Rating: 
Summary: I think I liked it....
Review: For some reason I couldn't put this book down. It intrigued me from the start. I wanted to know why this strange girl was traveling around Scotland in search of muscular hitchhikers. I'm not sure that I completely understood this book. I think this is one of those novels that you must read more than once to grasp what the author is trying to get at. Here, you have this young disfigured woman traveling around in her little red Corolla injecting big muscular hitchhikers with something, so that they can have horrendous things done to them and then be shipped who knows where. I would have liked a little more information near the end because as much as I liked it, I felt I was left hanging.
Rating:
Summary: a very imaginative book
Review: I became interested in Under the Skin after I read an interview with Michael Faber. He was portrayed as a somewhat excentric yet interesting character. After ordering tea he would bring the faucet of the teapot to his mouth to start drinking. Faber was born in the Netherlands, but migrated to Australia before his tenth birthday. According to him he lived there in utter solitude. He returned to Europe later in his life and settled in the Scottish Highlands. Faber now lives there in a train station with his wife. The appaerance of hitchikers in Under the Skin is not accidental. Faber himself is an avid hitchhiker. Asked what his inspiration was to write his book, he answered that he is crazy and that the main protagonist of Under the Skin, Isserly, is more or less a reflection of himself.Knowing something more about Faber's background prepared me to better understand Under the Skin. It is not only a very imaginative horror story that is beautifully written. It also describes the struggle of a human in (physical and mental) pain, who has a hard time to grasp reality. I loved the strange twists in the book, the descriptions of the beauty of the Highlands and the fact that eventhough Isserly turns out to be a very strange creature -that collects 'human specimens'-, you still can feel compassion for her.
Rating: 
Summary: I didn't like it.
Review: I really didn't like this. The story didn't cohere. There were a lot of loose ends. This author has a very political agenda. He puts human earthlings in the position of cows and pigs--animals to be eaten and slaughtered. Yes, that theme appeals to me to on the surface. But he sacrifices too much of the story in an attempt to parody all the major players in the meat vending and eating world. I get the feeling the story would naturally go in one direction, but he has to artificially bend it in order to accomadate some other point he wants to stick in there about the immorality of eating animals. I still eat meat anyway. I especially love bacon.
Rating:
Summary: Take a walk on the wild side
Review: You will pick this book up and start reading, unaware of where it will take you. This is what I found most exciting and at times frustrating about this book. Farber does an excellent job of developing his main character, Isserley, and taking us through her twisted soul searching journey. It is an easy read and you will want to devour it as fast as you can to try and figure what it all means. In fact, it may be a better read the second time around!
Rating: 
Summary: Light enough for a summer read, deep enough for winter.
Review: In his excellent debut novel, Faber offers readers a compelling story that is both a quick, easy beach-towel read and a serious exploration of alienation, desire and what it means to be human. An artful balance -- and as a writer, one worth emulating. From the reader's perspective, the first part of the book puts us in the position of detective. Who is Isserly, and why is she driving the roads of Scotland looking for men? Without revealing anything of the plot (this is one book that you should enter completely uninformed), Faber lays down a series of clues and information that easily lead us into creating an image of this woman and her motivations -- only to have this image completely exploded when the revelation comes. In some ways, it reminded me of the movie "The Sixth Sense": an interesting, compelling story that gets turned upside-down, forcing us to confess that we were given all the information we needed, but we came to the wrong conclusions anyway. After the key revelations, the remainder of the story skirts the edges of simplistic, moralistic allegory. However, the author appears to be aware of this risk, and turns the remainder of the book into a serious study of the main character's key conflict. His writing is fluid, descriptive and highly imaginative throughout, so our interest in the story and the characters is maintained despite some of the heavy emotion and inner turmoil. I realize that this review may sound a bit obtuse, simply because I am so concerned about not revealing details that may ruin a new reader's enjoyment and astonishment. Go out and read this book yourself -- it's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: A bit of science fiction...; a lot of psychological thriller
Review: I couldn't put this book down, no matter how squeamish I felt at times. I don't want to give anything away, but for those of you who enjoy suspense novels, this story will take you to a completely different "place" than the conclusion of the first chapter suggests. Pay special attention to the change the protagonist experiences as the story progresses - and what events (past, present and future) shape her attitude and decisions. Is Isserley predictable? What's your opinion?
Rating:
Summary: Not to be confused...
Review: First of all, don't confuse this book with 'Beneath The Skin' by Nicci French - an excellent book, but an altogether different type of thriller. Under the Skin is a cleverly thought out psychological thriller that will stop and make you use your brain a little. The story is set in Scotland where Isserley, a strange young lady, spends her time picking up stray hitch-hikers and 'doing things' with them. I don't want to give the game away but, although there are strong sexual undertones to the story, what she does with the hitch-hikers is something quite different. The imagery in Under the Skin is intense and subtly woven. Not for Faber the harsh, blunt descriptions that leave little to the imagination, more the hints, the suggestions, the half-hidden. And it works beautifully (including, unusually, his use of Scottish accents in many of the speech patterns). Faber's creativity is amazing. He creeps up on the reader when they least expect it. When he bangs you with the punch line, you're stunned. For a thriller that will make you think, that will have you admiring the author's audacity, that will keep you guessing right to the end, read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Definitely Different!
Review: I finished "Under the Skin" this morning on the subway and made a mental note to see if Michel Faber has anything else available or in the works. Isserly's tale is an odd one but so beautifully told! Faber has a firm and romantic grasp of the language which is obvious in his descriptions of the Scottish Highlands and, surprisingly, fairly common weather conditions. No, it's not great science fiction, nor is it great horror - it lands in a crack between...and creates its own world. There are some gory bits (the main location of the story is a meatpacking plant after all), but I hope that won't put a reader off from some truly beautful, readable, and thought-provoking reading. Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ!!!
Review: I can't really write much about this book with out giving away most of the plot. The fun in reading this is how it slowly unfolds revealing all of Isserly's mysteries. There's a depth of emotion in this novel that I haven't found in a long time. No matter how horrendous or likeable you find Isserly, you FEEL for her and her pain. A sad, well written novel that also makes a profound statement about the nature of humanity. A must read!
Rating: 
Summary: Do you like gory moralizing tales?
Review: First of all, guys, this book is incredibly overhyped - I would have never paid any attention to it, if not the reviews, proclaiming it "unputdownable", "provoking" and "stretching limits of imagination". What this book is really stretching is your capability to withstand feelings of disgust and manipulation. The book is a mixture of sci-fi, horror and satire over the humankind. However, for sci-fi, it's underdeveloped and expects the readers to take many things for granted (like the appearance of "humans" in Scotland and their "trade", how and where their "home" is, and why it's in such despicable condition); for horror it's too straightforward and unimaginative, for satire - it's too horrible. Yes, the book has its moments of piercing compassion and breathtaking beauty found in a small object, but it's also "putdownable": after page 70 it becomes fairly predictable (well, the goriest details lay ahead, if it's what you're after). The ending leaves you gaping: like hey, so what? Just so simple? I wish the author didn't indulge into the details of meat-processing, for it shifts the focus of readers' perception from whatever conclusion we're supposed to get, and the gritty images is the only thing leaving imprints in your mind after you close the book. I don't deny that the book stands out from many other conventional and boring "thriller" and "suspense" tripe, but don't overestimate it: such concepts and similar plotlines you can find in sci-fi and horror books. Just overstep all the limits and you're dubbed "daring" and "though-provoking". Don't you think that sometimes we arrive to simple conslusions (as the Earth is beautiful, humans don't value what they're having, people are too selfish, cruel and manipulative, woman shouldn't be viewed as sex-object only) by too sophisticated and unacceptable means? I'd recommend the book to someone, already "tempered" by horror books, it's not for the weak guts. Moreover, I'll not give up meat eating, maybe only when a book appears written from the point of view of cows.
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