Another Reason People Should Elope!

 

TITLE: The Body

AUTHOR: Bethany C. Morrow

PUBLISHER: Tor Nightfire

PUBLISHING DATE: February 10, 2026

PAGES: 288   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: Mavis broke from her parents’ congregation years ago, but she still hasn’t recovered. Their impossible expectations and soul-shredding critiques have dug deep into her mind, and she’s taunted by the knowledge that even when she’s done nothing wrong, she’ll never be right. 

Now Mavis is afraid she’s about to lose the only thing she has: her husband, Jerrod. The man she’s always known was too good to be true. No one thinks she deserves him—not even after surviving the serial cheater they wanted her to stick by—and soon they’ll all find out they were right. 

Mavis is already unraveling when a brush with death shows her what real fear looks like. Soon, she’s under constant attack from all directions. As the assaults turn increasingly vicious and bizarre, Mavis realizes that Hell isn’t reserved for the afterlife. 

And sinner or not, no one is coming to save her.

MY THOUGHTS: This is one of those books that I would normally say go into it blind and don't really look at reviews. However, this book didn't work for me and I'm not sure who to recommend it to so perhaps you might want to do some research before picking it up. Also, be warned, I almost DNF'ed this one and it honestly felt like it was 500 pages long instead of a rather brief 288 pages.

Mavis and her husband have been married for seven years. Prior to that, Mavis was part of her parents' congregation where they do some weird vow from all members during the marriage ceremony that the church is committed to helping individuals have successful marriages. In fact, they insist on it.

One day Mavis does something which sets this vow in motion.  Stating it would be a big spoiler but let's just say it's a trope I normally don't like.  All of a sudden, something tragic is happening to Marvis and Jerrod and together, they try to figure out how to stop what Marvis knows she has put into motion, and what Jerrod feels he did to put the chaos in motion. Things happen, the whole book feels like a fever dream and yay! it's over. 

You know how some books have characters you love to hate?  Well, not this one. I basically despised them all. I did feel some sympathy toward Jerrod because what he did to deserve Mavis must have been pretty bad. Mavis had absolutely no redeeming qualities and while I believe the book tries to garner some sympathy for her by shedding light on her controlling and overbearing parents, it was too little too late for me.

I read Cherish Farah by this author some time ago and really enjoyed it.  That was a big reason I wanted to grab this one. Plus, I thought it was a good way to read Black authors during Black History Month and combine it with my love of horror.  However, this one clearly didn't work for me. I am sure I will give Morrow another try and am a bit sad I didn't like this one more. I managed not to DNF in the end because there was a part of me that really wanted to know what was going on - a very tiny, small part.

MY RATING: 2 PAWS