Thank you to Meerkat press for providing this book for free via NetGalley.

Skin by Kathe Koja is one of the most unique and interesting books I have ever read.

Koja’s prose takes some getting used to; sentences run long and sometimes repetitive, with a very stream of consciousness style. This book doesn’t really make a lot of sense when you start, you have to let it take you on the for a ride. However, you get a unique perspective from the inside of Tess’s head. Every thought and feeling she has is portrayed so viscerally that you can’t help but feel it yourself.

I won’t spoil anything but Skin is a tragic story of two women’s progressing obsessions with their art and each other, culminating in a heart-wrenching scene.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone, it’s visceral, gory, and full of hard emotions, but if you’re looking for something both horrific and beautiful in equal measure, give Skin a read.

I really appreciated LaRocca's introduction here because I'd not read the book and it helped me think about an appropriate perspective to take into reading it. For me, that was angsty, identity-searching college me. To be clear, I think I was better suited for the is book (or it for me) in my early twenties rather than now. The body horror is real, and I think driven by the search for identity, which we all struggle with at some point - for me, college. It was... a lot. And as with all the other reviews, the prose is unsettling, which works for the book, but I read this in several sittings and had to get used to it again. I read a review from someone who listened to the audio, and I think the right narrator could really bring that prose to life, but it is definitely something to get used to. Overall, the narrative is slow and building and deeply unsettling (all intentionally so). But be prepared for that. Thank you Meerkat Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was everything that I was hoping for and enjoyed from this genre. I was glad it was everything that I was looking for and had that feel for the psychological horror elements. I thought this worked overall as a second edition and would read more.

Great re-edition. An enjoyable second reading, which is quite rare; I would say it is a bit hard to get into at first, but then it becomes rather gripping. Queer, camp, and horror elements are always amazing, and this one did not disappoint. Overall, it was a great read, but it didn’t have a particular impact on me whatsoever.