This is a fantastic novella that I almost passed on due to some of the low and/or tepid reviews. In case you haven’t read those reviews, there is some controversy surrounding the plot of this book—specifically the idea that a woman is possessed and the possessing spirits force her body to do things to which she hasn’t consented. This has been, obviously, triggering to some readers. If you are concerned about this aspect, as I was, let me reassure you that that is NOT the plot of the entire book; in fact, that element of the story is not treated in a lurid manner and ends after the first chapter. By the end of the second chapter, the possession itself is history. If you are thinking of skipping this one because of the reviews that emphasize this plot point, as I was, please don’t; you’ll be missing out on an excellent reading experience.

(Another reviewer has written with regard to The Body Will Follow, and I’m paraphrasing, “If you read horror and are upset that you are horrified, then maybe you should read something else.” It’s a fair point. I wonder how many of the reviewers who have been extremely angry about this have been just as angry about the exact same thing happening to a male character in the new Wonder Woman movie, a character who is possessed by the ghost of Wonder Woman’s love interest.)

(I also suspect that if the plot had been that the woman had been forced to commit gruesome murders by the possessing spirits, then there would have been no controversy at all—which, as always, says a lot about our society in general.)

So yes, that element is awful, purposely so. However, the seed is planted at the end of the first chapter that this is actually going to be a story of inner strength, of reclaiming one’s power and finding a new purpose for life, and if you continue reading you’ll see that that is exactly what happens.

I found this to be an extremely effective and scary novella. It is also surprisingly funny. So if you are having second or third thoughts about trying this, let me encourage you to go ahead.

This read like mediocre fan fiction with strange highlights of eroticism and porn like possession.

I would not recommend this book to anyone; and I don't think that I'll ever be a fan of Boley's work.

But I do thank Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this work. It made me realize that the topic of demonic possession makes for much better movies than books.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars.

Wow! What a wild ride. If the reader can get past the grotesque opening scene, what follows is a somewhat bizarre, yet very enjoyable, mashup of genres.

While "The Body Will Follow" starts off as disturbing body horror, somehow along the way it transforms into something that is a few steps short of a romantic comedy. Needless to say, I enjoyed every minute of it. The author does a great job of creating a believable, yet macabre, world in which ghosts and humans alike co-exist and interact in unexpected ways. I found myself laughing more often at the one-liners, than cringing at the disgustingly delightful descriptions of the protagonist’s predicaments.

My main critique is that the scariest and goriest parts happen so early in the novel, that it feels like the author saved the best horror for first, instead of for last. For people like myself who enjoy what others might find too squeamish to bear, we might want more and be left dissatisfied.

Overall, fans of novels such as "The Hellbound Heart", or those looking for a lighter and more comedic entry into body horror, will find in this novel a new pleasure for their enjoyment.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book on NetGalley and have provided an honest review.*

After reading the reviews, I decided I wanted a chance to read this book. I don't think it deserves some of the hate. Yes, it's dark and gritty and I have a feeling that is what turned many off. It's almost as if you can smell the graveyard dirt and corpse rot just by reading this book. It really did have that dark and decaying feel. I quite enjoyed it and the refreshing twist of body possession. I do think a few points needed a bit more explaining, like the aura colors as not everyone will get the meanings (though I do like the descriptions). It was also a short quick read that took me just an afternoon to finish. Still a darkly enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this.

Ghostly possession is one of those genres in horror that I feel doesn’t get enough appreciation compared to other more glamorous monsters and supernatural beings. The Body Will Follow showcases the horror of being possessed, and how a person’s carefully constructed life can be ripped to shreds in a short amount of time. It was both horrifying and campy and reminded me of the types of horror novels I grew up with.

The story follows Carrie, a thirty-something with a good job, a nice house, close friends, and a healthy lifestyle. She is horrified when she realizes she doesn’t have control of her body as the ghostly ‘wishes’ wreak havoc on her body and her life. I appreciated that the story continues with the horrible aftermath, the chaos, and the suffering that is wrought on the victim. This story took ghostly possession to a new level.

Carrie reads the auras of the people around her like mood rings, while important to the plot of the story, I also found this tedious after a while. The story never explains what any of the colors mean, so without prior knowledge or looking it up, the constant readings become fluff. I didn’t care much for the gag humor and which changed the tone of the novel from frightening to urban fantasy. In all, it was amusing and I had a hard time putting it down. I think it can work for the right readers, the book is wild, weird, and a little wacky, it’s an offbeat novel that had some high points that stand out.

2.5 stars as an average, because there are things I really loved about the book, and others that really didn't make sense. It started strong but didn't live up to my expectations.

What I loved:
This is not the usual book about possession. It starts with the girl being possessed, giving you an idea of what she's been up against, but she is quickly helped to get rid of the ghosts and the real story begins. The after-possession repercussions, how it all changed her life in a drastic way I really liked, as this is the first book I've read taking this approach.
The ending was a good one because she tried to do some good with the powers she discovered, but that's about it...

What I didn't like:
The characters were flat, underdeveloped and as a result I didn't really care about any of them. With all the problems Carrie was left with, she didn't try to fix anything, she just run away (not even far) and hid.
The ending seemed rushed and I would have liked to get a sense of closure, of finding out what happened, and especially why. She just talked to her friend and left the conversation in the middle.
The guy who helps her is not very believable, as nobody in their right mind would have done what he did...

I would certainly read more from this author though, as the idea was a good one!

2.5 stars rounded up.

Being a reviewer isn’t all about only reading books you love. Sometimes you will find some you even hate. I’m going to be honest here, I neither love nor hated The Body Will Follow. I’m really torn.

On one hand, I loved this fresh take on the old possession trope. It was refreshing seeing what happens to a person AFTER they are possessed. The effects it has on their lives and those around them. It’s a new concept to me in horror.

On the other hand, it wasn’t pleasant at all to read about how the ghosts took advantage of Carrie and how she was literally left with nothing. There is a lot of sex in this book, especially in the beginning, and it is pretty gross considering Carrie isn’t “there”. The way Carrie reacts to having STDs and her life being in shambles isn’t very believable either. I’m not saying I’m an expert on women (even if I am one) or on being possessed, but it is extremely out there.

A big thanks to Netgalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for the review copy!

This is laughably terrible, and I genuinely can't fathom why this was released as a book. I couldn't even finish - the
main character is forced to have sex with multiple people against her will throughout the entirety of the book, and nearly every single sex scene is written so poorly that I'm shocked this got through the editing stage. Is 'rape fiction' seriously what we're going for these days in horror? Come on. Very disappointed by the publisher and author for putting this out without bothering to let any women or sensitivity readers provide feedback on how problematic it is. Write what you want, but if you're going to PUBLISH IT, you need to be more responsible for what you're putting into the world - this is not a good look.

The cover is great. Everything else is absolute garbage and I will pass on any future books from this author or on this topic.

I was drawn in by the cover, which I still think is great - even though the book didn’t really work for me. I love horror, I love novellas, and I thought I’d love this. But it all felt a bit... uncomfortable. And not in a fun horror way.

It felt very apparent that the author was male, as the female protagonist just didn’t ring true. The characters didn’t feel believable, and I found the prose style awkward with some clunky word choices.

I’d read more from this publisher, though probably not from this author.

This was an enjoyable story by Rob E Boley. Possession, with a chance of redemption at the end. Interesting take on this subject. Look forward to more from Rob E Boley.

Having no control of her body for months, but being aware of everything that was happening to it, was the least of Carrie's problems. The demons that possessed her body have destroyed her life, riddled her body with disease and have left her homeless.
After the demons are literally ripped from her body, Carrie has to move on with her life. Now she sees ghosts and is aware of others who have been through the same thing. She has the ability to help these strangers, but should she? What has she got left to lose?

The Body Will Follow is a weirdly entertaining novella. Thank God it was a short story, I'm not sure I could read a lengthy book about this type of possession. lol There was a lot packed into the story, and a lot of it was gross.lol
The writer definitely shocked me with all the sex, body fluids and bondage. Some of it was funny, I did laugh, but mostly cringed. I figured when you walk away from demonic possession you have some scars and carnage, not every STD in the book! lol But then again, these demons only wanted lustfull satisfaction.
What a bizarre story! Definitely something to break up the monotonous reading I have been doing lately. Even though I'm a little embarrassed I picked this book as a palette cleanser, I have no regrets. Not a single page.

A novella is full of potential.
To get an insight into a new author and/or embrace a little explored genre is what a short story can offer.

The Body Will Follow by Rob E Boley provided such an opportunity for me. To read some horror; and meet a new writer comfortable in telling scary tales.
Here then was more than a ghost story. A shocking tale, of possession and dehumanisation by the lack of control and consciousness in one’s actions and body’s desires. Since they are driven by nefarious spirits craving perverse sexual encounters and physical pleasure.
This is the story of Carrie, a normal career minded woman with friends and close family relationships.
We first meet, Carrie the possessed, a carnal being, who in lucid moments is aware of her lack of control and personal depravity.
Somehow she must wrestle back control but salvation comes from an unexpected source, leading to a brutal exorcism. She is offered hope but feels lost and empty. Returning to her home, she finds her home destroyed, her credit maxed out. Listening to her unanswered phone messages she realises she has no-one left among family and friends to turn to and without a job. With the police after her she is forced to go on the run and live on the streets.

A clever story about what we value in life; like how we perhaps we don’t appreciate stuff until we lose it. How controlling some folk can be of others and how we can easily fall between the cracks in life as Carrie becomes a homeless person with all her bridges burned.
By chance she meets Daniel, who she remembers showed her some humanity when she was possessed and out of control. He perhaps has other motives.
I was hooked with the journey Carrie had to make to find answers and make amends. If she could rebuild relationships or would just have to start again by re-inventing herself. This begs the question if we lie to others and cease to be ourselves are we not again allowing external factors to control our lives. Nothing though may be more damaging than the physical possession she endured, as we see Carrie’s life continue to unravel with the challenge multiple partners and risky unprotected sex.
Humour is a constant source of balance, to offset the darkness and an introduction to the alternative reality in which Carrie finds herself, for now she can now see ghosts. I particularly loved the reading of auras in the people she encountered and the colours as described by their association with familiar hues - this was a constant theme which I never grew tired of reading.
Ultimately it is a book about the human spirit; our need to communicate and be more honest with others. We might not be able to see ghosts but many people pass by others as though they were invisible, or because of shame or a sense of feeling better than others, so just fail to engage with them.
I loved the story as a simple story of fantasy. Where imagination can be allowed to explore and discover alternative realities. But for me, at the same time within the make believe I had a sense of reality. The need for restoration, fixing things, helping out, being less judgement and seeing things from another’s perspective.

It’s safe to say that I didn’t make it far into the book before I had to stop.

After reading “my body rode him like a rodeo until he came” I laughed out loud and deleted the book from my library.

I have read a lot of shocking books in my day and I love find them weird and underground ones but they need to be done right. This was all wrong and was a joke to the underground horror community.

Oof. This one was rough. I saw a few mixed reviews, but wanted to give it a shot anyways. Who doesn’t love a good possession story? However, this was not it.
The concept was there. Execution, not so much. I give props to the author for writing a main female character, but he should have also had a women read the book to verify the viewpoint. It just felt off and pretty cringy to me.

This was weird, plain and simple... This. Was. Weird. At the same time, I truly didn't hate it. I rather enjoyed reading it. Strange as it is because this king of book isn't what I would ever just pick up for myself. But the cover is so intriguing and the title as well... Upon reading reviews for this, I came across some really bad ones, and then reviews that explained that they read this book because of it's bad reviews, and while that one was much more cohesive and thoughtful, was still a pretty low review. So I decided to give it a shot... I mean it was an under 200 page read, so what did I have to lose?

The Body Will Follow is about a woman named Carrie who is being possessed by not one spirit, but a mass of them. They have been inside her body for a few months and in that time, they have ruined her runner's body by gorging on as much food as they can cram into her mouth and have partaken AT LENGTH in debaucherous sex with multiple partners, riddling her with stds, draining her bank accounts, ruining her friendships, relationships and her career... When she all of a sudden wakes up to a woman atop her, exorcising the monsters in her body, we get a ridiculously graphic play by play of the exorcism process.

Let me tell you, this book is pretty graphic. There are depictions of sex and some graphic accounts of what Carrie's body goes through in various phases throughout the book. But, none of this stuff bothers me in books. After she is no longer possessed, she has to deal with the aftermath of the months where she wasn't herself. Her home is a completely irreparable dump. She has no money and nobody to turn to... Until she realizes that she remembers, through the fog of her possession, one of the *ahem* partners she had, a guy who seemed to be genuinely kind to her, and collapses outside his home.

The guy, Daniel, was what truly made this book a four star for me. He was so kind to Carrie... like unrealistically so, considering the last time they saw each other, she left him tied up in his kitchen after a night of sex and then eating all the food from his fridge... But he is good to her and the friendship that they form, while unlikely, is great. The humor their banter brings to this book had me chuckling.

The quirky humor in this book was another compelling aspect for me. The fact that Boley could take such terrible experiences and make it funny made for a fun reading experience. This book was FUNNY. So, now we have two unlikely friends, Carrie and Daniel, who go around living this weirdly platonic, but very domestic life together. She starts to see ghosts, and ultimately, finds another person who is possessed as she was.

This book won't be for everyone, but I am so glad that I jumped on this one. It was just the right side of strange that it totally worked. It was dark and funny, with just the right amount of length to keep yo fully engaged without getting bored. I feel like if this were a full length novel, I would not have liked it nearly as much. It held my attention perfectly and I look forward to checking out more from this author.