ITCH by Gemma Amor (BOOK REVIEW)

Josie is at rock bottom, living a haunted existence after returning to her isolated hometown on the edge of the Forest of Dean. But the tall, dense pine trees are not the only things casting shadows across her skin.

When Josie stumbles across a decaying, ant-infested body in the woods, she plummets into a downward spiral, facing uncomfortable truths about the victim and her own past – all whilst battling a growing infestation of her mind . . . and her flesh.

Desperate to solve the case, Josie scratches the surface of an age-old mystery – a masked predator stalks the forest around Ellwood, a place deeply gripped by folklore. As the village prepares for its annual festival, Josie gets closer and closer to unveiling a monster, and begins to ask herself:

Are these dark crawling insects leading her to uncover the truth? Or is she their next victim?

I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a writer with a style like Gemma Amor. She manages to be simultaneously grounded and gross, deeply emotional and darkly distant, painting the mundanities of the everyday world with a brush that shows the shadows beneath. Often very uncomfortably.

This is a slow-burn mystery with a good dollop of body horror, some ‘Wicker Man’-esque country village weirdness combined with small-town small-minded folk. Protagonist Josie is indeed at rock-bottom, retreating from a terribly abusive relationship to her childhood home with no small amount of trauma packed away. Then she finds a decomposing body in the woods. That looks like her.

The itching here isn’t just the ever-present insectile bites that keep popping up across the pages; it’s the niggling pains of past issues, the pettiness of everyday problems and the inability to truly heal. My heart went out to Josie with her loneliness and pain, curling herself into a small protective shell in the hope of surviving, but unable to escape the morass that’s sinking its little legs into her mind and body as events unfold.

Itch is as compelling as it is challenging, but as always with Amor’s work, it’s absolutely worth the risk. Like Josie, are you strong enough to make it through?

Fantasy-Hive

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ITCH by Gemma Amor (BOOK REVIEW)

Itch is due for publication 9th October – you can pre-order your copy on Bookshop.org

Cat Treadwell

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