Member Reviews
When I started to read this I nearly DNF’d it- I am glad I didn’t. There are triggers of suicide, murder, and toxic and abusive relationships.
The writing seems juvenile which I think is what the author was aiming for- like a journal of Charlottes thoughts and feelings but it did come off as slightly rushed in parts and jumpy which a persons journal or thought process can tend to be.
I did get confused in parts with who was who and when and why.
The ending though was thought provoking- I finished the book feeling every single emotion I think I could feel. I didn’t know whether to cry, gasp, feel pity or rage.
A very sad and raw story which was well executed. My own gripe was how rushed it felt and how it jumped quickly from one relationship to the next. The conclusions for each “chapter” were shocking but come across as emotionless due to them being very blunt. I’m not sure if that is what the author was going for or not though.
I have grappled with this review, I just don't know how to categorise this book or how to tell you about it without including spoilers. I was engrossed in the beginning and I found myself laughing at certain lines. Some of the dialogue I found spot on and the attention to detail is 100% accurate. I was smiling about the reference to Juicy Tubes. Char is indeed an interesting character, with quirky insights and an air of vulnerability about her.
Unfortunately I as progressed through the story it lost its shine and I wasn't as keen to read on. I can totally see why this book is popular and would still recommend it to some friends. Its a quick and easy read.
Well, I definitely didn’t see that coming! A dark and very entertaining read. Charlotte is a young woman with some bad luck in love - but as she narrates the stories of her various relationships, it starts to become clear there is more than just bad luck at play. Highly enjoyed this book as I always love being surprised by an ending.
I couldn't relate to any part of this book. I'm assuming that this is due to the fact that I have been very lucky with the men that I have had a relationship with.
I really liked the premise of the book but found it didn't quite achieve all that I had hoped or expected.
Charlotte is the main character of Bodies and we are given an insight into her life. We go back and forth and all over the place - which is confusing - focussing on her relationships. There is a distressing event that led to Charlotte's life becoming what it has.
There is, of course, a twist, which I didn't see coming but I can honestly say that I didn't enjoy reading this.
There are some real triggers in this book. Consider yourself warned.
This is Christine Anne Foley’s debut novel and I am so excited to see what see does next. She is a fresh new voice and she really has something to say and I am here for it. Bodies is such a timely book given the frightening statistics of violence against women on the U.K. today. In this book each chapter is dedicated to another man in our FMC’s life has wronged her in some way and the prose gets progressively darker. I don’t want to say more than that as I don’t want to spoil it but you need to read this. I am so grateful for NetGalley giving me the opportunity to read this book and I will be gifting this to all my female friends as soon as it’s released.
Bodies is a raw and visceral novel, brimming with femal rage and underlying threat of violence. I really enjoyed this novel from start to finish, the bold way in which Foley explores sexuality and relationships with a sinister twist that keeps the reader desperate to read more. I absolutely ate this up and will be highly recommending!
Wow, this was the perfect book to snap me out of a reading slump of very "meh" books. Raw, shocking and addictive, I devoured every page and adored it.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.
So brilliantly written. The author has written with raw,honest, emotional thought provoking text…..one minute I was laughing out loud and the next I was crying!
I couldn’t put this book down.
An absolute page turner that I could not put down.
Brilliantly written, raw, honest, emotional, hilarious and utterly thought-provoking, you'll switch from laughing to crying at the turn of a page.
I absolutely bloody loved this book bloody amazing.
This book had me gripped from the start and kept me up until the early hours.
Charlotte bloody amazing character in her i saw some of myself and friends throughout our teenage and earlier adult years
First I wasn’t sure were it was going but then i realised and yes its shocking, however in some ways i see her point of view
Bloody amazing
Would highly highly recommend
Best book of the year so far
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
This was a powerful read - it really felt like you were living the moments with the narrator and while I was suspicious of the coincidental events of the novel (no spoilers!) I actually didn't see the twist coming. The book explores a spectrum of violent and manipulative relationships that most women will identify with - if they themselves haven't experienced one, they'll know someone who has. So actually the ending has an almost satisfying catharsis, alongside the lyrical prose and compelling narrative. Women's bodies often seem to belong to everyone apart from themselves. A powerful debut novel.
Ms Foley has a way of finding these strange little universal human thoughts and stripping them bare on a page. It's dark, obsessive, real and painfully honest - an account of the relationships that change, hurt, evolve and shape us as human beings for better or worse told in that uniquely stream-of-thought, internal voice way of storytelling that she nails every time. It's not lighthearted reading, but it will stay in your head for weeks.
flew through this book in a couple of days- it was very readable and surprisingly dark. We follow Charlotte through a series of relationships with men who take advantage of her, treat her poorly, disrespect and even sexually assault her only to find out they each end up dead. The chapters are interspersed with the story of her late sister (spoiler: it turns out she was murdered and Charlotte’s behaviour is a kind of revenge.) This was an enjoyable and interesting book which is very different to books out there at the minute, the unreliable narrator is cleverly written I just felt it got a little repetitive in parts.
"I realised how bodies controlled us, how our bodies were not merely vessels but in fact dictators with their own resolve."
Charlotte Murphy is seventeen when she first meets Johnny a boy who really grabs her attention and with whom she forms a connection. But throughout her youth, she'll meet boys, then men, who are toxic, who are abusive, who are gaslighters. Until she meets one who isn't; the problem is, it might be too late for her.
'Bodies' is about how Charlotte wields hers as a weapon, but also about how vulnerable she is. She's a deeply damaged young woman and this plays itself out in her relationships – she seems to drift from one bad one to the next, despite the misgivings of her friends. Then, even when she meets someone who is good to her and with whom she can form a healthy bond, this too takes a bad turn.
The writing is raw and stripped down, revealing the bleak and stark realities of Charlotte's life and her desperate search for belonging in the men she spends her time with. There are drugs and sex and manipulations.
This book is engrossing, disturbing, and incisive. It has a very dark and shocking ending that I did not see coming but that provides for a fitting denouement. A razor-sharp debut.
I loved this book. A dark style romance. It kept me intrigued throughout out and a romance from a younger age.
this was such a refreshing yet dark take on the romantic relationships that so many experience, from the drama of the youth to the excitement of first & lasting love. the core enticement of the story really situated in how dark & twisted it is, but also how it’s so relatable & real. it really feels like an early twenty-somethings diary who unfortunately goes through the inevitable stage of depending on male validation but does so with pure intentions of finding love & harmony.
the story is told through a structure of events, focusing on one guy at a time, with a raw & unapologetic tone that grips the reader & forcing them to see through the protagonist’s eyes. Foley does well in capturing the loss of innocence, naivety & emotional turbulence that so many have gone through, collecting points of recognition to navigate the idea of self-worth in relationships. despite how short it is, the book really sticks with you especially the last few pages…
DNF @ 33% - an interesting premise and a character full of promise, but unfortunately the novel is confusingly written and horribly edited. At one point a character mentions waiting for blue ticks on a message - the chapter is set in 2003. I couldn't bring myself to continue after that, really - not the author's fault but it's really poor, especially as I am reading a finished copy of this one. Other discrepancies cropped up as I skimmed through so I decided this wasn't the one for me.
What a highly engaging dark read, that even though it creeped me out I just could not put it down. It was incredible, and I can't wait to read more of this authors work.
I have mixed feelings about this but there are lots of good things that I liked. With sex being the main theme, the protagonist’s inner thoughts were portrayed in delicate detail, exploring the longing, yearning and reminiscing of sex in one’s early 20s. It reads like a journal, private and reflective. Some sensual writing here and there that felt original and intimate. The protagonist’s messy life didn’t make me rooted for her, but the main issue being the storyline felt a bit scattered to me, I would have liked it more if it feels more intact, even though I did like a lot of it.
Thank you netgalley for the arc!
Deliciously dark, I was hooked from the opening pages and could not put this down, a really compelling and unflinching read. Charlotte is an excellent character and this is a really strong debut. Painfully realistically at times and jaw droppingly surprising at others, I could not put this book down and loved how Foley takes a somewhat familiar story and adds a deeply original twist .
There were one or two errors and I am loathe to say this , me who has never written a book, but I think this book deserved a tighter edit. There is a glaring error about the main character's sisters age and a couple of sentences that jarred and stood out in what was a really well written novel. I think because I was so brought into Charlotte's world that these things stood out starkly.
I was really impressed by this novel overall though and am looking forward to more from this author.
4 star. Recommend.