diff --git a/client/src/main/java/org/asynchttpclient/Response.java b/client/src/main/java/org/asynchttpclient/Response.java
index 77512094d..9835d2cf4 100644
--- a/client/src/main/java/org/asynchttpclient/Response.java
+++ b/client/src/main/java/org/asynchttpclient/Response.java
@@ -55,6 +55,23 @@ public interface Response {
      */
     byte[] getResponseBodyAsBytes();
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the entire response body as a byte array that may share its storage with this response.
+     *
+     * <p>The returned array must be treated as read-only. Modifying it may change the content subsequently returned
+     * by this response's other body accessors.
+     *
+     * <p>The implementation is not required to return shared storage. Depending on the response representation, this
+     * method may still return a copy. No array identity is guaranteed between calls.
+     *
+     * <p>Use {@link #getResponseBodyAsBytes()} when an independently owned, mutable array is required.
+     *
+     * @return the entire response body as a possibly shared byte array
+     */
+    default byte[] getResponseBodyAsBytesView() {
+        return getResponseBodyAsBytes();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Return the entire response body as a ByteBuffer.
      *
diff --git a/client/src/main/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/NettyResponse.java b/client/src/main/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/NettyResponse.java
index 8d80bcbb1..edf97c8e2 100755
--- a/client/src/main/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/NettyResponse.java
+++ b/client/src/main/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/NettyResponse.java
@@ -193,6 +193,11 @@ public byte[] getResponseBodyAsBytes() {
         return getResponseBodyAsByteBuffer().array();
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public byte[] getResponseBodyAsBytesView() {
+        return bodyParts.size() == 1 ? bodyParts.get(0).getBodyPartBytes() : getResponseBodyAsBytes();
+    }
+
     @Override
     public ByteBuffer getResponseBodyAsByteBuffer() {
 
@@ -224,19 +229,9 @@ public String getResponseBody() {
         return getResponseBody(withDefault(extractContentTypeCharsetAttribute(getContentType()), UTF_8));
     }
 
-    /**
-     * The body as bytes, for callers that keep the array to themselves. A lone part's own array is returned
-     * rather than a copy of it, so a caller that let it out would let the part's buffer be mutated through it;
-     * {@link #getResponseBodyAsBytes()} is the copying variant for those. Several parts are concatenated
-     * because a multi-byte character can straddle a part boundary.
-     */
-    private byte[] sharedBodyBytes() {
-        return bodyParts.size() == 1 ? bodyParts.get(0).getBodyPartBytes() : getResponseBodyAsBytes();
-    }
-
     @Override
     public String getResponseBody(Charset charset) {
-        return new String(sharedBodyBytes(), charset);
+        return new String(getResponseBodyAsBytesView(), charset);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/client/src/test/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/NettyAsyncResponseTest.java b/client/src/test/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/NettyAsyncResponseTest.java
index 5ce4982d5..70edcfaa0 100644
--- a/client/src/test/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/NettyAsyncResponseTest.java
+++ b/client/src/test/java/org/asynchttpclient/netty/NettyAsyncResponseTest.java
@@ -19,10 +19,13 @@
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpHeaders;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.cookie.Cookie;
 import org.asynchttpclient.HttpResponseBodyPart;
+import org.asynchttpclient.Response;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.lang.invoke.MethodHandles;
+import java.lang.invoke.MethodType;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
 import java.util.Date;
@@ -32,9 +35,13 @@
 import java.util.TimeZone;
 
 import static io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpHeaderNames.SET_COOKIE;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertArrayEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotSame;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertSame;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 public class NettyAsyncResponseTest {
 
@@ -113,6 +120,8 @@ public void testGetResponseBodyDecodesOnePartAndSplitPartsIdentically() {
 
         assertEquals(expected, single.getResponseBody(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
         assertEquals(expected, multiple.getResponseBody(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+        assertArrayEquals(utf8, single.getResponseBodyAsBytesView());
+        assertArrayEquals(utf8, multiple.getResponseBodyAsBytesView());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -120,25 +129,99 @@ public void testGetResponseBodyReadsOnlyALazyPartsReadableRegion() throws IOExce
         // A Lazy part's getBodyPartBytes returns just the readable region, not the whole backing array, so a
         // single-part shortcut must go through it rather than reach for getBodyByteBuf().array().
         byte[] backing = "XXXHello WorldYYY".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+        ByteBuf slice = Unpooled.wrappedBuffer(backing).slice(3, 11);
+        int readerIndex = slice.readerIndex();
+        int writerIndex = slice.writerIndex();
+        int refCnt = slice.refCnt();
+        try {
+            List<HttpResponseBodyPart> bodyParts = new LinkedList<>();
+            bodyParts.add(new LazyResponseBodyPart(slice, true));
+            NettyResponse response = new NettyResponse(new NettyResponseStatus(null, null, null), null, bodyParts);
+
+            assertArrayEquals("Hello World".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8), response.getResponseBodyAsBytesView());
+            assertEquals("Hello World", response.getResponseBody(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+            assertEquals("Hello World",
+                    new String(response.getResponseBodyAsStream().readAllBytes(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+            assertEquals(readerIndex, slice.readerIndex());
+            assertEquals(writerIndex, slice.writerIndex());
+            assertEquals(refCnt, slice.refCnt());
+        } finally {
+            slice.release();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetResponseBodyAsBytesViewReadsDirectLazyPart() {
+        byte[] backing = "XXXHello WorldYYY".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+        ByteBuf direct = Unpooled.directBuffer(backing.length);
+        direct.writeBytes(backing);
+        ByteBuf slice = direct.slice(3, 11);
+        int readerIndex = slice.readerIndex();
+        int writerIndex = slice.writerIndex();
+        int refCnt = slice.refCnt();
+        try {
+            List<HttpResponseBodyPart> bodyParts = new LinkedList<>();
+            bodyParts.add(new LazyResponseBodyPart(slice, true));
+            NettyResponse response = new NettyResponse(new NettyResponseStatus(null, null, null), null, bodyParts);
+
+            assertArrayEquals("Hello World".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8), response.getResponseBodyAsBytesView());
+            assertEquals(readerIndex, slice.readerIndex());
+            assertEquals(writerIndex, slice.writerIndex());
+            assertEquals(refCnt, slice.refCnt());
+        } finally {
+            direct.release();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetResponseBodyAsBytesViewSharesOneEagerPart() {
         List<HttpResponseBodyPart> bodyParts = new LinkedList<>();
-        bodyParts.add(new LazyResponseBodyPart(Unpooled.wrappedBuffer(backing, 3, 11), true));
+        bodyParts.add(new EagerResponseBodyPart(Unpooled.wrappedBuffer("Hello World".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)), true));
         NettyResponse response = new NettyResponse(new NettyResponseStatus(null, null, null), null, bodyParts);
 
-        assertEquals("Hello World", response.getResponseBody(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
-        assertEquals("Hello World",
-                new String(response.getResponseBodyAsStream().readAllBytes(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+        byte[] view = response.getResponseBodyAsBytesView();
+        assertSame(bodyParts.get(0).getBodyPartBytes(), view);
+        assertSame(view, response.getResponseBodyAsBytesView());
     }
 
     @Test
     public void testGetResponseBodyAsBytesDoesNotShareTheBodyPartArray() {
+        byte[] expected = "Hello World".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
         List<HttpResponseBodyPart> bodyParts = new LinkedList<>();
-        bodyParts.add(new EagerResponseBodyPart(Unpooled.wrappedBuffer("Hello World".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)), true));
+        bodyParts.add(new EagerResponseBodyPart(Unpooled.wrappedBuffer(expected), true));
         NettyResponse response = new NettyResponse(new NettyResponseStatus(null, null, null), null, bodyParts);
 
         // getResponseBody may decode a lone part in place, but getResponseBodyAsBytes hands the array to the
         // caller, so it must keep copying rather than expose the part's own array.
-        assertNotSame(response.getResponseBodyAsBytes(), response.getResponseBodyAsBytes());
-        assertNotSame(bodyParts.get(0).getBodyPartBytes(), response.getResponseBodyAsBytes());
+        byte[] firstCopy = response.getResponseBodyAsBytes();
+        byte[] secondCopy = response.getResponseBodyAsBytes();
+        assertNotSame(firstCopy, secondCopy);
+        assertNotSame(bodyParts.get(0).getBodyPartBytes(), firstCopy);
+
+        firstCopy[0] = 'X';
+        assertArrayEquals(expected, response.getResponseBodyAsBytes());
+        assertArrayEquals(expected, response.getResponseBodyAsBytesView());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetResponseBodyAsBytesViewReturnsEmptyArray() {
+        NettyResponse response = new NettyResponse(new NettyResponseStatus(null, null, null), null, new LinkedList<>());
+
+        assertArrayEquals(new byte[0], response.getResponseBodyAsBytesView());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetResponseBodyAsBytesViewDefaultImplementationDelegates() throws Throwable {
+        byte[] expected = "Hello World".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+        Response response = mock(Response.class);
+        when(response.getResponseBodyAsBytes()).thenReturn(expected);
+
+        byte[] actual = (byte[]) MethodHandles.privateLookupIn(Response.class, MethodHandles.lookup())
+                .findSpecial(Response.class, "getResponseBodyAsBytesView", MethodType.methodType(byte[].class), Response.class)
+                .bindTo(response)
+                .invokeExact();
+
+        assertSame(expected, actual);
     }
 
     @Test