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bookishpriest's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
There were several depictions of extreme violence and homophobia (check the trigger warnings before reading!) that did very little for the story or character advancement,
Whatever the author's intent, I couldn't find it in these pages and it was disappointing enough that I won't be looking for more of their work.
The narration of the audiobook is well done and a pleasant listen.
Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Ableism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Death
Minor: Pedophilia
mraible18's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
I get that horror can be nature be very violent. One of my favorite horror novels is insanely, grotesquely violent, not necessarily in dissimilar ways from this book. But all of the violence and the trauma here felt entirely gratuitous,
Graphic: Rape, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Car accident, and Hate crime
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Ableism, Gore, and Kidnapping
mindysbookjourney's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Grief, Homophobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Car accident, Death, Pedophilia, Ableism, Biphobia, and Child death
thenonbinaryc's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Pedophilia, and Hate crime
emilycarvelli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
1.0
Graphic: Ableism, Excrement, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual harassment, Violence, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence
lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Ableism, Rape, Violence, Death, Homophobia, and Hate crime
gorbon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Excrement, Rape, Hate crime, and Torture
Moderate: Ableism, Vomit, and Child death
Minor: Islamophobia
howlinglibraries's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Unfortunately, we all know the saying "there's an exception to every rule", and it seems that Everything the Darkness Eats is my exception for Eric's books, because this book did not work for me on multiple levels.
First, the biggest issue I had was the writing. The narrative voice was so heavy on metaphors and similes that it became distracting. I found myself re-reading paragraphs because my attention was continuously being snagged by lengthy similes, sometimes back-to-back with multiple in the span of just a few sentences.
Second, the split plot lines became frustrating for me. Everything the Darkness Eats follows two unrelated main characters, Ghost and Malik, and their stories have nothing in common until the last few pages. Even when the story all came together, it felt unnatural to me and I still found myself wishing that these had been two entirely separate novellas instead of one combined book.
Third, while I have no issue at all with queer trauma in horror, I do have a problem with sexual assault being handled poorly: specifically, a rape victim - in the middle of a graphic rape scene - thinking of his attacker as "his god", and then later empathizing with his rapist and viewing the man as attractive. I won't harp on about this one too much because I know everyone reacts to assault differently, but as a survivor, I was immensely uncomfortable with this depiction.
Fourth, the ableism regarding a blind child made me mad every single time she was mentioned. Whether she was on the page or being mentioned by another character, it was a constant barrage of comments about how pitiful and helpless she was, or what a burden it was for her mother to raise her, and so on.
And finally, there were many moments where the suspension of disbelief was too much of a stretch for me to accomplish. A little blind girl wandering off on her own all the time, a mother instantly falling for the man who (very creepily) plays with her disabled daughter at the hospital, a man stopping in the middle of a ritual sacrifice to answer the doorbell... the list goes on.
Truly, I'm heartbroken writing this review. It pains me to leave a scathing review for a hyped new release from an author I love with my whole heart, but I can't help feeling like this book needed much more editing work and to be split into two smaller pieces. If that had been the case, the base storylines had potential and could have been just as great as everything else I've read from Eric, but the end result here didn't work for me in any way.
I still love Eric's books and will excitedly read their next release because this is only one miss for me after a long line of hits, but I won't be recommending Everything the Darkness Eats and would instead strongly encourage you to pick up any other title from this author.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: Malik is gay and Muslim, Brett is gay, Ghost is bisexual and disabled (walks with a cane), Heart is gay, Piper is blind
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Violence, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Bullying, Murder, Ableism, Grief, Gore, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Islamophobia, Child death, and Terminal illness