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kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
- the characters feel dropped into their own universe, and they make very little sense in the context of their town or each other. The neighborhood apparently hired homophobic hicks to beat the daylights out of a gay couple that moved in months ago in broad daylight, one of which is a cop, but the extremely flamboyant rich recluse just kites around town in a rolls royce? said gay couple is trying to adopt a child and “blend in” in HateCrime, USA for completely unexplained reasons? ghost … he just felt like an OC someone made and didn’t flesh out on tumblr? the fucking evil ferret thing?? what goes on. Very much short book syndrome, none of the characters or settings feel complete
- the “cosmic horror” fell pretty flat for me; there’s only so many times you read about a floating orb before it wears off. its power show at the end was frankly laughable, though i cheered @ the couple making it out alive! nothing about the rituals or kidnappings (weirdly blasé compared to the truly violent bits) spooked me even a little. the only horrifying parts of this book were the violent homophobic home invasion and graphic gang rape and stabbing. those are pretty real life horrors though, so this read didn’t really feel like I was reading a horror book, just a really awful Twitter thread about world events with a weird spiritual ad in the middle. I don’t mean to cheapen the deeply traumatic and trigger events here; they were heartbreaking to read. my point is that these were the only events in the book to evoke any sort of reaction from me, and that reaction was a pretty familiar mix of dread/sadness/nausea that comes with hearing about bad things happen to fellow queer people. not exactly the fun spine-tingler read I was after. I HAVE to start checking storygraph warnings before grabbing books that sound vaguely interesting
- the weird aside into the raging homophobic rapist and killer’s child molestation backstory… it added virtually nothing to the book. if we were going to get into “nuance” about why this town is full of vicious bigots, more pages should have been spent actually showing other townspeople. we met like 4. as it stands, it felt very random juxtaposed with the brutal stabbing that followed it. There’s some muddled point about trauma begetting trauma, but we just didn’t spend enough time on the moment for it to evoke any more thought than an SVU episode plot point compared to the other events of the novel. why include it at all ?
- the writing style… it moved quickly, that was nice, but frankly each sentence felt like it relished in the violence being conveyed. gross, almost greasy language, too many similes, major overuse of the words “monster” and “guilt”, overall not fun on the eyes to make up for the lackluster content. the pages were also distractingly ugly. why the background. why. is this a 2009 MS word book report?
Graphic: Murder, Homophobia, Rape, and Hate crime
Moderate: Grief, Ableism, and Kidnapping
jerusha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Rape, Violence, Excrement, Gore, and Homophobia
blankie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Everything the Darkness Eats had the potential to be such a win for me on paper, but the writing coupled with how disjointed and rushed the plot and ending felt just made it impossible to take anything meaningful away from it. I will definitely keep picking their books up, I’m just not as optimistic as I once was about them.
Graphic: Rape, Hate crime, Kidnapping, and Homophobia
deshanejt's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
However, I can't for the life of me figure out the plot, the point, or the message in this story.
What started in the beginning of the book, and what transpired throughout, LOOSELY connected to what happened in the end- IMO.
I understand there's not always justice for victims of SA and hate-crimes, but it would have been nice to understand how being a witness to that brutality tied into the story.
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Death, Violence, Blood, Rape, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Murder
autumnrevisited's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
While I disliked the writing, what bothered me the most about this book was how LaRocca treated their characters. The book claims to be a queer horror novel, but the only part of it that seems genuinely queer is the secondary main character who services only as a conduit for violence. There is not a moment where Malik is happy, only witnessing his husband's hate crime, being kidnapped, sexually and brutally assaulted, and almost murdered. All for being gay. There is no other development to his character other than to have slurs thrown at him and have violence done unto him. Also, the "bad guys" in the story both are also queer or have experienced similar violence. I find it unacceptable and disgusting that LaRocca would take a character that does extreme sexual and physical violence to one of the only POC characters in the book and make their motivation be a past assault from another gay character. Furthermore, giving the main villain AIDS (at least hinting at it) for no reason other than to mention it adds to the image that people with AIDS are violent and dirty.
LaRocca also completely ignores his female characters. They are either stupid, pathetic, or fridged. There is not a moment with a female character where they have any real agency. They are dead to move the male main character's story forward or placed as a helpless damsel in distress in order to be protected.
I purchased and read this book because I heard many good things about LaRocca's other works and the horror they have created. However, after reading this book, I refuse to read anything else LaRocca has written or may write in the future.
Graphic: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Blood, Violence, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Grief, Ableism, Gore, Kidnapping, Body horror, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Vomit
Moderate: Excrement, Child death, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Grief, Blood, Cursing, Alcohol, Death, and Hate crime
amb_leigh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Hate crime, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Grief, Blood, and Excrement
rebekahmccubbins'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? Yes
2.75
The author clearly enjoys flowery prose, which is fine when done well. But this was painful to read. Every third sentence was a simile or over-description, making it hard to keep track of what's actually happening in the story. The plot felt half-baked, and the details were confusing. I found myself constantly asking, 'why?'. The characters' motivations didn't feel reasonable.
And the extremely graphic violence against Malik and Brett felt uncalled for. Frankly, that subplot never tied in to a degree that felt justified. So I was left feeling that the author just... WANTED to torture and decimate a gay couple (confusing, because by all accounts, he is gay).
I can't in good faith recommend this story to anyone. If you do choose to read, good luck.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Ableism, Medical content, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Cursing, Classism, Confinement, Blood, Biphobia, Stalking, Kidnapping, Rape, Homophobia, Excrement, Violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition
- 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
0.5
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Violence, Torture, and Death
Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia
Do you like slurs? Don’t worry, it’s chocked full of the f slur!ecn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Body horror, Biphobia, Torture, Grief, Gore, Child death, Car accident, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Hate crime, Blood, Medical content, Homophobia, Rape, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Excrement
statefossil's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, and Hate crime