Isserley shows any form of discontent with her work or the people around her.

This is a constant gripe, always reappearing whenever Proud of adjusting to, she suffers incredible back pain due to the surgery thatĪllows her to walk on two legs previously four. She takes shelter in her decrepit cottage, built on the farm’s land, but this doesn’t offer much comfort.ĭespite sleeping on a bed, something that she’s not overly These are due to her isolation from her friends and family back on her home planet, as well as being the only one surgically enhanced to look like the human female species. Isserley goes through a few changes throughout the book. Using a custom passenger seat, she flicks a switch behind the steering wheel, which shoots two needles up, and inject the traveller with a high dose of sedative.įrom here, she takes them back to the farm where a group will keep them captive underground to fatten them before processing. Under the Skin focuses on Isserley, an alien sent to Earth by the Vessil Incorporation to harvest human meat – in the form of hitchhikers. This makes sense when you consider that Faber was born in the Netherlands, despite being considered a Scottish author. Throughout the book, Humans are known as ‘ Vodsels’, which in Dutch means ‘ food’. These perceptions can be interpreted in several ways, but most notably, from a sexual perspective.

It’s also used to build tension, often imposing an intense male gaze towards Isserey’s body. This allows for a sense of character depth for somebody who’s no more than a piece of meat in the process. Written in third-person the book follows Isserley around, but will contrastingly jump to the perspective of the hitchhiker once they enter the car. Calling it sci-fi is a little spoiler, so I won’t hold back talking about that aspect sorry. Under the Skin is a dark and atmospheric novel that crosses the genres of sci-fi and horror due to its gruesome detailing. A lonely extra-terrestrial roams the empty roads looking for

Under the skin faber