Releasing July 1st is Oddbody, the intriguing, and sometimes downright bizarre, debut short story collection from Rose Keating.

I find this collection to be aptly named as the stories are a bit odd and the main focus of it all is body horror. Even weeks later, I am still trying to work out if I enjoyed these stories and like them in a strictly traditional sense, but there is no denying that this collection, as a whole, has impact. These stories are not easily shaken off—especially “The Vegetable”, which provides the collection with an admirably strong finish. These tales will work their way into the deepest crevices of the back of your mind and set up camp for as long as they want to. Another thing I will say confidently: Not only would I re-read Oddbody, but I would also gladly read more from Keating and recommend Oddbody to the right readers. One of the best things an author can do, to get me reading, is to pique my curiosity and Oddbody has definitely managed that. I suppose, then, I’ll be hopefully looking forward to more releases from Rose Keating.

Many thanks to Simon Books for the digital ARC!

Oddbody is a strange and unique collection of ten short stories that all revolve around women and women’s bodies. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. I don’t read a lot of weird lit, but I am drawn to the genre. These stories were very odd and a little too weird for me, but I did think they were very imaginative, and the writing was visceral and captivating. Some of the stories were very sexual in nature. There is also a lot of body horror.

My favorite stories in this collection are Oddbody, Bella Lugosi Isn’t Dead, and Next To Cleanliness.

I would recommend this short story collection to lovers of weird fiction. I did enjoy the author’s writing style, so I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

3.5⭐️

David Cronenberg + Junji Ito, Oddbody is a potent collection of short stories observing the female experience in today's society (relationship, sex, beauty standard, etc), through the wonderfully grotesque imagination of Rose Keating. Thoughtfully written with intense frankness, this might not be suitable for the faint of heart, as the stories and description involve a lot of body distortion, violence, and very detailed, textural description of unearthly things. (the cover art is beautiful and peculiar, but how this 'thing' actually shows up in its story is much more monstrous and unsettling.)

My only small gripe is the overall curation; there's a bit of redundancy with some of the stories featuring very similar characters and scenarios—it's as if the author has written versions of the same story, and simply put all the iterations here to beef up the page count. Still, overall this is an excellent introduction to a new-to-me author, and definitely a fresh literary voice I will keep my eye on in the future. Personal favorites from the collection: Oddbody, Squirm, Pineapple.

- - -

Oddbody: 4.5 stars
A great opener, a dark comedy about a woman and her 'third wheel' ghost. Very candid and readable. It can easily be interpreted metaphorically.

Squirm: 5 stars
This is some Junji Ito level weirdness and I love it!

Mouthful: 4 stars
Kirby comes to mind! Another enjoyable, visceral read, if very short and ends rather abruptly.

Bela Lugosi Isn't Dead: 3.75 stars
Quite a fever dream, a whirlwind of ideas and interesting juxtapositions, feels a little frenzy and unfocused as a whole.

Pineapple: 5 stars
Exploring being comfortable in one's skin in a literal sense—has some very unsettling scenes that give me goosebumps.

Next to Cleanliness: 4 stars
Still really good, but feels like a remix of elements already seen in some of the previous stories. At this point the impact is not hitting as hard.

Notes on Performance: 3.5 stars
An interesting reversal focusing on the 'non-final' girls in a slasher, but could've gone much deeper.

Eggshells: 4 stars
A very outlandish, fascinating premise, it's more vibe than plot, but I really enjoyed it.

The Test: 3.75 stars
Really like the fairy tale elements (vastly different from all the previous stories), the ending is a little strange and inconclusive.

The Vegetable: 4 stars
Similar to my reaction to Eggshells, containing a very memorable key visual, but the narrative surrounding it emphasizes more on vibe than plot.

Interesting in premise, I found the writing to be hard to follow and I was not a fan of the main character. there were one or two supporting characters that stood out to me but all in all, one that I will not revisit.

A collection of horror and speculative fiction stories that draw from a feminist perspective. The stories were all very different and encourage us to rethink our relationship to our bodies, femininity, and relationships.

This book is for the weird litfic girly pops! It’s a dark short story collection about women; bodily/psychological functions, shame, sex, the spectrum of emotion, outsider/outcast perceptions, and all of it in relation to other people and circumstances. Next to Cleanliness, Notes on Performance, and The Test were my favorites! I really enjoyed this book. All the stories packed a punch and some of them make you feel a little squeamish, either from relatability or description. There’s literally a story called Squirm. It’s a very intricate weirdness, horrific, but worth the ride. I’ve definitely not read anything like it! I love Irish writers.

TW: There's some animal stuff that may be a no-no for some. Not too graphic but if that subject matter is off limits to you, keep it in mind before reading.

Oddbody comes out on July 1st. Thank you so much to @netgalley and @simonandschuster for the arc!

This collection of body horror stories is absolutely fantastic. Using the body as a way to explore how women are treated and seen in society, the stories range from tragic and sad to absolutely disgusting (that’s a good thing). The standouts for me were Squirm, maybe the grossest story but still so sad and interesting and Notes on Performance which is just spectacularly disturbing and brilliant. Definitely a writer I will be on the lookout to see what they do next.

I really thought I would enjoy "Oddbody" because I love short story collections, but this one left me feeling psychically ill. Apparently, I'm starting to realize I'm not a fan of body horror. Some of the stories are decent, but very lackluster. And some stories are downright disgusting and too graphic. I felt like the author wanted the "shock and awe" factor, and it just doesn't work. This collection turned me off. A lot of the stories felt unnecessary and redundant. There wasn't enough variety and the ick factor is high for this one. If you don't mind stories that make you squeamish, then you might enjoy this. As for me, it basically grossed me out. The only thing I loved was the stunning cover art.

This one was tough to get through. I’m typically alright with most types of body horror, however when there are aspects of r*pe and animal abuse, I can’t stomach it.

Rose Keating projected some of the most horrific depictions of body horror within Oddbody — a collection of stories that left an unsettlingly bitter taste in my mouth.

Content warnings are necessary for this one — but I am still thankful for the opportunity to try this one out. Thank you to Simon Books, Rose Keating, and Netgalley for the digital access before it hits shelves on July 1, 2025.

this collection of short stories claims to “defy societal norms and invite you to question the conventions and milestones that determine success”. either these stories went over my head or they all failed to accomplish that goal. these stories are definitely odd and i could see many of them had a deeper meaning but they never went deep enough. i wanted to leave every story thinking about the fate of the characters and wonder why they did what they did but i didn’t care for any of the characters at all. the stories ended before i could grasp what the author wanted to say. this was a letdown.

3.5 stars ⭐️

love that somebody finally wrote a story about the age old dilemma of ‘would you still love me if i was a worm’

but on a serious note I usually hate when people say short stories didn’t feel fully fleshed out because I don’t necessarily think they always need to feel complete, however a lot of these stories ended so abruptly despite having a really unique/intriguing premise and I just wish the author had explored those ideas more and followed through with the set ups she created :(

really loved the way the author explored the daily expectations and challenges of womanhood through extreme body horror angles though and if it hadn’t of been for the abrupt endings this would’ve been a 4 star so would definitely read anything the author publishes in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review!!!

I love weird girl lit, and this anthology was super fun to read. Speculative horror fiction is my favorite. These stories had everything from metaphors to dream like narratives. Definitely check this collection out if you love these types of stories!

3.5 rounded up. So odd. Just, so odd and weird and unique. I'm captivated by the writing style, and horrified by the contents of each short story. Keating has masterfully created unique body horror with such a somber, intimate tone. I had to stop and pause after each story to reflect on what I'd just read.

'Oddbody' will not be for every reader. There's body horror, animal abuse, extreme kinks, suicidal ideation, domestic abuse, and animal abuse/death. Lots of blood and fluids. However, with the rise in popularity of splatterpunk, I could see this in libraries that also have books like Tender is the Flesh, or any random Chuck Palahniuk title on the shelf.

I can't say I'd read this again, but it's a solid addition to the horror genre with some unique imagery I've never read before - and hope to never read again.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for the digital galley in exchange for my honest review.

This one was a tough read and honestly I couldn't stomach it.. I generally handle body horror and horror in general well, but when it includes animal abuse and r*pe - that's a no for me. This definitely needs some content warnings for people. It was effective in getting its message across I suppose because I was horrified.

This one just wasn't for me.

A great short story collection focused on body horror, especially that of being a woman. These stories push boundaries and comfort zones and will surely leave some upset. An urgent collection for our times.

The forest story was fantastic, the 2nd fell flat, and the 3rd included animal abuse that was unnecessary (meaning the same thing could have been achieved another way, that it's animal abuse felt like it was for shock value). That 3rd story left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I decided not to finish the rest.

As this is a pretty negative review, I'm going to refrain from posting it on Goodreads, Storygraph & IG, until pub day at the least.

Well….I’m glad that’s over. This short story collection was just not good….kind of. The stories themselves weren’t bad (mostly) but the endings were truly awful. You think you’re finally understanding what’s happening, and then it just ends at a random point with no conclusion, no satisfaction, nothing that leaves you thinking about what you just read other than, “Sure…whatever!”
I wanted so badly to like this collection, but I didn’t, at all. 2 stars is being generous, honestly.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Simon&Schuster for an ARC of this book. I received this ARC for free and I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

I’m sorry but had to DNF at 40% I just can’t wait animals being harmed in books and this one hit home a little too hard and it really upset me to the point where it actually made me tear up at work thinking about it. Maybe I’m just a baby but f it, I’m turned off!! Maybe the rest is okay, I loved the first story, second story was alright, third story was what made me very upset. Just a piece of advise to writers, please just don’t include animal harm or cruelty in your books. Nobody wants to read about that. Sure i have read books that I’ve enjoyed with these unfortunate themes in place but my fuse is getting short. I really wanted to like this one, maybe once it’s out and I see more reviews about it I will revisit it and just skip that story but for now I’m putting it down.

oddbody is rose keating's debut short story collection. coming out of ireland, she writes with the well observed sensibilities of other modern irish writers, starting with an often simple conceit like wanting to be the best version of ourselves or wanting human connection and then looking deeper often with the help of a twist of a knife. for someone who isn't into body horror, i breezed by this collection in a day and would definitely read a full length novel from keating. my only critique is that sometimes the narrative perspective/pov took me out of the story, but it got better by the later stories to follow along.

This collection of short stories is a brilliant exploration of the depths and intricacies of a woman's life, blending magical realism with everyday experiences in a way that feels both surreal and profoundly relatable. What stands out most is the seamless integration of the fantastical into the mundane, where magic is neither questioned nor explained—it's simply part of the world the author has created. This allows for a deeper exploration of the emotional and psychological nuances women face, from shame and sexuality to the unspoken sacrifices made in caregiving.

Each story pushes boundaries in a way that is discomforting yet entirely purposeful. The discomfort doesn’t come from shock value alone; rather, it comes from how the magical elements illuminate the raw, often painful truths of womanhood.

What I most appreciated was how the magical elements didn’t overshadow the real-world emotions and struggles. Instead, they acted as a mirror, reflecting the ways in which we internalize societal expectations and the toll they take on our sense of self. The author’s ability to evoke both wonder and discomfort in equal measure is a testament to their skill, making this collection a powerful and thought-provoking read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!