ECSTASY by Ivy Pochoda reads like a deconstructed Greek tragedy told through a feminist lens and full of relentlessly unsettling moments that will shake even the staunchest reader. This fever dream of a story is short, almost novella length, and can be consumed easily in one sitting.

Lena’s wealthy husband has just passed away. She is now dealing with her son, Drew, who is all business without much of a personality or sense of wonder. He has designs to use the family fortune to support his latest pet project, the luxurious Agape Villas in Naxos, Greece.

The two arrive in Naxos with Drew’s wife, Jordan, and Lena’s best friend, Hedy. For some reason initially unknown to her, Lena is affected by the area --- particularly the beach --- and begins to hark back to her time as a dancer and wild party girl. Hedy is like-minded with Lena, and this sets the stage for an unknown and mysterious adventure that threatens to consume them.

"ECSTASY is a quick and powerful read that shows off Ivy Pochoda’s gifts as a writer who knows how to get under readers’ skin."

Prior to the foursome arriving in Naxos, we hear from an entity that refers to itself as Mama Ghost. This being is a specter, a vampire, a night creature. The unsuspecting group will soon collide with Mama Ghost and her legion of female followers on the beaches outside the Agape Villas. The results will be psychedelic, dizzying and deadly.

The story is told in chapters shared by a handful of different characters, including Luz, who is a big part of the hallucinogenic iconography that has taken over the area and nearly the entirety of the beach. The swarm of women there are beguiled by a male figure, a golden-skinned god named BaXXus, whose allure is undeniable and impossible to resist. Hedy will soon find herself drawn to this group, while Lena tries in vain to resist the temptation to dance wildly once again as she did in her youth.

Drew is directly threatened by what he does not understand, and this includes the women who even the local police are unable to make move from their encampment on the beach. When Jordan begins to feel the pull towards the wild temptations of the feminine pack, the reality of this highly unreal situation will smack Drew in the face before he is able to stop it.

Jordan is made promises from the thing that is calling to her --- promises that would free her from life with a man who seeks to control her every movement. Lena is the only possible answer to salvaging the unexpected change that is overwhelming the situation at the beach, but she is also powerless against the strength that may be coming from Dionysus himself.

ECSTASY is a quick and powerful read that shows off Ivy Pochoda’s gifts as a writer who knows how to get under readers’ skin.