Oddbody by Rose Keating Reading Journal

What if being chosen by someone meant having to completely change who you are?

I absolutely loved the dystopian concept behind this story. The idea of women undergoing tests and physically transforming themselves according to what a man might prefer was fascinating, but also quite disturbing. The transformations themselves were so bizarre, from tentacles to glowing eggs, and I loved how imaginative the author was with them.

What interested me most, though, was the society behind it all. I kept wondering what happened to the women who weren't chosen. Would they get another opportunity? Were they expected to continue changing themselves until someone finally wanted them? And what would happen to Nima's friend? There were so many aspects of this world that I wanted to understand better.

I couldn't help interpreting the tests as a reflection of the pressure to make ourselves desirable to others. Obviously, the transformations in the story are extreme, but the underlying idea didn't feel that far removed from reality. How often are women expected to change their appearance, personalities, or even their interests to fit someone else's idea of what makes them attractive?

I also found the idea of choice interesting. The women appeared to have some control over their transformations, but how much freedom is there really when the entire system revolves around being selected by someone else? It made me question whether having options necessarily means having autonomy.

I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending, mainly because I wanted to know so much more. I genuinely think this could've worked as an entire novel. The world was fascinating, the concept had so much potential, and I would've loved to explore the consequences of this system in greater depth.