Thank you to CLASH Books, Dreamscape Media, Netgalley, and Eric LaRocca for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Warning: Check the trigger warnings for this book including, but not limited to: grief, child loss, rape, abuse, torture.

I've never read anything by this author, but I think I will now. I really enjoyed the storyline and this book kept me hooked until the end. I thought Ghost was a very well developed character that spent an appropriate amount of time within his backstory and character development. This book was sinister, but I felt that the ending could have been darker. I was waiting for it to really take a turn and end differently. (That is just me being morbid). This book has very intense situations, don't get me wrong, but I feel like the ending did not match the overall theme of the book. To me, it wasn't as grisly as it should have been given the trajectory of the storyline. However, I liked it and it was a great read!

The familiar prose of LaRocca, but something felt off. The majority of action happened in the final 20% and although it's great, it felt rushed. I would have like Malik to have more opportunity to fight, considering he's in law in forcemeat, his lay down and take it felt a bit contrived. Overall, great concept with visceral writing, there are some plot points I would have liked to see more fleshed out and the pacing more balanced.

PS: I love the HEA ending and appreciate it with the deviation beforehand.

Narrator was great. Easy to listen to and engaging.

Overall I really liked this. It was the first book by the author I've read and I will definitely try his backlist. What struck me most was his exemplary character work - even at their worst you couldn't help wanting to know what happened next or even rooting for them. The villain of the piece - Mr Crowley - had a hint of Leland Gaunt about him. In fact the story definitely had a Needful Things vibe in places, although it diverges away from 'what will you pay to have what you want' to 'what are the consequences of wanting in the first place'. The style too really worked for me.

This is very definitely horror though and the worst horrors are those inflicted by humans not the supernatural. This includes depictions of racism and homophobia, which although not gratuitous, nevertheless pull no punches. (Obviously this is never depicted in a way which asks us to sympathise with those points of view.) So bear that in mind if you'd rather not encounter that in a book.

Interesting horror with well developed and disturbing supernatural aspects.

DNF @87%
Trigger Warnings: Rape, Homophobia, Hate Crimes

I've read a few books but this author before, and the premise of this one sounded interesting, so I thought I'd like it. Unfortunately, I hated it so much that I couldn't push through to the end. There were things about it that were hard for me to read and felt unnecessary to the plot. And when the story wasn't disgusting and disturbing, it was boring and I don't care how it ends.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to this audio book.

Solid 3- lot of trigger warnings BUT I was able to listen to the whole thing.

I will definitely try another book by this author.

I'm not sure what to say about this book. It's a quick read and also a strange one. There are mysterious disappearances and a man named Ghost who seems to have a voice in his ear that always tells him he is no good but yet all he wants is someone to notice him and like him. Then there is Malik who lives in a big mysterious house with an entity that he claims is God living in the basement.

The narrator was engaging and kept me going with this book however it had a lot of inconsistencies and things I just didn't get.

As a horror book I think this one will appeal to some fans. The theme of losing ones self seems to be key to this book. Either to religion, or to a relationship in the guise of helping. Overall I found myself thinking about it trying to work it all out. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either.

This is my first book by this author. I am aware of their popularity and wanted to give LaRocca a shot. We follow these husbands and a man named Ghost. I was waiting for their stories to merge and find out the connection between both of them but there wasn’t one. The only time these characters interact is by change and it’s at the very end of the book.
There were so many inconsistencies with the blind little girl. It seems as though the author has forgot she’s blind. LaRocca has her do things and has characters interact with her as if she has vision. With her being a child no one seems to be watchful of her and where she goes.
If the author wants to write about men being tortured because they’re gay, okay. But I would expect there to be a connection with the story or some nuance even. It was all very predictable and as a reader it made me wonder why I had to go through the classic gay brutality for it to all come to nothing.

"Everything the Darkness Eats" just further proves that Eric LaRocca is one of the most promising new horror writers. It's a dark story of magic, horror and then human condition. The characters are messy and realistic, while the whole thing still feels like some kind of dark fantasy world. Honestly, a little less disturbing than I was expecting from LaRocca. The narrator on the audiobook is tremendous.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and CLASH Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

After a recent string of disappearances in Henley’s Edge, a grieving widower with a grim secret is drawn into a dangerous ritual thanks to the mysterious, and seemingly charming, Heart Crowley. Meanwhile, a member of local law enforcement tasked with uncovering the culprit responsible for the bizarre disappearances who soon begins to find himself the target of a current of unbridled hatred.

Damn. That was D A R K. A lot of the times you see books seen described as dark but this? THIS is gut-wrenchingly, awfully DARK. Definitely not a read that you can just pick up for escapism, but it’s such a good horror for specific readers/specific moods.

The book is told in 2 POV’s, Malik’s and Ghost’s, and I found myself finding Ghost endearing (perhaps the narration also helped). LaRocca does a great work at making yourself root for him. I had no idea where the book was heading towards to but the pacing is quite fast and the prose is not boring at all so you are always entranced to keep going.

There were some inconsistencies, like one part where Ghost is talking to little Piper and he ‘nods’ affirmatively at a question Piper makes; how is she supposed to know his answer if she’s blind? The kidnapping part was also absolutely baffling, it felt like it was written for a cartoon or something where you don’t expect credence or seriousness at all.

For my part, I had no problems with the writing style but I do think that the story needs better editing.

This was my first Eric LaRocca and I don't think it will be my last.

Based on reviews that I've seen/read of their previous works it actually wasn't as dark and disturbing as I was expecting. Having said that, it had some scenes that were extremely hard to read and the overall feel of the book was quite dark and desolate. But at the same time it had a very hopeful ending, which I did also appreciate.

I thought the writing was great actually and the long slow set up of all the characters at the beginning was enjoyable and slightly reminiscent of Stephen King's style (which is very much a positive to me). The story took a couple of unexpected turns and I'm left feeling as though there is some deeper meaning here that I've not quite got to the bottom of. I think I need to sit and think it over a lot more and maybe even give it a reread, because I definitely think there's much more to this than meets the eye. But surely the sign of a good book is that it leaves you with something to mull over, so that's ok with me.

I was provided with an advanced copy of the audiobook from the publisher via Netgalley. I thought that the narrator did an excellent job with the narration, providing enough differences between the characters to make it clear from which perspective we were listening. Overall it felt like a high quality production.

Usually I like horror, but I want horror that is well written, and I just couldn't get into this book. I tried I really tried.

The premise is interesting, but the writing was all simile and metaphor, even when it wasn't needed. In the first few chapters it felt like almost every sentence had "like" or "as if" or "as." When we weren't beat over the head with unnecessary similes the writing was just heavy and flat.

I couldn't finish so I'm not sharing across my platforms.

First off I feel like I need to point out that I'm biased. Eric LaRocca is one of my favorite current writers on the scene right now. Next I need to say that all the reviews calling this gross or disturbing, do not read any of his other books because this one is quite tame in comparison. This book is amazing, had a lot of really good ideas in it and was actually terrifying at points. The concept of losing memory and everything that makes you you is a huge fear of mine and this story did a great job of exploring that fear in a way that was highly original. It definitely used a few overused tropes along the way but it still managed to be fun and scary.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced audio copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw this on Netgalley I was thrilled to read it, as I'd read and loved LaRocca's "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke." Unfortunately, this did not live up to my expectations and overall felt sort of empty and pointless. I am genuinely confused how these two books could have been written by the same person, as "Things Have Gotten Worse..." had me on the edge of my seat, horrified as I binged it in one sitting, whereas this book possessed none of the same tension, horror, or thrill and often felt cringey.

Before I get into my issues with this book, I do want to mention that the audio narrator was excellent and the audiobook quality was great. Narrators are hit or miss for me but I enjoyed this narrator's voice and reading style.

Ok, onto the content. The writing alone I felt needed some chopping, there were so many similes and metaphors that bogged down the prose. Then structurally I also didn't really understand the choices made by the author. I'm not sure why Malik's story was included, to be honest, it kind of felt like it was only in there because the author maybe wanted to write about the horrors of homophobia, but his handling of the subject felt so cliche it was painful to read. I also feel like there was not enough backstory or depth surrounding Crowley and the occultism, etc. We enter the narrative after an intriguing, horrific prologue which feels as though it's setting up an epic, Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider-style adventure, but then we never travel back to that moment's significance or get any more insight into Crowley's history.

Part of me feels like this should have been a 500-pager with a few more perspectives added in and some more depth and world building around the magic/occult elements. That said, I would not have been able to get through it at that page count. Even in this short novella, there was too much I found frustrating. One thing that really rubbed me the wrong way is the way Ghost consistently acts inappropriately towards Piper, and it's made to seem normal/acceptable. These scenes were so so yucky, and I don't think it was intended to be. We're supposed to think it's sweet. It isn't, this kind of behavior from an adult male to a child is a huge red flag. I also just really didn't buy into his grief or his morose attitude, and the way that Gemma (Jemma?) is obsessed with him was grossly unrealistic to me-- it felt like a male's fantasy of what would happen, not what would actually happen.

My final note on this is that I think there was just so much left un- and under- explored. For example, Malik being a queer Muslim cop. Or Piper's blindness. Crowley's history, as I've mentioned. The nature of the demons/wraiths/gods and spells. Even Ghost's queerness felt like an afterthought.

While I appreciate that LaRocca is bringing queer stories into the horror genre, and loved the previous book I read by him, this one really didn't work for me. It's hard to believe this is written by the same person.

Thank you Dreamscape for an Advanced Listener Copy of this audiobook! All opinions expressed are my own.

I want to start by saying the narrator of this audio was fantastic and kept me engaged in the story even when I wanted to tune out. The production quality was very nice as well.

This book was an extremely ambitious swing at big complex issues of religion, grief, bigotry, homophobia, love, and community. While I liked the idea behind it, I spent most of this book trying to figure out what was going to happen and how all of these random pieces fit together. It was a shorter book (220 pages per amazon info) and I just don’t think there was enough space to unpack all of this story. I found myself wanting there to be more focus on either Ghost or Malik and his husband which I felt like could have made the story more focused in the short page count it had. I’m not opposed to violence and gore being used on the page as it can serve a purpose but there were multiple scenes that I felt like were too heavy handed and were used as a crutch to express the horror of the situation. Combined with some of the tell and not show throughout the book I found that it overall fell short for me.

LaRocca once again gut punched me and filled me with emotions I did not want to feel. The characters are so relatable. They could be you or I at any point in time in our lives, and how people act within the story really shines a light on how some people are still to this day. Highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for something to make you feel something you weren't ready for.

You had me at Ghost.

Eric LaRocca's writing is pretty dark at times. And it does get a wee dark in here.

A very good and very messed up story. Per the LaRocca usual.

The narrator kills it too. Perfect tone and cadence for the story.

Thank you to Eric LaRocca, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

There should sure be a trigger warning when you first start the book. I am a fan of LaRocca, but this has gruesome sexual assault in the story. Very dark, very terrifying with an ominous sense of foreboding. There were parts that felt a bit disjointed, as you are alternating between stories. The narrator did an great job and was able to keep me engaged throughout the book and will think about this story in weeks to come. 4 star

Sadly this really did not work for me. I was quite confused with both storylines and couldn't see any connections and didn't really know what was happening. I do think the writing was good and there is a great diverse cast of characters but that was the only positive for me sadly.

I don't know...

Everything the Darkness Eats was labelled as a supernatural thriller, which it was drew me in. But there should be a trigger warning that it also contains hate crimes, sexual assault, and homophobic characters.

Now that we have that out of the way. The author did make the characters diverse: a gay couple with a Muslim character, a blind child and her single mother, and a bisexual protagonist. There were two storylines that we follow, one involves a series of people disappearing from a small Connecticut town, and the other is about a gay couple experiencing severe and disgusting homophobia who have moved to the town.

I just don't know with this book, I don't understand the concept, I don't understand the connecting storylines, I just don't know.

This is the first time I've ever read something by LaRocca and although Everything the Darkness Eats was not to my taste I am more than happy to explore his other works.

Thank You to Eric LaRocca and Dreamscape Media, for the audio-digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

This was dark, disturbing, and full of hate crimes, sexual assault, homophobic characters, and an overall ickiness I cannot articulate. I struggled getting through it due to the violence and disquieting scenes, and it ended in such a lightning-fast resolution that was possible all along, so it boggled my mind. I wanted this to be a gem. A gay couple with a Muslim character, a blind child and her single mother, a bisexual protagonist - and yet it was just icky. A good example of strong ingredients and nothing worthy holding them together. I could not wait for this book to be over.