The story of a mysterious young woman transforming first her body and then her digital presence, told by three distinct people. Elliot, a recluse who notices her at the gym, witnesses her physical evolution as she becomes bigger and stronger. Bella, her mother, worries about the strange, dark effect her daughter's new way of life is beginning to have on others. Susie, her ex-colleague and best friend, houses and feeds her as she makes the transition to self-created online phenomenon.
Those interested in broader examinations of self-help culture should look elsewhere, though, for the woman’s impact as an online phenomenon is given little consideration. The questions around solitude and agency are interesting, if a bit heavy-handed; character relations, while sincere, are cynical. This compelling read succeeds more as a page-turner than as a philosophical exploration.
Biographical details are unspooled slowly and with deliberateness ... Has she empowered [her] followers or merely indulged their anti-social tendencies? Has she rediscovered monasticism, or is this a totally modern phenomenon? Metcalfe won’t say, and readers of this excellent novel will stew on these questions for weeks. A powerful, eerie debut novel that investigates stillness and selfishness.
Perceptive if opaque ... The competing versions make for an intriguing exercise in narrative, but they also leave the reader baffled. Still, there are plenty of well-placed barbs on influencer culture ... Despite an uneven first outing, Metcalfe clearly has her finger on the pulse of internet culture and its habitués.
