Gemma Amor’s Full Immersion is a psychological horror that deals with one of the most frightening antagonists in existence: the main character’s own mind. Why we listen to that voice in our head when it tells us we’re useless, we’re a failure, that the world would be a better place if we weren’t in it, I don’t know. You would but up with anyone else speaking to you the way you tear yourself apart. Full Immersion is in many ways a novel about memory and the corruption of memory, and it’s bloody brilliant.
The manner in which Amor explores the mind is unique, too. Our protagonist, known only as Magpie, voluntarily enters an experimental virtual reality therapy program and immediately stumbles upon her own dead body. This begins Magpie’s investigation into her own life and the events that led to her death.
Amor doesn’t deceive her readers. We are fully aware this is not real and part of the virtual reality program. Magpie’s narrative is interspersed with the story of those operating the system. While this may seem to be a safe situation, a corruption within the virtual reality, perhaps of manifestation of Magpie’s trauma, encroaches on the real world, seeping through every crack in the room. Within the virtual reality, the trauma manifests as the silhouette, stalking through different memories, bringing misery where once there was joy.
Full Immersion is not always an easy read. It’s a very personal work and the emotion feels close to the bone. Post-natal depression is a huge part of this, and the feelings of inadequacy, of never quite being good enough sting throughout the tale. There’s also that struggle with a life turned upside-down by these sudden new responsibilities. There are truly awful thoughts explored and it feels like there’s no possible way to purge the darkness.
For all of the bleakness, though, the novel does offer some kind of hope, so don’t be put off by the depressing description. It’s a brave novel, one that explores emotions rarely explored in the horror genre.
I thought it was a fantastic read. Be wary of the trigger warnings, but there’s more healing than pain in this. One of my novels of the year.