e-Audio, 12:08:00
Narrated by: Kristolyn Lloyd
Release Date: August 29, 2023
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Read from: August 10-15, 2023
Feed Her to the Beast, #1
Source: Netgalley (I received an early e-Audio copy of this book from the publisher. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Copious depictions of blood and ritualistic self-harm (with the purpose of summoning a nonhuman entity). Descriptions of bones and corpses, body horror and an instance of body shaming relating to ballet, non-graphic torture, and murder, classism, racism, parental neglect, and abandonment.
For Readers Interested In: Horror, Thriller, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, YAThere will be blood.
Ace of Spades meets House of Hollow in this villain origin story.
Laure Mesny is a perfectionist with an axe to grind. Despite being constantly overlooked in the elite and cutthroat world of the Parisian ballet, she will do anything to prove that a Black girl can take center stage. To level the playing field, Laure ventures deep into the depths of the Catacombs and strikes a deal with a pulsating river of blood.
The primordial power Laure gains promises influence and adoration, everything she’s dreamed of and worked toward. With retribution on her mind, she surpasses her bitter and privileged peers, leaving broken bodies behind her on her climb to stardom.
But even as undeniable as she is, Laure is not the only monster around. And her vicious desires make her a perfect target for slaughter. As she descends into madness and the mystifying underworld beneath her, she is faced with the ultimate choice: continue to break herself for scraps of validation or succumb to the darkness that wants her exactly as she is—monstrous heart and all. That is, if the god-killer doesn’t catch her first.
From debut author Jamison Shea comes I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me, a slow-burn horror that lifts a veil on the institutions that profit on exclusion and the toll of giving everything to a world that will never love you back.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have been waiting on this book to come out since I heard about it. I mean since like last year. Since then I’ve been waiting on pins and needles waiting on it to come out. And then I got the e-ARC & e-Audio. I beat around the bush trying to decide when I wanted to read it. I gotta admit, I was a little worried it wasn’t going to live up to the bad ass cover it had. I’m glad to say it actually did.
Laure is in the world of ballet. She’s been overlooked for many of the staring roles, and she was tired of it. She just knew it had nothing to do with what she danced like, and all because of what the color of her skin was. So she does the only thing she can do…. Summon a non-human THING and let’s it take over her. What she doesn’t know is there’s multiple people who have ALSO done this. And then of course…. Things happen and shenanigans ensue.
When I first read the synopsis, I was like WTF! This non-human thing that came out was creepy. It’s never really told what it is or what it looks like, so of course my imagination filled in the blanks. And Lordt, I think my imagination was worse than what the author thought about lol This thing scared me and I now I fully blame it on myself. But really, the spooky vibes this gave off was crazy. And it’s like this the entire book because it really is a slow burn like the synopsis says. I was wishing there were more scenes that were crazy and I do wish it was a little more scary, but I did enjoy this. And because it was so crazy, it made the ending even crazier. Like I knew it was heading that way, but I did not know it was going to end like that.
Which brings me to the weirdest part of this. The characters. Laure was morally gray. She was definitely right to want more. It was like the dedication in the book, “To those who find freedom in becoming a monster when denied the space to be human.” I looked at that in so many ways. Like the way she tried doing things the “right way” because she was still a good dancer, but she was never picked for things because they didn’t believe she belonged there. So she did what she had to do. It really made me think of how people don’t listen to Black women until we get mad. And then we’re all over the place and being called names. It really gave me something to relate to. And so I got mad like she did. Now for the thing itself, I did wonder why it was never really explained or what Laure needed him for what he was really doing for her, but after listening to Shea in a webinar, I found out that she intentionally did it that way. She wanted us to be in the dark on whether or not he was good for her or if he was feeding off her. So basically she was making me crazy lol
I also liked the narrator. I couldn’t find anything different that she had done, but I think she did a really great job. Hopefully she will do more in the future. Now there were some really weird parts, like the non-human thing. I didn’t like the voice she gave him. It sounded like a leprechaun lol But for the most part, I did love this!
I was a little scared that this wouldn’t live up to the hype I had given it, but I really did enjoy it. The way this set me up tho at the end. I need the next book. This thing was unhinged and I need to know if it gets worse when we get there. And I need to know what’s next for them.
Overall, I give this
