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3.15 AVERAGE
3.15 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
★☆☆☆☆ — I wanted to love it, but I’m just annoyed I finished it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.
I really really reaaaaally wanted to love this book. It has every element I love: gothic vibes, academic setting, lesbians, botanical horror, weird/otherworldly character, and so on. But man, I hated this book and I'm sad. I kept messaging my friend as I read it "I hate her", referring to the main character. Now, don't get me wrong. I love me an unlikeable main character, but Thora's flavour of unlikeable made me slightly homicidal.
If I were being objective, I might give this book a slightly higher rating, maybe a 2.5. But I’m going off pure emotional response here. The sheer frustration I felt while reading, and then when I finally finished, I didn’t even feel relief. Just irritation.
Thora is supposed to be smart. She tells us that she is, multiple times, and it’s set up to seem like she is. But she doesn’t exhibit much intelligence throughout. Her reactions frustrated me constantly, she was always blowing up or being hurt at the most minute thing said or implied. She’d mull over the same things again and again, changing her mind on them constantly. One moment she's mad at Olea for hiding something, the next she understands and her anger melts away, and then she’s mad about it again. I never connected with Thora. She has a personality, sure, but her emotions always felt so surface-level and changeable.
Her relationship with Olea was the least romantic thing I've ever witnessed. I hated reading their relationship. The first time they met, I was intrigued. I like an otherworldly/weird love interest. But they have no chemistry, and when they do get together, all they do is have sex and fight. The alleged great conversations they have all happen off-page, but what we do get in great detail is every single fight, and it’s constant. Always the same thing too:
"You MANIPULATED me!"
"No YOU manipulated me."
Then they’d forgive each other, have sex again, and repeat the cycle.
There’s nothing to root for. The only character I liked in this female-centric book was the man, the friend she made at university! I hope this is a series and not a standalone. The ending was terrible, so anticlimactic and empty. But if this is a series, I can at least see how it leads into another book. If it isn’t? Then it’s a very badly executed “open ending,” in my opinion.
Also, the worldbuilding was shaky at best. I liked the funerary rites stuff, it was cool, but the setting had no strong identity as a fantasy world separate from our own, especially since the university has an English faculty... in a world with no England?
Honestly, I just feel annoyed that I read this book. I wish I’d DNFed it, but I owe it to the publisher to read and review it after being given the opportunity to receive an ARC.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.
I really really reaaaaally wanted to love this book. It has every element I love: gothic vibes, academic setting, lesbians, botanical horror, weird/otherworldly character, and so on. But man, I hated this book and I'm sad. I kept messaging my friend as I read it "I hate her", referring to the main character. Now, don't get me wrong. I love me an unlikeable main character, but Thora's flavour of unlikeable made me slightly homicidal.
If I were being objective, I might give this book a slightly higher rating, maybe a 2.5. But I’m going off pure emotional response here. The sheer frustration I felt while reading, and then when I finally finished, I didn’t even feel relief. Just irritation.
Thora is supposed to be smart. She tells us that she is, multiple times, and it’s set up to seem like she is. But she doesn’t exhibit much intelligence throughout. Her reactions frustrated me constantly, she was always blowing up or being hurt at the most minute thing said or implied. She’d mull over the same things again and again, changing her mind on them constantly. One moment she's mad at Olea for hiding something, the next she understands and her anger melts away, and then she’s mad about it again. I never connected with Thora. She has a personality, sure, but her emotions always felt so surface-level and changeable.
Her relationship with Olea was the least romantic thing I've ever witnessed. I hated reading their relationship. The first time they met, I was intrigued. I like an otherworldly/weird love interest. But they have no chemistry, and when they do get together, all they do is have sex and fight. The alleged great conversations they have all happen off-page, but what we do get in great detail is every single fight, and it’s constant. Always the same thing too:
"You MANIPULATED me!"
"No YOU manipulated me."
Then they’d forgive each other, have sex again, and repeat the cycle.
There’s nothing to root for. The only character I liked in this female-centric book was the man, the friend she made at university! I hope this is a series and not a standalone. The ending was terrible, so anticlimactic and empty. But if this is a series, I can at least see how it leads into another book. If it isn’t? Then it’s a very badly executed “open ending,” in my opinion.
Also, the worldbuilding was shaky at best. I liked the funerary rites stuff, it was cool, but the setting had no strong identity as a fantasy world separate from our own, especially since the university has an English faculty... in a world with no England?
Honestly, I just feel annoyed that I read this book. I wish I’d DNFed it, but I owe it to the publisher to read and review it after being given the opportunity to receive an ARC.
"As always, the lure of true knowledge, of being part of the inner circle, turns me into that same child who begged to learn to read, who stole books under the cover of night, who risked her whole life and future for just one more page."
First published: 26/08/25 (ARC)
Genre: Dark academia, gothic horror
Page count: 432
Series: N/A
Format read: 📱
Others read by this author: N/A
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Thankyou so much to Francesca May, Orbit Books/Redhook, & NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Following the deaths of her father & new husband, Thora is granted a place at university studying under a prestigious botanist, but is distracted by the unusual garden overlooked by her bedroom window, & the young woman she sees wandering there at night. As she becomes more & more determined to solve the mysteries of the girl & the garden, as well as assist the doctor's ground-breaking research, Thora finds herself beginning to unravel.
I loved the academic setting of This Vicious Hunger; the way the dusty libraries & lecture halls were juxtaposed with the lush vegetation of Olea's garden & the uncanny plantlife of Dr Petaccia's lab. I loved the gloriously gothic prose, the focus on mourning, the obsessive yearning for swollen, kiss-bruised lips, alabaster skin, & a tumble of black curls. I loved the sense of mystery, as Thora slowly reveals more of herself & her secrets to the reader, mirroring her own desperation for knowledge & discovery. I did feel that that the pacing of the novel was a little off, a slow start & gradual build up working perfectly with the creeping sense of dread, only to stall a little around the middle, have lots happen all at once, & then end fairly abruptly with little closure, the final chapter reminding me more of the end of a short story than a gothic novel.
First published: 26/08/25 (ARC)
Genre: Dark academia, gothic horror
Page count: 432
Series: N/A
Format read: 📱
Others read by this author: N/A
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Thankyou so much to Francesca May, Orbit Books/Redhook, & NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Following the deaths of her father & new husband, Thora is granted a place at university studying under a prestigious botanist, but is distracted by the unusual garden overlooked by her bedroom window, & the young woman she sees wandering there at night. As she becomes more & more determined to solve the mysteries of the girl & the garden, as well as assist the doctor's ground-breaking research, Thora finds herself beginning to unravel.
I loved the academic setting of This Vicious Hunger; the way the dusty libraries & lecture halls were juxtaposed with the lush vegetation of Olea's garden & the uncanny plantlife of Dr Petaccia's lab. I loved the gloriously gothic prose, the focus on mourning, the obsessive yearning for swollen, kiss-bruised lips, alabaster skin, & a tumble of black curls. I loved the sense of mystery, as Thora slowly reveals more of herself & her secrets to the reader, mirroring her own desperation for knowledge & discovery. I did feel that that the pacing of the novel was a little off, a slow start & gradual build up working perfectly with the creeping sense of dread, only to stall a little around the middle, have lots happen all at once, & then end fairly abruptly with little closure, the final chapter reminding me more of the end of a short story than a gothic novel.
this was a tricky one. on one hand, the story was compelling, exciting and I was really interested in knowing what happened next.
On the other hand, I honestly didn't like any of the characters (Leo was probably the one I liked most, and he was really a secondary character). Once Olea and Thora were interacting regularly, I just started to get so annoyed at their constant bickering over the exact same things, over and over again.
my other issue was that it just felt too long and drawn out. There were sections that just dragged on far too long that left my attention wavering a bit.
so overall, average. enjoyable plot, but too slow paced and unlikeable characters.
On the other hand, I honestly didn't like any of the characters (Leo was probably the one I liked most, and he was really a secondary character). Once Olea and Thora were interacting regularly, I just started to get so annoyed at their constant bickering over the exact same things, over and over again.
my other issue was that it just felt too long and drawn out. There were sections that just dragged on far too long that left my attention wavering a bit.
so overall, average. enjoyable plot, but too slow paced and unlikeable characters.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So much lost potential… A forbidden gothic sapphic love story set in a poison garden in a slightly alternate 19th century academic world where female independence and science struggle to overcome the staid and restrained male-centric society.
The lyrical and lurking botanical horror is gorgeous and lovely, but the book is overlong by half and meanders with its tone. The bare wisp of a plot gets lost in the repetitive musings of the main character, Thora, as she pines for the mysterious young woman, Olea, who is locked away in the forbidden poison garden. As she struggles to unravel the mystery, weaving a little bit of hazy science into the plot, it gets mired down in the endlessly circling thoughts of Thora, going nowhere. None of the characters are likeable or interesting.
It also wasn’t terribly difficult to tell where the barely-there plot was going… but oh it took So. Very. Long. to get there that I was truly grateful that the book finally ended. Again, a disappointing outing that could do with some serious editing/trimming…
My thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
The lyrical and lurking botanical horror is gorgeous and lovely, but the book is overlong by half and meanders with its tone. The bare wisp of a plot gets lost in the repetitive musings of the main character, Thora, as she pines for the mysterious young woman, Olea, who is locked away in the forbidden poison garden. As she struggles to unravel the mystery, weaving a little bit of hazy science into the plot, it gets mired down in the endlessly circling thoughts of Thora, going nowhere. None of the characters are likeable or interesting.
It also wasn’t terribly difficult to tell where the barely-there plot was going… but oh it took So. Very. Long. to get there that I was truly grateful that the book finally ended. Again, a disappointing outing that could do with some serious editing/trimming…
My thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
dark
mysterious
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thank you Netgalley for the Arc!
Doctrina est vita aeterna, learning is life eternal.
This Vicious Ginger follows Thora, an recently orphaned and widowed woman who, at the behest of her mother in law, was offered a place to study botany at St Elianto under the esteemed Dr Petaccia. Being a woman in academia is challenge enough, but the research that Dr Petaccia is involved with reveals its own challenges and mystery.
I enjoyed the first half of this book quite a lot. The academia vibes were pretty immaculate and the sapphic yearning was wonderful. I enjoy the language that May uses and how evocative it can be. The focus on poisons and most of the story taking place on the moonlight set a wonderful atmosphere as well.
However the pace ebbed and flowed a lot over the course of the book and certain parts became quite repetitive. I found that the repetition of some of Thora's inner monologue (around being both a woman and a widow) became quickly irritating and the tone of the book shifted greatly in the latter half. In honesty, I'm unsure if this is the first in a series but I was left wanting for more conclusion by the end of the book.
The romance was probably the highlight of the book for the most part, but became a little too focussed on the physical. Their discussions and disagreements felt like they could have been resolved or ended within half the time and didn't read as realistic.
If you're a fan of academia and sapphic yearning, this is likely a book that you'll enjoy!
Thora Grieve has always dreamed of going to university to study botany. After the death of her husband, Thora finds herself alone and without money. A family friend reaches out and offers the deal of a lifetime. Become the assistant of the famed botany professor, Florencia Petaccia and be able to go to classes. Just outside her room at the university, lies a beautiful garden which is tended by a just as beautiful woman. They become fast friends and fall into a world of obsession and poison. Is Thora willing to pay the price for her freedom?
I struggled with this one. The imagery was beautifully written. I just felt like the story…went nowhere… especially towards the end. I am all for not having a happy ending in a book, but I felt like the story just stopped. Thora was leaving and there was no real resolution to the problem. In the beginning I was rooting for Thora and Olea, but near the end I just wanted them to go their separate ways. I also felt like Olea’s illness was brought up once briefly in the start of their relationship and then forgotten about. Thora was supposedly so insistent to find a cure that she forgot about it for most of the book until she was sick close to the end of the book. I feel that Leo received the same treatment. I wanted to know more about him! I know that he had his faults and guilt but I wanted more of him. I felt bad for him a lot and just wanted to give him a hug.
I wanted more horror, especially with a title called This Vicious Hunger. I wanted more. I felt it was empty and repetitive at times.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I struggled with this one. The imagery was beautifully written. I just felt like the story…went nowhere… especially towards the end. I am all for not having a happy ending in a book, but I felt like the story just stopped. Thora was leaving and there was no real resolution to the problem. In the beginning I was rooting for Thora and Olea, but near the end I just wanted them to go their separate ways. I also felt like Olea’s illness was brought up once briefly in the start of their relationship and then forgotten about. Thora was supposedly so insistent to find a cure that she forgot about it for most of the book until she was sick close to the end of the book. I feel that Leo received the same treatment. I wanted to know more about him! I know that he had his faults and guilt but I wanted more of him. I felt bad for him a lot and just wanted to give him a hug.
I wanted more horror, especially with a title called This Vicious Hunger. I wanted more. I felt it was empty and repetitive at times.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for a complimentary early release copy of This Vicious Hunger by Francesca May.
This Vicious Hunger is an atmospheric type of read, the gothic botanical horror elements are written in an interesting and intriguing way. I like reading the descriptions of the plants but the details of the garden and university were equally as nice. The mystery of the book had me intrigued but at the same time the pacing is very slow and sometimes nothing particularly exciting feels like it’s happening. I was interested in how things were going to play out with Olea, the way she is described as this sick mysterious garden lady is intriguing but I thought things fell a little flat. Both of the main characters Thora and Olea feel fine on their own but together they just make a bit of a toxic pair. I didn’t particularly like these characters nor did I like the romance.
I mainly stuck around to find out what was going on with this sickness of Olea’s. I feel like the book becomes a little nonsensical when Thora starts to look for this cure, I feel confused for what happened/is going on but I still found my reading experience to be somewhat enjoyable. Even though I don't really know what was going on, when the botanical horror elements really kick in my enjoyment went up. It was a slow descend to madness and the horror elements really pack a punch however I’m feeling rather displeased about the ending. Even though the book felt like it was drawing on and on after I finished reading I’m left with a “is that it?” Kind of feeling. There are so many things that feel left unresolved.
This Vicious Hunger is an atmospheric type of read, the gothic botanical horror elements are written in an interesting and intriguing way. I like reading the descriptions of the plants but the details of the garden and university were equally as nice. The mystery of the book had me intrigued but at the same time the pacing is very slow and sometimes nothing particularly exciting feels like it’s happening. I was interested in how things were going to play out with Olea, the way she is described as this sick mysterious garden lady is intriguing but I thought things fell a little flat. Both of the main characters Thora and Olea feel fine on their own but together they just make a bit of a toxic pair. I didn’t particularly like these characters nor did I like the romance.
I mainly stuck around to find out what was going on with this sickness of Olea’s. I feel like the book becomes a little nonsensical when Thora starts to look for this cure, I feel confused for what happened/is going on but I still found my reading experience to be somewhat enjoyable. Even though I don't really know what was going on, when the botanical horror elements really kick in my enjoyment went up. It was a slow descend to madness and the horror elements really pack a punch however I’m feeling rather displeased about the ending. Even though the book felt like it was drawing on and on after I finished reading I’m left with a “is that it?” Kind of feeling. There are so many things that feel left unresolved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Animal death, Eating disorder, Homophobia
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy
This Vicious Hunger by Francesca May is a first person-POV Gothic fantasy Sapphic retelling of Rappaccini’s Daughter. Thora finds herself widowed and kicked from her husband’s family home not too long after their wedding started. Seeing her chance at freedom, she takes the chance to study at a university and meets Olea, a young woman who takes care of a private garden at night and who never leaves.
The ‘hunger’ in the title is mostly referring to Sapphic longing rather than the more recent trend of cannibalism in fiction found in things like Yellow Jackets and The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim. Olea and Thora are both touch-starved but in different ways; Olea because of the circumstances around her existence and Thora because she’s never been allowed to actually explore her romantic attraction to women. You can feel how much they want to take the next step forward, but how impossible it feels for them to do so. There is a little bit of cannibalism but it takes way less page time than the longing for physical contact does.
This is more interior-heavy rather than dialogue-leaning. There’s not a lot of banter between Thora and Olea and instead more of a meeting of two vulnerable people who don’t really know how to interact with someone else that they have romantic feelings for. Beyond that, Thora is quite stuck in her head and her circumstances but is willing to go to bat for Olea when she sees the need.
Rappaccini's Daughter already feels Gothic as a story so the big twist here is that it’s Sapphic. It’s been a while since I’ve read the original short story, but I do feel that this sits comfortably as a retelling that is more about fleshing out certain parts rather than changing them dramatically to fit a new mold. The setting as well seems to fit in very well with the original short story, which will be a positive for readers who prefer a retelling that also works as a character study to a reimagining.
Content warning for depictions of sexism and homophobia
I would recommend this to fans of Sapphic longing and readers of Gothic fantasy who loved Rappaccini’s Daughter