Rating: 4.5/5, brilliant!
Thank you, Sarah Rose Etter and VERVE Books, for the digital copy via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Book of X by prize-winning author Sarah Rose Etter tells the story of Cassie, a girl born with a hereditary condition that affects the women in her family. This is the second Shirley Jackson Award winner I have read, and I cannot stress enough how great this Book Prize is for literary horror—if that is a thing.

“I was born a knot like my mother and her mother before her. Picture three women with their torsos twisted like thick pieces of rope with a single hitch in the center.”

Etter follows Cassie from childhood to adulthood, exploring her relationships with her parents and brother, life on the family’s meat farm, and how she navigates love and her own body. It is a deeply disturbing, surreal coming-of-age horror novel that will appeal to fans of the dark, the deranged, and the unhinged.

The Book of X does what few books achieve—it grabs the reader by the guts and refuses to let go, forcing them to confront its unsettling themes. The opening chapter is powerful—sharp, vivid, and immersive—immediately pulling the reader into a world where allegory and surrealism bleed into reality.

“My vision goes wild. The grass begins to breathe. Through the window at breakfast, the green blades heave, pulsing like a large body below the house. ‘The land is alive,’ I say.”

The knot is representative of one of the novel’s central themes, with many possible interpretations. However, from early on, its correlation with feminist themes becomes clear.

“Do men ever get knots?’ I ask. ‘Lower your voice. And no. A man has never had a knot. That is a woman’s burden.”

One of the most striking images is the Meat Quarry, where Cassie’s family harvests chunks of red meat from the earth. Through Cassie’s childhood, we witness moments of bullying that shape her desires and perceptions. She is an imperfect, deeply compelling character, and her struggles are reflected in her raw, unfiltered narrative voice.

The exploration of sexuality is a recurring theme, handled with nuance and intensity. Cassie’s friendship with Sophia, and the way they experience childhood together, was particularly touching. Many scenes in the novel are poignant, with each chapter opening on a surreal, dreamlike vision of Cassie—often serving as an epiphany or expression of longing. These moments add an extra layer of depth to the story. The novel is saturated with metaphors, yet they never feel excessive.

Etter’s versatility as a writer shines through her use of different styles without pretension. Some sections read like bullet-pointed lists or encyclopaedia entries, reflecting how Cassie makes sense of the world—she is, at heart, a nerd. These stylistic choices provide breathing room and are often witty, ensuring the reading experience never feels overwhelming, even when it delves into unsettling themes. Her writing is both playful and melancholic, blurring the lines between reality and dream, clawing at the reader like a piece of meat waiting to be consumed. The pacing is lightning-fast, though at times I wished certain chapters had lingered longer, allowing more space to explore key moments.

This novel does not shy away from difficult moments, some of which may be upsetting for readers. One particular scene lingers, and Ette handles it with unflinching honesty. Cassie’s experience of abuse and its lasting effects are harrowing and thought-provoking, and unfortunately will resonate with many readers. Reading this book is an emotional rollercoaster, with Ette orchestrating an emotional maelstrom—dragging the reader from gut-wrenching horror to unexpected moments of tenderness, then back into the innards of Cassie’s mind.

“In the wild, I would be left for dead beneath black branches. At sunset, predators would smell my weakness on the air, flesh soaked with sweat, muscles flooded in panic. I wouldn’t fight; I’d lie in the long grass, motionless, memorizing the shape of their teeth in my flesh, knowing them by their mouths as they gnawed through my flesh to my bones. Fox Wolf Bear Man I would sing the list in the purple twilight through the black branches of the trees, a sweet death hum. Fox Wolf Bear Man.”

There are no easy answers, and there is much room for multiple interpretations—which makes this an excellent book club pick—and at the end of the book there are discussion questions that further deepen the reading experience.

The Book of X demands to be revisited—each time revealing new insights and meanings, each page equally unsettling and unforgettable. I cannot recommend this book enough if you enjoy unapologetic, thought-provoking, and unflinching narratives that tackle many of the difficulties faced by many women.

You’re born with a knot in your stomach, a burden you must endure, must carry just like your mother and their mother before. You’re tied to the home, a home maker, again just like your mother when all you want to do is farm the meat like your father and brother. This is author Sarah Rose Etter’s brilliant protagonist Cassie’s life, a young women who she makes endure the rigid expectations of her mother, the immaculately made up mother who excels at housewifery, at being perfect.

Is this what lays in store for the rest of Cassie’s life? It could have been yet Etter used a traumatic incident to spark a rebellion in Cassie, a way to combat the hurt, to push the boundaries and lose herself. Cassie would be a match for any man, better at quarrying the meat next to her brother and father, casting aside the aesthetic pleasures of her mother and housekeeper conformity.

There is escape to the city, an office job, men who are repulsed by her knot casting her aside. Etter is nothing but relentless in her narrative descriptions, of Cassie’s desperation to fit in, to rid herself of the knot. Would its removal instantly transform her life or is it society that rejects her just because she is different, or because she is a woman.

It is bleak and dark, sad, reflective, with a period of happiness that we and Cassie can revel in before Etter plunges back, once again into the darkness. Death, responsibility, the anchors throughout life gone leave Cassie rudderless, desperate, an ending that I found shocking, but oh so good,.

I thought Etter brave, admired her narrative skill, her ability to push her character to the extreme without making it unreal, unrelatable. She showed the cruelty and fickleness of society, of its readiness to reject those that don’t conform. She showed a woman that wanted to be accepted that butted her head against that society with all her might, a woman with infinite determination.

Another fabulously unique novel from Sarah Rose Etter.

An intriguing meditation on conformity and societal expectations with a dark and twisted underbelly. This is for fans of surrealist and strange literature that captures you and refuses to let go. The book of x is like nothing you’ve read or will read again.

Where do I begin?? This is such a surreal, fever dream of a book that hasn't left me and I finished reading this a little while ago, but needed time to digest it.

We follow Cassie as she navigates life and tries to establish where she fits in but also what she actually wants out of life. Does she want to be a housewife like her mum?, a meat farmer like her dad and brother?; what about a woman living the city life? She can't quite decide.

I really enjoyed the speculative aspect to this book although it did sometimes make it difficult to fully realise what was actually going on, but maybe that's the point? When Cassie was in an abusive "relationship" with a young man as a young woman, you could see what it was she was experiencing, or could you?

I say this because throughout the narrative you have sections called "Vision" that seem like she's experiencing a sweeter, nicer version of her own reality - but is that the case? Is the vision her maladaptive daydreams, or are they her actual reality and what we perceive to be her reality is actually some kind of weird, maladaptive daymare?

There are so many significant events that occur in her life and are also accompanied by a "vision" that I can't decide at times what is real and what isn't. But I suppose that's what happens when you're trapped in a way of thinking or experiencing life that might not be the healthiest. Is Cassie mentally unwell?

I honestly have far too many questions and need to read this book at least another 50 times to try and decide.

3.75 ⭐️

This book is surreal and strange, but it speaks universal truths about pain, beauty, and the complicated relationship we have with our bodies.

Having high expectations after reading "Ripe" earlier this year, I was eager to dive into "The Book of X."
This novel exceeded my expectations! Sarah Rose Etter's writing is exquisite, taking a bold step in this text.

The book can be described as a blend of horror, psychological thriller, and dystopia. At times, the story feels overwhelmingly surreal, while at other moments, it captures reality with striking precision. It delves into themes such as body shame, family relationships, and the generally twisted world that women navigate. I particularly appreciated the claustrophobic and bizarre atmosphere of the story.

This is a poetic, beautiful, painful to read novel that leaves a lasting impression, and I am definitely looking forward to following Etter's future works.

Extraction industries hack away at layers of flesh, boyfriends are bought and sold in fractions, and a date to the throat fields gives a young couple the chance to strangle something.

Bodily exploitation and commodification are literally transformed into an extractive industry but, on this bloody stage, the performance is still a familiar one. A deformity in the maternal line is exacerbated by an accompanying generational self-hatred. This emotional pain is our anchor in an otherwise mad world and transforms her last name, ‘X’, into a chromosomic reminder of our connection as women.

I really liked this, a gripping book with such a breadth of exploration of what it's like to be a woman: generational trauma from your mother and her mother before her, especially when it comes to body image and how to be a good wife; having a distant father whom you love anyway; a life spent trying to seek answers by medical professionals; being made to feel disgusting by men for any deviation from the norm but have them desire you for it anyway; being hired for a job just because you can smile and look pretty; intense loneliness; and much more.

It's bleak and isolating and there's a sense of everyone living full lives except you. The writing style was very compelling and I found myself reading through it so quickly. There were a few bits towards the end that I either feel like I didn't understand or just didn't work for me, but overall I thought this was so good. I've been meaning to read the author's other book Ripe for so long and this has definitely bumped it up the priority list.

Oh wow what a strange little book. Unlike anything I’ve read before I think?

Cassie, like her mother and grandmother before her, was born with a knot in her middle. As in, her midriff is literally a knot. She grows up with her parents and brother next to a meat quarry where they pull meat out of the ground with their hands and sell it. Eventually Cassie leaves her family home and finds herself working a mundane job and trying to figure out how to date.

This is both real and deeply surreal. There are frequent interjections, visions, with dreamlike sequences from Cassie’s mind. I did find myself tiring a little bit of these as the book went on though.

What a magical, visceral and haunting story, one I won’t forget anytime soon.

In a surreal dystopia, meat grows in quarries, and three generations of women are born with knotted bodies. The book of X tells a poetic tale of yearning, sadness, love, and loss.

I'm actually quite lost on how to even review this book if I'm being honest! The writing is poetic, beautiful in places, and the story is full of the 'here and now' and visions of alternative events that fill Cassie's head at different points of her life.

I really enjoyed the beginning part of Cassie's Journey, but I did feel the middle to be slightly lacklustre - however, I'm actually not sure whether this was intended or not? I don't know. This book is thought-provoking. What one person thinks or sees with the meanings and themes in this book I quite imagine will differ from person to person. Everything feels open to interpretation and is such a cleverly written novel. I know that this one will stay with me for some time.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of this book via Netgalley.

Unusual, raw, vicious, heart breaking. A strange girl in a strange but familiar world, visions and a family knot.

**Book Review: _The Book of X_ by Sarah Rose Etter**

_Sarah Rose Etter's_ _The Book of X_ is a hauntingly surreal and strikingly original tale that challenges conventional storytelling. Etter presents a world where the bizarre and the everyday coexist, using vivid, often unsettling imagery to explore themes of femininity, body, trauma, and desire. The protagonist’s journey, portrayed through fragmented and poetic prose, is both compelling and heart-wrenching, drawing readers into an exploration of identity and the physical and emotional burdens women carry.

Etter’s writing is fearless, weaving a narrative that is both brutally honest and dreamlike. _The Book of X_ is a literary experience that resonates on multiple levels, leaving a lasting impact with its blend of darkness, beauty, and raw truth. This novel is a daring, thought-provoking read that defies expectations and lingers long after the final page.

This is a weirdly strange book which is also somewhat fantastic. It tells the story of a young girl who is born with her guts twisted her mother has the same and she goes through her life seeking treatment for this . The condition is clearly not a real medical condition in the context of normality but in the reality of the story it’s just about makes sense.
When I started reading, I was very confused. Meat quarries and knots in the stomach what am I reading? As I settled into the novel, it started to make some sort of sense.
This book is full of extremely surreal ideas juxtaposed with complete normality which makes the surreal ideas jump out even more
I loved the authors writing style of several sentences that really stood out for me as a personal suffer of chronic pain “The pain keeps screaming in the background. It reduces everything around me. “ I really empathise with this sentence
Throughout the novel, there are lists of facts nearly all of them correct but not all.These lists stand out in comparison to the weirdness the surreal story
I read a copy of the novel on NetGalley UK who is published on the 5th of December 2024 by Verve books
This review will appear on NetGalley UK , Goodreads and my book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com. after publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.

I found it hard to follow some parts of the book as the marked visions didn't always seem to have a distinct ending which meant I wasn't always sure what was happening and what was in Cassie's mins. I understood some of the deeper meanings of what was happening but some of it was too far fetched that I was unsure what I was supposed to be reading. The writing was a bit clunky and didn't always flow well, I overall enjoyed the book but I'm unsure if I'd recommend to everyone to read.

I received this book from NetGalley and VERVE Books in exchange for a free and honest review.

This book follows Cassandra/ Cassie born a rare condition in which her stomach is twisted into a knot. She faces discrimination and crippling pain in the knot. Because of all the hurt that she faces, she likes to have alternative endings to real life situations in order to deal with her emotional pain. This leads her to always move to avoid fully facing traumatic incidents. Overall, a sad but relatable read about a woman trying to find her place and her thinking that changing an aspect of herself will lead to great changes in her life but this has varying results. I recommend this book but advise readers to look up the trigger warnings.

etter's debut is a raw and intellectually provocative novel that delves into themes of isolation, sexism, self-identity, and societal critique through a deeply surreal and imaginative lens.

the narrative follows cassie, a girl born with her stomach twisted into a knot—a hereditary condition that has afflicted the women in her family for generations. through a series of unsettling and richly poetic vignettes, the story traverses cassie's transition from late childhood to young adulthood, immersing us in her internal conflicts and the profound sense of alienation she endures in her encounters with society due to her physical condition and gender.

her journey, which takes her from the macabre setting of a meat quarry on her family’s farm to the cold, impersonal environment of a city office, is one of consistent physical and emotional suffering. the only reprieve for both cassie and the reader comes through the frequent 'visions' she experiences, which reflect a softer world than the one she occupies.

etter’s creation of this unconventional universe is certainly ambitious and original, but to me, it fell flat. absurdist allegory can serve as a compelling artistic instrument, but only when executed with thematic depth and narrative cohesion, which i feel was lacking. while the symbolism of the knot is intriguing, its conceptualisation is somewhat elusive. the knot’s significance fluctuates throughout the novel, appearing as inconsistently visible and impactful, which undermines its potential as a profound metaphor for the body in relation to societal expectations.

likewise, the recurring motif of meat being harvested from an underground quarry was initially exciting and vividly described, but eventually felt more like a provocative detail than a crucial element with clear thematic significance, diminishing its impact and leaving readers with a constant sense that they are missing something, only to be left dissatisfied when their questions are left unanswered.

the episodic structure of the novel is typically a feature i love, but in this case, the fragmented format and frequent inclusion of random facts often disrupt the narrative's coherence. to me, the narrative is at its best when depicted with stark realism. cassie's sexual assault and her subsequent vision were extremely well-written, and both left a lump in my throat. in fact, all her interactions with boys and men are well-written, as are her experiences of judgement from family members.

overall, ‘the book of x’ stands as a bold and inventive work of surrealist literary fiction. i wanted to love it, and i understand why so many do, but it just didn't come together for me!

Thank you to Netgalley and Verve Books for allowing me to read this book by Sarah Rose Etter.

This is an extraordinary read, with haunting writing, and intensely visceral imagery. It is a harrowing tale of generational trauma, and the feelings of becoming a woman in an anti-feminist world.

Description:
A woman born with a knotted torso lives with her family who mine meat from a quarry.

Liked:
The meat mining thing is interesting. Liked the complex relationship between the protagonist and her family. The description of her relationship with her best friend was sparse but also well-realised. Also thought the push and pull of the boy she fancies who is absolutely awful to her but who is the only one who gives her any attention was very well done - you can be screaming at the MC to leave him the fuck alone and have some self-respect but also completely understand why she doesn't, in the worst way.

Disliked:
The lists Etter started in Ripe are back here. This time she manages to stick with them till the end, and they do feel a bit more relevant/interesting, but between that and the protagonists 'vision' sections, it feels like a bid to make up the page count in a story which is already quite slight. I also felt the ending tended slightly toward the melodramatic. The meat quarry was an interesting idea but in the end I wasn't sure that it added much to the story.

Would recommend. Etter’s a promising writer, and for me this represents a step forward from Ripe, but I think she’ll continue to improve.

a surreal and unique take on conformity and the deadly pressure of trying to fit into the roles that society pressures you into through a lens of magical realism.

the book of x explores the pressure of looking a certain way, changing and still not feeling whole, the disconnection between you and others, and the deep grief from loss.

it’s such a bleak story and i felt so strongly for cassie and wished she didn’t have to go through a tough life like she did — it felt too raw and real, despite it being a surreal story of literally rivers of thighs, meat farms and knotted stomachs.

it’s obviously full of metaphors and everything in it can be assigned to real life scenarios. which is why it feels so hard hitting at several moments. it’s definitely a boon worth reading more than once and i can’t wait to finally get started on ripe after this! what a storyteller!

// ARC courtesy of verve books and netgalley.

Etter's 'The Book of X' is a truly unique book. The style of writing flows wonderfully. My one criticism would be the inclusion of the random facts. I'm not entirely sure those work so well.