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Enjoyment/Appreciation Level: Kind of disliked. At least on the lower end of middle-of-the-road.
Summary:
Destitute after her husband's death, Thora Grieve finds hope studying botany at a university. There, she's drawn to Olea, a mysterious young woman who tends the private garden each night, confined by an illness. Thora befriends Olea through the garden gate, and their intense connection blossoms. Obsessed, Thora dedicates herself to finding a cure for Olea, questioning if her feelings are love or lust. Thora has found freedom, but at what price?
Themes:
Toxic love. Obsession. Hunger. Desire.
TL;DR:
Not the book for me. The first half just felt like a standard historical fiction, in tone. Finally got to the gothic fantasy atmospheric vibes but it wasn't quite enough for me, and the plot felt tedious and very repetitive. And hated the way it ended.
Writing:
I was fully expecting this to feel gothic from the get-go, but it did not at all. The first half or so was just, historical fiction in tone.
Even when we got to the more gothic fantasy vibes, the writing just wasn't quite ENOUGH for me. It probably didn't help that I have recently read two Johanna Van Veen books and her writing is peak gothic horror for me personally.
I see a lot of people feeling like this writing is very lush and gothic, but it just didn't hit for me.
Characters:
I kind of hated Thora. She was such a nasty person, right from the beginning. Just snapping at people who are being nothing but nice to her (Leo) and being really irrational... Idk, she rubbed me the wrong way.
I also didn't buy the romance - it just felt like they were obsessed with each other simply due to the fantastical elements and circumstance, rather than from actual emotional connection and feeling.
Plot/Pacing:
I found myself irritated with how often Thora came to realizations... and then the same realizations later... and then one more time the same realization. Like with realizing she should have listened to Leo... she says that at least twice... and then realizing that our villainous character doesn't have her best interests and/or is using her and doesn't care about her really... SEVERAL times she was like, "Oh wow, they don't care about me at all!!!" Like girl... what?! I'd be fine with it if there was some REASON she couldn't remember things.... but that was not the case. It just felt like the author forgot that she had already had this character realize this thing.
Thora and Olea also kept having cyclical conversations and at one point one of them even SAID this out loud. "We can't keep having the same conversation." And I was like... YEAH PLEASE STOP.
I truly hated the ending, as well. It was a ridiculous cliffhanger with no real conclusions.
Summary:
Destitute after her husband's death, Thora Grieve finds hope studying botany at a university. There, she's drawn to Olea, a mysterious young woman who tends the private garden each night, confined by an illness. Thora befriends Olea through the garden gate, and their intense connection blossoms. Obsessed, Thora dedicates herself to finding a cure for Olea, questioning if her feelings are love or lust. Thora has found freedom, but at what price?
Themes:
Toxic love. Obsession. Hunger. Desire.
TL;DR:
Not the book for me. The first half just felt like a standard historical fiction, in tone. Finally got to the gothic fantasy atmospheric vibes but it wasn't quite enough for me, and the plot felt tedious and very repetitive. And hated the way it ended.
Writing:
I was fully expecting this to feel gothic from the get-go, but it did not at all. The first half or so was just, historical fiction in tone.
Even when we got to the more gothic fantasy vibes, the writing just wasn't quite ENOUGH for me. It probably didn't help that I have recently read two Johanna Van Veen books and her writing is peak gothic horror for me personally.
I see a lot of people feeling like this writing is very lush and gothic, but it just didn't hit for me.
Characters:
I kind of hated Thora. She was such a nasty person, right from the beginning. Just snapping at people who are being nothing but nice to her (Leo) and being really irrational... Idk, she rubbed me the wrong way.
I also didn't buy the romance - it just felt like they were obsessed with each other simply due to the fantastical elements and circumstance, rather than from actual emotional connection and feeling.
Plot/Pacing:
I found myself irritated with how often Thora came to realizations... and then the same realizations later... and then one more time the same realization. Like with realizing she should have listened to Leo... she says that at least twice... and then realizing that our villainous character doesn't have her best interests and/or is using her and doesn't care about her really... SEVERAL times she was like, "Oh wow, they don't care about me at all!!!" Like girl... what?! I'd be fine with it if there was some REASON she couldn't remember things.... but that was not the case. It just felt like the author forgot that she had already had this character realize this thing.
Thora and Olea also kept having cyclical conversations and at one point one of them even SAID this out loud. "We can't keep having the same conversation." And I was like... YEAH PLEASE STOP.
I truly hated the ending, as well. It was a ridiculous cliffhanger with no real conclusions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Blood
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Hm. Mixed feelings.
This book starts out really slow, with Thora, our main character, fresh out of mourning for her dead husband (whom she didn't really love. or even like, tbh). The mourning rituals that start the book suggest an amount of worldbuilding that never really comes to anything, a gun with a big-ass "CHEKOV" written on it that never does go off. Anyway, the death of her husband provides a catalyst for Thora to go to university and study botany, in a plot point that really doesn't make sense to me (as in, how did "husband dying" equal "go to uni, where women are barely allowed to be"). Her mentor is this lady I can never remember the name of, despite having read it hundreds of times during the course of this novel. Obviously, it is immediately clear to even ME, the stupidest of readers, that the professor is the big bad evil guy. Or girl, I guess.
The beginning of this book is extremely boring. Thora goes to endless botany lectures and makes friends with a guy named Leo, who seems to be put into the story to basically show how uninterested Thora is in men. Of course, we receive our needed dose of misogyny at this university, which apparently even permeates the botany students, because boys will be boys and all. I mean, I guess? It just felt really clumsy. As in, the author seemingly only included these scenes to show how different Thora is from literally. every. other. woman. She is so special! She likes LEARNING, and she is a WOMAN??? MIND BLOWN.
I admit I zoned out during the whole botany stuff. I am notorious in my family for having the exact opposite of a green thumb, and plants never did interest me. But still, the amount of latin plant names was excessive.
After some time, Thora meets Olea, who tends to a garden of poisonous and rare plants. At first, she only wants to go into the garden, but then ... she wants Olea, too! PLOT TWIST (not really.)
The relationship between Thora and Olea was really strange. Maybe because they only talk through a gate, or because Olea never had contact with the real world outside of her strange garden, or maybe it's because Thora has no personality at all except being a woman scholar. Olea is a really strange character, and this is where the book started getting good for me. I wanted to figure out what was going on with her. I didn't give a damn about Thora, and I still don't, because she really is such a blank slate before. It's only when she meets Olea and starts trying to find a cure for Olea's curse, that she becomes stranger. She's still rude as fuck to everyone, but her character makes a big shift towards what I like to call the Hungry Woman stereotype. Essentially, all main characters in novels like these are the same and undergo the same transformation. First, they're normal, and then something happens that makes them capital-H Hungry, culminating in either literal or symbolic cannibalism. At this point, I feel almost tired of this type of character development. It was fun during the first few times I read it, but by now, it's lost its appeal. This Vicious Hunger brings nothing new to the table (wait, that was unintentional, I swear), except maybe the botany angle. I was so eager to get to the bottom of the mystery that when I found it out, I went like "wait, that's it?" Yes, that was indeed it. And it's a shame.
One thing this book does well is the ... well, the vibes. I'd say athmosphere, but that's not really the word - it's vibes, it brings amazing vibes. A lush, poisonous garden paradise. The moonlit maiden tending to her plants, and the plants caring for her in return and protecting her from those who mean to harm her. The evil professor, tenderly stroking a sentient vine. The crazed couple lusting for human blood, surrounded only by plants, forced to eat those to still the ravenous hunger and desire for blood and flesh (which is a weird description, but it's a "good" vibe - I just can't find the words to adequately describe it). This was the best part. I could basically smell those plants, even though they would have killed me instantly.
In the end, I just wish the plot had risen to the level of those vibes, or that this book has done something ... new.
Hm. Mixed feelings.
This book starts out really slow, with Thora, our main character, fresh out of mourning for her dead husband (whom she didn't really love. or even like, tbh). The mourning rituals that start the book suggest an amount of worldbuilding that never really comes to anything, a gun with a big-ass "CHEKOV" written on it that never does go off. Anyway, the death of her husband provides a catalyst for Thora to go to university and study botany, in a plot point that really doesn't make sense to me (as in, how did "husband dying" equal "go to uni, where women are barely allowed to be"). Her mentor is this lady I can never remember the name of, despite having read it hundreds of times during the course of this novel. Obviously, it is immediately clear to even ME, the stupidest of readers, that the professor is the big bad evil guy. Or girl, I guess.
The beginning of this book is extremely boring. Thora goes to endless botany lectures and makes friends with a guy named Leo, who seems to be put into the story to basically show how uninterested Thora is in men. Of course, we receive our needed dose of misogyny at this university, which apparently even permeates the botany students, because boys will be boys and all. I mean, I guess? It just felt really clumsy. As in, the author seemingly only included these scenes to show how different Thora is from literally. every. other. woman. She is so special! She likes LEARNING, and she is a WOMAN??? MIND BLOWN.
I admit I zoned out during the whole botany stuff. I am notorious in my family for having the exact opposite of a green thumb, and plants never did interest me. But still, the amount of latin plant names was excessive.
After some time, Thora meets Olea, who tends to a garden of poisonous and rare plants. At first, she only wants to go into the garden, but then ... she wants Olea, too! PLOT TWIST (not really.)
The relationship between Thora and Olea was really strange. Maybe because they only talk through a gate, or because Olea never had contact with the real world outside of her strange garden, or maybe it's because Thora has no personality at all except being a woman scholar. Olea is a really strange character, and this is where the book started getting good for me. I wanted to figure out what was going on with her. I didn't give a damn about Thora, and I still don't, because she really is such a blank slate before. It's only when she meets Olea and starts trying to find a cure for Olea's curse, that she becomes stranger. She's still rude as fuck to everyone, but her character makes a big shift towards what I like to call the Hungry Woman stereotype. Essentially, all main characters in novels like these are the same and undergo the same transformation. First, they're normal, and then something happens that makes them capital-H Hungry, culminating in either literal or symbolic cannibalism. At this point, I feel almost tired of this type of character development. It was fun during the first few times I read it, but by now, it's lost its appeal. This Vicious Hunger brings nothing new to the table (wait, that was unintentional, I swear), except maybe the botany angle. I was so eager to get to the bottom of the mystery that when I found it out, I went like "wait, that's it?" Yes, that was indeed it. And it's a shame.
One thing this book does well is the ... well, the vibes. I'd say athmosphere, but that's not really the word - it's vibes, it brings amazing vibes. A lush, poisonous garden paradise. The moonlit maiden tending to her plants, and the plants caring for her in return and protecting her from those who mean to harm her. The evil professor, tenderly stroking a sentient vine. The crazed couple lusting for human blood, surrounded only by plants, forced to eat those to still the ravenous hunger and desire for blood and flesh (which is a weird description, but it's a "good" vibe - I just can't find the words to adequately describe it). This was the best part. I could basically smell those plants, even though they would have killed me instantly.
In the end, I just wish the plot had risen to the level of those vibes, or that this book has done something ... new.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abandonment