Half of it was an allucination, but in a very good sense. This book blew me away, I enjoyed myself immensly (as much as you can when you turn into cannibalism). It was weird, monstrous, mechanical, twisted and it gave me more than what i was expecting. The style is brilliant and lucid, so on point. The loop that makes you want to scream because there's no way out, it's suffocating and claustrophobic. LOVED IT!

A dreamy yet nightmarish novella about a toxic relationship and an examination of what we demand from others.

Johnny sees Alice in a cafe six months after their break up when Alice left for Berlin. Johnny wants/needs/craves Alice. Alice is not quite that committed to Johnny. But Alice invites Johnny back to her apartment and after a night together, they decide to try again. Meanwhile, Johnny is getting calls and signs from someone who must speak with her and this 3rd POV is desperate to get through.

Thus begins a week of spiraling mania and dream-like cosmic confusion and violence as Johnny loses herself in her need to possess Alice.

Trippy and lovely, intimate yet universal, Wilde shows us how what we feel for and demand from others can be unrelated and untethered to who that person truly is. It is a lyrical, mind-bending, boundary-flexing and dark descent into obsession and need and impossible demands.

I flew through this book and then stared into space. Wilde made me think, and cringe, and introspect. Then I went back and reread the story again.

I never do that. It was that disturbing yet mesmerizing.

What in the unholy fever dream did I just read?

I Can Fix Her is like if you take stalker levels of obsession, promises of change, and the concept of time in a blender and leave it on so long the blender explodes. And then a dog named Lucy, who has doubled in size since yesterday, comes in to lick up the mess.

Seriously, this book is intense. It started out pretty regularly: girl re-meets girl after 6 months apart and they decide to catch up, very cute, very normal, but it quickly descended into a chaos I only half knew to expect so I was still pretty caught off guard. And as the story fell into unhinged territory, I didn’t just sit on the sidelines, I fell right in with it. I had a great time, but the fact remains that my brain has been altered and I am forever unhinged. Thanks, Rae Wilde!


***Thank you for the ARC! I am working on a photo for Instagram and my blog and will come back to share links when I’ve posted them a little closer to the release date!***

Okay..... I have no idea how to start this or what to even say. This was good... like really good.. The writing is absolutely beautiful. I was quite invested in the story and what was going to happen to Johnny. I really enjoyed the ending. I think it's fitting and very very real. This book made me feel like I accidentally took one too many Benadryl and started hallucinating and I mean that in a good way.

A toxic love story in the middle of such a delectable bizarre fever dream

Johnny runs into her estranged ex, Alice, at a local cafe with a strange feeling of déjà vu. They agree to back to Alice's place to talk things over and maybe rekindle their love. Johnny spends the night, and by the next morning, things have already started to change around her. Throughout Johnny's time with Alice, reality begins to rapidly unravel around her, and what was real yesterday begins to dissolve and shift

An absolute fever dream in the purest definition of it and absolutely done in it's best possible way. This book starts out as one story and begins to metamorphose in your hands into something mind-bending and unrecognizable by the end. I had so much fun reading this book and if you're a fan of dark and bizarre stories cannot recommend it enough.

Thank you to CLASH Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early so I can provide a balanced review. Opinions are always my own. “I Can Fix Her” by Rae Wilde is sapphic sci-fi/horror novel that has a little bit of “Single White Female” in it or maybe even “Jennifer’s Body”. The story has magical realism vibes and a narrative about a relationship between two women that has heavy themes of obsession. The story focuses a lot on the idea of loops and patterns in relationships and what effect our choices really have to change those patterns.

Because of the brief nature of the book, we don’t necessarily get to know the main characters, Johnny and Alice, very well, but the pacing of the plot is satisfying and the twists come at the right time. You get information when you need it, and it doesn’t leave you guessing in a frustrating way. Still, I wouldn’t have minded even just an extra few pages to give us a little bit better of a sense of character. I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say that the weirder and more bizarre the book got, the more I liked it, and I almost wished it would’ve gone even farther into the absurd.

The language is very descriptive and poetic. There’s a lot of visual imagery, particularly in the middle sections, and you could feel the tension and the pressure in the room. Though Wilde does take time for some indulgent prose (in a good way!), the story generally is extremely economical and efficient with language. Again, for being as short as it is, it manages to pack a lot of action into every single page. I particularly enjoyed the ending, especially the very last sentence. Would be perfect for fans of books like “Bloom” by Delilah S. Dawson.

‘Why can’t you need me in the same way?’

Rae Wilde’s ‘I Can Fix Her’ is a meditation on duality and metamorphosis akin to Julia Armfield’s ‘Our Wives Under the Sea’.

If you like your gore and Body Horror shot through with surrealism, then give yourself over to the narrator and their interjections, and see where Wilde takes you.

Her writing seems hardly to touch the ground at first – light, pattering along like a train of thought. But given pause, Wilde’s style reveals itself to be intensely imagistic, folding motifs back upon themselves with scrumptious prefigurement, and bleeds suspension of disbelief for all it’s worth.

Deeply absurd at one moment, achingly poignant the next (‘All that love she feels for Alice, and she doesn’t even know where she keeps her glasses.’), tone paces structure throughout, never missing a beat of cohesion, allowing Wilde to rhapsodise bleakly about love:

‘Within Johnny’s chest, an organ pumps blood, fast and hard and desperate. She would hand it over to Alice, slimy and thumping. She thinks she already has.’

This is a supremely fantastical exploration of futility, which bears the imprints of Armfield’s ‘Private Rites’ and ‘Salt Slow’ both, and warrants five stars from me just the same as those:

‘Johnny is reduced to trembling atoms. Bones seem to chatter and clink together. Her blood is kinetic, nerves sparking with disabling electricity, her muscles useless, rigid, for all the microscopic scurry within.’

There is such remarkable brilliance in the second half of the book that I wanted to cite as flavour, but I don't want to overleap any spoilers. Suffice it to say that Johnny undergoes all the imperative suffering of the anti-hero:

‘She has never felt so weak or so small, so meaningless in the face of destructive power that is not hers. […] For the first time, she understands fragility.’

Dinky, this might be; frivolous, it’s not.

A huge thank you to CLASH Books for the treat of this!

[Quotations from the text might have changed prior to publication.]

What a beautifully imaginative tale. I absolutely loved how slowly the world unravelled, as the truth behind the relationship of the two characters did too. Bizarre in the most hauntingly creative way - it was just enough to keep you hooked into the story without making it hard to follow. I didn't expect the theme of horror to be present throughout but it was woven into the writing in a glorious juxtaposition to the initial romance. I felt every single shift in the surrealist imagery used and it left so much to interpretation which kept me re-reading passages and wondering the meanings of things as I read through. I really enjoyed the length of this book as it perfectly complemented the surrealism - I feel that any longer and it would've become tangled. I do think that it might not be a book that everyone picks up and enjoys as much as I did as there are some elements of uncertainty and questioning but for me, it was really gripping.

Words cannot describe how much I loved this book. It was exactly the length it needed to be, and explored deep into the central relationship even in that short time. The horror elements wound seamlessly into the narrative; reading this has made me want to read more queer horror. Reminded me a lot of Annihilation, the way everything you think you know about each reality is brought into question again and again.

What starts as a hauntingly intimate story of exes reuniting quickly unravels into something much darker, more imaginative, and unforgettable. I Can Fix Her by Rae Wilde is a brilliantly twisted queer short story told over the course of seven days—except the week never truly ends.

Johnny (she/her) runs into her ex, Alice (she/her), at a bar on Monday. What follows is a slow, eerie descent through rekindled passion, toxic promises, and a surreal unraveling of reality. Each day reveals more about their fractured connection and the pain still lingering between them. But underneath the surface, there’s something deeply off. The narrative twists and shifts, blurring the lines between love and obsession, memory and illusion. By the end, nothing is what it seemed—and the truth hits like a punch to the gut.

Rae Wilde’s writing is cinematic and vivid, every detail so precise it feels like watching a film unfold. The emotional manipulation, the tension, the claustrophobic intensity—it’s all laid bare with stunning prose and chilling revelations. Wilde lures the reader into sympathy and then slowly turns the mirror back on us, forcing a reconsideration of every moment that came before.

A gripping, smart, and disturbing piece of queer fiction that lingers long after the final page.

CW: Stalking, Toxic Relationships, Shifting Realities

This novella is smartly written and, for me, the right length and depth. It is broken into days, from Monday to Sunday. Within these 7 days, main character Johnny reunites with her ex, Alice, who has returned from Germany. With each day, something—or many somethings—change.

I think the surreal imagery in the book—which becomes more surreal with each passing “day”—will be hit or miss. There is a nightmare-ish quality to it, but not of the particularly scary variety. It’s more unsettling than scary.

The real horror in the book, for me, is that none of it may be “real.” THAT makes the entire novella chilling, from beginning to end—and re-reading it again, with new knowledge, makes it more so. Likewise, that Johnny is the abusive, toxic person in the relationship (and never realizes it) is scarier than the actual imagery used.

On Monday, Johnny follows Alice to a bar, they go home together. This is her second chance to make Alice stay, change, and fall in love again with Johnny. But things spiral in Alice's apartment as the week goes by.

Wow, what a journey! I did not know what to expect from this novella, as I didn't read the synopsis beforehand. I just knew it was a lesbian horror, but that was it. The story truly spiralled to a place I wasn't expecting, and as someone who enjoys metaphysical stories and narratives a lot, this was just up my ally!

The writing is a little rough, falling back on cliche's and sentences that reads a little too "wattpad" for my taste. It didn't bother me as much as I would have expected since it worked with the story itself, and the length of the novel. I would have probably given this book up to a 4.5 star rating if the writing felt more creative and distinct.

It was a page-turning, read filled with themes that dug deep and dark, told through a horrifying, warping reality. The way the entirety of the story and world revolved around Johnny's emotional attachment for Alice, was so exciting to read. The feelings evoked while reading will stay with me for quite a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and CLASH books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Powerful stuff, this novel utilises absurdism and paranormal weirdness in such a visceral way. I was uncomfortable all the way through but in the best way.

There are things I enjoyed about this book which include: the lgbtq+ representation, the underlying meaning of the story detailing the cycle of toxic relationships and abuse, and how difficult it is to leave those relationships. That being said, I found the story a bit too over the top when dealing with such a heavy undertone. The writing is perfectly fine, I wish it had dealt more with the horror side of things rather than fantastical creations. It felt a bit too much and too rushed. I see what the author was trying to accomplish, but for me personally, it just didn't quite reach the mark. I feel as though this is a book that will reach its particular niche and the people within that niche will absolutely love it. It just wasn't for me. I would read more from this author though as I do like their style of writing.

Thank you to Clash books and Netgalley for this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was not much like This Is How You Lose the Tome War, but it was still a wacky fun book on possessiveness and obsession. It went pretty much how I expected in terms of absurdism. Not necessarily my cup of tea but still decent

Oh this book was interesting! I was confused as to what was happening at first, but I really liked the direction this took. It really reminded me of a cross between The Butterfly Effect and Love Lies Bleeding. There was some great gory surreal elements and the relationship seemed devastatingly real.

I really liked how this book went hard on the weird horror, but it was too short for me to develop any kind of closeness to either Johnny or Alice. Both of them read like stock characters, which is really unfortunate.

I see other reviewers mention that this is a horror manifestation of a toxic relationship, which is a really cool concept. But it felt like the horror came out of nowhere and then spiraled out of control that I forgot that this was supposed to be about an unhealthy, obsessive relationship.

While the horror elements were cool and creepy, I just wish the message had more of an impact on me.

Thank you to CLASH Books, Edelweiss, and NetGalley for this arc.

Gorgeous, disturbing novella that used paranormal and otherworldly imagery to show the cycle of abuse and the way people can end up being stuck in them. Will update this with my official review in the future.

3.5
I'm really not sure how to rate this book. Its not what I usually read. This book wasn't for me but I do see its appeal and I can see people really liking this book. I'm also just realizing that novellas don't usually work for me.
What I liked:
-The representation of toxic/abusive relationship and the cycle that keeps people in them
-The books willingness to push boundaries and venture into the absurd and the gruesome
What I didn't like:
-The prose felt over-indulgent sometimes.
-I got a little lost in some of the absurdity. I feel like it was done for symbolic reasons but I think I just didn't understand it.

I’ll be honest here… I have no idea what the hell I just read. The writing itself was intriguing and poetic enough for me to want to keep reading (this is where the 2 stars come in) but I truly don’t know what… that… was? I kept waiting for something to click, for some bigger underlying message to be revealed, but for me at least, it didn’t really happen. It was just a bizarre story about a toxic couple and the hell people put themselves through to be with someone they want… mixed with things like murder, dogs turning into sea creatures, and a lot of other weird shit. Maybe it was just too cerebral for my pea brain to comprehend, I don’t know, but if someone reads this and wants to try to better explain it to me, be my guest… give it your best shot. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I definitely think there are people who love this sort of book and will in turn enjoy I Can Fix Her, but I’m a romance and contemporary fiction lover at heart and this fever dream was just not my cup of tea.
💬Tropes: Sapphic, Existential Horror, Novella