I had high hopes for this one, but just couldn't get into it. I don't know if the premise was too far out there for me or if it was something else. I will give it 3 stars because the writing was good, I just didn't enjoy the storyline as much as I thought I would.

This book has a fantastic density of descriptions and big words to describe simple things with style.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.

Desirable Body is a novel about the first ever full body transplant. Investigative journalist Cedric Erg suffers a horrific boat accident that leaves him dead from the neck down. His estranged father intervenes and arranges for an experimental transplant to be conducted, grafting his son's head onto the body of a brain-dead man.

The operation seems successful, but Cedric finds himself in a tussle with his own body; will his brain be able to take control of all of these foreign organs? He also finds himself facing existential questions, such as the fact that any children he has will have the donor's genes, not his. What does it mean to live like this?

There is potential for a really great novel in this idea, but I'm afraid that Haddad doesn't get there. His approach is a bit lightweight and even silly, with many unexplored and underdeveloped plot lines and a clumsy resolution.

The overriding state a reader is bound to experience with this book is confusion. However, don't let that deter you because if it does, then the author has succeeded in making you understand the woes of Cedric in his quest to be at peace with both his body and mind. I mean, isn't that what most of us go through? The quest to belong, to be at peace with body, mind, soul and some even unplug from the internet, travel to India, or pick up a minimalist lifestyle, just to name a few?
This book introduces us to Cedric, but first, we meet him as Cedric Erg, the Journalist who does not like pharmaceutical companies. He detests them so much that he doesn't mind writing or investigating about their evil ways. Then while at sea, he gets into an accident and is paralyzed from the neck down and we meet Cedric Allyn-Weberson, the son, and sole heir to the billionaire who owns a pharmaceutical company. The events that follow deal pretty much with whether Cedric will live or not and when Daddy swoops in, you bet, he's going to demand the best for his son. (Can I just say that I loved the irony here?)
It's the first book by Haddad that I'm reading and though it's a translation, I'd say that I felt like I had a moment or two where I did empathize with Cedric. I did volunteer to read this book off NetGalley, because I was curious to see where it would lead me. I'll say that if you're a Wanderer, I'll leave it to you to decide.