This book was so hyped up when I went into reading it that I had such high hopes. The imagery was amazing but seemed to make it a little long. I did have a hard time following in parts.

I really tried with this book but I just kept loosing interest and would end up putting the book down and going off to do something else. I was lost most of the time while reading this and just felt that it was all over the place.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"We ate the dark" is the first novel by Mallory Pearson and apparently very divisive. A lot of people can't work with the wirting style and the characters or what is happening overall.

That's what I'm a little surprised about because I got exactly what I was promised and loved a lot of the different pieces of the narrative in which center the disappearance of Sofia, twin sister of Frankie, stands.

Five years ago Sofia went missing and it still ripples through the live of her family, chosen and by blood. Her loved ones are still grieving and as the sceleton of Sofia is found whole new wounds are opened up, old hurts revealed and a lot of magic happens - but not always the good kind, because even the best intentions can end in disaster if the secrets around them keep haunting the lives of those affected.

In a sometimes very atmospheric language Mallory Pearson weaves her different story arcs, takes the perspective of the friend group, a new addition and someone unknown to even Sofias twin sister. How everything is connected kept me want to read further and I really liked the way horror is depicted. Horror though grievance, through suggestioni and the very human horror of fissures that come into existence when not everyone is honest - because the time doesn't feel right or the way of getting information feels like a betrayal.

And so the story moves on, some things get resolved, new mysteries get unlocked and then there seems to be the ending ... but it isn't the ending. About 90 % into the book it would have been a really good ending. But the story continued and there were even new riddles and new plot points opened up so that in the end I think there will be another book.

And overall I think that another book could be either grandious or a total disappointment and so I would rather have had a good standalone.

Sometimes I felt a little bit disconnected where the direct magic by the older generation was depicted. I don't know if it was a good represantation or sometimes a little bit clichée (even if I think it was overall avoided). But those were only in smaller scenes so I can't speak to much about it.

Nonetheless I liked this book very much and will look forward to new books by this author.

First and foremost the quality of the writing is GREAT. The story line and the characters were interesting and enjoyable. The descriptions were lengthy, but beautifully written. If you enjoy reading for the journey and not to rush through a book just to check it off your list, you appreciate descriptions. I enjoyed the world building , magical elements, and character development the most. The ending did seem a bit rushed compared to the progression of the story, however I enjoyed the journey.

I thought this was a really beautiful, enigmatic read. The prose was lovely and lyrical and really drew me in, in particular. There was also a really good perspective on friendship and trauma, and how those two things interconnect, as well as how time changes them—and I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge how the imperfections of the character played into my liking of this book. The worldbuilding was interesting, straddling a good line between fantasy and horror and playing into my favourite parts of both. I can't wait to see what comes out of Pearson next!

We Ate the Dark is the perfect example of less is more.

The story itself is there, however the overly long sentences are just not necessary. It often felt like it was meant to be deep and mysterious wordsmithing, but just turned into what felt like a two page essay being turned into a ten page through a generator. It turns out that this style of writing is probably not for me and I feel that the plot itself was taking a backseat to the lyrical prose.

I was left with the feeling of hoping the read was almost complete but not having a lot of story and found myself only 25% through. I knew at that point that this would be a slog. I have finished and I don't know who I would even recommend this to.

Thank you to NetGalley, 47North & Mallory Pearson for an advanced copy for review. With how long it took me to get this one finished, it is now available.

I wanted to like this one more than I did.
It is a good mystery, great friendships, interesting story, intriguing fantastical elements, a lot to love, but this was too wordy for me and really impeded my enjoyment. I dragged reading this book.
I'm not big on descriptions in general, I'm quite happy skipping paragraphs when settings get their glory moments, but here descriptions are in every sentence. And while I love atmospheric moody work, I didn't feel like it served that purpose. I think the author just likes the artistic feel of descriptions, like a rococo painting with all those decorations everywhere, which is ok, it's her style, but it's not what I like to read.

I've just noticed how this really divided the reader community as I came here to give my review. Again, I want to stress this isn't badly written, it is just taking a slower more complaisant pace than most enjoy. But I can imagine angsty new adults and Wednesday fans will like it.

I recently read a fantasy book that I found challenging to follow due to the author's descriptive language. The story revolved around the themes of light and dark, magic, friendship, and a mysterious loss, which were intriguing. However, the biggest issue I faced was the lack of a clear narrator, making it hard for me to keep track of the characters and their point of view. I also felt that some parts could have been removed, and the ending seemed a bit rushed. Despite these issues, I enjoyed the portrayal of the friendships between the characters.

This book started out with so much potential and had all the makings of a possible new favourite. But I just could not do it. The writing is extraordinarily self-indulgent and what probably started out as a plan to write in Baroque ended up becoming exhausting and distracting.

This book sounded like everything I wanted: murder mystery, ghosts, haunted house, but unfortunately it wasn’t for me. I found the writing hard to grasp. It was so flowery and metaphoric, the book needed some editing and was 200 pages too long. I wasn’t interested in the characters, they read and acted very juvenile to me. Poppy, Frankie and Cass were very hard to distinguish between and all felt the same. I really had no interest in discovering what happened to Sophia and that never changed for me throughout the book. I also don’t like when there’s a romance in my horror books, it’s unnecessary. I thought aspects of this story were creepy and I would have liked more of that instead it missed the mark for me. This book might be a good read for a younger reader.

Thank you Netgalley and 47North for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

very sorry to report after months of trying i did not finish this book

im sure there are people out there who will love it but the prose was not for me

5 fucking stars bitch.

The people slandering this book are actually gonna be me homicidal.

“The descriptions are pretentious and too much” in what fucking world? Have you ever read a book before? The descriptions are beautiful and quite literally any author who’s a good writer will have similar descriptions. They’re rlly not that crazy idk why u guys r making it so dramatic. And also not knowing what the plot is/where it’s going and ur not even that far in??? Like uhhhh some books the point is the plot will build… the plot becomes extremely clear, but ig u wouldn’t know that because u dnfed. These one star reviews are just rlly getting on my nerves because this books rating has been sunk for dumb reasons. This is my favorite horror I’ve read in a LONG time.

It’s artful as shit and an amazing queer found family experience. The main characters were written amazingly I loved them all (apart from Sofia she fr screwed everyone over) and I thought they all had unique characteristics and interesting personalities.

My favorite part of this book is the worldbuilding though. I rarely find a horror book that’s this extensive with its world. It’s so fucking interesting. The mirror magic, the fissure, the god. I absolutely love this world and I hope she writes another book in it if there won’t be a second in this series.

I absolutely loved Marya and her magic was so fun to read. Her romantic tension with Frankie was so good too. I loved them together.

All in all, this book is genuinely amazing and I absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it and if you’re a reader who was interested in reading this that’s now just seen all the bad reviews—don’t fucking listen. Give this book a chance it deserves it. I almost let those affect my reading experience when I read them right before I started it, but quickly I realized they were wrong. This horror was extremely well written and plotted and has some of the most relatable characters I’ve read in a while. I also loved the author’s note. The friendships she created in this story were lovely and so amazingly queer. Haunted queer girlhood at its finest.

Thank you sm Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book!

oh. my. goodness. this book was absolutely incredible!!!! i had so much fun reading this book. it was lovely and wonderful and amazing. thank you so much to netgalley for letting me read this book before the publication date!!!

This uses the friends coming back to a tragedy, I was hooked from the first page and thought it had a great overall suspenseful feel to it. I thought the characters were perfectly written and had a strong overall feel to them, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and what happened to Sofia that fateful night. Mallory Pearson has a great writing style and I enjoyed everything about this book.

This book began with an interesting premise, then fell flat. Reading the multiple personalities is tedious. It completely detracts from the rest of the story. Tell the mystery or tell the multiple personality story - both in one book doesn’t work here.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review.

I hate doing this because I love receiving ARCs and read for review books from here, but I absolutely struggled with this book and ended up DNFing.

My biggest issue was how disjointed everything felt. We dove in right away feeling like there should have been a prequel to understand and then the story felt all over the place.

I like the premise, the idea that friends stay together even through death, but unfortunately I could not complete this.

Four women investigating the haunting murder of their friend discover more than they ever imagined in a terrifying novel about good and evil, love and death, and the spaces between.

There is so much to love in this horror novel and a few things, that for me, let it down.
We have a good ghost story, a murder mystery, a haunted house,an alternate universe, and a LGBTQ host of woman.

In a way it may have been too much for the story itself.
The writing for the most part was beautiful and one heck of a debut novel.
But it also logged me down and made it harder to follow then it needed to be. I really struggled with this novel. I wanted it to be better than the good it was.

In the end I just think there were too many things going on tonot get lost on this particular hike.

It is worth giving it a chance. It may be just the style that speaks to you,and the story itself is strong.

Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I really thought this would be a high rating for me because I love horror and the darker the better but I just didn't gel with this book, and, the worst part I am not even sure why. It felt too slow in places and too rushed in others. I will definitely read more by the author though

First off...DISCLAIMER: this title was up for grabs on NetGalley (in the Read Now section). Thanks to 47North for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

SHADES OF LOVE

Let's address the elephant in the room first, because it's not like it's a secret: We Ate the Dark has a low average rating on Goodreads. Now, I don't mean to invalidate my fellow readers' opinions...but I'm surprised at the number of bad reviews this book is receiving. I get where most of them are coming from (more about that later), but at the same time, I found a lot to love in this story, and I'm going to tell you what it is.
Look, I may be a tad biased, because Pearson put together a lot of my favourite elements for this story: ghosts, haunted houses, alternate universes, a murder mystery, and a found family of women who just won't quit. But there's a lot more in here that I didn't expect and quite liked. Three old friends whose paths diverged after one of them disappeared are brought together by a shocking discovery (another trope I can't seem to tire of), and set on getting justice for one of them, all while trying to forgive and forget the hurt they've inflicted on one another, yet at the same time remember what they used to be for one another. Plus a newcomer with a gift that's more of a burden manages to get accepted into their circle, and does her best to make them realise she belongs with them. Cycling through the voices of all four girls (not to mention the missing twin's and a separate female character's), We Ate the Dark is first and foremost an exploration of female friendship and queer love and the liminal space between the two, from teenhood to new adulthood. I've never had relationship like those in the book, and yet the author was able to make me believe in each and every one of them. While there's no evident homophobia in the story, at least one of the characters tries to forge a more "traditional" sexual identity for herself, setting the whole tragedy in motion. But it's a different tragedy than you'd expect, and the focus of the story remains on the bond among women, the nuances of their relationships, the family that fails you and the one you make for yourself. And here's where Pearson's writing excels, down to the phenomenal single chapter in first person plural.

SLIP OF THE TONGUE

Speaking of the writing...that seem to be the point of contention among the reviewers - the dealbreaker that creates a flow of 5-star reviews and an ocean of 1 and 2-star ones. Here's my take: undeniably, there's an abundance of metaphors in this story, some of which are extravagant or overripe. On the other hand, there's a robust dose of lyrical writing peeking from under the sometimes intimidating similes, and it does manage to shine and create pockets of beauty and ambiance in the middle of the clunkier passages (impressive enough for a debut book). It does help that We Ate the Dark doesn't read as if the author were browsing through a dictionary in order to find the most obscure and pretentious words (Vangie's Ghosts, I'm looking at you), and that even in its most unfortunate moments, Pearson's writing never stood in the way of my appreciation for the story and its characters. What I'm trying to say is, I'm not a fan of purple prose, but I can forgive a number of purple passages if the story as a whole is worth it - which to me, We Ate the Dark definitely is. And I would be SO pissed if the author didn't get the chance to wrap up the events she set in motion due to the lukewarm reception this book is getting - because alas, the ending has clearly been written with a second installment in mind, and I for one need to know what happens next...So let's help this story get the epilogue it deserves, shall we? 🙂