Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Margaret Culpepper suffers from Fayette-Gehret, a rare, uncurable autoimmune disorder that has virtually destroyed her life. But there’s finally some hope: she’s been invited to take part in an experimental medical trial that might be a cure. It involves an extended stay at Graceview Memorial Hospital, but Meg is desperate, and she enrolls.

As she undergoes the treatment and her health, as expected, begins to decline, she senses something strange in the hospital. Is it a hallucination? Or is it really a presence?

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In this mix of medical drama and science fiction/horror, readers are thrown into Meg’s confusion and paranoia, leaving everyone to guess at what is real and what is imagined. The plot is captivating, the situation at the hospital, chilling.

Readers who enjoy medical tales and those who enjoy a bit of horror tossed into the telling of the tale are sure to enjoy this cringe-worthy story.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
#TheGraceviewPatient #NetGalley

4.5 stars, rounded up.

This book definitely brought the horrors of having chronic pain to life, along with a medical system that never seems quite able (or willing) to help. It’s also a complete fever dream at times, and it becomes impossible to know what’s really going on. If you’re okay letting go and allowing all the wildness to happen, you’ll be in for a really good read.

One thing, though—it looks like the syndrome the author used isn’t real? I couldn’t find anything about it online.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

While I wasn't the biggest fan of our main character, I did really like the book.

The plot definitely is much more surprising than it seems initially. When I finally realized exactly what was going on, I was pleasantly (and horridly) surprised.

The author's style is a bit quieter, but there's so much atmosphere that it really works.

A good and very surprising read!

Desperate to overcome an autoimmune illness slowly destroying her body, Meg enrolls in an extreme medical study at Graceview Memorial Hospital. Meg is alone. She’s pushed away her friends. Estranged from her family. Her condition renders her isolated and lonely, leaving her vulnerable to Adam’s charms. Adam works for the company whose study is held at Graceview and is an enthusiastic recruiter. He brings food and flowers and provides comfort as the SWAIL protocol works its destructive magic. For Meg to heal, her immune system must be medically dismantled in a process similar to chemotherapy. Enter nurse Isobel. Meg forms a unique bond with her caregiver that, combined with being under Adam’s spell, encourages her to hang in with the treatment she begins to second guess early on. Something feels wrong. The risk isn’t worth the possible reward. Another of the few patients with Meg’s condition has “gone home” too soon. Haunting visions begin as Meg’s body succumbs to the increasingly toxic treatment. What is going on and why?

It's a question you’ll have to read to find the answer.

Having worked in healthcare for nearly two decades, I love medical thrillers and horror. The blurb for this book hooked me. But by forty percent of the way through reading it, I was mentally formulating a list of reasons it wasn’t hitting a sweet spot.

The author has created an initially compelling, claustrophobic setting and a desperate main character in Meg, whose condition quickly evokes sympathy. As she gets further into the SWAIL protocol, her increasing anxiety tightens the already high tension of life or death stakes.

As the story progresses, Meg becomes a character that things happen to, with far too little agency to support catharsis. Her arc is weak. She borders on unlikeable. Each chapter is a detailed note of ongoing medical procedures and fever dreams rather than ominous horror. Meg becomes unreliable, further weakening an already iffy plot without concrete rules, with one-note stakes, and that culminates into a head-scratcher when Meg does what she does to Isobel (no spoilers), which made me wonder about the trial in the first place.

Overall, the pace was slow. The medical aspect devolves into far-fetched by the dubious ending. I wouldn’t necessarily call this horror, though with the few fevered scenes, it really has to be classified as such, or mystery, as it doesn’t follow conventional horror or mystery beats. I would recommend this novel to readers of gothic literary horror who enjoy the omnipresent medical theme.

Thank you to NetGalley, Caitlin Starling, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Come along on a roller coaster ride inside of a hospital where you aren’t sure what is happening and what you’re imagining. Voluntarily admitting yourself as a last ditch effort to get better leads to a complete horror story of isolation and being at the mercy of others who insist you must complete the treatment. This was a book that was hard to put down and that I won’t forget about anytime soon. Definitely the stuff nightmares are made of!

This book was so creepy. Margaret has a rare autoimmune condition that has destroyed her life so when she is offered a chance to receive an experimental medical trial she takes it but she has to live at the hospital. It will kill most of her.....She might be an unreliable narrator or not..... there is so much darkness and horror in this hospital and book. It was a bit much for me. The writing and descriptions are spot on but I am a scaredy cat. If you like psychological horror this book is for you.

This book was so so good! I couldn't put it down! It kept me in suspense after I read it, I had to take a few minutes to process what I just read! I highly recommend reading this book!

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This medical/horror and sci-if story caught my attention. Sadly I couldn’t get into this story with Margaret who has autoimmune disorder and how her health declines. I loved the atmosphere and the setting of the hospital, but didn’t really care for the characters. Thank you NetGalley for this digital arc.

Caitlin Starling’s *The Graceview Patient* is a gripping blend of psychological and medical horror. Set in the unsettling Graceview Memorial, it follows Margaret, a woman with a severe autoimmune disorder who takes part in a risky medical trial designed to push her to the edge. As her health declines, she starts to sense a strange presence in the hospital.

The tense atmosphere turns familiar hospital settings into a nightmare, and Starling's writing makes Margaret’s struggles feel incredibly real. The graphic portrayal of her physical and mental decline blurs the line between medical issues and something more sinister.

Margaret's emotional journey adds depth to the story, as she grapples with isolation and the uncertainty of what’s real. This mix of medical thriller, gothic horror, and sci-fi paranoia builds up to an unforgettable climax. If you enjoy chilling psychological horror and a relatable lead, *The Graceview Patient* is a must-read. It’s a haunting tale that lingers long after you finish it.

A magnificent examination of chronic illness, medical knowledge, testing, and ethics, and unreliable narration. I'd teach this in literature classes. Meg, a disabled woman, agrees to take part in a medical trial, entering a hospital for several weeks. But the trial isn't what it seemed to be, the staff is sketchy, the other patients are dead or dying, and Meg begins to experience hallucinations that drive her to find answers about what she's been exposed to and why. This is visceral, wrenching horror (CW: body and medical horror) that brings both revulsion and tears to the reader. Starling's depiction of Meg's social circle dwindling because of her illness and her explanations of the social model of disability are spot-on. Highly recommended, even if horror isn't your usual genre. This is criplit at its best.

Wish I could give a better rating however I couldn't connect with the characters, story or plot unfortunately. I adore unreliable narratives, horror and suspense but this fell flat.

This is my 2nd Starling book thanks to NetGalley ARC thank you!! True to form this is genre bending here are words that fought for space in my head while listening to: suffocating, anxiety inducing, claustrophobic, psychologically disturbing. Is Meg mentally unbalanced and imagining everything or is she being held against her will? I’m not sure if we ever know. Starling is masterful at her craft and this book needs handles to gang on to!

A woman with a rare skin condition has signed up for a trial at a hospital and slowly loses her mind.

I wasn’t sure what was real and what was not, but boy was this chilling.

Hospital horror is always the spookiest, I think, and this fills the bill.


NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press October 14, 2025

Talk about an unreliable narrator! I have been meaning to read Caitlin Starling's books for ages but hadn't got around to it until now. Well, I will definitely be going back and reading more! The Graceview Patient is about a woman enduring a long hospital stay while she slowly descends into madness. Or does she? To be honest, I'm still not sure! I truly don't know what was real and what wasn't or what will happen next for Meg, but I enjoyed every minute of the whole confusing journey. It was very well-written, and I loved all the foreshadowing that let you know that bad things were coming. The ending was more open than I would have liked but, I have to admit, in some ways it was the perfect ending. Despite my confusion, and my mixed feelings about the ending, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by the author!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

“The Graceview Patient” is an intense and strange story. Meg has a rare autoimmune disease that makes daily life miserable. No treatment has worked. But she is given the opportunity to participate in a clinical study where her immune system will be destroyed and then rebuilt, assuming it works. However, the hospital experience quickly becomes strange. The doctor who is supposed to be overseeing the clinical trial never appears (at least that Meg can remember). Adam, a pharmacy representative, makes frequent visits, bringing flowers and food, and always seems to be present when something unusual or important happens. Isobel, one of the nurses, encourages Meg to quit the trial and go home for her own safety. The treatment can cause paranoia and hallucinations, making Meg unclear what is real. There is also the possibility that the hospital is somehow alive.

I don't normally read horror but I enjoyed this! I am fascinated by books about psych wards or locked confinement, so this one had me glued to the pages!

Thanks Netgalley for the free ARC! This was a great novel. It was well written and suspenseful. I was hesitant because it’s labeled a horror story, but it wasn’t too scary and more psychological fiction to me. Although, I didn’t find it scary it had parts that were definitely cringe worthy and made my skin crawl a little. I definitely recommend for an intriguing thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for the eARC.

I received an ARC of this book because I'd read and reviewed an ARC of "The Locked Ward" by Sarah Pekkanen, and while I don't usually read horror novels (they do nothing for me), I did very much enjoy "The Locked Ward". Hence me giving this book a try.

VERY interesting premise with a story that nearly matched it, but the last third or so of the book was just confusing to me and I didn't really understand the ending.
Again, not a fan of the horror genre, so maybe I missed something, but I did enjoy the book overall!

To say Margaret has hit rock-bottom probably makes her life sound better than it is. She has a rare disease which has slowly left her alone and oh so sick. When an opportunity to take a spot at Graveview Hospital in a medical trial is offered to her, what choice does she have but to say yes.
She knows that the procedure will be intense. She knows the medications will make her much much sicker until she starts to get better. She also knows that no friends or family will be visiting. What she doesn’t know is how quickly the isolation will make her question everything.
She starts hearing things, seeing things, which may be real or may just be an illusion. Soon she is sure if the medicines don’t kill her, being a patient of this study in this hospital will.
Holy fever dream! I flew through this book. I never knew if what Margaret thought was real or a side effect of the drugs she was given. The longest I’ve spent in the hospital was two weeks and if I had read this book first, trial patient or not, I would’ve been questioning everything. I’m not going to say more and risk spoiling this story. My new favorite book by this author.4.5 stars.

4.5/5, rounded up to 5. Engaging tale of a socially isolated patient with a rare condition who seeks a better life by signing up for a clinical trial that promises to rebuild her immune system but requires extended inpatient treatment in the hospital. Told from the patient perspective as she undergoes treatment and finds herself increasingly unable to trust her memories and own thoughts, leading to increased paranoia and distrust of hospital staff, save for one nurse who seems to genuinely want to help her. Great take on the unreliable narrator trope and well told. Not a huge fan of the ending, otherwise a solid 5 stars.