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tessameh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, and Sexual assault
nightoscphere's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
............ okay so, i get the low ratings!
im sorry but u cant put on the ryan murphy wig and be shocked when u r treated like ryan murphy! reading this book was giving me flashbacks to seeing my sister & mom watch ahs: asylum in the way that i witnessed a queer writer tortue their queer character bc of their queerness. except that character actually had a three dimensional personality and was vital to the plot. malik and his husband? are Not!
i get that (as ive gleamed from ppl who enjoyed the book/the writer) the violence isnt an endorsement, that it's kind of like a takedown of "what doesnt kill you makes a stronger" bc what doesnt kill you just.... irrevocably scars u physically and mentally for life. u arent stronger for living through the worst shit imaginable, ur just a person who now has to figure out how to keep on living. or maybe it's more about the place of god and humanity — how it's fellow humans who are the arbiters of good and evil, of devils and angels, of who gets deliverance and who gets cast to hell. but that all falls apart to me when it comes to the characterization of malik.
ive seen some ppl comment on how real the characters are, how complex both leads are allowed to be — but i object on the account of malik. i get why ghost is the way he is, i even get heart though we never read his pov, but malik? a muslim, queer, small town cop? is reduced to these factors and not even in any sort of interesting way.
i assume that malik is a person of colour, but that's solely bc of his name and background. bc race is not mentioned directly or inadvertently *at all* in this gook. and im not expecting a white author to unpack the nuances of racism, but to ham over the head how disability, faith, and queerness colour these leads lives.... but race is just? a nonfactor? to have a muslim character with a name like naseem malik that acknowledges his queerness, acknowledges his upbringing, (kind of) acknowledges his relationship to islam, but not race? ESPECIALLY in a small town? as a COP!!? in BIG TWENTY TWENTY THREE?!? like... even if he IS white, would he not have some sort of story about the preconceived notions his name holds?!? like?!? NOT EVEN ONCE?!!! im sorry but I CALL BULLSHIT'
it would be one thing if malik and his husband had gone through these horrors and we had been let into their interiority... but we dont. ghost is given so much. even HEART is given a layered backstory. but what do we know about malik beyond his identity? his parents died young? he was raised by his loving grandparents? hes... angry? okay... what else?
i can say heart had his suits, his way with words, his musings on creator vs creation. ghost had tangible grief, had a spiritual embodiment of his worst thoughts, had an unwanted solitude that coloured his every move. but malik? was just a gay, muslim, cop, who was a victim of the absolute worse of bigotry. and so was his husband. and then they just.... get a magic memory wipe from GOD (YES ACTUAL GOD) and live happily ever after?!?!
which yes, was granted SOLELY bc GHOST asked for it but. that's it. thats all. malik doesnt have a role in the mysterious disappearances, or connects with any of the named characters or has anything to do at all with the magic of the story beyond being a worthy but random benefactor of a miracle! which may have been the point but it's a stupid point!
i tried this out bc i like certain cosmic horror stories (im a nope (2022) and archive81 audio drama supremacist after all), but not in this fashion. especially not when meaningless violence is at the heart of it. even if the meaning in the meaningless violence is that this shit IS meaningless/overkill, that simply bores me. anyone can torture some gays!! but a the very LEAST explore the interiority of ALL your leads, ESPECIALLY your (assumed) leads of colour! dont reduce them to plot devices and get shocked when ppl r mad they're reduced to plot devices! esp when treated so violently like.... ur gonna have haters! embrace the girls n gays who got it and if u want a wider readership, then learn from the girls n gays who didnt!
bc again..... ur a muslim cop in a small city and that niche experience doesnt come up in his thoughts ONCE?!?! or, they bring up malik not wanting to be a father — okay then DEVELOP THAT HELLO?!? it wouldve been an interesting link with heart's whole creator/creation obsession!! and malik + his husband werent able to be useful in this plot beyond being saved by god?!? like they couldnt have been like... idk... really into solving the mystery? being like "no one cares to solve our case so the least we can do is solve theirs??" like im fine with never understanding god or what tf the wraith is/why its there or how heart even got his power — but to give malik so little?!?!? despite being the second pov?!? just sickens me like...... yeah okay whatever! whatever! im moving on!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Car accident
Minor: Ableism, Mental illness, and Abandonment
matty_joe319's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I was really excited about this book upon seeing the cover, reading the description, even reading the prologue. I had heard great things about LaRocca’s short stories, so thought the book would be good. Unfortunately, it was a lot of edge with not much substance. I loved the idea of a queer religious-critique small town horror story, but this did not have much depth of commentary or much of a clear point of view. Characters often act without motive or - at best - without intelligence, and LaRocca seems to think that suffering is the same as plot. There is a lot of suffering and there is not much plot - or at least not much that is particularly engaging. LaRocca’s prose itself is full of metaphors that feel too literal and formal narration that ends up feeling more pretentious than creepy. The opening prologue and chapters had so much tension and promise and it was a shame to see the rest of the book felt unbaked in comparison. LaRocca has a great imagination - I just hope he can find a better editor or more restraint in future works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Trafficking
Minor: Biphobia and Islamophobia
Graphic depiction ofaudlydarling's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
quinnxing's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Chronic illness, Grief, and Murder
alixlowe's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Ableism
This includes graphic imagery of the above content. The other has said that they included meaningless violence because meaningless violence happens to queer people everyday.jadepfaefflin's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
finnthehuman217's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-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
3.0
I don’t like the way queer trauma is treated as the horror story here. It’s not like we actually have lives besides being the victims of hate crimes. I found that the characters were lovable but the gratuitous violence was too much for me. Just as an aside? I love André Santana’s voice! He narrated the Bury your gays book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
shelf_life_with_jay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Everything the Darkness Eats is a dark and unsettling novel with significant connections to themes of grief, trauma, and the evil things/secrets found in small-town America. This novel introduces deeply damaged characters dealing with various personal traumas (mainly loss), which makes the book's atmosphere thick and dreadful. LaRocca developed and built tension that followed you throughout each page.
Because this book contained significant trauma, I would suggest potential trigger warnings at the beginning. However, those were lacking. I struggled with how some of the scenes painted for the reader were addressed and how long they carried out on the page, especially the scenes with Malik and Brett.
Based on the description, I was excited to dive into Everything the Darkness Eats. Unfortunately, some traumatic scenes were mishandled, and the story was disjointed and lacked a clear direction. As a result, I found myself struggling to connect with the overarching plot.
Truthfully, it was not until the final two chapters that the pieces started to fall into place, but by then, I was already lost as a reader. It almost seemed too much like a coincidence that some of the pieces fell into place, which took away from this novel.
As much as it pains me, this book just failed to deliver.
Because this book contained significant trauma, I would suggest potential trigger warnings at the beginning. However, those were lacking. I struggled with how some of the scenes painted for the reader were addressed and how long they carried out on the page, especially the scenes with Malik and Brett.
Based on the description, I was excited to dive into Everything the Darkness Eats. Unfortunately, some traumatic scenes were mishandled, and the story was disjointed and lacked a clear direction. As a result, I found myself struggling to connect with the overarching plot.
Truthfully, it was not until the final two chapters that the pieces started to fall into place, but by then, I was already lost as a reader. It almost seemed too much like a coincidence that some of the pieces fell into place, which took away from this novel.
As much as it pains me, this book just failed to deliver.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture
Minor: Kidnapping
caro_mac's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence