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I once DNFed a romcom on audiobook because the main character had such intense anxiety and I just couldn’t deal with it. I’m someone who struggles a lot with depression and anxiety, and I think it’s really important to see those types of struggles reflected back at you from the page. It can make you feel less alone, for sure. But something about that book in particular had me vibrating with anxiety as I listened to it, and it was all just a bit too much for me. 

And while I never really got close to setting aside Bethany C. Morrow’s THE BODY, it definitely gave me a similar feeling. This is a book that got under my skin, a book that was so rooted in its main character’s anxiety & insecurity, at times I felt almost suffocated by it.

Prior to reading THE BODY, the only book of Morrow’s that I had read was A SONG BELOW WATER, a YA contemporary fantasy. THE BODY is something so completely different though, and it’s always cool to see an author jump between age ranges/genres like this.

The book is set entirely from Mavis’s third-person POV, and so when we first meet her, we are immediately introduced to her world of racing, anxious thoughts. What Mavis thinks of as “taloned thoughts.” Mavis’s main source of anxiety is her marriage to Jerrod. She lives in constant fear that Jerrod is “too good to be true” and that he’ll betray her, like her ex did. She’s driving home and is in the grips of a terrible anxiety attack when her car is struck. 

This happens within the first few pages & it’s honestly the thing that will stick with me the most from this book. It’s a terrible car accident, and I legit felt like I was in the car. It’s described in such vivid & claustrophobic detail, I have to wonder if Morrow has been involved in this type of wreck at some point in her life. Knocking on every available wood surface, I have never been in a (serious) car accident, and hope I never am after reading this. This is a long-winded way of saying, if you’ve ever been in a serious car wreck, I imagine this scene will be difficult for you to read, so take care.

Almost as soon as Mavis recovers from her accident, her & Jerrod begin to witness or experience strange, and sometimes deadly violent episodes. It’s like wherever they go, something nightmarish unfolds in front of their eyes. They’re not safe. Their home is not safe. 

Soon enough they realize that the common denominator is them, and they begin to understand that a particular wedding vow they took in Mavis’s family’s extreme (read: culty) church may be to blame.

This is a book that I really liked, but I felt like maybe it kept me at arm’s length just a bit. Mavis is practically vibrating with anxiety for almost the whole book, and with good reason. There’s a slowly simmering rage just beneath Mavis’s surface, and the book definitely gets close to Good For Her territory. THE BODY also has its fair share of gore & genuinely unsettling moments. 

I listened to a lot of this one on audiobook, which is narrated by Nesta Cooper, an actor I had seen on the show “Dope Thief”. As far as I can tell, this is the first audiobook she’s narrated & I thought her voice and cadence were a great match for this story. Definitely recommended if you’re an audiobook fan!

This was really good! Morrow is obviously an extremely versatile writer, and THE BODY is an incredibly tense & unsettling story. This is a pretty seamless blend of domestic thriller elements with religious/cult(ish) horror. Really excited to see more horror novels from Bethany C. Morrow in the future!

Big thanks to Nightfire & Macmillan Audio for sending this one my way!