| Title | : | Full Immersion |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 351 |
| Publication | : | First published September 13, 2022 |
When Magpie discovers her own dead body one misty morning in Bristol, it prompts her to uncover the truth of her untimely demise. Her investigations take her on a terrifying journey through multiple realities, experimental treatments, technological innovations and half-memories in a race against time and sanity. Accompanied by a new friend who is both familiar and strange, and constantly on the run from the terrifying, relentless presence of the mysterious predator known only as Silhouette, Magpie must piece together the parts of her life previously hidden. In doing so, she will discover the truth about her past, her potential, and her future.
Full Immersion Reviews
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My complete review is published at
Grimdark Magazine.
Full Immersion, Gemma Amor’s deeply personal sci-fi horror, opens with a cry for help from the protagonist, Magpie, who pleads to be accepted into a new Virtual Experimental Therapy program to overcome her postpartum depression. Magpie has tried all traditional forms of therapy but still finds herself sinking further into despair. Her letter to the Virtual Experimental Therapy program concludes with three devastating words: “Please help me.”
The main part of the novel focuses on Magpie’s treatment in this newly developed program, which involves “full immersion” in a virtual reality environment offering an alternative approach to therapy. The patient works together with a psychologist, who also enters the virtual world. Magpie’s immersion begins with her finding a dead body underneath a bridge, the same bridge in Bristol from which she has repeatedly imagined leaping to her death. To her horror, Magpie realizes that it is her own broken, decaying body in the mud. With this shocking discovery, her treatment begins.
Full Immersion alternates between the first-person narration of Magpie in the virtual world and the third-person narration of the laboratory staff as they monitor her progress. The change in tone between Magpie’s intensely emotional narration and the clinical observations of the program staff is rather jarring. To them, Magpie’s depression is an object of scientific study, but to Magpie it consumes all aspects of her life.
As Magpie begins her treatment program, there is a clear separation between the real and virtual worlds. But as the novel progresses, the boundary between the two worlds becomes blurred. Magpie’s experiences in the virtual world are akin to lucid dreaming, i.e., actively recognizing that one is dreaming and seeking to manipulate that dream. Similarly, Magpie gradually recognizes that she is in a virtual world and intuitively understands how to control her environment.
At first the clinical staff is surprised and impressed by Magpie’s ability to manipulate the virtual world. But this surprise gradually transitions to horror as her manipulation crosses over into the physical world.
Full Immersion is, first and foremost, a profound psychological analysis of a person who finds her way back from the deepest depths of postpartum depression. The sci-fi aspects of the story are a great vehicle for bringing Magpie’s mental state vividly to life. The horror elements mostly focus on Silhouette, a shadowy creature who represents the physical manifestation of Magpie’s depression, aggressively consuming everything in its path.
While Full Immersion is a wholly original tale, some aspects of the story reminded me of Haruki Murakami’s masterpiece of magical realism, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Both books make prolific use of avian imagery, e.g., a birdcall as the harbinger of impending doom. More significantly, they both focus on characters who enter alternate mental states on journeys through the darkness of the human psyche toward self-discovery.
The finest books will leave such an indelible impact on the reader that it makes them a changed—and hopefully better—person. Full Immersion is one of those books. Gemma Amor is to be commended for her raw and honest description of postpartum depression. She reminds us that there is always a path out of the darkness. -
This book is obviously very close to the author's heart, which she wears on her sleeve in a very touching forward...
A woman suffering from Postnatal depression and suicidal thoughts undergoes an experimental kind of treatment, where she is suspended in a virtual state, confronting different aspects of her life, in an attempt to finally be free of the hell that is depression. Sounds dark. Although the subject matter obviously is, there are enough moments of levity to balance things out. It's more in the sci-fi camp than horror - although, there are elements of psychological and body horror. It's a book that will fall flat for some people, and be amazing for others. If you suffer from depression I highly recommend giving it a go.
3.5 Stars. Thank you for the arc Gemma! -
⚠️beware all the trigger warnings for this book! Literally all of them.⚠️
Full Immersion was a reading experience unlike any other. I was fully immersed in the story and then pulled out into my own mind and then back into the story again and again. I ugly cried reading this book because the fucking trauma Magpie goes through! Her pain and postpartum depression were far too real and hit me hard. I was so invested in her wellbeing I was afraid to read too quickly and miss something because I feel like little clues were everywhere.
I don't think I've ever been so scared a character wouldn't make it to the end of a book before.
This book touched my soul and made me look at my own life with new eyes. Much drier eyes because I cried sad and happy tears.
Thank you Gemma Amor for putting the thoughts and feels of motherhood and suicide and being scared so eloquently together in Full Immersion. -
4.0 stars
Wow. This was such a powerful piece of sci fi horror. Inspired by the author's own struggles with postpartum depression, this novel offers an emotionally raw depiction of depression and suicidal thought. I respect the author opening herself up with such a personal story.
I loved the ambiguity of the virtual reality therapy which made the narrative feel uneasy. As the story progressed, the situation became less mysterious which took away some of that suspense. The story played into a few predictable tropes but they are ones I enjoy so I didn't mind. The narrative gets pretty crazy but the ending landed for me.
I would highly recommend this novel to any horror reader looking for a fresh, fierce story.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher. -
Full review *soon*
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It’s light on the horror (more sci-fi), pretty slow, and some aspects that were meant to add tension got to be very repetitive, but I ended up really liking it in the end!!
Great if you’re looking for a character-driven, deeply emotional journey. I teared up a few times. -
"It's therapy. And the purpose of therapy is growth. Emotional growth, and the absolution of severe emotional disturbances."
(I did read the ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, Angry Robot Books, so it's entirely possible this quote did not make it into the final print, but if it didn't, it should have.)
FULL IMMERSION by Gemma Amor is a fast paced thriller that begins with a woman finding her own dead body, prompting her to set out on a journey to discover the events that led to her death. Accompanied by a new friend, this woman, Magpie, traverses through memories of her past in an attempt to shed light on the puzzle pieces of her life. The journey turns into a race against time as Magpie discovers that not only is reality crumbling around her, a terrifying being known as Silhouette is relentless in its pursuit of its prey: Magpie and her new friend.
Talk about a page turner! I read this book in less than 24 hours - it was so interesting to read about the technological techniques used, but when I first encountered the sinister presence of the Stick Man, Silhouette - I was HOOKED. The mounting dread and suspense kept my eyes glued to the pages to see what would happen next - in addition to being keenly intrigued to learn about Magpie and her past events that led her to where she was when we met her - discovering her own body.
FULL IMMERSION has many elements that will delight readers of multiple genres: fantasy, horror, and science fiction to name a few. I read the book description and thought I was going to be reading a good story about a murder mystery and it turned out to be so much more than that. I even caught myself with the book in my lap, realizing I had stopped reading to mull over how much we don't know about the mind - what it's capable of - and how terrifying the not knowing is. I loved how Gemma Amor's creative genius took my imagination down into the abyss and turned it loose into the murky depths....with Silhouette.
In an interesting twist, I found that I didn't really like any of the characters. I was more interested in the techniques being employed (you'll just have to read it to see what these are, it would be a spoiler for me to detail them here) and once I got a taste of the fear of Silhouette, I was hooked. At that point, Magpie became a means to an end for me. The setting, of which again I can't detail due to spoilers, I found captivating and if you're a gamer, you will too. (Especially Mario fans, lol) The one thing I actually did not jive with - the ending. For me personally, it was too easy? That may not be an accurate description...hmmm...mayhaps I was salty it was over so fast? The ending was open-ended, so the reader can use their discretion to imagine what happened next, but I reckon I was looking for a final type of resolution. Horror and Sci Fi fans will likely disagree with me here because it's actually just the right ending for those genres. Ugh! Now I'm reconsidering - ha! That's when you know it's a good one my friends! -
DNF 85% - There are major spoilers in my review. Stop now if you don't want spoilers! Also, I'm so mad I don't even know if this review is gonna make sense. I stopped reading the book three days ago and I'm *still* angry. I've never written a review like this. I've never been so angered by a novel.
Before I get to the meat of my problem with this book, let me just say that this quote bummed me out:
|"As a woman, your entire body has been adapted for that one, singular purpose: childbirth."]
(said by a supposedly loving husband to his suicidal wife who is suffering from POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION)
Um, no. Would the author have said, "As a man, your entire body has been adapted for that one, singular purpose: ejaculation."??? No! Because that's ridiculous! Our bodies have not adapted for the *singular* purpose of jizzing or giving birth. They've adapted to *survive*, as individuals and as groups, in a variety of ways. Passing on one's genetic material is one of those ways and that is true of every living thing on earth. But you can neither ejaculate nor give birth if you cannot breathe. Did our bodies adapt for the singular purpose of breathing? No! Everything works together and reproduction is just one part of a human being.
I think this line is so bothersome to me because of the current state of healthcare for women in America. In many states, the law now prioritizes the life of a fetus over the life of a mother. There are women who can't get treatment for diseases because they're pregnant. And of course, there are many who can't get a legal abortion. The state has turned us into little more than incubators.
So wtf is up with this quote. It's disappointing to read, especially from a woman author.
Now, my *real* reason for writing a review (something I rarely take the time to do): at the core of this novel is an intimate and invasive act of betrayal, control, and manipulation, that is presented as a loving, heroic act. It's the big reveal and it is fucked up.
The book is about a woman who is undergoing an experimental treatment for depression, postpartum depression, intrusive thoughts, and suicidal ideation. Around 75% in, we learn she is also suffering from a delusion (or "false narrative" as it's called in the book) that she killed her son.
The treatment is done using virtual reality. Magpie is hooked up to all kinds of wires, sensors, and tubes. She's cradled by the VR setup and her eyes are held open by the VR visor. She's in a state of hypnogogia. She doesn't have any awareness outside of the VR world.
The people providing this experimental treatment include nurses, techs, and a psychologist. The nurses monitor her vitals, clean away her bodily fluids, and generally care for her body which is essentially dreaming while hooked up to computers and other stuff to facilitate the virtual reality. The two "techs" control what her reality looks like. They've built many environments meant to facilitate her therapy, including one that is a gallery lined with important artifacts from her life, meant to provoke psychological breakthroughs. They're sitting in another room behind a one way mirror, watching her and their screens.
She has given the experimenters her journals, her art, every photograph she's ever taken, access to family and friends, everything they need to truly understand her. The only things they don't know about her are the things she never wrote down, never photographed, and never spoke to anyone about.
The psychologist is in another location across the city because (for some reason) he is supposed to be anonymous to the techs. He has a minimal VR set up - headset and gloves. He's her guide, meant to lead her through the vr, direct her attention to the artifacts, ask her probing but gentle therapy questions. He knows everything about her.
The "psych," as the techs call him, is with Magpie shortly after she wakes up for the first time in VR. She does not know why she's there, she does not know that she's in VR. She's not told this because it would ruin the whole point of the VR world.
The techs start the show by putting her in front of a rotting body. It's her. So she sees her own dead body, rotting in the water under a bridge and accepts it the way you do with strange things in a dream. And then a dude shows up. She doesn't know who this dude is who and he won't tell her. She's confused about what the heck is going on for the majority of the book. And the psych is elusive, but it seems he has to be that way for the therapy.
The psych, who she only refers to as her "friend," goes around with her and tries to help her figure out why she's there. He leads her in certain directions to encourage her to have an epiphany and walk away from the experiment healed. She focuses on him often and it takes her a long time to trust him.
Well GUESS WHAT - around 75% into the book, we learn that the psychologist who she's been trusting with some of her most intimate moments and memories IS HER HUSBAND. Who is not a psychologist. Who broke into the real psychologist's apartment to use his VR gear and trick her and the researchers. Somehow, he managed to get her treatment scheduled while the real psychologist who he's impersonating is on vacation.
And you might be thinking, "Oh damn, this novel just added coercive control and intimate partner abuse to the list of weighty mental health topics already being discussed. Maybe he's the reason she keeps trying to kill herself?"
(Because, hello, impersonating your wife's experimental VR therapist, learning every single thing about her thus destroying her privacy in your marriage, and joining her in a virtual reality that is essentially her brain because of how it was created IS FUCKED UP AND ABUSIVE.)
You'd be wrong for thinking this was about control and abuse though! His actions are portrayed as loving and heroic rather than abusive and coercive. He did it because he thinks he knows what's best for her.
When she figures out he's her husband, it's while he's FORCING her to confront an artifact that she says she's not ready for. HE is CONTROLLING her fucking Therapy from inside her own mind.
Here are a few quotes from after she realizes the therapist who's been crawling around inside her brain is secretly her husband:
["...my husband, who was not a trained mental health professional, but was doing his damned best. I couldn’t tell if I was angry at him for intervening in my own intervention, or happy that he was here and I didn’t have to go through all of this alone. I wondered whether I would have had the same breakthrough with a real psychologist."]
That sounds like a victim trying to rationalize her abuse.
[“But why not talk to me directly?” I asked, aghast. “Why go to such… lengths?”
...
"...since when has simply talking to you ever worked before? You’re stubborn, Magpie, you needed a neutral third party to confide in. But I knew you also needed someone who understood you. You aren’t a two-page book. Not even close.”]
She's asking "why did you do this" and he's telling her "you made me do this because you're so stubborn. I did this because I know what's best for you."
I'll note that she uses the words "angry" and "aghast" in the two quotes above - that's the kind of reaction one should have. Unfortunately, the anger immediately vanishes and everything is ok.
[“But breaking into another man’s house, impersonating him, sneaking your way onto an elite academic experimental programme and pretending to be a therapist… these are crimes, you know that, right?”
“I know. But it was worth it.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“It won’t.”
He said it so confidently. I should have realised he’d have come up with a contingency plan. He was intelligence unbridled; he always had been way ahead of me in that respect. He was the brains; I was the heart. Between us, we might just make up a halfway decent person.]
This looks like a victim, protecting her abuser from the authorities after he's been caught, something very common in domestic violence and abuse cases. She's also putting her abuser's intellect ahead of her own, because she says he's the smart one and he knows best.
Finally, her husband admits that this charade wasn't just to help her have a psychological breakthrough. He concedes to his own, selfish purposes:
[“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, heavily.
“To find out if you still loved me,” he said, simply.]
Imagine impersonating your wife's therapist to find out if she still loves you. That's legitimately creepy. But it's not written that way.
🥰You guys, he's actually just sweet and loving and romantic! He knows what's best for me! I don't need privacy or boundaries because he's the smart one! 🥴
I felt it important to write this review because I know what abuse looks like. It is harmful when abusive situations are cloaked in devotion and romance like this one. Yeah, I know it's a sci-fi horror novel and not a self help book, but this example of abuse as love is just so sneakily done. It's the kind of thing that influences people without them realizing it.
To anyone who reads this book: his behavior is neither loving nor acceptable. It is manipulative, controlling, and desperate.
I am a survivor of years of domestic violence and coercive control. One thing about control these days is that technology makes it very easy to watch someone. An abuser can easily track a victim's location with a tag and capture everything on a victim's phone with an app. The lack of digital privacy I faced is so similar to what happens in VR in this book. When someone can see everything on your phone - messages, searches, notes, etc - it's almost like they're in your head, privy to your most personal moments and thoughts. I always had a place where I was free to be real and honest, though: therapy. I could say what I wanted without censoring myself when I was alone in a room with my therapist. Imagining my abuser somehow impersonating my therapist and destroying that sanctuary makes my skin crawl.
Therapy is holy. It's intimate, vulnerable, honest. *Privacy* is why therapy is holy. Your secrets, your fears, your regrets, your confessions are safe. How could this author not know this?
Imagine tearing the mask from your therapist like a scooby do villain and it's your fucking husband under there.
I think I'm just rambling at this point because this book was so triggering for me. I'm not the kind of person who pays attention to trigger warnings. I read horror to wound myself and rise again. I read horror because I'm a final girl.
But this is something else. This is a hideous betrayal and an act of violence and coercive control that is presented as not just totally ok, but kind, loving, romantic, and intelligent.
To be fair - I stopped at 85%. I can't read another page. It's possible that Magpie realizes how incredibly fucked up her husband is and escapes from him after this point. But I seriously doubt that happens.
Perhaps without intending to, the author has created an interesting speculation on the potential for intimate virtual reality violence. Imagine someone getting into your head when you are most vulnerable and hiding their identity from you and pretending to be someone else, someone you tell everything to. They could do some serious damage to your mind.
It's a shame because there are some cool scifi and horror elements to this novel that I haven't even mentioned. It's interesting and exciting and I'm disappointed I won't find out what happens in the end.
This is maybe the only narrative ever that could be improved upon by ending, "And it was all just a dream."
Because seriously wtf. -
Full Immersion is Gemma Amor's first traditionally published novel. It is also a masterpiece.
You can read Zach's full review at Horror DNA by
clicking here. -
No one can write grief like Gemma Amor does! This book is hard to narrow down genre wise but part horror, part sci-fi, part drama, part diary, part fantasy all mashed together to tell a moving and soul baring tale of a woman dealing with the aftermath of her own suicide attempt.
Reminded me a little bit of the film The Cell (2000) in that we are travelling into the mind of our main character as she is hooked up to a futuristic VR device that is used as a form of therapy. The therapy unwittingly unleashes something terrible from deep within her psyche.
I really loved this book a lot but my only complaint was that the ending left me with many more questions.
Overall, another great work from Gemma Amor. Her storytelling is on point and characters feel real, honest and make you care for them.
Bonus: multiple Jurassic Park references throughout! hahaha -
In Full Immersion, Gemma Amor deftly spins a web fraught with deeply uncomfortable themes. Depression, grief and trauma are tangled with ideas of memory, potential, possibility and the vagaries of the human mind, and at the center of this cat's cradle of weird science, pseudo realities, and the expanding horizons of dreams, is a woman in a medically-induced state of hypnagogia, deeply immersed in an experimental therapy. Will these pioneering explorations into her psyche save her sanity-- and her life-- or is she the catalyst for something much bigger, and is there much more at stake? I have a lot of admiration for the bold breadth and scope and vision of this story, all of the difficult fears and issues it examined and disturbing themes explored, without once losing sight of the human at the heart of it, the humanity at risk. If Full Immersion is a general indication of what to expect of this author's works, then I look forward to reading many, many more of their offerings.
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read an ARC of this book and it was SO COOL! this is a sci-fi/horror that follows a woman with depression/suicidal ideation as she gets an experimental VR therapy. after finishing this, i do have some unanswered questions, however i think it adds to the overall creepiness of the book
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A very personal sci-fi horror of a woman's battle with postnatal depression. I think this story will resonate with anyone who has suffered with depression, as well as post natal depression. The forward where the author talks about her own experience of post natal depression was very moving.
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4.5*
**TW via the author: Suicidal ideation, Post-natal depression, Implied acts of violence towards a child, Birth scene
Ah, this book was bananas, and I love when books are bananas! Gosh, I don't want to tell you too much about the book, because it is one of those things best experienced on your own, but also, I want to give you reasons to read the thing! So bear with me as I do my best!
Magpie finds her own dead self one day whilst on a stroll. Or so it seems. We the reader know that isn't exactly what happened, and we know this from the start. What we don't know is why Magpie is involved in this... situation. Neither does she, it seems. We're privy to some of the communication from the folks running this... let's call it "potentially therapeutic endeavor", and they do fill us in a bit. Magpie is in a simulation of sorts, a kind of "last resort" for people dealing with severe trauma and mental health issues that have not been assuaged by more traditional mental health treatment.
From there, we take the journey with Magpie, and see everything she sees while in this treatment. Simultaneously, we are given the perspective of two staff members who are overseeing the situation. Their job is to ensure that this simulation runs smoothly, and I won't lie, this will not be their best day at the office. Because things go off the rails pretty quickly, and no one- not Magpie, not the employee overseers, and certainly not the reader- have any idea what is in store in this anything-but-ordinary situation.
A few things are clear: Magpie is going to have to face a lot of demons. And the people who invented this "treatment" have no idea what they have unleashed.
Bottom Line: Wonderfully unique, and emotionally provocative, Full Immersion is, well, fully immersive.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight -
I thought the concept of this story sounded very interesting yet it just didn't seem to hold my attention. Perhaps it was just the sci-fi angle, as that is not something I favor. I'm interested in reading more from this author, this one was just hard for me to follow.
I do want to add that I feel like the subject matter in this book is extremely important and more books should explore this topic. Especially in the very raw and open way this writer does. The parts of this book that explored that were very moving. -
This feels like a deeply personal book so it's a shame that it's not very good. An interesting enough idea on the surface, the flitting between two narratives ensures that it (ironically enough) never becomes immersive. Also a scene in which a character who supposedly loves the protagonist blindsides you with some seriously retrograde views on the purpose of women's bodies that neither the narrator nor the text ever bothers to challenge; fuck off.
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Amor weaves a beautifully haunting tale of post-partem depression with dark imagery and eerie tones. A mother on the verge of self-harm makes one last attempt to save herself by applying to an experimental therapy program. Suddenly, she wakes up and comes face-to-face with her own dead body. Now, she must navigate a blurred world between truth and illusion in order to uncover her deepest secret.
This story is exquisitely written with a sympathetic protagonist that seeps into the reader’s soul and latches on for dear life. Amor bravely bares her heart on the page for inspection as the mother character must journey into her past in order to save her future. The drama unravels in a satisfyingly slow and steady pace with enough tension to keep the reader engaged from start to finish. While this premise has been explored by other authors, Amor spins the familiar tale of motherhood with a unique and personal perspective. This story will stick with readers longer after the final word.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC! -
“God, I’m tired of myself.”
I have been waiting for this book for a long time and once I finished it I waited about a week to write my review. I know this book is extremely personal for the author and you can feel it as her soul bleeds through to the page.
This is your life and gathered here are all the collected artifacts that are special because you have attached a piece of yourself to it. Look them over, digest their importance. Relive those days if you can handle it.
FULL IMMERSION has so many quotable lines, so many deep emotions, yet the thread of horror that lives in Gemma Amor is weaved throughout, digging it’s vicious hooks into you. You didn’t expect to get away that easy did you?
“Angry, confused, frustrated. But we don’t necessarily have to walk away from those feelings, or be ashamed of them.”
I found myself thanking Gemma throughout the book, for the conformation of feelings as well as for the curious dread that oozes from her words.
“We do not feel the weight of them, our bad habits, until the chain has become too strong to break.” -
Gemma Amor has been a favorite of mine since she first debuted in the indie scene with Cruel Works of Nature a few years back. Ever since, I have pounced upon every one of her releases, never disappointed.
Reading Full Immersion feels like I'm getting a BTS look into Gemma's life and her personal struggles. I knew about her PPD already from chats with her in the past, as well as a short story included in her second collection that dives into the strangling feel of the condition. This book takes you deep into that world and the hell it can bring upon a mother and her family. It's a very personal experience for a book. It also makes the suspense more palpable and the MC's life more valuable to the reader. Gemma is an artist with words, has been since her first publication -- Full Immersion is no exception. I sink into her stories with ease and take on my hopes and fears of the characters as if they are real. The only complaint I really had from reading this novel was the very end; I can't go into detail without risk of spoilers, but the monster element was left in such a way that I wanted and expected a bit more. Otherwise, Full Immersion was a fantastic and emotional novel that proves (yet again) that Gemma Amor is an author with skill and a strong narrative. -
Wow, this book is amazing! It will probably stick with me forever. It ripped open my heart, and made me feel so emotionally connected to Magpie. The emotions that Magpie felt throughout this story were so real and relatable. It also overall is just a great sci-fi horror story! This book heavily focuses on postpartum depression and suicide so it may not be a book for everyone. But if you can read about those things I recommend this book! Thank you NetGalley, Angry Robot Books, and Gemma Amor for this eARC.
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3.75*
I really loved the premise of this. The horror of PPD was explored along with this strange VR technology. Some of the scenes were genuinely creepy and creative! However, some scenes were too repetitive -
Where do I start with this one? I can’t say enough good things about this book. I would give it ten stars if I could. It was such a cathartic read. All the emotions, all the despair and joy we feel as mothers is just put out there, made physical. And then there’s mental illness that’s depicted as a monster that So many must confront on a daily basis.
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I have not stopped thinking of this book since I picked it up.
Gemma,
I feel like I must speak directly to you, as I felt like you were speaking directly to me while I was reading your brilliant book. I read your foreword and I sobbed. I read it over and over again and I cried each time. And then I started reading the novel and I kept saying to myself “how do you know my pain?” You took so many things from my mind that were so hard to say and you placed them down on paper. Like you had a small pair of tweezers and you plucked from my brain all the terrible, wicked things that I said and thought after I had my son. Unfortunately, these things are not uncommon to feel, yet it’s still so hard to talk about. I didn’t have a bridge, but I did have a lake. I thought how easy it would be to drive my car into it. To walk into the water and swallow mouth fulls of it until my lungs burst. The ideation is indescribable, or I thought it was, until I read your book. I hope that writing this book was a bit of a release for you and brought you comfort; it was a release for me to read it. Just knowing that I’m not alone in the things that I felt after bringing my beautiful baby into the world made me feel a bit better. This book is the most important book I’ve read this year. I’ll never forget it.
I loved the characters. I love your writing style; I thought nothing could beat “the girl on fire” but you blew this out of the water. The entire concept of this story was neat. I’ve never read anything like it. I loved how it’s horror/sci-fi. I loved Boss; I know she ultimately met her end but damnit, she believed in Magpie. And isn’t that what we all need? Someone to believe in us?
Thank you for writing this. Thank you so so much. I know this book wasn’t written for me, but it’s everything to me. -
This is a hard review to write - the story is exceptional and brilliant but also hard to read at times due to the themes throughout.
This is the story of a woman who volunteers to undertake some experimental therapy via a vitual reality system. As she hangs suspended in the basement of a university building the darkness inside her starts to manifest itself in the real world. As she battles to understand and discover the root cause of her suicidal ideation, a different battle is taking place in the 'real world'.
As I was reading this I was thinking back to the times in my life which have been quite dark (hence read the trigger warnings and Gemma's own forward in the book.) When you feel like the darkness, the black within, takes over and seems to destroy anything - devours all happiness, all reason, obliterates everything. It can feel like thinking through treacle. Now imagine that darkness somehow escapes you to do the same thing on the outside. The speculative nature of this is horrific to think about, but it's also perfectly analogous to grief, loss, and feeling utter despair.
The final image in the novel is seared into my brain and brought me to tears. I highly, highly recommend you read this when it comes out in September.
Thanks to Angry Robot and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this incredible novel.
TW: Postpartum depression/psychosis, perinatal mental health, traumatic birth, suicidal ideation, mental health. -
4.5 stars
What a fantastic book. It deals with some very heavy themes-particularly suicide and depression-but does so in a unique and clever way. I liked the use of virtual reality as a form of therapy and I felt like this book was a giant puzzle where I was trying to discover why our narrator was so depressed. We take a trip to her memory palace to uncover all her traumas yet at the same time there is something lurking in the background. I think the added horror elements were great especially because half the time I didn’t know what’s real or what’s part of the program. Although, I’m not sure that I loved the ending because it felt too far-fetched. But overall, I loved the mystery, pathos, and horror elements of Full Immersion. -
“It was never about dying, you understand. It was more about… just not living anymore.”
It’s no secret that I love Gemma Amor’s writing. You can really tell that she puts so much of herself into her stories, and Full Immersion is the best example. It’s very raw, and the way it’s written really gets into your soul. I do not have kids, nor do I want them, and yet I was still able to relate to this book.
Magpie has been struggling with suicidal ideation for so long, that she’s on her last option. She’s willingly entered into a virtual experimental therapy program that uses VR to directly confront trauma. As the experiment continues, however, the people monitoring her see things that shouldn’t be possible: Magpie has the ability to interact with her previously coded program. This phenomenon, called full immersion, should not be possible. The science is not yet ready for this. But Magpie seems to have found a way.
This book checks so many of my boxes. Trauma, science fiction, horror, nightmares, raw emotions. The VR experiment is reminiscent of Stranger Things, while still being its own story. We still have very little on how memories, trauma, PTSD, and dreams work, and honestly that’s terrifying to me. Full Immersion explores all of that, and more.
Gemma was very brave to share this story, and I’m so glad she did. Besides being an enjoyable horror novel, I believe this book will help many people. Especially those of us who just need to give ourselves a break. There are some heavy content warnings, which I will post at the bottom of this review. Please go into this novel with the right mindset, and please take care of yourself before, during, and afterward.
Thank you so much to Angry Robot for sending me a copy of Full Immersion. I’m so excited to see what everyone else has to think about this beautiful novel.
CW for grief, medical content, mental illness, suicide, psychosis, suicidal thoughts/ideation, child abuse, vomit, pregnancy and childbirth, animal death, postpartum depression, therapy setting with direct trauma confrontation -
Spännande premiss som förstörs av ett överdrivet och repetitivt förklarande av inte bara själva premissen utan alla slags metaforer och symboler som texter ger upphov till. Otillfredsställande läsning. No immersion.
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The foreword gave fair warning of what this book would contain, for those who didn't already know. The following line, from the first chapter, is a stomach punch that tells you exactly how the subject will be handled:
"Because I still wake up every single day without exception and think about throwing myself off the Bristol suspension bridge."
This isn't going to be an easy read, and nor should it; what, at the end of the day for most of us is just a work of fiction, is for others an insight into exactly how easily the ideas of suicide can take hold, and keep hold until either the much-needed help is found, or it isn't.
The story, however, takes us on a far bigger journey with the addition of a VR/immersion programme that allows the main character, Magpie, to explore her life before death through memory triggers until she understands why she feels suicidal. That the programme is being run from the basement of a University building tells you enough to understand how it's going to turn out, but you'll be wrong if you think you can predict the ending here.
Yes, of course, there will be problems along the way, but the build-up to the ending creates such tension that when it finally goes Pop, you'll wonder what just happened. For me, I needed to reread the last two chapters the following day, just to get a better handle on what we were left with.
Certainly, a nice touch is the list of helpful organisations at the back of the book - if you need this kind of help, or know someone who may, this list could prove essential.
I've read several books where the subject matter takes on VR/immersion: The Foreverland series by Tony Bertauski and the Idlewild series by Nick Sagan are amongst the best for me, but this one takes the top slot with ease - the horror elements mixed with real human suffering are combined to perfection here.
This is the second book I've read by this author; I was wowed with the first (Six Rooms) but blown away by this one. Get it on your shelves the day it's released in September. -
Excerpt from my review - originally published at
Offbeat YA.
Pros: Unusual, imaginative blend of real-life issues and sci-fi/horror. The visuals jump off the page.
Cons: The dialogue feels a bit contrived at times. A couple of alleged reveals are easy to figure out in advance (though maybe not early on).
WARNING! (TW list provided by the author): Suicidal idealisation. Post-natal depression. Implied acts of violence towards a child. Birth scene. (More): Graphic gore. Bodily fluids.
Will appeal to: Readers who like speculative fiction rooted in real-life scenarios. Mothers who have struggled with post-natal depression and intrusive thoughts. Family members who have witnessed such situations.
First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on Edelweiss. Thanks to Angry Robot for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.
VIRTUAL FEAST
Full Immersion is one of the most unique novels I've ever read. It takes an unflinching look at the still taboo issue of post-partum depression, and it does so through the lens of an imaginative (if far-out) virtual-reality setting where horror and beauty go hand in hand, and whose effects on the real world are...deliciously disturbing (what can I say, I like my stuff dark 😂). After a few suicide attempts, the main character Magpie enrolls in an experimental VR program that should be able to get to the root of her suppressed trauma and - hopefully - force her to confront and overcome it. But the carefully curated scenario (which starts with the protagonist's discovery of her own dead body) soon gets a makeover, while Magpie and the mysterious friend she met at her death site take unaccounted-for routes (some of them in order to escape the ominous Silhouette) and the program begins to infiltrate reality...quite literally. [...]
Whole review
here. -
The corpse splayed in the tepid runoff under the bridge was familiar, and as she gets close enough to examine it, Magpie knows that it’s her own. A startling sight to see, but reality wouldn’t allow you to be both a living and dead thing, would it?
In a basement lab Magpie hangs amongst wires and sensors undergoing an experimental treatment. Two experts stand watch to guide her through the moments, good and bad, of her life.
Initially free of her past, Magpie wanders in this constructed world through her memories. A process of rediscovery, until she’s forced to keep a fetid darkness from infecting even the warm moments.
An entity so malignant and potent it can’t be contained solely inside her own mind. A contamination leaking into the real world. A mire that wants her story to end where it all started: Dead and broken under the shadow of a bridge.
This story was so unique. The way it look at postpartum depression and grief and blended it with virtual reality as an alternative therapy. I felt like I was deep in despair with Magpie trying to claw my way back out.
It was a book I needed to sit on and think about, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you need a big hug when you cross the final passage.
Thank you so much to Edelweiss Plus and Angry Robot Books for an ARC of this title.
