Reviews with content warning for Medical content - I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me

I really liked the beginning of this book, about the viciousness and infighting at a prestigious ballet academy, but as more and more plots were added it kind of fell apart for me.

Laure has a lot of pre-existing relationships that are described (the strained relationship with dad, the best friendship with Coralie) that don't really manifest on the page, and the new relationships are also really shallow. She also makes a bunch of ridiculous decisions that feel like they're supposed to make her seem cool (stealing a man's watch in public as both a scholarship student who needs to keep her rep and the only Black girl in the room? Come on) and the antagonist reveal comes with some cool imagery but no surprises.

We are told the whole time that magic has consequences but it's all pretty vague and we don't really see any. The language is overwrought and ridiculous. Terrible romance.

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caseythereader's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Thanks to Macmillan for the free copy of this book.

- I FEED HER TO THE BEAST AND THE BEAST IS ME might be described as a villain origin story. It's a book about rage and revenge and pouring your body and soul into something only to be kicked aside.
- Absolutely everyone in this book is unlikable in some way, and I love that, especially for Laure, who has every reason to be sharp and bitter.
- I have some issues with the storytelling - I wish the underworld had been better explained, there was a lot of telling us what relationships were like instead of demonstrating it, etc. However, Shea's writing style absolutely drew me in and I'm looking forward to where this series and their writing career as a whole goes.

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