Thank you to Galaxy Press and Net Galley for supplying this girl with an early copy of Shy Girl. I saw some other bookstagrammers posting it with high reviews. Shy Girl was bumped to the top of my TBR. I devoured it. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into.
We follow Gia, who is down on her luck and broke. So she seeks out to find a sugar daddy and meets Nathan. He has a very particular and peculiar request- he wants Gia to be his dog for 8 hours a day in exchange for generous payment. During these 8 hours, Gia has to stay in her crate/cage, eat dog food, she cannot stand or walk or do anything humanlike.
The story spirals into craziness not long after and I was tapping the heck out of my kindle to get to the next page. It was that good. Shy Girl has some heavy notes of female rage, but it is so beautifully written, Mia Ballard is insanely talented. The cover is also gorgeous! Loved it!

SHY GIRL BY MIA BALLARD.
Release date set for the 1st of March 2025.
WAIT I NEED A MINUTE.
This book surprised me big time.
Do not let this cover deceive you.
It may look like a cute girly cover but let me tell you this book is the definition of "Don't judge a book by its cover".
It's a very wild ride and a very very quick read.
HOLY CRAP this book is something else.
Extreme horror.
Check your triggers.
One word to round this book up would be WOOF. (if you know you know).

Thanks to NetGalley, Galaxy Press, and Mia Ballard for the ARC.

The absolutely righteous all-consuming feminine rage!!

So good, so clean, SO many instances of my jaw hitting the floor.

I love how this was written, and I think it was the perfect length. So fast, because, there, time didn't exist.

This feels like it should be longer, but I fully believe you should go in as blind as possible.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Galaxy Press for access to this book.

The cover is so beautiful and that intrigued me initially and so did the description. This book unraveled me in the best and worst way. This is a story of overcoming and living with the new reality you've been tossed by a system that turns you into something otherworldly. The beauty of challenging that and holding a mirror to it. Never felt so seen despite the horror of the situations in this book. Those horrors are very real and they should be written about. Thank you Mia Ballard for such a gruesome yet beautiful tale. Shy Girl isn't for the queasy. I suggest looking up triggers before approaching this work but please don't let those keep you away from this work. It's worth the adventure.

UMMMMMMMM
“wtf was that?”- me every other page

This was crazy and not my usual type of book but tbh I saw the cover and died cause it was so cute but thank god it had a warning right up and center saying that the cover may be cutie but the content is NOT

This was wild and I’m not gonna kinkshame but I’m gonna kinkwonderwhy lmaooo

I don’t want to say much and give anything away but I actually really liked how the author portrayed Gia’s side of the dynamic making sure the reader knew horrible things happened to her without going in to gross detail (I could tell this was written but a women thank youuuu). Essentially I’m saying that the author didn’t go into horrible detail for anything sexual even though there were sexual themes here. But she DID go into detail on other gross things so still ew lol

Anyways there’s def a specific target audience for this one and it’s not one I’d widely recommend but if you like horror and women’s lit/fiction then you’d like this one. It read super fast as well and kept me glued to my kindle

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

At 30 Gia has found herself in a dire financial situation and unemployed. With options running low and time ticking on bills and rent she decides to try something completely out of her comfort zone, joining a sugar dating website. Her first match Nathan works in finance and seems to be unassumingly average, kind, and just overall a safe match. His request tho extremely unorthodox comes with good pay that Gia can’t seem to say no to. Putting her in more danger than she could ever imagine.

Shy Girl is my third work of Mia Ballard’s and as I’ve come to find with her writing she has a way of weaving horror filled moments and unhinged tales into stories that have lasting profound effects on the readers. The unsettling dread seeped into my veins deeper and deeper the further I got in the book, leaving me utterly speechless as I turned page after page. I finished this book easily in 4 hours as I simply could not look away. I was gripped by Gia’s story and what would be the final outcome. I will say this book is not for the faint of heart. If you think that picking this up you will find a cutesy story due to this amazing cover (which does relate very well to the overall story just not in cutesy way) you will be sorely mistaken as this book takes body horror, gore, and captivity to the absolute extremes. The terrifying horror, the bubbling rage, and the disturbing nature of many of the events that transpire in this book undoubtedly made me feel this would be a great book to have adapted into film. Especially by the A24 film studio, as the vibes so vividly made me feel the same sinking dread I have had many times while watching some of their works. The authors notes at the end were incredibly impactful and thoughtful and added to the overall feelings that this book leaves you with long after finishing it. I know with absolute certainty this book will undoubtedly go down as one I will never forget.

Shy Girl comes out March 1st 2025.

Thank you NetGalley and Galaxy Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Feminine rage and women eating never fail to disappoint.

Shy Girl shows the grit and determination of women through the worst for the reclamation of body autonomy. Ballard states it plainly in her author's note: “Women deserve to own their stories, their bodies, their futures - on their own terms”. As this becomes more topical in today’s society, stories like Shy Girl become more important; stories where women overcome all obstacles.

For me, I feel like the hyper-graphic nature of the body horror and descriptions of abuse in the second half of the novel overshadowed its main message. Personally, during the read, I got lost in the descriptions of Mia’s abuse, transformation, and reclamation - unable in the moment to see the bigger picture being painted. However, after finishing and reflecting, this story does an exceptional job of portraying the effects of abuse and how it changes individuals.

This was an incredibly fast and engaging read, but left me wondering if I actually enjoyed the experience (having not read a book nearly this graphic before). If graphic body horror isn’t a deterrent, I think Shy Girl is well worth it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Galaxy press for an advanced copy of this novel in exchanged for an honest review! This review will be posted to Goodreads and will be available on the site indefinitely from its posting.

I DEVOURED this book in a day! I have never read a story like this in my life and it had me hooked! The writing was haunting and I honestly could not stop reading. This story had me feeling all emotions from sadness to fear to rage! I really felt for the main character Gia (I adore the name Gia too) and needed to know what would happen to her. I don’t want to say too much as you have to just experience this book first hand. The cover is also stunning but don’t be fooled it is a dark story with body horror so read the content warnings! There is lots of layers to this book and I will definitely be thinking about the themes of this book for the rest of the week! I jowly
I read more by this author!

I am in my “female rage manifesting into the form of a beast covered in blood” era…

“We are 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 feral and bloody and unapologetic”

Thank you to Victory Editing for giving me the opportunity to read Shy Girl by Mia Ballard prior to its publication date, in exchange for my honest review.

As someone who is new to to horror genre, I appreciate having the chance to receive an advanced reader copy of this gripping, and stomach turning psychological horror. It is, at this point, the most fucked book I’ve yet to read. It’s strange for me to rate something that made my heart race with fear and stomach turn with discomfort.. but from page one I was hooked by the story of the main character and ease of the writing style.

The FMC Gia is depressed and lonely. The only control she has of her life is making precise and measured movements throughout her day to day life. She is detached, avoidant, unemployed, and spiraling. Desperate, she finds herself stepping outside her comfort zone and meets up with a man in hopes of having a sugar daddy. So then begins several years of Hell.

This book explores many important themes about womanhood. Using captivity and role play to explore things like body autonomy, power dynamics, the mental toll of manipulation, and ultimately adaptation in those circumstances. I was extremely uncomfortable, but I couldn’t put it down.

The authors note does an excellent job of helping the reader process what they just experienced, which I personally really needed.
Mind the trigger warnings such as suicidal ideation, kidnapping, SA, depression, violence, miscarriage, gore & more.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was really interesting, I think the beginning and the end really sang, while the middle dipped slightly. The ending worked really well over all, and the story itself was unique and well thought out.

Shy Girl by Mia Ballard was a very disturbing and unexpected read and I loved every second of it. I did not know what to expect since this is my first experience with Mia Ballard but wow, it definitely won't be my last. I was, at points, quite grossed out but I couldn't put the book down. I wanted to know what was next. The writing is so good, I felt so much of it. I find that to be so rare nowadays. I will 100% be recommending this book. Disturbingly dark and entertaining.

thank you to Galaxy Press and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

🫀🎀🧸🩹🥩🦷

the horror genre was made to be written by women for women and i will die on that hill. the pain, the rage, the gore. this horror story - wrapped up in a cute little package - is my new manifesto.

sharpen your teeth and always bite back.

Dark, brutal, and unrelentingly horrifying, this novella deals with control and manipulation while also serving as a bloody story of revenge.

Gia is thirty years old and suffers from OCD. Her life is in a downward spiral when she decides to join a "sugar daddy" site to make enough money to live for a while. She meets an older man who seems to be handsome, charming, and appears to really like her.

But she finds out in short order that he's anything but caring as she's thrust into a nightmarish world where she's forced to live as a dog. His pet. And his rules are absolute.

This novella is part body horror, part psychological horror, and teems with dread and bleakness. Gia's situation is a bone chilling claustrophobic fever dream and it becomes clear she's not able to escape on her own.

Delectably disturbing and deliciously disgusting, this novella raises all the hairs on your body and doesn't let up. I highly recommend it.

WOWWWWW THIS BOOK! JUST WOWWW! Addicting from the very first chapter, I had a hard time putting this book down whenever I was reading!

DEFINITELY READ TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE STARTING THIS BOOK!!

Gia is our main character, and she loves routine and numbers, obsessively so. She is also broke and desperate, on the verge of eviction ….so she signs up for a sugar daddy website and receives her very first message from a man named Nathan. She’s drawn to him right away, nauseatingly obsessed with him, really. They come to an agreement, he will help her with all of her debts if she just does this one ‘little’ thing for him…if she pretends to be a dog, 8 hours a day, every day. No human behavior or else she’ll be punished. But what happens when she’s not allowed to leave and is forced to live as a dog, day after day, hour after hour?

This book is great in so many aspects, showing how abuse can shape and morph us into things we no longer recognize, until we no longer feel human.

Spoiler ahead, click off so you won’t be spoiled on the ending!!

The only “complaints” I have are that at times, the inner monologue of Gia felt repetitive, like in the sense that I just read the same sentence one page ago but this one is slightly worded differently. And, the ending fell weird and flat for me. or in her running away, giving into her dog-ness, but the part before, with the character that walked in (name omitted so if anyone was stubborn and did NOT click off at this point). That part felt weirdly thrown in there like Oh look plot twist!

But that’s the only complaints I have!! I definitely recommend this weird girl horror book

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Galaxy Press for an ARC of this book. I’m leaving this review honestly and voluntarily.

“nightbitch” wishes she was this good.

had a thoroughly, fun time with this. it was fucking crazy. that one scene with the parasitic worms in the eyes had me SQUEALING (brother euggggh).

might i say i think i found a new favourite author?

many thanks to the publishers & netgalley for supplying me with an arc in exchange for my review.

WOW this was intense in the way only Mia Ballard can pull off well. I think that with almost any other author this subject just wouldn't work but with Ballard it comes out incredibly well written and intensely horror-based. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Shy Girl drew me in with a rhythm that was mesmerizing and palpable, unsettling in its depths, and unexpectedly relatable in ways I hadn’t imagined.

Mia Ballard’s writing submerged me—velvety and hypnotic—until I was completely immersed in Gia’s unraveling. From the moment she became entangled in an arrangement far from anything she was accustomed to, I felt this eerie inevitability creeping in, like I knew things would spiral but couldn’t tear myself away.

The horror wasn’t just in her descent, but in how much I understood her choices, even as things became more grotesque. The dread in this book felt cosmic and vast, yet also painfully intimate, like a secret I wasn’t supposed to hear but couldn’t stop listening to.

This story got under my skin in the very best way, lingering long after I finished it. If you love horror that doesn’t just disturb, but consumes, Shy Girl is absolutely worth reading.

Please do not let this beautiful, feminine cover fool you—this book is not for all the girlies. It’s for the unhinged, the feral, the ones who unapologetically celebrate women’s wrongs.

WOW. I’m still trying to process what I just read. This was my first book by Mia Ballard, and I picked it up because the cover caught my eye, and it gave me Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder vibes. But let me tell you—if Nightbitch was on ketamine and lurking in the darkest corners of the internet, Shy Girl would be it.

First things first: read the trigger warnings. This book is packed with body horror in nearly every form imaginable.

The first part of the novel is eerily relatable—Gia is just a young woman trying to navigate life, pay her bills, and survive the absolute hellscape that is modern dating. But when she decides to try sugar babying? Everything goes horribly, grotesquely wrong. I won’t spoil anything, but trust me, you’ll want to go in blind.

If you love visceral horror and pure, unfiltered feminine rage wrapped in a deceptively gorgeous package, this book is for you. I devoured it. Five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Galaxy Press for the advanced copy—I will be unraveling this one for a long time.

If I had a nickel for every book I’ve read about caninity as a reflection of female rage I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.

To get the obvious out of the way, yes this has similar bones to Nightbitch, but they are very different novels. Shy Girl goes to the extreme, with the main character’s situation of sexual subjugation, manipulation, and hopelessness cranked up to 100 degrees.

Down on her luck Gia joins a sugar daddy website in hopes of evading eviction, and latches on to the first man she meets. He’s open with his pet play kink and offers her an exorbitant amount of money to pretend to be his dog. Offering any plot points past this would spoil what took me by surprise, so I’d recommend going in as blind as possible, unless you need trigger warnings.

A lot of Gia’s character traits are alluded to but could have benefited from being spelled out. The horror doesn’t get rolling until about 50% in so there was time to lay out Gia’s mental health more directly. The novel moves through time FAST which makes it thoroughly engaging (I read it in two sittings), but was so interesting I just wanted MORE. This is a strong entry into the good-for-her, unhinged, feminine rage genre that we all know and love.

Woof.

(3.5 Stars)

First off , I’d like to thank Galaxy Press, Victory Editing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

This morning, I stood at a self-checkout station at the grocery store and watched myself pay $11.99 for a small container of strawberries that will more than likely rot in the next day or two before I even have the chance to finish eating them. Earlier in the day, before my trip out to the store, I spent some time reading through the first several chapters of Mia Ballard’s latest novel, Shy Girl. As I stood there at the checkout, ready to swipe my well-worn debit card for strawberries that I had to assume were either individually wrapped in gold foil or hand-picked by some sort of demi-god that instilled good fortune into each bite, I began to wonder just what lengths I would go to in order to earn a living if everything in my life fell apart.

The story of Shy Girl focuses on Gia, a thirty year old woman coasting off the fumes in her savings account after losing her job several months before we meet her. Her family situation is tenuous at best as her now estranged father long ago chose alcohol over caring for his daughter after the death of Gia’s mother. As a young girl, Gia found her strength in the reliability of numbers and found them to be a salve for her growing OCD as she was put in charge of the family’s bills, grocery shopping and general organization by default. But with the threat of eviction from her apartment looming over her adult years and a severe lack of options available in the job market, she resigns to posting a personal ad on the most reputable website for sugar daddies searching for sugar babies that she can find.

What follows is more than just an examination of power dynamics and the overall power imbalance between men and women, more than just an exploration of fetish and kink, more than just a glimpse into the desperate struggle to keep afloat in uncertain economic times. Shy Girl is a deep dive into the effect that past trauma and lack of autonomy have on shaping and guiding the decisions that we as humans are forced to make and in reality, much more so the choices that women are forced to make in order to survive at the hands of men.

Through her entanglement with a man from the website, Gia is introduced to a way of life that isn’t just unfamiliar to her, but entirely alien and unheard of to her. As the relationship with this mystery man moves forward, Gia’s life is thrown from one form of chaos into an entirely new realm of chaos that will push her limits, her boundaries and her will to live to the extreme. Shy Girl is not a book for the faint of heart as it’s depictions of certain aspects of body horror, captivity and psychological torment can be a bit much for the casual reader despite the necessary purpose that it ultimately serves to the conclusion of this story.

If anything, Shy Girl will stick around in your head and definitely have you wondering about your own limits and what you would risk in order to be able to afford the most basic aspects of daily life. Mia Ballard is a gifted writer with a deft ability to provoke the senses with her descriptive writing and her ability to channel the inner monologue of her characters into something that feels real, vital and at times, terrifying.