Little Shop of Horrors as psychosexual horror with fewer musical numbers. There's a surprising amount of character depth in such a bonkers premise as killer plant invades an Irish mall.

Eat the Ones You Love is one of the weirdest books I’ve ever enjoyed, and I mean that in the best way. Perfect for lit fic lovers, this one leans into the experimental, fever dream style. If you liked Bunny by Mona Awad, you will definitely want to check it out.

At its heart, this book follows Baby, a sentient orchid who is hungry and determined to consume his favorite person, Neve. It is strange, unsettling, and oddly captivating.

All in all, this was quite the unique reading experience!

as a longtime lover of little shop of horrors, i had to try this one out, and i’m glad i did! i’d heard great things ‘about sarah maria griffin’s writing, and her prose was definitely my favorite element. the perspective of the plant was such an interesting take, and the weird body horror was just creepy enough without being too much for my tastes. i only wish this book was gayer, but it was plenty weird with a strange ending like i was hoping for.

LOVED the audiobook narration, especially the bits where the plant and neve were *one*

Truthfully, the best part of this book is the evocative and eye-catching Title. The synopsis sounds intriguing and exciting, however, it proved to be much better than the actual book. For a story about a human eating a plant, this was incredibly boring.

🪴"Lay waste to yourself all you like. I will grow in your ruin."🪴

🌱Plants... that is all.

📘Eat the Ones You Love
👩🏽@sarahgriffski
🗣@torbooks
📅April 22nd, 2025

🧠My Thoughts🧠
My👏mother👏keeps👏flowers👏in👏our👏bathrooms👏

What I'm saying is... I don't want a fricken PLANT narrating my irritable bowel movements. "No dream is was private from me." That quote... no ma'am. And this things name was BABY?! 👀 Also, was this meant to be a Little Shop of Horrors inspired story because... I got that vibe. Could just be the whole MURDER PLANT thing, though.

I will say that I think this book would be best physically read as I didn't wholly love the narration. But, the saving grace is this book is so dang quotable. I can't tell you how many quotes I wrote down, and there would have been many more had I had the physical copy in my hands.

Side note: if you listen to audiobooks at a normal speed and not crazy-adhd-lady-must-have-3x+-speed-or-she-will-perish speed, then the audiobook might just be a great fit. Some accents just don't translate well at higher rates of speed. Which is obviously no fault of the narrators--it's all my stupid sonic-gotta-go-fast brain.

💬ⓆⓄⓉⒹ: Do you have any plants in your house?

#eattheonesyoulove #sarahmariagriffin #torbooks #littleshopofhorrors #plants #horror #horrorbooks #horrorcommunity #netgalley #bookreview #audiobookreview #alc #audiobook

I think if you pick this up for the plant horror, you’re going to be disappointed. Yes the narrative is unsettling, but the book is less horror and more using a sentient plan and themes of obsession to talk about society and the way capitalism destroys community.

It was fun and I really liked the audio narrator, but ultimately, I don’t know how memorable it is. I will absolutely keep a copy on my shelves though because that cover is gorgeous.

Growing up, I loved the movie Little Shop of Horrors. So when I saw that this book seemed to use that as inspiration, I was excited. But the execution was lacking. There was a sense of urgency and building horror, but there were too many POVs in my opinion for it to be truly suspenseful. I also was not a fan of the audiobook narration.

I’m a sucker for anything that sounds like Little Shop of Horrors, so when I saw Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin...cue the "you're coming home with me" TikTok sound.

The story follows Shell, freshly heartbroken and jobless, who stumbles into a flower shop inside a shopping center and meets Neve, the florist who’s equal parts magnetic and mysterious. What Shell doesn’t know is that there’s something else lurking...Baby, a sentient, carnivorous orchid who’s obsessed with Neve and always hungry.

This is a bizarre, unsettling, but oddly tender story about desire, obsession, and the very specific pains of working retail. The dual narration from Barry McStay and Lauren O’Leary really elevated the story. If you’re a fan of horror, plants, dark humor, and some (light) body horror, hop to it.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC!

This had so much promise, and it started off so well for me. I was delighted by the bitchy plant narrator (plus some others) that was obsessed with this woman, Neve, who runs a flower shop in an aging mall that is about to be closed and bulldozed to the ground. Our MC Shell was a good way in to the dynamic between Neve and the plant, whose name I have forgotten, and to the friend group who work at this mall in dead end jobs. It was intriguing and seemed to have good atmosphere. It's set in Ireland. Plus, I'd heard the whole thing was a metaphor for being in an abusive relationship. Then, Neve and Michelle's friends start getting involved and trying to take the bitchy plant down, and that was exciting. For a little bit.

And then . . .

It just kind of fizzled? And I almost completely lost interest? Not to mention the ending was a bust. It did not provide me resolution in pretty much any way. I don't know, I can't really explain this one. I would definitely read more books from this author, but only after people I trust have read it first (and that usually agree with me about horror books!). I'm not mad I read it, but I feel it had so much potential, and didn't live up to it. 

The audiobook was the way to go, even if I didn't love how this turned out. There are two narrators, and both of them have Irish accents. The male narrator gives the bitchy plant just the right attitude.

OMG. This book was so weird and so good and I loved it. I’m not even sure how to adequately describe it…

So, most of the book is narrated in 3rd omniscient voice, which is that of a sentient plant. It’s such a bizarre premise, but it completely worked.

It definitely has shades of Little Shop of Horrors, but also, what it’s like working under late stage capitalism, how friendships change as we change, and maybe, when you really love someone, you just need to consume them.

This was such a bizarre and wonderful story, I highly recommend it if you’re looking for something different.

This was such a unique story, I loved that it was told mostly from Baby's perspective and the side plot of emails from Jen. The writing was stunning and I really appreciated the dual narrators they did a fantastic job. I enjoyed this far more than I could have imagined, such a wonderfully weird book.

🌿EAT THE ONES YOU LOVE🌿 by Sarah Maria Griffin was an unexpected story that was both intriguing and a bit slow to come to fruition. Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publishers @torbooks and @macmillanaudio for the e and audio-ARCs. #macaudio2025

🌱🌱🌱

When Chelle is out looking for a new job and stumbles upon a curious flower shop with a help wanted sign, she is inextricably drawn into the store. The shop owner Nev is charming and Chelle is immediately smitten, accepting the job offer on the spot. As Chelle works beside Nev and obsesses about her, they form an intimate relationship, but lurking in the shadows is a dark and disturbing secret that Nev keeps even closer to her heart.

While I was definitely interested in the dark secret of Nev and was enthralled by the omniscent narration of the dark entity, I lost the plot on this one a bit when new characters veer the story in a very different direction. This was clearly an attempt to explain some of the secrets of Nev outside of the knowledge of Chelle but it just didn't work very well for me as the voice of that character was wildly different than the others and I kept getting kicked out of the story so to speak. The obsession and dangerous longings of the main characters were enticing but I just kept getting lost with the side story. Overall I found this story entertaining and somewhat unique but just couldn't keep my head in the game the whole time. I am glad I read to the end but also could have done without that side part.

But seriously, I LOVE the title and cover of this book!

I really disliked everything about this book. I disliked the male narrator. I was bored with story.

Ok so this feels like Little Shop of Horrors but make it lit fic, and I mean that in a good way? This was weird, and honestly I don't know how I feel about it. But it's written in such an intriguing way that you can't stop, and you need more more more. Honestly this could lead to so much conversation and exploration, and I was shocked how much I enjoyed it, as someone who is sometimes not cool enough for Weird Girl Lit.
Highly recommend the audio - it is done so well and really adds to the story.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Phenomenal audiobook! I got lost in the story almost immediately and couldn’t stop thinking about it while I wasn’t reading.

*4 stars*

A queer evil plant horror is always a premise I will pick up. This was weird and unsettling in a good way. The setting of a decaying mall past its prime gave the story a wonderful, nostalgic kind of creepiness.

I wish we would have gotten to know Neve a little better, but I did appreciate the switch in chapters to Jen’s point of view that kind of pulled you more towards reality. Overall I liked this and I think if you like this kind of creepy, moist, plant horror you will too.

The audiobook was well done and easy to listen to. The narration was excellent, the narrators changing between sections really increased the jarring difference between narratives.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC of this work. All opinions in this review are my own.

Having started this book only digital was a bit of a challenge, until I picked up the audio. The narrators helped massively with the issue of tone. Not your typical horror, it leans more towards just weird lit. I loved Baby so much, their obsession was captivating.

A fascinatingly different type of storytelling for fans of Mexican Gothic and Knock Knock Open Wide. A wonderfully gory story and I loved the voice of the plant!

This book was a weird one and in a good way. I loved the prose and the narration but I honestly wished more time was spent developing Neve and the rest of the mall group. We spent a lot of time Shelly and honestly I found her to be the least interesting of the characters in the book. Both narrators do a really great job Barry McStay does a wonderfully creepy job brining Baby’s narration to life and really kept me invested even when I wasn’t enjoying parts of the story.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. Here are my thoughts!

Shell is in a bit of a rut. It’s the middle of the pandemic and she just broke off her engagement and lost her job. She is walking through the city when she sees a help wanted sign in a cute plant shop. She gets the job and is intrigued by the owner Neve, but little does she know that an orchid named Baby is running the show. And doing whatever it needs to to satisfy its hunger.

This book was weird, but in the best ways possible. The plot felt original once Baby was introduced into the story and the fact that Baby narrated a decent chunk of the book was captivating. I loved hearing the crazy thoughts of this plant and was entertained to see how the characters would react to his plans.

Some of the characters are a little annoying but I think they are supposed to be, but I enjoyed the various POVs in the book as everyone tries to riddle out what the heck is going on with Neve and Shell. It’s a love story, but no the type you would expect as Baby will do anything to protect the one that he loves.

Barry McStay and Lauren O’Leary have wonderful voices to listen to. I was happy with the choice to use multiple narrators, because Baby needed his own voice! Every time I hear his voice I knew it was going to be a good chapter.

Baby will be on my list of favourite villains, and I can’t wait to read the next book by Sarah Maria Griffin. If it’s even close to this one, I’ll be a very happy camper!