cecil_reads's reviews
203 reviews

We Ate the Dark by Mallory Pearson

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I first read the manuscript of We Ate the Dark right as I was getting to know Mallory. From its opening lines describing a small, haunted mountain town in North Carolina, the heat of early summer days sinking into everything around, I knew that Mallory was not only a beautiful writer, but someone I undeniably wanted as a friend. Her writing brought to life all my childhood summers, my parents and grandparents’ phrases, the funny rituals and good luck charms passed down through lilted orations. She was someone cut from the same cloth.

 

We Ate the Dark is a story of finding your way back to each other, of these five young women clawing their way back to a love lost. You’ll meet Frankie, our melancholy twin with half her heart torn away. You’ll meet Poppy, our tender, lovesick girl. You’ll meet Cass, the glue that holds them all together. You’ll meet Marya, our little enigma. And you’ll meet Sofia, the one who haunts them all. 

More than that, We Ate the Dark is Mallory’s heart bound in pages. It’s her love of Baba Yaga, who is a lesbian!!! It is her wit and humor. It is her outstretched arms to all her friends. It is her patience, her tenderness. It is her deep love of horror. So many scenes of these women around Oph’s kitchen table remind me of sitting in her and Lucy’s home, enveloped by a bone-deep love. Reading this book is to know Mallory, and what a gift that is.

Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu

4.0

Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins

4.0

Hestia Strikes a Match by Christine Grillo

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Old Enough by Haley Jakobson

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott

3.75

Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me by Ada Calhoun

5.0

The Lonely Stories: 22 Celebrated Writers on the Joys & Struggles of Being Alone by Natalie Eve Garrett

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

3.75