My absolute favourite read of the year so far. As soon as I saw the book cover I knew I wanted to read this. I’ve never read anything quite like this and I mean that as an absolute compliment! Despite the subject matter, I often found myself laughing out loud and physically could not put this book down. Often I was questioning my own sanity at certain points in the book. If you’re a fan of the horror genre, specifically body horror along with any David Lynch and David Cronenberg fans, I highly recommend you read this. I devoured it within 2 days once I started. Absolute 5/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this eARC, it was truly an absolute pleasure to read this!

While this might not be the genre for me I will say that the book was a fast paced, well written exploration into Lovecraftian love, the "charm" of small town America, family trauma, and a god named Susan that I still don't quite understand. The book was also very long but that is also probably a me thing.

While the premise was nice, the writing was... not what I expected. I wanted more from the characters because I felt that what was on the front cover and the front flap was not what we were given.

I DNF’d this after Jennifer has sex with a grieving middle aged man to spite the Divine Flesh. This book seems excessively dark, even for a horror novel. It deals with a lot of heavy topics like drug addiction in a flippant way, and has little world building or exposition. I just did not care enough about what happened to the main characters to continue reading. I’m sure a specific type of person will enjoy this book, but I’m not one of them.

This book was absolutely insane and I loved every second of it. It really jumps right into the action and the story, the book is very fast paced which really works for the whole surreal style of storytelling. I highly recommend trigger warnings…If you are a fan of graphic and gruesome sci-fi horror, body horror, or splatterpunk, then this book may be one to check out. The language is very strong and controversial, which is the main reason why I am giving it 4 stars and not 5. I do think that it added to the story and really fit the characters, but it could be a shock still for people who may not expect it.

You’re following Jennifer, a drug addict and drug trafficker who is possessed by a goddess who calls herself The Divine Flesh. Jennifer and the Divine Flesh are both obsessed with their husband, Darryl, and the outlandish plot starts to unfold when they agree to meet back up with Daryl at the beginning of the book. You WILL hate some of the characters, and still root for them. Everything was just so intentionally over the top, that I could not look away.

The cover is also absolutely fantastic, and that’s what drew me to the arc. Thank you NetGalley and Drew Huff for giving me the opportunity to review The Divine Flesh!

Jennifer is cursed to share a body with a supernatural diety known as the Divine Flesh. When she shifts from dealing “normie” drugs to dealing in Mirror People eggs, she gets caught up with Susan, a former god and an eldritch drug lord, while constantly fighting the urges of the Divine Flesh sharing her body as a vessel.

A story about love, redemption, and the unknowable nature of God, The Divine Flesh will leave you thinking… what the hell did I just read? (In a good way.)

Thank you to Dark Matter INK for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was not what I thought it was. Like I thought it was a girl possessed by this flesh eating parasite like something like a symbiote and that she had to cover up murders but this plot was just so out there it almost was impossible to keep up with the plot. There's this side plot with her husband and a bunch of crazy body horror scenes. Highly don't recommend reading if you have a weak stomach, this book made me a little sick sometimes. I think I was just too thrown off by the writing style and how the story went that I just didn't really like this one like some other body horror books I've read before. Still creepy and cool but maybe not for me.

A very, very strange book
I hadn’t read a lot, but I couldn’t help but dnf it. I really wanted to like it and maybe I should give this book another chance some other time. I really enjoy books with body horror and I thought this one is going to be another hit for me, but unfortunately it wasn’t. It was very underwhelming from the beginning and there was nothing that would make me want to keep reading. Maybe it just wasn’t for me. The whole concept of it is amazing though! And the cover obviously- gorgeous!

This book was quite the adventure. I love the Divine Flesh. It was kind of like a bad acid trip at times.

I really liked the premise of this novel and the cover is what drew me in, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was told through a visual medium, such as a movie, anime or manga. I love horror and unusual stories, but I just struggled to stay engaged while reading. The writing seemed very inconsistent, which made it hard to follow along, and the plot just wasn’t intriguing enough to grasp my attention.

I ultimately DNF’d at 25%, but that’s not to say that it’s a bad book. I feel like the right reader would really enjoy it, but unfortunately I didn’t. 😔

‘The Divine Flesh’ is a blend of science fiction and horror, with strong elements of cosmic and body horror. It follows Jennifer Plummer, an interdimensional drug mule and drug addict struggling with her self-destructive tendencies - oh, and the eldritch goddess called the Divine Flesh who shares her body and is in a relationship with her ex-husband, Daryl.

When Daryl is murdered by a group of small-town bigots, Jennifer and the Divine Flesh have to work together to find the culprits, but somehow end up separated at last. Now Jennifer, alongside a resurrected Daryl, is forced to reckon with the unleashed Divine Flesh and her plans for humanity…

The novel is set in Rosetown, Idaho - a small American town with a population of 5000 and a white supremacist conspiracy lurking beneath the churches. Our main character is Jennifer, but we also get a few different POVs: the Divine Flesh herself, Susan and Clay - an alien species called the Mirror People - and a couple of the townspeople. The story explores addiction, identity, justice (and how far should one go to get it), and transformation, all set against a backdrop of cosmic horror and the sheer insignificance of humanity when faced against eldritch beings. The writing is visceral and intense, with a dark tone of introspection, delving deep into the human psyche in all its gory brilliance and capacity for evil. The imagery is poetic and grotesque, and the body horror is superbly written to create a growing sense of unease as the narrative unfolds.

This is unlike any book I’ve ever read; I’m not a horror girly and this is sort of new territory for me. Fortunately, I’m pretty unfazed so I felt able to really appreciate the gory elements woven throughout. I was initially mildly confused for the first quarter or so, but I never felt worried - I always felt the author was in complete control and I would understand in time. And I did. As the threads began to pull together and the plot threads coalesced for the conclusion, I found myself fully immersed in the horror that had arrived in this small American town and desperate to see how this would end. This whole novel was a bizarre trip and I don’t think I’ll ever experience such a bonkers novel again. It is graphic and disgusting at times - but it never felt gratuitous. There was a point and a reason behind the vivid descriptions and imagery.

I’m not sure who I would recommend this to, other than those with a strong stomach. I would advise checking the trigger warnings for sure, but if you feel ready, buckle up and dive straight into the Flesh for a wild, fever dream experience that honestly I really enjoyed.

2⭐️

It’s weird and gross but kinda interesting the writing just lets it down the premise over all is great and the execution of some scenes are done well but the dialogue feels off and plots in the book don’t seem to be explored as thoroughly as they could have been, I’m sure a lot of people would find lots of enjoyment in this book and while it wasn’t for me I don’t think it was bad the writing style just didn’t align with what I like.

The writing is a bit weird it just jumps straight into things which is very confusing and the back and forth between the divine flesh and Jennifer and the divine flesh and Daryl just feels weird I’m not sure why but there just seems to be something about it that just doesn’t seem to connect, the interactions between all characters just seem flat and like people having a conversation for the first time I their lives. The writing of the divine flesh in general really throws me she just kinda really annoying more than anything not even creepy or anything just annoying honestly Daryl was more creepy than anyone else in this book to me

I feel like this book should have been split into 2 whether that be 2 novellas or 2 full books I’m not sure but it felt like the mirror peoples story couldn’t be expanded on too much because the majority of the book was centred around earth and what was going on with the divine flesh making it so that that had to be the main focus making it so the mirror peoples story couldn’t be a explored as it needed to be


Thank you to NetGalley and Dark Matter INK for the digital arc

This book is an absolute wild ride, and while I can’t say I enjoyed the audiobook narration the book was such an original and fun ride to take! I mean, a demonic flesh goddess lives shares your body and has sex with your ex husband because they’re in love with you?! SIGN ME UP. It is so weird and kooky and quirky, but it definitely deserves a better audiobook! I will say the prose can be a bit confusing at times. Sometimes you’ll read something and go, “what the heck did I just read” completely confused as to what just happened or what it means. BUT I loved the road the author took us down especially once the flesh goddess was separate from Jennifer. She starts going on her own reign of terror. And the best part is that the ending is open-ended, leaving us to believe that the reign of terror and destruction will continue, which is the type of future we can all relate to in our normal lives.

This book was weirdly wonderful, exactly how I like my books! Super unique concept and I enjoyed reading this.

I really wanted to like this, the premise of it sounded so good! A woman suffering with a drug edition has to share her body with an Eldritch God?! It sounds to unique and intriguing, however I found it so hard to follow along with the story because of the multiple subplots and also because sometimes it was hard to figure out if it was Jennifer was talking, or the Divine Flesh.

The book felt incredibly slow, I kept losing interest and just didn’t want to pick it up, but I also wanted to give it a chance. I did like the premise of the story but maybe I wasn’t the intended audience, even though I do like horror books and I don’t mind gore at all, this was just too long winded for me. It was repetitive and I was confused multiple times but that could just be a me problem 😂

Unfortunately I DNFd at 30%, I didn’t want to force myself to read anymore. I will still recommend this to people that like body horror and gore.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I was so excited to read this after finding out the premise. Sharing your body with an eldritch god? Incredible. The execution? Not so incredible.

Now, I really enjoyed Huff’s writing style and I think the body horror aspects were done really well.

However, I think Huff was trying to accomplish too much at once. The plot was dragged down by a number of subplots and by the expansive cast of characters. The internal dialogue between TDF and Jennifer made it difficult to keep track of who was talking. Overall, I feel like this would’ve been better as a novella than a novel.

Well, I must say, I read the entirety of this novel with a perpetual grimace on of my face, broken by bouts of outrage at the divine flesh. I myself would want to claw and pry this cosmos deity away from my body (clearly, I’m team Jennifer). I think the inclusion of internal dialogue to depict their relationship was incredibly effective as I felt infuriated by her infestation of Jennifer’s body. As soon as I encountered the Divine Flesh’s first soireé, I knew this was going to be a messy chaotic ride that I wouldn’t be able to look away from. The inclusion of the internal dialogue between Jennifer and the Divine Flesh build an uncompromising relationship that blurs the boundary of antagonism. Due to this effectiveness, I would have to beg, do not even get me started on their other commonality, their love for Jennifer’s ex, Daryl Plummer. I fear if I begin to write of how frustrated and sympathetic I was towards Jennifer I’ll get riled up again. I feel the ire building as I write this. I tip my metaphorical hat to you Drew for your ability to make me feel so viscerally for these fictional characters.

The open descriptions of vivid body horror, constant shifting perspectives, and the tense backdrop of world, was overall extremely effective. Whilst personally I would not label this extreme body horror, for those of you wanting to fable into this genre, I feel this would be an incredible place to start (if you have a strong stomach - don’t say I didn’t warn you). However, immersing myself within this world was initially affected by the pacing, as I felt this could have been created through a layered experience, although, having said that, this overloading maximalist type of style I believe was designed the demonstrate the style of experience this novel was going to provide you with - that being of a sensory overload. What else would you expect from an interdental drug mule? This novel felt like a psychedelic trip with multiple perspective seamlessly woven throughout that work to build a horrific world of glorious fleshy chaos.

Due to the star rating system, I have rounded my rating up from a 3.5 to 4 stars. I would like to say thank you to the author, Drew Huff, the publisher, Dark Matter Ink, and Net Galley, for providing me with an advance eARC for review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc of “Divine flesh”

I’m going to keep this short and sweet. In the current market I struggle to find horror books that are for me, I have a very specific taste and this one just didn’t work out for me. Mostly, I’d like to highlight my qualms with the font and formatting of this book (it hurt my eyes). I know there’s not many ways to convey the separation from the voice in the head and the protagonist, and so I do give a little pass to the author. However, it just wasn’t satisfying to read it like that. I do think this book will be a hit and many people will like it.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at 50%. I wanted to give this book a fair chance despite not connecting with it early on, so that I could give a fair opinion.

Firstly I really appreciated the very unique premise of this story, which is the thing that drew me to this book. The idea of a young women, suffering with drug addiction, sharing her body with a murderous goddess sounded so much fun! I honestly don’t think I have read another book with this concept, so hats off for the originality! I also very much enjoyed the body gore horror element, Huff did not shy away from writing very graphic and visceral scenes.

However, the reason why I had to DNF this book was because of the writing style and execution. I found it very difficult to follow the story, as there were various subplots being introduced, with very little context given. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it just focused on one subplot (specifically the love triangle between Jen, DF and Daryl). Characters were also being introduced, again, with very little background information, leaving me to try and cipher, who they were and what their relevance was to the rest of the plot.

I would still recommend this to someone who is looking for a cosmic horror story, with messy morally grey characters, toxic relationships and body gore, which also reads like an acid trip! It just unfortunately wasn’t for me…

Thank you NetGalley and Dead INK for providing me with this E-arc to review.

I am a huge fan of extreme horror and I would say this is definitely more of an extreme horror book. This book actually exceeded my expectations. I did read the synopsis before reading, however the book was so much better than I thought it would be. This book is unserious, gory, disgusting, unhinged and filled with body horror. I would definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings, unless you’re a degenerate like myself. I will definitely be checking out more work from this author.