Fabulous Bodies

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle (perfectly narrated by Mara Wilson).

I haven't been on a rollercoaster since I was diagnosed with sciatica in my early 20s when stabbing pains hit me on The Big Bad Wolf in Busch Gardens Williamsburg, but reading Chuck Tingle's Fabulous Bodies was an equally (well, almost...RIP BBW) thrilling ride.

Influencer, florist, and grave robber - yeah, you read that right - Poppy Stringer supports her dreams of stardom by selling dead bodies. I knew dead bodies were a hot commodity in the scientific community in Victorian times - how naive am I that it didn't occur to me there could be a whole new market these days. Organs, sure, we all know about waking up in a bathtub full of ice with abdominal stitches, but whole bodies?

Anyway, I digress.

Poppy loves Eddie Michaels - pianist, rock star, described as America's Elton John - and when he unexpectedly dies, she is commissioned by a mysterious caller with a big bank account to deliver his body.

This should be an easy job, the hard part was already figured out for her, she just has to pick up the body, smooth sailing - until Eddie wakes up.

Remember the roller coaster? That moment after the climb where it almost feels like it's stopped just before whoooosh, faster and faster with twists and turns, upside down, twisting again. That's what reading Fabulous Bodies feels like, and when Eddie wakes up, that's when it stops, for a split second, and it's all thrills from there.

As much as I've enjoyed Tingle's horror fiction, this has been my favorite so far. The characters are charming - Poppy is an easy Final Girl to root for; she's smart, funny, tenacious, the world building is interesting, and the action is tense and thrilling. Tingle's writing is very visual, like it's begging to be turned into a screenplay, and I'd love to see this one on the big screen. It was just a lot of fun.