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A review by dylanhenning
We Ate the Dark by Mallory Pearson
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I really wanted to like this book and so much about this should have been right up my alley. There are LGBT+ characters, there’s horror, a mystery, and a creepy town.
There are themes of love, family, friendship, selfishness and betrayal all wrapped up in a witchy magical story.
The downside here is the story wasn’t very good. I feel like the author focused more on the prose with its beautiful and complex language than having a fully fleshed out plot with fully fleshed out characters.
I found myself not really connecting with any of the cast of characters because they never really felt defined with their own distinct personalities. When switching from one character POV to another they all kinda read in the same flat tone.
Similarly there were elements of the plot that I felt needed to be expanded upon or explained earlier in the book to give me a reason to care and be invested.
Unless I’m mistaken I think this is this authors debut and I’d be interested and hopeful to see her learn and grow as an author.
There are themes of love, family, friendship, selfishness and betrayal all wrapped up in a witchy magical story.
The downside here is the story wasn’t very good. I feel like the author focused more on the prose with its beautiful and complex language than having a fully fleshed out plot with fully fleshed out characters.
I found myself not really connecting with any of the cast of characters because they never really felt defined with their own distinct personalities. When switching from one character POV to another they all kinda read in the same flat tone.
Similarly there were elements of the plot that I felt needed to be expanded upon or explained earlier in the book to give me a reason to care and be invested.
Unless I’m mistaken I think this is this authors debut and I’d be interested and hopeful to see her learn and grow as an author.