Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters

5 reviews

deadly_kitten777's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely beautiful, drew out a bit after Tara finds out
her ghost isnt Meredith
but was still immaculate, and super gay
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herelieshenry's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed this book; I think it’s the perfect extension of the things I liked about Waters’s previous works, tightened up into a cohesive, insightful piece of work. The allusions towards Southern Gothicism and the employment of traditional Gothic trappings in a Southern Appalachian setting, the bridging between Waters’s nuanced portrayal of lower-class characters from the broader south and recurring Appalachian elements in setting and atmosphere to extend that compassion to Appalachian people, and her ability to craft characters and interpersonal conflict that really roots itself into my emotions and gets me invested in it, all make this book a success for me. 

The undercurrent of impostor syndrome as a theme, especially with the usage of
possession relating to creative output
in the story, is really interesting and insightful. The dark academia element at play is very strong, both thematically and atmospherically. I also was very happy with the disability representation in this book through Penny; I appreciate that there’s a lot of empathy for people experiencing chronic pain in the book and I found it to be a very authentic portrayal of one of the many ways chronic pain can manifest and affect people. In general, Waters’s works also all put forward a lot of effort towards normalizing queerness and non-cishet experiences in a casual, natural way, which is a big plus. To me, this is the best novel that Erica Waters has published so far and I’m looking forward to seeing what else she publishes in the future.

I will note that in the audiobook, the narrator does pronounce Appalachia wrong, and I wish audiobook producers would correct narrators on that more often (though the mispronunciation at least feels diegetic to a degree in this book because the POV character is from the flatland south, in comparison to some books where characters meant to be locals mispronounce it).
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charles237's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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booktribe's review

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mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

All That Consumes Us is a gothic, dark academia novel with nightmares, secret societies, and malevolent spirits!

I always love gothic novels AND dark academia novels, so this book was right up my alley! The atmosphere was intriguing, the mysterious aspects of the book kept me guessing (though I am happy to say I figured it out!), and I absolutely loved the academic discussions that took place in the novel!

But I did have some complaints as well. For one, it was too long. It could’ve been 50-100 pages shorter. I don’t think that there were a lot of unnecessary scenes, but I do think that the author is too descriptive. A lot of scenes could’ve been shorter. Being over-descriptive made the book drag at times. Another complaint of mine is that the main character kept saying certain things like they were a revelation, but they were quite obvious to the reader. I found myself saying “duhh” to her a lot😬 And my last complaint is that I wish that the main character’s dark thoughts had been explored beyond a certain point. In the beginning of the book, there was a lot of emphasis placed on dark and jealous thoughts had by the main character, but the dark depths of her personality weren’t explored as much as I think they could’ve been. 

But overall, I did enjoy this book and it is a great read for anyone who, like me, loves dark academia and gothic vibes!

I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you HarperTeen and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

Trigger Warning: parental abandonment 
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luckylulureads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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