Fans of weird girl lit will be well fed by this short story collection by Rose Keating. Each story has the unstable body horror of a nightmare with jaws being stretched open and skin slipped off like clothing. The messaging is subtle and pushes readers to confess their own secrets in order to relate.

My favorites in the collection were “Squirm,” where a girl is taking care of her giant worm father and “Notes on a Performance,” about an actress in a horror movie who has to be dismembered and sewn back together. “Notes” has a biting inner monologue comparing the loss and return of a limb to hurting and returning to your mother that was aching to read.

The final stories were my least favorite, with the dreamlike quality becoming overpowering and not having the same impact as the rest of the book.

This would be a great pick for a horror or speculative fiction bookclub, as each story lends itself to weird discussion and introspection. Looking forward to more from Rose in the future.

(Actual: 4.25⭐) When I requested this eARC, I honestly wasn't sure what I'd be getting into, but expected it to very likely be rather peculiar in the best of ways..... and I was right! LOL— "Oddbody" is for all the ~weird-lit~ lovers out there (myself being one of them), and is also ~weird-lit~ at some of its finest. Touching on themes such as womanhood, sexuality, shame, and just the overall female experience, i found this collection to be very authentic in all its oddities (heh), both in its presentation and sense of self/voice. I believe that Keating's strong prose successfully manages to balance out and ground its own surrealism and bizarre quirks, which all made for a very engaging and compelling reading experience (even during some of its tougher content). Highly recommend, especially if you're looking for something different!

3.5/5

If you're looking for some spooky short stories, I would recommend this!

Each of these little stories has a very Black Mirror feel to it, but if Black Mirror was more human (and/or paranormal) than tech-related.

Some of these were creepy, some grossed me out, and some made me super uncomfortable (they were supposed to).

This is also a short book as a whole. My copy said it was only about 130 pages, but I'm not sure if that number is different for the print edition.

And I LOVE this cover! It is so simple but so cute.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

Oddbody is a collection of unsettling, thought-provoking short stories that explore women's bodies in bizarre, unconventional ways. Keating blends subtlety with visceral imagery, creating stories that are both strange and deeply engaging. From a daughter caring for her transforming father to a woman's hopes for her daily eggs to hatch into gentle creatures, the themes are wild and often gruesome, making it a title I'd recommend with caution. While the body horror and bizarre elements may turn some off, the collection is rich in subtext and interpretation.

I found myself craving more emotional resolution, but its originality and complexity make it a collection worth revisiting for deeper analysis. but this was a blast to read—grotesque body horror mixed with just the right touch of magical realism. It’s the kind of book where you can enjoy the creepy stuff (ghosts, imaginary friends, weird doctors obsessed with purity) without worrying it’ll happen to you… probably. It’s like a thrilling fever dream, weird but fun, and you’ll be laughing nervously while you try to figure out what’s real and what’s just the author messing with your head.

Okay wow, now this is weird-lit at its finest. I really quite enjoyed this short story collection.

“Ghost” definitely had to be story that stood out to me the most.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

Oddbody is a collection of stories which are exactly that - odd (in a good way).

Thought provoking and squirm worthy, I would definitely recommend this to my fellow grotesque readers. I think there are times where level of “weird” might outweigh the story content, but that’s a complete personal preference.

I really enjoyed reading this, it had a great collection of stories and were written perfectly and was hooked from the first story. I enjoyed how good Rose Keating wrote these and was invested in what was happening.

Oddbody is a collection of short stories: visceral, thought-provoking, uneasy, and as the title would suggest, odd. Thematically focusing on women's bodies and stretching beyond the bounds of convention.

I found this an engaging collection that kept me turning each page and fully immersed in the oddities offered.
Keating walks a line of subtlety and visceral familiarity with the themes. There's room for interpretation to each reader , able to find commonality and catharsis in the exploration of each tale.

The premises are wild from a daughter caring for a father whose body seemingly is becoming worm-like and self-consuming; to the positive thoughts and health outlook which will lead the eggs women hatch each morning toward gentle creature and not horrific mutations of nature. This is a title I'd carefully recommend, I can see its more gruesome nature and body horror turning many off, and it really ventures into the strange.

Personally, I found myself as a reader needing a bit more closure with some of the stories, reaching for an emotional impact. Though I loved its originality and risks. It is a collection easy to read but dense in content and themes - one I can see myself returning to annotate and dig deeper into its subtext.

Loved the stories in ODDBODY, all of which are surreal / fantastical / macabre. A little bit of Kafka and Barthelme. The earlier stories were just a smidge stronger, or perhaps they just got a bit repetitive towards the end? Still giving it a five stars because each story alone was a stunner.

Thanks to the publisher for the e-galley!

I read this collection of stories right after reading 'Shit Cassandra Saw.' Both are very old, very wild, collections of short stories.

Short stories seem to be hit or miss for me. I think I will like all collections, but usually end up finding them boring. This was not the case with Oddbody. This is one I will continue to think about and love. It is hard to recommend however. Its VERY unique- at times disturbing, but it was just perfect for me.

Across ten surreal and unsettling tales, Keating crafts a series of narratives that balance the bizarre with the profoundly human, challenging readers to reconsider societal norms while immersing them in worlds that feel otherworldly and familiar.

These stories capture Keating’s ability to transform metaphorical ideas—loneliness, societal pressure, bodily autonomy—into tangible, often visceral narratives.

At times, however, the collection’s strangeness can overshadow its storytelling. While tales like “Squirm”—where a father devours himself—offer haunting, unsettling images, the emotional underpinnings occasionally feel underdeveloped. Readers might find themselves intrigued by the grotesque and surreal elements but left wanting more depth or clarity in the characters’ journeys.

Keating’s themes—exploring women’s bodies as sites of transformation, rebellion, and discomfort—are timely and compelling. At the same time, not every story has an equal impact; the collection as a whole leaves an impression.

Oddbody is an inventive debut that takes risks. While it doesn’t always fully deliver on its emotional potential, it remains an intriguing and thought-provoking work.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read. Kind of grotesque with body horror but also did a good job with magical realism that you were able to separate what you were reading to what could actually happen to you. (Ghosts, imaginary friends, creepy doctors obsessed with purity).