Reviews

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea

Only show reviews with written explanations

new_chapter's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

4.0

brookiie_15's review

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4.0

I enjoyed it. It made me reminisce on my time in dance and theatre. Which I loved. I think the pacing was off at times though and it could be confusing with the way it was written at times. I also think it would be harder to read if I didn’t already have a basic understanding of the dance terms. However, I think this issue can be combated by watching the dances on YouTube to help envision what’s happening. That all being said I think this was really great as a debut and I’ll definitely read what else this author writes.

imnotnotarobot's review against another edition

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The prose in this book is EXCELLENT. The atmosphere and setting reminded me of a Suspiria-esque Faustian fairytale.

It takes place in a cutthroat ballet company that brutally pits dancers against each other for marginal differences in body shape and appearances. I loved the initial story about a perfectionist, black ballerina who's dismissed from elite institutions for reasons beyond her control, and how her morality deteriorates as the bitterness of rejection ravages her heart.

However, I found reviews that tell me the latter part of the book devolves into some milquetoast romance or love-triangle and I was disappointed at the wasted potential that I couldn't get myself interested in finishing it :/ Maybe I'll pick it up again, but doubt it.

johannabanana's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

grey_jayne's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

This book is super rad and I look forward to the sequel.

It's a little slower than I would have liked, but I read this in chunks as my life was busy and I always enjoyed returning. The horror, the blood, the gore, the creatures and ancient beings, this book has it all. If the cover and title grab your attention like they did mine, it lives up to its promise and then some.

Content Warnings

dusktreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

There were some things about this book that really worked for me: the vivid imagery, the intensity of the ballet setting, the villain origin story pov. I didn’t quite click with all of it though, it dragged at times and I often wasn’t connecting with the main character’s state of mind—she was scared when I expected her to feel empowered and vice versa. The ending was satisfying and I would read another from this author and see how her storytelling evolves because I can see her really going places.