Book Review: The Therapist – Nial Giacomelli [Novella]

Welcome back!

Isn’t it funny how impulse choices can often turn out to be the best ones? Fairlight Books and Nial Giacomelli have much to be proud of with The Therapist.

The Therapist

Author(s): Nial Giacomelli
Publisher: Fairlight Books
Publication date: Out now

Synopsis

In this bittersweet and hauntingly surreal tale, a couple finds the distance between them mirrored in a strange epidemic sweeping the globe. Little by little, each victim becomes transparent, their heart beating behind a visible rib cage, an intricate network of nerves left hanging in mid-air. Finally, the victims disappear entirely, never to be seen again.
Taken from The Therapist

Review

Read the synopsis of this book and then dismiss any assumptions you may have about it. It’s a dystopian-horror-sci-fi-fantasy novella all wrapped up in a stunning 118 page bundle.

I don’t say this easily – this is, without doubt, one of my favourite books so far this year. It took me about two hours to read (read, devour, demolish) and it was flipping amazing.

It would be too easy to ruin this book, so I’ll keep this short. It’s a story of grief, for most of us, of the unimaginable variety. But it’s also about what makes us human; how we crave solitude yet need the company of others, how our minds work and work against us, and how we face our own mortalities and that of those around us.

Giacomelli is a phenomenal author, I have nothing but praise for his development of this story. He keeps the reader wanting more with every word. I didn’t feel like I was watching the protagonist – I was the protagonist.

Moving, horrifying, our worst fears brought to life – The Therapist is a work of art.

Many thanks to Fairlight Books and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.