This book will have a very niche audience. This is definitely for those with an interest in ballet. Late in the novel, others may find a way to connect with the pressures from a job that overworks you without care. The creep factor is definitely the best part about this book; I would not call it horror. Overall, this is painfully slow, and I felt like I forced myself to finish. I didn’t relate to the characters or the story. There’s an audience for this book, a very specialized group.

While this wasn't quite what I'd expected/hoped for, this YA horror will likely appeal to fans of the movie Black Swan or to those who enjoy dance. The pace stalled in a few places, which made it hard to stay engaged. I did enjoy the mystical elements, and I don't typically see that combined with dance. However, the plot jumped around a lot, and it felt like things were left out to help tie points together. The main character is a strong one that YA readers may like.

This was such a dark and delicious read! The story is written so well that it sucks you in from the start and the momentum continues to the last page.
✨
Laure is driven to be the best and because of who she is she has to work three times as hard as everyone else. When a fellow dancer shows up with a secret to getting what she wants she warily follows only to find herself thrown into a world of gods and bargains.
✨
I loved how the author really addressed the inequalities in ballet and reflected how Laure had to work three times as hard to prove herself compared to the other dancers. I loved seeing her become self aware with the supernatural elements and overcoming things that held her back. This was a horror, supernatural, mystery story all wrapped up in a blood red bow!

I loved everything about the ballet - the competition, the falsity, the emphasis on visible perfection (and how racism plays into that), on the balance of privilege and hard work, on the endless hunger of a beast that can never be fed. Laure in the ballet was vicious and driven and jagged - but also perfect and superior and so hungry for more. It made her compelling. She could reach out of the book and sink her claws right into you.

But as soon as we left the ballet, it just felt… meh. The overarching plot was slow to move, the side characters had no depth (we’re supposed to believe that they became some kind of found family, but it’s hard to buy in with what we actually get of them on-page), and then the eventual villain… as soon as the reveal happens, you go “of course” but the big confrontation just left me unsatisfied. Laure is all gray area, but the villain leaves us with nothing interesting, because we know they’re wrong from the get-go.

Overall, a solid offering but not a new favorite

I was very excited about this horror/mystery about a high level ballerina who makes a deal with some mystic and terrible force in order to have greater power and success. The concept is great and I don't see many books in which dance is a primary component. There were some promising elements here (main character Laure is the only dancer of color, and comes from a lower class background, making her unique and sometimes unwelcome amongst her peers) and ideas that are underrepresented, but ultimately, I DNFed this book after about 120 pages. The narrative was jumping around too quickly, particularly when it came to scenes in which Laure entered the "dark space" in which she was dabbling with forces beyond her control. It felt like I was missing elements and couldn't fully follow the story. This may have been isolated to me and my experience. I will likely still buy this book for my library as it represents some unique perspectives and may suit other readers better than it suited me.

Jamison Shea is an exciting new voice in young adult horror and her debut novel, I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me (what a title, right?) is sure to appeal to lovers of the genre. Featuring a Black pre-professional ballerina in Paris who's hoping to make it big in a world that is determined to keep her down and lots of blood, this novel is equal parts shocking, thrilling, and the tiniest bit confusing (though the blood monster more than makes up for that). A great selection for teens who love horror!

The title and cover offer a provocative reason to pick it up. It's a thriller but not the murder mystery that's been served to teens over the last few years- this one includes a darker, ruminating kind of evil that pulls in ballet and blood. It has the verve and creativity of a debut author in Shea and I like where she was going with it but I was disheartened that it was a trope about the cutthroat nature of ballet that includes body shaming, prejudice, and backstabbing-- when we talk about the danger of a single narrative-- I think I've only read horrible stories about the ballet world and that makes me sad. Not that I'm into ballet or have ever done it, so I think I'm objective enough to be frustrated that there is yet again another focal point of catty ballet girls full of power, money, and entitlement, so that soured my reading of the book.

Not that I wouldn't recommend it, I fully recognize this is my adult lens having read plenty of YA, but it's worth noting.

Part horror, part monster-romance. I feel like I wanted it to be more unhinged with how it was marketed, but the ballerina possessed by a primordial monster is probably going to be a going selling point for teens. The final climax did give that unhinged moment I was looking for and I'm curious to see where it's going for book two.

I finished I Feed Her to the Beast in a single sitting.

A SINGLE SITTING.

All 313 pages: gone. Gulped. Devoured.

I regret nothing.

This is a very tightly-written, well-paced book that sweeps over you like a scalpel across your throat, and the biggest part of that is definitely Laure herself. She is such a relief of a main character; a girl, a Black queer girl at that, who is sharp and obsessed and not-nice. But the blurb is a bit misleading, in my opinion; this is not a villain origin story, because Laure isn’t a villain. She’s not likable in the usual sense (although I adored her), isn’t soft and sweet, isn’t what most people would consider sympathetic and doesn’t want your sympathy, either, fuck you very much. She has so much anger in her, but it’s an anger she controls, and when she does gain supernatural power over others, she only uses it on people who really, really deserve it. She is ruthless, but only with herself; she drives herself in practise until her feet are bleeding, makes promises with supernatural entities but only bargains with things that are her own. She doesn’t hurt other people, doesn’t sacrifice others in exchange for magical power, doesn’t sabotage her peers to increase her own chances of success.

That makes her not-a-villain, in my book.

<The world had let me starve for too long, and eventually, the hungry stop caring what we eat so long as we’re fed.>

But she isn’t Nice, and gods damn that is awesome to see: let more girls be unlikable, especially girls of colour, please and thank you! Give me all the girls who’ll leap into a river of blood and bargain with monsters to get what they want; show me the girls who enjoy the power they win thus without shame, who revel in it. That’s what I want, and Shea delivers and delivers and delivers.

<I was going to carve my name into the bones of this ballet.>

And Laure isn’t even the only one: the rest of her ballet peers are, honestly, far worse than she is. In fact, the whole world of ballet is stripped of its delicate mystique by Shea’s merciless writing, and what’s revealed is naked horror: the backstabbing, the sabotage, the viciousness – and that’s only from Laure’s peers; the people running the show(s), deciding who makes the cut and why, are, frankly, fucking demonic.

I have never been so glad my mother let me quit ballet as when I was reading this book.

<Being a ballerina meant hiding our sharp teeth and claws under pink ribbon and gentle movements, to only show the world perfection.>

To be honest, if there’s any flaw in I Feed Her To the Beast, I think it’s that I never understood why Laure was so obsessed with ballet. From everything we see, it’s just needless suffering and cruelty; nothing about it is beautiful, nothing about it at all appeals. We never see anything that helps us understand why the ballet is worth everything it puts Laure through.

<I didn’t know what it was like to have friends outside of ballet, people who didn’t care what position you held and how good you were. People who weren’t your competition. What was there to talk about, to gather round for, if not for battle? What was friendship and love without fighting?>

(That might not be a flaw, though. That might be deliberate on Shea’s part. But I can’t really go there without going into spoilers.)

Alas, as usual I didn’t find the (supernatural) horror elements at all scary, but on the other hand, I flat-out adored Laure’s attraction to monstrousness and how completely and unselfconsciously she owned it, both in being drawn to things like the garden of toxic flowers, and when it came to kissing monsters.

<“What if I told you I wanted to be my most monstrous self all the time? What if I wanted to be a god? Would you pray to me?”>

FINALLY A GIRL WHO PREFERS THE BEAST TO THE PRINCE; I feel like I’ve been waiting for a character like Laure for DECADES, and nothing about her disappoints. Literally nothing.

Another thing I’ve been pining for almost forever: the dynamic between Laure and her love interest. It’s not dark – not by my standards, anyway; it’s not toxic, and they don’t hurt each other. (Much.) But Laure is very much the dominant one, the possessor, his queen and his goddess, and I will never not be heart-eyes for monster boys who worship at the feet of a girl with sharp teeth of her own.

<“Of course I would pray to you.”>

*chef’s kiss*

<He even suffered beautifully, his gaze twinkling with awe as he stared up at me, beneath my boot poised to crush him. Beholding me, Laure, the ballerina who bested him, fearsome in my own right.>

But to get back to the horror: no, ironically, and possibly intentionally, the whole river-of-blood thing isn’t where the horror in this book actually lies. The real horror is the racism and classism on full display amongst the other ballet dancers, the board and its donors, and even in the ‘friendship’ that has been Laure’s anchor for years. Some of it’s overt and some of it isn’t – some of it’s hidden like razor blades in cotton candy – but all of it is appalling, disgusting.

Maybe that’s part of why Laure never really looked like a monster to me: because she’s surrounded by people I’d actually consider monsters constantly, and next to them, she looks like a sweetheart.

<The world didn’t know a Laure that was allowed to want and take.>

This is very much a book about girls being allowed to want, to revel, to have power, to be not-nice. I think any reader raised as a girl is going to resonate with all the ways in which Laure has been taught to be gentle and sweet and say thank you for scraps – and will cheer as she finally lets her hunger out of its cage. But it’s almost heartbreaking that she considers herself a monster for that, even if she embraces monstrousness wholeheartedly – because nothing that she wants, or does, or becomes, is really monstrous. She’s ambitious, and obsessively driven, and she’s dominant sexually: so? She feels anger at everyone and everything who want to keep her down because she’s Black and poor and a girl: so? She refuses to give up and bow her head and be walked over: so? So fucking what? Is that all it takes to get a girl branded a monster?

I mean, we all know the answer to that question. But it is rage-inducing.

I Feed Her To the Beast and the Beast Is Me is an intoxicating power-fantasy for girls who don’t fit the NiceTM mould and have no interest in doing so. I devoured it, and it devoured me, and you can bet I will be there for every book Shea writes in the future, because this one is simply phenomenal.

I'm not usually a horror reader so I decided what better way to break into the genre a bit more than by picking up a YA horror to ease my way into it. I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me is quite intense and dives into themes of institutionalized exclusion and hidden discrimination. Throughout the book it lurks and while it is obvious in some scenes, it's almost entirely present the entire story and really brings to light some tough criticisms.

The beginning is a bit slow just in terms of gathering and getting to know all of the characters but then we really start to pick up the pace. Our main character is an incredibly powerful role in the novel and the connection between herself and the reader becomes so fleshed out and built upon to leave us clinging to her. She's powerful and a bit harsh with her inner monologue that searches for validation.

While being horror this still offers some insightful themes and topics all held within this beautiful and chilling metaphoric story that Jamison Shea has crafted.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this novel! It comes out August 29, 2023.

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me follows 17-year-old Laurence (Laure) Mesny, a young ballerina who will go to great lengths to not only perfect her craft, but prove her worthiness to those who doubt her place in ballet. To do this, she makes a deal with a god deep under the Paris Catacombs, becoming not only a star, but maybe a little bit of a monster.

I loved this book. Shea does a wonderful job at showing the dark underbelly of ballet: the racism, the classism, the endless need for perfection, the way that ballet affects not only dancers' minds but their bodies. It's dark and horrifying, but there's an undercurrent of love for the art and dance that's so compelling. I loved that Laure is a messy girl--she's out for blood, sometimes literally, and makes bad decisions trying to get to where she wants to be.

I also liked the secondary characters in this, particularly Andor, Ciro, and Keturah. Josephine is an interesting character, as well. There's a found family-esque aspect to this novel that I wasn't expecting, but enjoyed nonetheless.

The writing is gorgeous and lends to such a wonderful tone and atmosphere throughout the novel. From the Catacombs, to the Palais Garnier, to lush gardens--it's all so well depicted and beautifully described.

As someone who loves ballet, stories like Phantom of the Opera and Black Swan, and messy, monstrous girls, this book felt tailored specifically towards my interests. I ate it up and wanted so much more, even though the length of the novel is pretty perfect. There are some moments that feel a bit repetitive or lull, but I was always down for the ride. I can't wait to read what Shea comes out with next, and I'll certainly be picking up a physical copy of this book once it releases.

YA Horror that will appeal to fans of Black Swan, traditional ballet, and the competitive world of dance. Laure, a Black ballerina is so desperate to win in the competitive world of ballet, she makes a deal with a demon. Soon events are spiraling out of control, and the deal she made has very deadly consequences. I really liked the premise, and enjoyed listening to the audio version. I felt that the story dragged in a few places and I would have preferred things to move a bit faster.

Overall, fans of horror will enjoy this, and the references to ballet were very true to form.

This book was wild! In the very best way.

I love books where the characters do bad things, but they are cool with it… I mean at least they are honest.

The world of ballet is a competitive beast. You have to be the very best at all times to make it, sometimes having to step over others in order to get to where you want to be, at least in this book.

Laure is already a perfectionist. As a Black girl in ballet, she desires to be the best, despite the constant pressure and discrimination she endures. When she finds herself venturing into eerie underground caves, a power she never expected presents itself to her… but at what cost?

Things start to go really well for her, and as she cascades into mania, she starts to really see what she is capable of… but, what is after her? What has she bound herself to?

This is a really unique, wildly intriguing book about the lengths you go for power and what can happen along the way.

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea is a YA Horror in a world that hasn't been too people of color. The ballet world still has required their dancers to wear a neutral/skin -colored leotards and shoes. But this is not the color of their skin, especially if you're a woman of color. So how was Laure ever going to compete even if she's one of the best dancers in the company? I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

If you're wondering what it might be like to read I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me, imagine if Jordan Peele did his own version of Suspiria. This is a dark and twisted villain story about just how far someone might go for their passions, success, and power.

The story follows Laure Mesny, a young Black woman in Paris who has dedicated her life to the Paris Ballet. Ballet is a cutthroat world to begin with, but for someone who doesn't fit the "ideal" image of a ballerina - porcelain pale and delicate - Laure's path as a ballerina has been doubly difficult. No matter how hard she tries, to matter how perfect every movement is, Laure will never be able to make up for the fact that she doesn't come from a rich and powerful background, that she doesn't have the right connections, and that, well, she's Black.

Tired of giving her all to gain nothing, Laure is about to give it all up when she's approached by another ballerina, Josephine. Like Laure, Josephine comes from nothing… but also just experienced a mysteriously meteoric rise. Gossip abounds, and some suspicions will be proved correct when she tells Laure her secret. Make a deal with a dark power in the depths of the Paris Catacombs, and all Laure hoped for could come true. After trying everything, Laure starts to think she deserves a boost. But she will soon wonder if it's all worth the costs.

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me is probably one of the most unique YA books I've read in a while. There's a dearth of YA horror to begin with, but I Feed Her to the Beast has just such a different setting and tone than anything I've read recently - YA horror or otherwise.

I Feed Her to the Beast is set in Paris, and main character Laure wants nothing more than to be a star of the Paris Ballet. Because of her background and skin color, she has to fight harder than the other girls to find success. Success, being noticed and lauded is all Laure wants. Being a ballerina is not easy, and this story certainly emphasizes that. Coupled with Laure's minority status makes her struggle all the more painful. When Laure is offered a deal with the dark power that gave Josephine her success, she's truly tried everything in her ability to succeed. But because she's determined to succeed at any cost, she jumps at the chance.
To be completely honest, if any fiction mentions the Paris Catacombs, I'll snatch it right up. The catacombs feel so haunted and full of unanswered questions to begin with, that I was immediately absorbed by the premise of ballerinas discovering a dark power that could grant them their desires, (at a cost). And that's exactly what Laure does.

How Laure handles her newfound powers and the negative aspects they come with is what makes her such a unique main character. I hesitate to call Laure a heroine, because she's actually more of an antihero - another thing, in my opinion, that we don't really get enough of in YA. Because Laure is so ruthless, those that stand in her way risk harm, or worse. I loved Laure's character and how untraditional she was for a YA lead.
My main complaint about this story is that the pacing does start to drag a bit around the second half of the book. There is a lot of repetition in Laure's thoughts, what she does with her powers, and the conflicts she encounters.

I also had a bit of difficulty connecting to the secondary characters. I felt that they could have been fleshed out a little more, and that their development was a little shallow. For what they were, they were intriguing, so much so that I was disappointed we didn't get more from them.

Despite all that, I loved how this story goes there. There are some gnarly moments not for the squeamish that I liked seeing - I Feed Her to the Beast really lives up to its claims as a horror novel.

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me was a very strong YA horror debut with a stand-out setting and conflicted antihero main character. I'm so glad there were hints at a sequel because I would dive back into Laure's world anytime.

Intense and passionate story. This was a good read and will appeal to some of my students who love a book that is a little darker. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea is a YA Horror in a world that hasn't been too kind to men and women of color. The ballet world still has a lot of catching up to do when they require their dancers to wear a neutral-colored leotard and shoes but not the color of their skin, especially women of color. So how was Laure ever going to compete even if she's one of the best dancers in the company. I enjoyed the tale of someone being seduced by powers from the occult and wreaking havoc because of it. As someone of Caribbean descent, who believes in otherworldly powers, bad or good, it was great to see this representation. I loved the moments when Laure wouldn't let the racism, prejudice, and stereotypes stand. Without saying too much, her last remarks about her contribution to the company made me cheer. I enjoyed this story. The author has a great future.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

In a chilling and thought-provoking debut, Jamison Shea presents a dark and immersive tale in "I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me." This haunting story delves into the cutthroat world of the Parisian ballet, where Laure Mesny, a determined Black dancer, seeks to shatter the barriers of prejudice and prove her worth on center stage. Shea weaves a narrative that combines elements of horror, fantasy, and social commentary, making this a riveting and impactful read.

The protagonist, Laure Mesny, is a complex character whose struggle for recognition in a privileged and discriminatory ballet world is both compelling and deeply resonant. Shea crafts her journey with skill, taking readers on a harrowing descent into the depths of the Catacombs, where Laure strikes a dangerous deal with a river of blood, granting her primordial powers that promise everything she's ever desired – influence, adoration, and vindication. As she rises to stardom, leaving broken bodies in her wake, the novel explores the theme of vengeance and the price one pays for seeking retribution.

The slow-burn horror elements in the story are expertly executed, instilling a sense of dread and suspense that keeps readers on edge. Shea's vivid descriptions of the mystical underworld beneath Paris and the eerie occurrences that surround Laure's newfound powers add an atmospheric and eerie quality to the narrative.

The book delves into profound themes of exclusion, prejudice, and the cost of pursuing perfection in a society that refuses to acknowledge one's true worth. Shea sheds light on the ruthless institutions that profit from exclusionary practices, providing a sobering commentary on the world of ballet and its discriminatory nature.

One of the standout features of this novel is the exploration of moral ambiguity. Laure's descent into madness and the darker aspects of her personality raises thought-provoking questions about the nature of humanity and the thin line that separates heroes from monsters. The internal conflict Laure faces as she grapples with her newfound powers and desires adds depth to her character and keeps readers emotionally invested in her journey.

While the slow-burn nature of the horror might not be for everyone, the payoff is worth the wait, culminating in a gripping and intense climax that challenges Laure's beliefs and forces her to confront the beast within.

In conclusion, "I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me" is an impressive debut from Jamison Shea that takes readers on a chilling and thought-provoking journey. With its striking prose, complex characters, and exploration of relevant social themes, this novel establishes Shea as a talented and promising new voice in the world of dark fantasy and horror. Fans of atmospheric and introspective tales will find this book to be a compelling and unforgettable read.

This book seems like it wanted to be a Y, a version of black swan, but with a few more horror aspects. Unfortunately, I just could not get into this book, I started it, then put it aside, then restarted it, because I really wanted to like it. the character is engaging in her quest to be perfect and be recognized by the world of ballet, and just seem to be taking too long to get to where it needed to go.
I’m sure that there are other people that will really enjoy this book. It just did not hit the mark for me.

A spine-tingling horror with a sense of humor and visual language for the tragic and beautiful. Laure's descent is one for the ages.