The Body - SFBA Book Club

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom..

ISBN:: 978-1-250-39212-1

(1 review)

The Body is a pulse-pounding supernatural horror story from bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow, where one woman must survive a series of bizarre and escalating attacks on her marriage.

Mavis broke from her parents’ congregation years ago, but she still hasn’t recovered. Their impossible expectations and soul-shredding critiques have dug deep into her mind, and she’s taunted by the knowledge that even when she’s done nothing wrong, she’ll never be right.

Now Mavis is afraid she’s about to lose the only thing she has: her husband, Jerrod. The man she’s always known was too good to be true. No one thinks she deserves him—not even after surviving the serial cheater they wanted her to stick by—and soon they’ll all find out they were right.

Mavis is already unraveling when a brush with death shows her what real fear looks like. Soon, she’s under constant attack from all directions. As the …

The Body is a pulse-pounding supernatural horror story from bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow, where one woman must survive a series of bizarre and escalating attacks on her marriage.

Mavis broke from her parents’ congregation years ago, but she still hasn’t recovered. Their impossible expectations and soul-shredding critiques have dug deep into her mind, and she’s taunted by the knowledge that even when she’s done nothing wrong, she’ll never be right.

Now Mavis is afraid she’s about to lose the only thing she has: her husband, Jerrod. The man she’s always known was too good to be true. No one thinks she deserves him—not even after surviving the serial cheater they wanted her to stick by—and soon they’ll all find out they were right.

Mavis is already unraveling when a brush with death shows her what real fear looks like. Soon, she’s under constant attack from all directions. As the assaults turn increasingly vicious and bizarre, Mavis realizes that Hell isn’t reserved for the afterlife.

And sinner or not, no one is coming to save her.

2 editions

Amber Herbert reviewed The Body by Bethany C. Morrow

A "Horror/Thriller" about Marriage, Unworthiness, and Overbearing Religious Mothers

2 stars

Mavis is an unlikable character that twists reality to fit her understanding (or her mother's and Stephany's understanding) of marriage and wifely duty. The "horror" scenes I read before putting this down were devoid of emotion or real tension; they just happened. It didn't help that the opening scene is a car accident and I didn't know Mavis enough to care about what happened to her. The narrative spends far too much time detailing the banal (Mavis's marriage ceremony, her mother-in-law's bracelets, and her constant feeling of unworthiness) while the more intriguing events are lacking detail, suspense, and emotional weight (her dreams about Cyrus, the mysterious digger in her back garden, and the hints being dropped about what she did BEFORE the car accident). I DNF'd at 28% because I couldn't slog through anymore.

*Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the ARC.