Title/Author: Shy Girl by Mia Ballard

Page Count: 248 (NetGalley seemed much shorter, so I'm confused)

Publisher: Galaxy Press

Format: digital arc from NetGalley

Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Sugar (debut)

Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/9798348279615

Release Date: Bookshop.org says 2/25/25 NetGalley & Goodreads say 3/1/25

General Genre: Extreme Horror/Trauma

Sub-Genre/Themes: girlhood, survival, autonomy, and revenge. Depression, OCD, "sugar daddies", dating apps. (a little spoilery) Content Warnings: abuse, kidnapping, rape, sexual subjugation, imprisonment, pregnancy (as a result of rape), miscarriage

Writing Style: I love that I can see the author honing their skills from book one, SUGAR, to what we get with SHY GIRL. Visible growth. Loved it.

What You Need to Know: "Lonely, broke, and depressed with a serious case of OCD, Gia finds herself at a crossroads when financial troubles lead her to Nathan, a mysterious and affluent man she encounters on a sugar dating website. Desperate for a solution, Gia is intrigued by Nathan's unconventional offer: in exchange for living as his devoted pet, all of her debts will be erased. But the longer Gia is in captivity, the more animalistic she becomes."

My Reading Experience: Shy Girl begins as a bizarre but seemingly straightforward arrangement between two adults that quickly spirals into something much darker.
The author does an excellent job setting up the story with a "lobster in a boiling pot" kind of way. Gia's choices that lead her into danger unfold just slow enough that the reader is aware of the red flags (we can see there is something more sinister going on beyond just a garden variety sexual kink, but the unease lurks at the edges) I couldn't quite predict everything that is going to happen. There are some great blindsides.
Gia finds herself subjected to increasing levels of humiliation, control, and manipulation. The novel's tension escalates as the full extent of Nathan’s depravity is revealed, leaving Gia—and the reader—questioning how far this situation will go (which is the real horror).
Gia’s journey is hard to watch. At first, she enters the arrangement with a degree of agency, but her autonomy is slowly chipped away piece by piece, leaving her trapped in a situation far worse than she could have imagined. I've said it before, and it bears repeating: human monsters are far more threatening than anything paranormal or supernatural.

Final Recommendation: Mia Ballard has crafted a deeply unsettling book. This is the perfect book for horror readers looking for feminist stories willing to push the boundaries and disrupt the status quo. I just want to be sure I set the proper expectation for the level of explicit violence and trauma- be prepared.

Comps: If the book Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder was extreme horror, At Dark I Become Loathsome by Eric LaRocca, Deliver Me by Elle Nash

A story about how far women have to go to get their autonomy back…

🐩 Shy Girl by Mia Ballard 🐩
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Let him see it, I think. Let him see what he’s created. Let him see me.”

Babes, wake up, a new feminine rage novel just dropped!

Thank you, NetGalley and Galaxy Press, for the ARC in exchange for this review. I had to sit with my thoughts on this one for a few days because Mia Ballard sent me through the five stages of grief, a rollercoaster of emotions, and actually had me bending over backwards trying to not be sick. I would recommend checking the trigger warning before jumping in, just to be aware.
Gia has lost everything: her job, almost all of her money, and soon, her apartment. When she goes online to look for a sugar daddy, she finds Nathan. He seems perfect, but there is always a catch. Soon, she ends up in a situation that she would have never thought of, with drastic consequences that will change the trajectory of her life forever.

“I have a problem with men. I am either obsessed with them, or I want nothing to do with them at all, depending on the state of my life at the moment.”

Mia Ballard has crafted something truly devious, discomforting, vengeful and slightly poetic. The theme of losing bodily autonomy screams loudly as Gia loses the ability to be herself, of course, because of a man. A man whom takes advantage, whom controls her every movement, whom takes every bit of her until there is nothing yet. Gia’s OCD plays a pivotal part in who she is at her core in the before, but there trauma changes the way she thinks and reacts.

“For the first time, I feel completely naked. Not stripped of clothes, but of myself, my dignity, my humanity. And I know, deep down, that nothing will ever feel safe again.”

It is a love letter to women, and the rage we feel in this world. Women will find themselves in every stage of Gia’s experience. It’s a story of power, control, autonomy, and survival; truly everything it means to be a girl or a woman. There are a lot of comparisons to Nightbitch, but it is so tame in comparison. It’s Nightbitch in a fever dream. I couldn’t put it down, and I recommend all people to read it if they can stomach it.


“I’m not asking for love or even for vulnerability. Just something sharp enough to make the moment stick. Something to make me feel like I’m not vanishing into nothingness the second this ends.”

“Women have always been cast as caretakers, peacekeepers, and forgivers. We’re told to edure, to adapt, to rise above. But sometimes, the only way to heal is to rage. Sometimes, justice isn’t quiet or clean; it’s feral and bloody and unapologetic.”

Summary:
Lonely, broke and depressed with a serious case of OCD, Gia finds herself at a crossroads when financial troubles lead her to Nathan, a mysterious and affluent man she encounters on a sugar dating website. Desperate for a solution, Gia is intrigued by Nathan's unconventional offer: in exchange for living as his devoted pet, all of her debts will be erased. But the longer Gia is in captivity, the more animalistic she becomes.

For fans of Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder and Lisa Taddeo's Animal, Shy Girl is a harrowing tale of girlhood, survival, autonomy, and revenge.

“The rules, the leash, the cage—they’re the only truths I can touch now, the only things I can trust to stay the same.”

Genre: Horror, Literary Fiction, Contemporary

"Women have always been cast as caretakers, peacekeepers, and forgivers. We're told to endure, to adapt, to rise above. But sometimes, the only way to heal is to rage.
Sometimes, justice isn't quiet or clean; it's feel and bloody and unapologetic."

This is the right time to read this book. Just like her previous release, feminine rage is a main theme here. We love an angry woman.

Whoa, this book really took you on a ride! The slow burn of that buildup must have been chef’s kiss, and then—BAM! The fallout hit like a freight train. Love a story that flips your emotions like that!

Gia went from “tragic heroine” to “absolute queen” real quick, huh? We love a character who takes control of her own fate.

When I discovered that Mia Ballard was releasing a new book, I knew I had to read it! Sugar was one of my favourite books from last year, and I didn't think she could possibly top it—oh, how wrong I was!

After finishing Shy Girl, I was left speechless—in the best possible way. Ballard's writing is incredibly smooth and easy to read, and I couldn't put the book down, even though many parts made me feel uncomfortable. It’s difficult to elaborate without spoiling it for other readers. Personally, I love a well-deserved feminine rage novel. I know Gia will stick with me for a long time and especially after everything she went through.

"Women have always been cast as caretakers, peacekeepers, and forgivers. We're told to endure, to adapt, to rise above. But sometimes, the only way to heal is to rage.
Sometimes, justice isn't quiet or clean; it's feel and bloody and unapologetic."

Please read the content warnings before reading this one, it’s a very heavy book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for my ARC.

I didn't expect to enjoy this book tbh. I love how the character slowly starts becoming unhinged but still gets an ending that I like. No regrets picking this one up!

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this arc! Shy girl was an incredible novel which gripped me from start to finish! I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting. A beautiful and moving exploration of autonomy, womanhood and control. (Will be included in a YouTube video soon @caramurrayy)

4.5/5 - This book is specifically for the freaky, weird horror girlies. If you liked Nightbitch or Lapnova or Tender is the Flesh, Shy Girl is the one for you! This book is NOT for the faint of heart and the body horror in this book is absolutely BONKERS. However, I absolutely loved it and I devoured this entire book in two sittings.

While batshit crazy, that's not just what this story is.
The overarching themes are about taking back your power as a victim, feminine rage, and refusing to forever be a victim. The idea that women deserve to own their stories in their own way, on their own terms and that they don't owe the universe anything just because they're a women. And that, sometimes, the best way to cope is just to rage instead of society's expectation of women to be calm, collected, and forgiving. We're ALLOWED to rage.

As a horror fan, I really enjoyed how this book did not glorify the torture. I feel like at some point horror books veer away from the story and get distracted by trying to amplify the gore. Ballard specifically focused on the main character, Gia, and her journey to gaining back her power, which I found refreshing. This book exemplified the resilience of women and the unfair expectations society has on women to just accept being a perpetual victim. Also, the body horror is absolutely insane!

Overall, an extremely strange yet empowering read.
If you like horror and you're looking for a quick read, you're going to love this. I will be thinking about this book for a long time!!

happy pub day!!
thank you so much @galaxygrlmia & @netgalley for theARC. Great book. I read this is ONE sitting. I was HOOKED. I am shocked, horrified, satisfied??), very horrified and Mia's writing style is just too good. highly recommend! But read the trigger warnings and the authors note.

I want to start this review by saying that I received an advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Usually I say thank you but I’m not sure I want thank anyone for what I just read. Was it well written? Absolutely. The first 1/4 of the book was a little slow but it ended up picking up. As I was reading it was giving Misery by Stephen King but instead of a crazed fan, it’s a man who has a weird dog fetish and kidnaps a woman and makes her pretend to be a dog. Then it got weird and extremely gory to the point where I almost threw up. THEN it got lame when our FMC starts to morph into an actual dog?? Hated that, it felt forced to me. The story is already weird and fucked up enough as is, we didn’t need that. And then finally the fuckery ends. Truly don’t know how to feel, I know I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it either. 🤷‍♀️

Shy Girl by Mia Ballard is an absolute wild ride of a feminine rage horror novel. This is one of those books that I wish I could read again for the first time. This book is not for the faint of heart so please check the trigger warnings. Don't let the cutesy cover fool you, this is brutal at times.

Gia is down on her luck after losing her job months earlier. When she is faced with an eviction notice, Gia reluctantly joins a sugar daddy dating website. Here she meets Nathan. When Nathan makes her an offer to spend eight hours each day as his pet, Gia hesitantly agrees. But what happens when Nathan decides he wants to keep Gia as his pet forever? Buckle up because it gets crazy!

I absolutely devoured this book! The range of emotions I felt went from disgust and anxiety to "good for her" so fast it gave me whiplash. Ballard's writing is hauntingly beautiful and raw, exploring misogyny and desperation in a poetic way. This book will absolutely stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mia Ballard, and Galaxy Press for this ARC. Publication date is March 1st 2025.

This same review is published on my GoodReads account, which is linked on my NetGalley profile.

Without a doubt the most disgusting and vile thing I have ever read in my life. I genuinely had to pause reading and skim a particular scene because it was so gross (the scene after the rat situation if you’re curious). I think this is a book that’ll have to sit with me for a while before I can concretely decide how I feel about it. The comparison I have seen with this book the most is of course Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder, and while I think this book was better, rather than rating this higher than I did Nightbitch, I am actually going to lower Nightbitch’s rating. I think objectively this book was very good, but I am struggling to decide my feelings. This is definitely not a book I would recommend to everyone, and I think reading the trigger warnings if you have anything you avoid reading are a requirement for this book. That being said, if you enjoyed Nightbitch then I think you should also read this (dependent on the trigger warnings you avoid), and even if you were disappointed by Nightbitch, but you liked the premise, I think this one could be worth the try.

Current rating: 3.5/5 (may be lowered to 3 or raised to 4 later)

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC!

I am not exaggerating when I say I had to go outside and touch grass after finishing this book. It made me feel claustrophobic and uneasy in the most amazingly immersive way.

To me, this was a masterclass in portraying emotions and thoughts onto the written page. Not many books have made me feel so passionate for a fictional main character (Gia) as this one has succeeded in doing, and I am truly wowed by the character evolution as a result of the trials and tribulations she faces throughout.

Shy Girl is certainly not for the faint hearted, however I feel that the line was towed between literary fiction and horror perfectly; this not being just another book which is churned out for shock value, but instead a shining example of a well thought out story line with the effective usage of more disturbing scenes throughout.

This is already one of my favourite books of the year, and I am extremely intrigued to look into more works by Ballard.

This was my first Mia Ballard novel, and while I was excited based on the premise, I was not anticipating the absolute wild rollercoaster ride of emotions this book took me on.
While things start out grim, but unfortunately relatable, it very quickly takes a sharp, dark turn into twisted depravity. The moment Mia realized she was a captive was so chillingly shocking I was on the verge of panicking. Her treatment was so ruthless and uncomfortable, especially upon her realization of how unhygienic being treated like a dog was, knowing her struggle with OCD.
The psychological tension throughout was brilliant and horrifying. My shock and despair increased with the passing years. Nathan’s threatening presence was ever hovering, the depths of his evil frequently increasing through new discoveries, like the camera’s true function, and both scenes with Cupcake.
The internal struggles Gia faces are so realistic, desperate to rationalize the bleak reality of her circumstances. Her slow transformation into entirely unhinged was so satisfying, and without giving too much away, I absolutely lived for her outcrazying Nathan’s crazy.

Shy Girl is a poetic, feminine rage horror novel that is not for the faint of heart, and explores some of the darkest experiences humanity has to offer. Ballard’s prose perfectly narrates the tense and horrifying environment and I highly recommend this one for all the girly pops who just want to go a little ✨feral✨ from time to time.

Thank you so much to the author and Galaxy Press for this digital review copy via NetGalley.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley for the arc! Secondly, thank you to Mia Ballard for writing this!!! I’ll be billing you for my therapy!!

Literally wtf! The whole first half of the book I felt like I was waiting for the shoe to drop, the buildup was so SO good. And when that shoe dropped….it DROPPED!!!! I cannot believe how the events unfolded, and the way the story concluded.

At first I was “ugh this poor girl!!!” And then at the end or quickly turned into a “good for her!!!!!” I support Gia FOREVER!!!!!

I really enjoyed this book! It definitely took me by surprise (in a good way) and once I'd started it I found it very hard to put down.

It was brutal, impactful, and dark. Definitely one of those books that sticks with you, I still think about it frequently! My first read by this author and it won't be the last.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

Mia Ballard has done it again. I don’t have the words to describe what I just read, but all I can say is I did not expect anything that happened in the book. It was a harrowing, emotional story with gore and grief throughout. Two things that freak me out in horror: eyeballs and teeth….. this has both.

The first thing you need to know about this book is this: I am a different person after finishing it and I’ve barely been able to focus on anything since.

I am notoriously not a body horror girly. I make a conscious effort to read a variety of horror but phew it’s a tough one for me. Sooo imagine my hesitation at the trigger warning(s) at the beginning of the book. Nevertheless, I was so intrigued I couldn’t help but continue.

Despite the amount of uncomfortable squirming, audible gasps and reading through my fingers, I reallllly enjoyed this one!

Gia was such a relatable character and a strong voice to carry the plot. I liked the emerging sugar daddy relationship and was already so engaged that once everything went off the rails I couldn’t put the book down.

If you’re hoping to dive into this one please don’t sleep on the warning(s) in the beginning. The events that unfold are a stark contrast to the pastel cover of the book.

Thank you to @victoryeditingngc @galaxygrlmia and @netgalley for making an eARC available to me in exchange for an honest review.

Shy Girl is out today!

4⭐️

Woof.

A moment for the dedication please:
“To the girls who bite back”

This book blew me away. I was sat in a coffee shop a few weeks ago with a friend and, at the time, I was bout 30% into this book. I was trying to give a summary of events in the book to date and I got SOME LOOKS from a guy in the queue. It’s bold and unabashed in delving into some dark places, is it taboo? Or is it just an author giving voice to the rage and resilience in response to the control and restraint, too often forced on women all around the world.

Shy Girl looks at some big questions around body autonomy, trauma, and exploitation (to name a few). It’s a situation that seems far from reality but is written in such a way that you understand the claustrophobia, fears and gut-punch reality with every turn of the page. As a reader, it’s clear the care and tenderness the author has for Gia - the ending a reclamation of self and a version of a happy ending.

This book accelerates from 0-100 very quickly and I could not put it down. It made me sad, angry, hopeful, and everything in between. Time has a different sense in this book, the jumps in narrative are at times disorientating but I feel it perfectly mirrors Gia’s lapse into oppresive captivity. Is it a week or a year, who knows. Events towards the end of the book again will make you question what is real and I’ve tried to think of how to put this in a more eloquent way but in essence: is she crazy? Great for you. A little madness goes a long way in the breaking of chains. I’m all for the feminine descent (or more often, ascent).

For fans of body horror, women taking back the narrative, and short reads. Check content warnings because I appreciate there may be sections that are too much for people.

An exceptional new addition to the feminine rage sub-genre.

Gia is down on her luck and desperate for something new. She’s broke, jobless, and on the verge of eviction when she stumbles upon a mysterious opportunity on a sugar daddy website: live as a man’s pet for eight hours a day, and all her debts will be erased. Desperate, she takes the offer. But instead of an escape, Gia finds herself trapped, and in a harrowing battle for power, control, resilience, and survival.

Whew! Shy Girl is terrifying, and incredibly visceral. The horror is extreme—squeamishly so—and the story is unsettling. Ballard explores themes of oppression, gendered violence and bodily autonomy in a story that is both deeply uncomfortable and disturbingly compelling—even as it veers into fantastical. It’s raw, shocking, and yet somehow strangely cathartic.

My only critique is the repetitive use of phrases (“curling into myself,” “curling around me,” etc.), but this is minor and doesn’t detract from its success.

This is a must-read for those who wanted more from Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder and are looking for something that leans into horror. The author’s note is also a powerful companion, and I recommend reading it alongside the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Galaxy Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.