- 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.

𝐈 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐌𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐚
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙷𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛, 𝚈𝙰, 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚢
rᥱᥲძ і𝖿 ᥡ᥆ᥙ ᥣіkᥱ: ᥡᥲ һ᥆rr᥆r, ᑲᥲᥣᥣᥱ𝗍, ᥲᥒძ s𝗍r᥆ᥒg 𝖿ᥱmᥲᥣᥱ ᥣᥱᥲძs ᥕі𝗍һ m᥆rᥲᥣᥣᥡ grᥲᥡ ᥴһᥲrᥲᥴ𝗍ᥱr 𝗍rᥲі𝗍s.

Ballet is basically Laura Mesny’s whole life. She’s determined to be a ballet star and prove that she as a young black girl deserves to be centre stage. She even goes as far as making a deadly deal with a primordial power in the Catacombs beneath the lovely city of Paris. With this deal she’s promised power and influence. It’s not long though before her climb to the top is piled with bodies and she’s literally turning into a monster.

I Feed Her To The Beast And The Beast Is Me is what you would get if you mixed Black Swan, House Of Hollow and Ace Of Spades. It’s a marvelously written debut novel by Jamison Shea that I simply couldn’t put down and finished in less than a day. This one deserves all the hype and then some. Absolutely loved it and can’t wait to read more by this author. This is how exactly ya horror is supposed to be done. Make sure you grab a copy of this one for spooky season.

3.5 First, this writer has chops. I didn’t want to finish this book, but I did because the words are lush and bitter. I don’t know what I just read. A retell of Hades and Persephone? Beauty and the Beast? The Twelve Dancing Princesses, but with gore and blood magic? I’m at a loss.

There is something so captivating about the innate bloodthirsty wantings of the world of dance. From Black Swan to Suspiria, that raw power that comes from movement and intention is almost too much to bear. "I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me" is a dazzling, blood soaked sprawl of book, both uptight (wink) and bursting at the seams demanding space to breath.

Laure, our captivating ballerina, is the perfect monster; let girls be angry. Let black girls be angry. The downward spiral towards success can be a hard one to watch, but inside the head of Laure, we see such a complex web of disaster. Wherever this series leads, I will follow.

really good book and kept me on my on my toes of what would happen. really enjoyed the characters and their journey and would read this author again.

This book wins best, most wild title of the year, hands down, and it's up there for best cover. The book itself pretty much lived up to those 2 high bars, and I cant wait to recommend this to any and everyone who. remotely likes YA horror. It was so, SO good.

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea is a horror fantasy following Laure Mesny, a perfectionist willing to do anything and everything to prove that she, a black girl, can earn and deserve her a top spot in the competitive ballet world. She is tired of the judgement and criticsim of her performance and looks when others are praised and promoted with a blink of an eye, tired of their faults being blinded by status and wealth when her efforts are forgotten.

One day, Laure gives into temptations and explores rumors surrounding another dancer, Josephine, and discovers a river god of blood that can help her achieve what she desires most. With a drop of her blood, Laure desperately strikes a deal with the god to increase her odds at achieving her dreams and gaining the power she's been working hard for. Little does she know, the ability comes with consequences and strength that will push her to do more than she though possible. As she continues to use the ability, gaining power and adoration from peers, broken bodies and death follows, secrets are revealed, and soon she is being hunted by another monster, possibly more monstrous and greedy than her.

How do I start this review? Um, I loved this?! I don't read horror fantasy often and honestly, I need to. This has pushed that genre further on my tbr and I can't wait to read more. I savored this book, only reading 10-30% a day and loved the experience. I admit, I didn't enjoy majority of the characters (they're written that way) but I loved reading about Laure's descent to becoming a villainous and vengeful character. I was rooting for her to succeed and win but also didn't want to see her becoming the monster that others had become. She was feeding herself to the beast (multiple beasts??) after all. Shea beautifully describes the atmosphere of the Catacombs and world of ballet while also including commentary and critique of the racism, nepotism, classism, perfection, and body image struggles that is found within.

My only critiques are about the romance and parental abandonment subplots. I was intrigued by both subplots and wanted to see more out of Laure's interactions with both men. However, I felt the plots were stuck in this middle point of not being enough. This could have been intentional to keep the story focusing on the main plot and to keep some openings for a potential continuation but, I did feel a tad disappointed with how they "ended" by the end of the story. Simply put, I just wanted more of both because they felt small and almost unnecessary.

Overall, I enjoyed Jamison Shea's horror fantasy debut and would absolutely read another from the author. 4.5 stars

First, I have to say this author either has some up-close experience in the dance world or definitely did their research. The descriptions of what dancing en pointe does to your toes… YUP. Brought back so many memories. Wowza. Not the horrific element I expected to find here, but pretty real stuff nonetheless! Ha.

I found myself nodding along to a lot of the dance descriptions, like the ways the dancers do things, from breaking in a pair of shoes to techniques used on the dance floor. That’s a lot of stuff to get right, and the author really did that. It very much lines up with my own experience.

I thought Laure’s character was really compelling. I liked the moments she delivered commentary on the ballets the company chose to perform and how they were cast, as well as the expectations about how dancers were to look and act.

In some moments, I felt out of sync with the paranormal/supernatural parts of the plot. I felt like I was missing something. I’m not sure if I didn’t absorb a few critical details or what exactly happened there.

Still, so many parts of the book deeply fascinated me. I especially liked Keturah and Andor and the ways they impacted the story. I loved the complications Andor faced in his love life, too. It was so different and really emphasized the strangeness of the story.

On the whole, I am glad I read the book. I loved getting to be immersed in a ballet world– even one so toxic and tragic as this one.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

This book was a book from the very first page.

I found myself believing in the characters and deeply invested in the story and plot.

Engaging, sinister, and utterly original. A recommended title in all formats for YA and HS collections.

I Feed Her To The Beast and the Beast Is Me was one of my biggest surprises of the year. I wasn't sure what to expect when I went into this book as I'm not a big reader of the horror genre. However, Jamison Shea and this book may have transformed me into a new fan!

I Feed Her To The Beat and the Beast is Me is an absolutely wild ride about the competitive world of ballet. It is a dark, intense, and engaging YA horror that explores the ideas of racism, nepotism, and rivalry in ballet and the lengths people are willing to go for power and success.

The book starts out with Laure, a black perfectionist ballet dancer who wants to be successful, follow her passion, and achieve her career goals. However, we (as a reader) soon learn how prejudice and brutal the ballet industry is. Laure eventually meets Jacqueline, a rich and powerful woman who invites her for a drink that leads them into the Parisian catacombs. There, Laure makes a deal with a dark power as a way to help her achieve her success.

I loved Laure. She is a perfectionist, passionate, and talented. She is also ruthless, brutal, and basically the anti-hero of the novel. I loved how far she was willing to go to achieve what she wanted. While I do feel like the secondary characters aren't fleshed out enough for me and the middle of the book does drag, I really loved how crazy the climax was, and how creeping the horror is throughout the book.

If this was the quality of Jamison Shea's debut, I cannot wait to see what she does next!

Read if you like:
- unapologetically bad characters
- Black Swan
- insane book climaxes
- creeping horror

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan for providing an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ooof so many mixed feelings about this one!

On one hand, BEAST has so many amazing elements. The cutthroat world of ballet, the catacombs below Paris, Faustian bargains, the Palais Garnier, a murder mystery... fabulous. I absolutely love the internal arc Laure goes on, and the story underneath the story. Rage stories have a special place in my heart, I think there's a decent amount of the population that goes through a 'villain era,' and I for one love love LOVE seeing characters grapple with theirs. Part of BEAST's message is about not killing yourself to try to be accepted by people who will give you nothing. That's a great message, and it works because Laure's drive is so darn strong. Ballet is everything to her, and in the end, her realization that she is nothing to ballet hits so powerful just BECAUSE of all the lengths she has gone for it. She's a messy, visceral character.

That said--I do feel like I can't just endorse the book without saying Laure does for the most part stay in her villain era without owning up to some of the things she's done. She does quite literally make a deal with an entity that kinda seems an awful lot like a demon, and by the end of the book, she's given herself over to it quite a bit. Also, If I'm remembering correctly, all white people in the book are villains? I struggled with some of the side characters (both their motivations and development), and wish we'd gotten a deeper sense of the antagonist well before they were revealed.

I suppose--I loved the story beneath the story, but had some reservations about the surface of it all.

Super grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

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.

Monstrously macabre, I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me is a dark lens into the world of professional ballet. It discusses the sharp-edged breaking of humanity that it takes to mold the perfect ballerina. And not to mention blood pacts and mysterious deaths that add a wicked flair to an already harsh environment. If you’ve ever wished to become monstrous instead of taking the hits, this book is for you.

WOW—what a gripping, powerful, gorgeously horrifying tale. Shea's novel explores resonant, relatable themes surrounding the pursuit of excellent and recognition in broken systems built on privilege. Laure is a compelling heroine, the prose is sharp as a knife, and the pacing page-turning. A stunning debut.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was originally interested in this book because the cover is so beautiful. Then the fact it’s about a black ballerina I had to read it. This story follows Laure Mesny. Laure is a black ballerina who is striving to be the best and be a part of the Paris Ballet Company. She is number one in her class. There are several rumors about how the top dancers get there. Drinking blood or taking her from other dancers to get to the top. Laure’s desperation to get to the top has her lured to the Paris catacombs where she makes a deal with a demon.

I was in my own world for a few hours as I was wrapped up in the world of this book. It gives spotlight to real issues within the ballet community racism and cutthroat behavior. Crab in the bucket behavior. The world building was elite. Jamison Shea does a great job of introducing the main character as well of the secondary characters that make you want to know more about them while not allowing them to take away from the story. I really enjoyed.

Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Laure is a perfectionist with an ax to grind. She has been constantly overlooked in the world of Parisian ballet, partially because she is black. To level the playing field she delves depths of the Catacombs and strikes a deal with a river of blood. Through this she gains everything she’s ever dreamed of, but at what cost. Despite being undeniable, Laure is not the only monster around and her desires make her the perfect target. As she delves deeper into darkness, she is faced with the ultimate choice: break herself for scraps of validation or succumb to the darkness that wants her exactly as she is. That is, if the god-killer doesn’t catch her first.

This book was an interesting YA horror. The first 20% or so is a little slow as the characters are introduced but then things really picked up. This story was rather intense, passionate, and dark. I loved how the social issues were discussed and handled. The author did a really good job. I really felt for the main character, Laure, and felt that she got the short end of the stick for a lot of things. How she dealt with that was fascinating. I did get a little lost in the ballet discussion as I don’t have a lot of background in this area, and I was unsure what some of the terms and roles were. I think that they could have been better explained. The secondary characters, at time, felt unnecessary and lacking depth. I just wish they would have been slightly better developed. There are some rather dark moments in this book, hence being horror, but it is YA, so it isn’t over the top or too intense. This book will definitely make you stop and think and for that reason I enjoyed it.

If you are looking for an engaging and thought-provoking YA horror, then check this one out.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Henry Holt and Co, and Netgalley, @netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up

I went into I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me expecting Laure to be an unlikeable female protagonist (something I actually enjoy in a story), but I was not prepared for just how relatable she was. If I ever become a supervillain, my origin story will be me finally getting fed up with all the bigotry and microaggressions I have to deal with every day and deciding to get even, rather than continuing to either educate or ignore the people hurting me. And that’s exactly what Laure does. Can you blame her? Every other ballerina in her company is rich and white, with powerful parents just dripping with privilege. The ballet is cutthroat, with ballerinas actively trying to sabotage each other (dancers often finds glass and tacks in their ballet shoes) and praying for one another’s downfall, and Laure is at a distinct disadvantage. Even though she works the hardest and performs the best of all of them, she’ll always be the Black girl who has to steal to pay for her tights. So, she cheats to level the playing field. Once she does, her talent and hard work is immediately rewarded. And honestly? It’s cathartic to watch Laure stoop to the level of the other ballerinas and their awful parents. It is SO exhausting to always have to be the bigger person in the face of abuse. I may agree with Michelle Obama’s “When they go low, we go high,” but I still don’t like having to “go high” when I would rather be a petty asshole. So, in a purely fictional world? It’s wonderfully satisfying to watch a Black woman choose the role of the villain and get even with all those rich white girls.

Ballet is still one of the least diverse performing arts, fraught with racism that ranges from subtle to overt. This is especially true in Europe. In her book Turning Pointe, Chloe Angyal discusses ballet's racism problem. She describes an encounter with a racist dance mom and her implied message to her daughter: “[Black dancers are] not really good, but they are allowed to be here. In this space that is rightfully yours, in this art form that is rightfully yours. They’re never as good as the white girls, a sweeping generalization that grants no individuality, no humanity, to any nonwhite dancer. They’re all the same, and they never deserve to be here. But don’t worry. Your excellence is a given. You belong here, while their presence is conditional or even ill-gotten.” I think this quote sums up Laure’s struggles beautifully. The only difference is that these are struggles faced by real dancers.

Even something as simple as buying pointe shoes is no easy task for Black dancers. Most dance garments are traditionally “European pink,” and don’t match darker skin tones. Black ballerinas often have to pancake their shoes in dark foundation to match their skin tone and dye their tutus and tights. It’s only recently that brands like Capezio, Freed of London, and Bloch have offered shoes in darker skin tones. In the book Laure must purchase her own ballet shoes and tights because the ballet will only pay for pink ones. Black bodies are also discriminated against in ballet. In an interview with Sheila Rohan the Black ballet dancer described racism in ballet. “Racism in the ballet arts… meant people would make remarks about the Black ballerinas’ bodies — such as their chests being ‘too busty’ or their thighs being ‘too thick.’” A Black dancer in Berlin was told to lighten her skin with white makeup in order to play a song in Swan Lake. Laure straightens and gels her curly hair into place so she won’t stand out from the other dancers, but is still told she’s too “exotic” for a French ballet by a drunk patron. The controversial ballet La Bayadère was performed in Blackface by Russian dancers (white dancers have also worn stereotypical clothing and makeup to portray Roma and Chinese characters). The same ballet put on by Laure’s company in which she plays a shade.

After being abandoned by both parents, Laure’s only source of support is her best (and only) friend, Coralie, who is… not great. She’s kind and supportive of Laure, yes, but she’s also a subpar ballerina who just assumes she’ll get a spot in Paris’ prestigious ballet due to her famous mother. She’s essentially an entitled slacker and just as oblivious to her privilege as the other rich white girls. Coralie is also a snob, turning her nose up at anything that doesn’t come with a high price tag, which grates on permanently broke Laure’s nerves. Coralie really does seem to love her best friend, but their relationship comes with a power imbalance. So, she does not take it well when that balance of power shifts and Laure starts beating her out for roles. Because she has no one else, Laure is terrified of losing her only friend (as difficult as she can be), that is until she meets the étoile of the ballet, Josephine. Josephine gives her friendship freely without expecting anything in return, and treats Laure as an equal. She introduces Laure to her friends and shows her how she too can become an étoile. Slowly, Laure starts to see what a true friendship is like and begins to pull away from Coralie, although she still refuses to drop her completely and makes excuses for the wealthy girl’s bad behavior. I liked that while Laure does pursue a romance with a man later in the book, the story is mostly focused on her female friendships. It’s also a nice change of pace to see a toxic platonic, non-familial relationship explored. I don’t think enough people talk about how friendships can be abusive and how hard “breaking up” with a friend can be.

Another interesting theme in I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me is the idea of “perfection.” As a burned-out former “gifted kid” I know what it’s like to be expected to be perfect, then destroy yourself trying to do the impossible and ultimately have a mental breakdown when you realize perfection can never be achieved, and therefore that makes you a “failure.” The ballet expects Laure and her peers to be no less than perfect, and anyone who doesn’t make the cut is thrown aside and forgotten. While Coralie can get by half-assing it because of her mother, Laure must be the best there is to even think of if she wants to compete with the others. And it means giving up everything. This kind of perfectionism is extremely damaging to your mental health. Laure also believes that acceptance and respect from the others is entirely dependent on being perfect, not realizing she deserves respect regardless of her performance.

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me is one of those books that I absolutely devoured. It held my attention throughout the story (no small feat when you have ADHD), save for a short part in the middle that felt like it was dragging. But other than that small criticism I can’t think of anything negative to say about this book. It’s a unique setting for a horror story, and a fresh spin on a Faustian bargain narrative.

A beautifully-written fever dream that reveals more of ballet than anything I've ever read before. A book about power–what is it, who has it, and how does it shape the world. A book about monstrosity in all its forms. I absolutely loved it.

This is a book that starts off so interesting and I liked the descriptions of Paris and could tell the author well researched the world of ballet. However I'm not sure why this is being promoted as horror when it's more of a speculative story. It's also very slow moving and felt like nothing was happening but everything was at the exact same time. Still there were some interesting dark things that held my attention and kept me reading.