"This cleverly structured puzzle of a book is both tense intellectual thriller and elegant dystopian fantasy, blending fiction and history with terrifying clarity and haunting realism." - Simon Van Booy, author of Night Came With Many Stars
"You Feel It Just Below the Ribs" mirrors the methodology of "Within the Wires," explicitly reminding the audience of its medium while destabilizing the story through insertions and insinuations of what exists beyond it. ....the book is perfectly comprehensible as a stand-alone project, and full of moving insight into loss, grief and family." - The New York Times
"You Feel It Just Below The Ribs is thought-provoking, more than a little melancholy, and ultimately one of the most intriguing novels I've read this year. What a quietly wonderful book." - mysteryandsuspense.com
"You Feel It Just Below the Ribs. . . can be read as multiple narratives, a literary choose-your-own-adventure: as a meditation on the nature of alternate histories, as a provocative account of the horrors linked to psychiatry, as a character study of a woman who has made terrible choices, even as a narrative about the ethical and political questions to consider as part of scientific research." - Chicago Review of Books
"Readers who enjoy dystopian tales and unreliable narrators will find much to dissect in this haunting, heart-wrenching novel." - Publishers Weekly
"A compelling story of the potential cost of achieving everlasting "peace." . . . A thought-provoking, haunting story about the sacrifices a society is willing to make to ensure its survival." - Booklist
"The book as a whole fits into the universe of the authors' serial podcast Within the Wires, which also takes its form from the idea of found communication. Unsurprisingly, that sense of collaborative creation carries over . . . The result is a fascinating layering of fiction, invention, satire, and social critique which explores much more than just the backstory of an alternative history. A metatextual inquiry into the roots of human conflict that keeps its thread of tension taut throughout." - Kirkus Reviews(starred review)
"Co-creators of the podcast Within The Wires, Cranor and Matthewson have set the foundation for a radical take on balancing the desires & needs of the individual against that of the world." - WRAL TV
"You Feel it Just Below the Ribs is a fantastic read for anyone that is a fan of dystopian alternate realities and possibly unreliable narrators. The novel makes readers question everything and keeps you on your toes." - The Maneater
Jeffrey Cranor cowrites the Welcome to Night Vale and Within the Wires podcasts. He also cocreates theater and dance pieces with choreographer/wife Jillian Sweeney. They live in New York.
Janina Matthewson is the author of the novel Of Things Gone Astray and the novella The Understanding of Women. She cowrites Within the Wires, and has also written for Murmurs, The Cipher, and Passenger List. Originally from New Zealand, she now lives in London.