I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Incarnate by Alma Katsu Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on September 22 2026
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A young visual effects designer discovers the dark side of social media and fame in Alma Katsu’s latest, a fast-paced, modern day cautionary tale.
Alma Katsu has taken her knowledge of social media—she was one of the first social media research analysts—and turned it into a harrowing tale about the price of fame. Incarnate is a modern take on The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I absolutely loved the way the author took the core idea of the classic tale and twisted it into a horror story involving social media influencers and the pursuit of fame and beauty.
Dorothy Wagner is a VFX (visual effects) artist and has just landed her first job in Los Angeles. Tomas Delgado is known for his cutting edge video designs, which blend live action, AI and computer generated effects, and Dorothy is thrilled to be working for him. Her first project involves creating an avatar for a famous singer, who wants to get into advertising but is too busy. Tomas’s team will create a digital version of the singer that will look almost completely real and can “act” in ads without the singer’s direct involvement.
Dorothy becomes obsessed with the woman’s beauty and the motion files they’ve created that act as the basis for the avatar design, and she decides to use the files and tweak them to create her own avatar, fully knowing that what she’s doing is illegal. As a child, Dorothy was always teased and bullied and was never part of the popular crowd, so she sees this as a way to finally get some attention. She creates a gorgeous digital woman she names Isabella, with the most stunning hair color and a perfect figure and face, and decides to launch an Instagram account to see if she can get Isabella to go viral.
And she does. Isabella is suddenly the hottest thing on the internet, but she’s also a mystery. Dorothy has made sure that Isabella can’t be traced back to her, but she has a problem. An internet troll is messaging her, promising to make all of Dorothy’s dreams come true, and he seems to know about her connection to Isabella. When Dorothy starts changing in impossible and frightening ways, she wonders if she’s gone too far.
Incarnate gives readers a behind the scenes peek into the world of social media influencers and how far some people are willing to go to achieve fame and fortune. It also incorporates the growing trend of “deepfakes,” creating lifelike AI personalities who can replace real humans, a truly horrifying idea. I’m usually not a fan of “influencer” stories, but I found Katsu’s ideas and scenarios fascinating. The idea that you can become a millionaire simply by getting enough followers on Instagram and TikTok baffles me, and while I know it happens and there are lots of influencers out there doing just that, it still doesn’t feel like “real work” to me, lol.
I loved the speculative element and the way the author has taken The Picture of Dorian Gray and given it a modern twist. Without giving too much away, Dorothy’s creation (Isabella) is spilling over into her personal life. One day she wakes up and realizes her pants are too short. This is followed by splitting headaches, and one look in the mirror confirms that something both terrible and wonderful is happening to her body. And of course, if you are familiar with Dorian Gray, Dorothy’s changes must be counteracted in some way, and that’s where the real horror comes in. Katsu’s explanation for why all this is happening is a chilling “deal with the devil” scenario that added an extra layer to the story.
Dorothy’s personality isn’t too far off from her namesake. She’s extremely driven by her need to be “seen,” having suffered from bullying most of her childhood. She’s determined to become wealthy and famous through Isabella, and as the story progresses, the things she’ll do to achieve that get more and more risky. I have to admit I really didn’t like Dorothy at all, despite feeling a tiny bit sorry for what she’s been through as a child. But her behavior is very immature. She tries to get what she wants through tantrums and threats, and ultimately I had a hard time rooting for her. Not to mention some of the things she does later in the story!
The story takes some weird turns in the second half, including an influencer house party that Dorothy gets herself invited to (Is that a thing? Do famous influencers really hang out together?) There’s also a violent event that propels her to make a few radical decisions, and I’m not sure how successful this subplot was. But the ending was fantastic, and it really brought the rest of the story’s themes full circle.
Incarnate is a quick, entertaining read that reminds readers to “be careful what you wish for.”
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
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