the hell did I just read weird. And then when I thought it couldn’t get more weird, it did. I can’t wait to pick up the physical copy when it’s released!

DNF @ 23% I really tried to push through and get a decent amount read but I just couldn’t get into this. The premise of this book sounded so unique and something up my alley, but unfortunately it was a miss. At a certain point we started to follow other pov’s/different events taking place, that made this feel too busy to keep up. I think part of that complaint is the pacing.

What I did love was this incredibly unique plot & the “The Divine Flesh” character (truly felt really well developed) which was my fav.

*Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC!*

I’ve never read anything like this so this book was a new venture for me.
The body horror throughout this book is quite a lot, definitely one to acknowledge the trigger warnings on.

Overall, the concept was really interesting and I found the characters, though self-destructive and weird, interesting to follow.

This book sucked me in FAST. I was incredibly delighted by the Jekyll-and-Hyde dynamic of our main characters, Jennifer and DF, and it was fun to be propelled directly into their casually insane world and story.

Extremely important to note: the content warnings are not to be taken lightly. I found this particularly true of the SA warning. SA is not just mentioned in passing, it is an active part of the horror aspect of the book and is at some points described in graphic detail. Absolutely check all of the other content warnings as well - this book is a lot heavier than the goodread blurb might suggest.

The book is divided into four parts and the first part absolutely won me over. The second, however, began to lag so much that I honestly think it could just about have been cut entirely. All the body horror that was bizarre and fun and shocking in Part One...started feeling repetitive. I caught myself feeling bored and wanting to skim over what felt like pages and pages of the same fleshy descriptions. Parts three and four managed to get back on track with the plot and wrapped things up pretty well for a book with such an ultimately large scope.

I had a couple minor stylistic critiques with the writing (character voices intentionally vs unintentionally blending together, so much stammering, and I can only read “my hick accent started to creep in” so many times before I want to shake someone).

Finally - I am very wary about the frequent presence of gratuitous SA in horror and I haven’t 100% decided how I feel about Huff’s usage of it in this novel. The first couple of mentions are of course hard to read but had a clear purpose in both the plot and overall commentary of the book. The more graphic scenes later in the book…these felt more like they were for the horror and shock factors. I think I understand why Huff chose to include it but I don’t fully agree with that choice.

All in all, while I think this book would take its best form after being cut down to novella length, it made me feel and think a lot while also letting me enjoy a darkly absurd romp with characters I had fun rooting for.

Many thanks to Net-Galley and to the author for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holy body horror! I was unprepared for how much I would love this book.

Thank you to Drew Huff | Dark Matter INK and NetGalley for providing the opportunity to read and review e-ARC.

I'm really in two minds about this (ha ha).

There are a lot of things to love here. I was invested in the characters, particularly Jennifer. Huff handles Jennifer quite well, making her understandable and even sympathetic, despite her self-destructive choices and genuinely reprehensible actions. It's very easy for those type of characters to lose the reader, but I was with Jennifer the whole way. Also worthy of note are Susan (they hate to see a girlboss winning), Daryl (perhaps the guy who fucked around and found out the hardest in this book) and the Divine Flesh herself (they hate to see a girlboss winning).

The prose is really quite twisty and demands a lot of concentration from the reader, and it pays off. You feel just as exhausted and confused reading it as Jennifer does living it. The body horror is some of the most frightening shit I've read in years and not for the faint of heart. The presentation is reminiscent of Brainwyrms, though there is less parasitic body horror here than in that (and that was ok! what parasitic body horror is here is SO MUCH). I loved the gnostic theming throughout the book; Huff put that in as a little treat for me, noted Gnosticism enthusiast.

But, I think the pacing is just the tiniest bit off. It's ever so slightly too slow for most of the book, which really bogs the whole thing down, particularly when combined with the complexity of the prose. A little more of a sense of the characters' goals or lack thereof could have helped as well. I understood the larger goal of "take down Divine Flesh", but I was a little less sure of what Jennifer and Daryl's minute-to-minute goals were. I'm also not 100% content with the ending. I think it works fine, but I'm not sure how well it tracks with the book's exploration of redemption. There's definitely room for debate about that though! I'd be interested to read other reviews.

If you're in the mood for a rather grim exploration of the horrors of humanity and love, check this out!

I received this book from NetGalley and Dark Matter Ink.

A fully unhinged reading experience. This is body horror and cosmic horror done right, with all the mind-destroying, existential threats to reality you could ever ask for in the Divine Flesh and some truly nasty work when it comes to the blood and bones of anyone within a three mile radius of this story. I can see how some might be turned away by the sheer amount of stuff that this book throws at you (it just keeps ramping up past the point of belief), or how the writing style could throw off others, but this is the kind of wacky and surprisingly sincere title that I think everyone who is even slightly interested should try reading. Not sure if there is anything else like it!

An engaging and thought-provoking narrative that delves into profound themes while keeping readers on the edge of their seat. The characters are wonderfully complex, and the world-building is immersive.

I expected this to be gross, but I didn't expect it to be a transcendently gross experience.

It's a little hard to review The Divine Flesh because I've never read anything like it. It has elements that have been done before, but they're twisted together to make something unique (you'll appreciate that line more when you read it, I promise). Possession, eldritch horror, redemption, assimilation, elements of the rape-revenge film genre - they're all here, but a little changed from their normal selves.

The thing that made it work for me was how much of a whirlwind it is - the reader never gets a second to take a breath, have a break and think, "What?" Like the characters, you're locked in this spiral of gore and flesh and human evil and eldritch madness from Page 1 until the end. The narrative style is relentless - I don't think I've ever read a book that can be more aptly described as a rollercoaster.

Yet another thing that worked immensely for me was the swapping POVs. I normally would be annoyed when differing points of view aren't marked or separated because having them flow together can get really confusing, but in The Divine Flesh, this flow is precisely the point. DF and Jennifer's voices are different and you can tell who is who most of the time, but they're so closely tied together that separating their POVs like you would normally would make the narrative feel forced.

I don't think I can talk about the character development without spoilers, but suffice it to say that this tale has layers (both in storytelling and in flesh) and Huff masterfully carries us through an arc that is both inevitable and a total surprise.

Keep an eye on the triggers for this one, but if you can handle it, I would highly recommend reading this - I suspect it will be a classic of the genre in time.

I was unprepared for how much I would love this book. With a blend of cosmic and body horror, the stakes of this book increase so steadily and confidently that multiple times I was sure I had to be approaching the climax, only to delightedly discover how much of the book remained. The characters are engaging, the ending is earned. I look forward to placing a copy on my shelf.

Holy body horror, literally. As someone who loves religious horror and is easily icked out by body horror, The Divine Flesh was a WILD reading experience. It required frequent breaks to hold my hands over my eyes and say what......the fuck. I loved it so much.

What the f did I just read? (on a good way). I’m a huge fan of splatter punk and this book DELIVERED. I loved how gory it was but without it feeling too over the top; just the right amount of guts hanging here and there. The description of the “angels” created by the D.F. will hunt me in my dreams forever, I mean, the author clearly has an amazing imagination and I applaud her! Definitely would recommend to anyone interested in reading Lovecraftian horror with funny dialogues. Btw, the only reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars rating is because at the beginning of the story is pretty confusing to decipher what line belongs to what character since we are always hearing the D.F. inside Jennifer’s head, however it became kinda intuitive to recognize it by the time I reach 50% of the book. Thanks to the editor for the ARC. Would definitely buy a copy upon publication!

The Divine Flesh is the definition of a horror book. It’s the most unhinged, out there horror but in the best way. Just a few pages in had me asking myself what did I sign up for? I enjoy splatter punk (enjoy May not be the right word?) and this seems to be a good description for the book. It was gross and gory and like I already said just absolutely unhinged.

The formatting of the book was told in a dual POV which could get a little confusing at times. In general, this book is not for everyone but for all fans of body horror and with a strong mind and stomach. I do think this book could have been trimmed down a bit since it felt like the story was lagging. I felt like it could have been more impactful as a shorter book or even as a longer novella.

In general, I give this book a 3/5. Thank you to Drew Huff, Dark Matter Ink, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy for an honest review.

Review left on Goodreads 2/5/2025

A tentacular splatter-punk hybrid of Videodrome and The Blob twirled in a melange of neon prose. Unique and reverent to it’s eldritch origins with an atmospheric squelching and pervasive psychedelic grime.

I just finished this book and I can only say, what a ride.

It has such a distinct vibe, which I cannot describe with words, but it is encapsulated perfectly with the book cover, something that I dont think ive ever felt before.

The writing is quick an eclectic, and honestly, there's going to be a layer of confusion for the reader throughout the entire book, but its part of the charm. That confusion shifts as well, the things that confused you in the beginning become more clear while the actions introduced keep you on your toes; If you dont mind just going along for the ride, you'll never get bored.
The writing was also a great tool not only in setting the scene, but introducing the characters. It takes a skilled writer to show you who a character is not just through descriptions but through their actions: Their thought process, their worldview and what references would they make when interacting with the world. I realized the author was doing this when the morgue doctor described something using his life experience, the color of an organ that he would see on a daily basis. That was the moment I realized how deep the characterization for everyone was, and it blew me away.

The depth you can go into with the themes in this book goes as deep as the reader is willing to go, the more you think about them, the more you see them represented in the story. The need to take accountability for yourself, relationships and even religion are all present, and they're so nicely woven into the story, that having just finished it, i haven't fully processed them; I wouldn't mind rereading the book just to more deeply dive into them.

This was definitely a mood read for me, the constant confusion and vibes make it so you have to fully focus on this read, and also you have to be fully open to it, you cant fight against it, go with the flow.

It's also a read that doesn't shy away from the depravity of humanity, trauma and our relationship to it as well as how people cope, no matter if they're healthy or not. These aspects of the story are an integral part of the story, and those who could be uncomfortable reading about those things should be aware of this, just to have a heads up.

A final quick thing, as a native Spanish speaker there is a small scene where some Spanish was spoken. It sounded a bit off to me, but I'm not sure if it was a legitimate translation mistake or if it was intended to be written that way. Just something I thought should be mentioned.

Overall, a read that was hard for me in the beginning but once I got with the flow, my enjoyment increased exponentially; I ended up reading the remaining 80% of the book in three days after a two week long slump, and I don't know how to better show that this is a ride you should definitely get on.

The Divine Flesh by Drew Huff is a book I wanted to enjoy so bad but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. I think the idea is fascinating and the writing style matched the vibe so well, it just seemed like there were too many elements going on at one time. If this had been a little more focused, I think I would have really enjoyed it.

That being said, I know exactly the audience I would recommend this to and plan on recommending it! This book has the ability to have a specific following as long as it finds the right audience!

"The Divine Flesh" is a wild, surreal mix of sci-fi and horror. The concept—sharing your body with an eldritch entity—is fascinating, but the execution is chaotic. Some moments shine, but the graphic intensity won’t be for everyone. An intriguing, unsettling read,

What brought me into the Divine Flesh was its absolutely gorgeous cover, it would rank into top 5 for one the most beautiful covers I have seen for the horror genre in 2025. The themese of body horror, but also body horror through this lenses of romance was so beautiful to read, as well as how gruesome and terrifying it was. It felt new and fresh the descriptions for each I couldn't help myself but reread those parts. When it came to characters, Divine Flesh stole my heart, so weird and horrifying and beautiful, I fell in love her as well. Unfortantely, that is where the love ends for me with this book. When it came to the plot, I understand the premise of what the author of was saying and at times I understood the idea and the concept was laid out but I do not think execution matched it and at times I was bored.

A love story, filtered through the haze of an eldritch deity snorting bath salts.

This novel is a lot, but that is by design. If you read the description and the content warnings, and then look at the cover, well, you should have an idea of what you are getting into. With that said, there is some order to be found in this obscene, fleshy chaos. The writing itself is very visceral, it brings you in and leaves you slicked with sweat and other secretions. It moves quickly, and as the narrative goes deeper it moves across a few different character POVs seamlessly. This, combined with the fact that there is a good deal of internal/telepathic conversations means it is constant work to know where you are, the narrative is slippery and moves around. This isn’t to say confusing, but feverish and disorienting in ways that serve the story and the experience. There are a number of narrative twists and turns, as described in the jacket copy, but it does a sensational job of confusing the ideas of protagonist and antagonist. Within that vibrating, maximalist narrative there is strong world-building, what small-town, rural Idaho looks like, especially the view from a trailer that sits in front of another burnt out trailer. The environment and the characters populating it feel real, or as close as they can in this story. Nominally our central character is Jennifer, but the Divine Flesh and Jenifer’s ex Daryl are equally important pivot point the story rotates around. All of them feel robust and exciting. Obviously The Divine Flesh doesn’t feel “real” in the sense of being a character you can relate to, but the depiction of the whims and intentions of eldritch deities is explored in interesting ways. Both Jennifer and Daryl are broken, complicated messes, but from that damage they are trying to find themselves however they know how. They are trying to find themselves and each other, and learn what it might mean to be human in a world that has been almost nothing but pain for them from their traumatic, damaging childhoods up until the present. The pace of the story never slows down, so we don’t spend too many contemplative moments with the characters as I would like, but they are still developed, and they have satisfying journeys to go on throughout the story.

There is an unhinged quality to the writing that does work. Maybe some things aren’t needed, such as a secondary (and maybe even tertiary) plot with the boss of the interdimensional drug smuggling operation that Jennifer is a part of, for instance… But, as they are written they do fit into this meat puzzle, even if they aren’t quite robust as I would want them to be, and with a plot this epic and mind-numbing it is hard to nitpick. There is a relentlessness to the story and the writing, and that all does come through. There is heart and care for the characters, even when they are doing awful things. There is graphic violence and sex and torture and yet it is all working in concert, overloading your senses, flooding all your receptors so you are left with some unvarnished ideas to look at. Because while this novel isn’t ever trying to preach anything, and if it were then it would almost certainly intentionally undermine or sabotage any message right away, it is asking interesting questions.

In its multiple mouth-covered hearts this story is asking questions about autonomy, consent, and control. In terms of one’s body, yes, but also one’s beliefs, one’s heart, and one’s unspoken hungers that can take control if not addressed. The pure absurdity of power that is expressed by eldritch entities that have no way of really recognizing what is valuable to human existence offers some insight, or at least investigation, into what human emotions are and how love, if it is truly going to live up to its all-encompassing and salvific potential, needs to be born from mutual respect and understanding. It cannot be domineering or controlling and still be “love.” At the same time the story gnaws on ideas of grief and redemption, of excess and balance, and of appearance and judgement, among others. It gives an almost omnipotent eldritch flesh god a childish single-tracked mind that actually is layered with innocence and trauma and the constant confusion of wanting to do what is right but also fulfill your own needs, as best you understand them. What does it mean to be your best self?

This story is a mess. A disgusting, glorious mess. There are some plots strands and ideas that aren’t as satisfying as they could be, and even in this maximalist style I think there could be some things that were tightened to make the experience more impactful. While I don’t know that this is anything close to extreme horror, as some may label it, it is certainly extreme, and it doesn’t pull any punches. Yet nothing feels like it is done just for shock value, every mutilated corpse and moist appendage filled with chittering mouths makes sense in this world, the grotesqueries fit together. It’s a lot, and won’t be for everyone, and even some who might find those engaging ideas embedded in this pulsating nightmare may not think the destination is worth the journey. I can’t fault anyone for that. But for me all of that graphic imagery made for an intensely introspective experience, one that grabbed me with all of its sticky tentacles and hasn’t let go yet.

(Rounded up from 3.5)

I want to thank the author, the publisher Dark Matter INK, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.