When it comes to picking up a book, most stick to their typical genre, and for me, it’s always been romance. Even so, Eat the Ones You Love came on my radar, so I decided to give it a shot.
From the cover to the title, many can already guess that this has Little Shop of Horrors vibes. As someone who hasn’t ever watched the movie, this one already felt like it was out of my wheelhouse, but I chose to try it out.
In addition to being something out of my wheelhouse, I hadn’t heard of the author before, but Sarah Maria Griffin has written other books in the past. Many might recognize her young adult offerings, which include Other Words for Smoke or Spare and Found Parts. Going in with fresh eyes, I had no idea what was coming.
I’d like to thank Tor for both putting this one on my radar and giving me an ARC so I was able to read this one early.
Eat the Ones You Love is a darkly intense horror novel.
Eat the Ones You Love follows Shell, a girl who is honestly going through at the moment. She’s reeling from losing her job, breaking up with her fiance, and moving back into her childhood home with her parents and siblings. If that isn’t enough, she’s seemed to lose all motivation and frankly, most of us couldn’t blame her.
Things start to change when she goes into the mall and is immediately enraptured by a floral shop and its beautiful and intriguing manager, Neve. Once Shell is hired, the shop and hanging out with Neve become a part of her. Things only get more intense as we find out what secrets Neve is hiding and the things playing out behind the scenes.
There was truly so much drama going on in this book, and you never knew what was going to happen next. Neve has friends who work in the mall, and we meet them along with her ex-girlfriend, who plays a significant role in the story. There were dashes of romance sprinkled in and some downright unsettling moments that had me questioning what I was reading.
By the end, there were so many questions and so many thoughts swimming in my head. Most notably, what would I do if I were in Shell’s position? Either way, Eat the Ones You Love was a book outside of my typical wheelhouse, and in a way, it didn’t end up being a favorite because of that. However, I can see how horror lovers or those who adore Little Shop of Horrors would enjoy it more than I did.
Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin is out now where books are sold.