Chrysalis

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It goes beyond body positivity and becomes body power as she gets stronger and stronger and literally starts to look too big for rooms. He sees her on her first day in the gym and how she transforms both in the gym and in personal setting… because they start dating. I also could have done without a lot of the superfluous details (especially from the first narrator) - I skimmed over a lot of mundane text.

Our unnamed girl does just that, leaving her friends, lovers and family none the wiser and cast adrift. One is a loner who thinks he’s in love with her, the second is her mother, who doesn’t seem to think a lot of her and one is a colleague, who is desperate to be accepted by her, but is ultimately just used and then discarded when she is no longer needed. It is about controlling the body and the mind, about the place of the individual within society and what is means when someone choses to leave society behind. It heightens the forcefield around its subject, giving her that ultrafiltered, hyperreal plausibility that is influencer capital. It is also really amusing at times and the subtle irony is surprisingly effective, often forcing a sudden reappraisal of a character or situation from the reader.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and consider to be richly deserving of the accolade, and I look forward to seeing what else she will produce in future. Of course, we never learn who she really is -- just how she is perceived by others -- and I thought that was such an interesting (and successful) narrative choice by Anna Metcalfe. It is the story of an influencer, never named, who preaches to her loyal followers about the benefits of solitude, selfishness, and putting yourself first.

Through the eyes of an acquaintance she meets at the gym, her mother, and her friend from work, we are drip-fed details that uncover the intriguing and thought-provoking mystery surrounding her. What she means to each of them may seem subjective but the experiences and their transformations are real. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this book- it was strange and engrossing but also left me feeling confused. Chrysalis is a thrilling look at how we spin silk around ourselves by watching the world on our screens. Elliot is a freelancer and his “big jobs” define him, but the passages describing his work habits make no direct reference to what he does.

She'd tell me about her plans – which friends she was seeing, what time she'd be home – and though the parts of her life were familiar, I'd have the feeling of talking to a stranger. The book as a whole made me think about how much we want to talk about ourselves, and how basic our resources are.

We know so much about the woman at the centre of this story, from her childhood to her relationships to her friendships - yet we don't even know her name. Susie, her ex-colleague and best friend, offers her sanctuary and support as she makes the transition to self-created online phenomenon, posting viral meditation videos that encourage her followers to join her in achieving self-sufficiency by isolating themselves from everyone else in their lives.Taking on questions of femininity and expectation, as well as social media and its ability to make a cult leader of anyone, Chrysalis raises as many questions as it answers about our society and our place within it. Chrysalis a story about solitude and selfhood, and about the blurred line between self-care and narcissism. Had she done that the book would've been a masterpiece, but what I did get was a plunge into a vapid late capitalist lifestyle guru story and mixed metaphors.

It’s like they don’t even notice the thing is too small, like they’re just giant people holding regular-sized stuff. Photograph: andreswd/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The protagonist of Chrysalis takes up bodybuilding as a means of asserting control.I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published in the uk by Grants publications on 5th April 2023 .