Honestly, experiencing this on audiobook really improved my experience. The narrators are wonderful and I loved the accents. However...it still couldn't save how slow and meandering this plot was. While I can enjoy slow-paced books, the writing didn't earn that in my opinion. The themes were still compelling though, and I think the ideas were super intriguing!

This story had a great premise but wasn’t developed well enough. The side characters felt flat, and because the character development was lacking overall, many of their actions didn’t make sense. I wish the story had focused more on the plant and the two main characters. The author could have built more tension around their relationship and the secret in the back room, rather than introducing side characters who blended together and added little to the plot. Also, for a horror, there wasn’t enough horror.

3.5/5 ⭐️ This was so weird. But I like weird. I honestly had no clue what this evil orchid named Baby was going to do, but I was not disappointed. I like that we got different character POVs and the audiobook did a good job with all the narrators. I think the orchid had the perfect narrator and truly made it feel like a villain. I do wish the book had given a bit more lore on Baby. At times it did go by slow, and the ending was kinda not what I expected from it.

What a delicious little read. Its easy to compare this to Little Shop of Horrors, but i think this is a far more intimate tale of obsession and love than that. Honestly, while I like Little Shop, this is far, far more fun than that. Baby, the plant monster, is exactly the what I'm looking for in lovesick, starving monsters. Will recommend to those looking for sapphics that EAT.

This is Ms. Griffin's first adult novel, and honestly, it was a great read. You've got a slowly failing shopping center in Dublin, a young girl in the aftermath of a breakup and a layoff who takes a florist job with a young woman, and oh, enmeshment and toxic relationships as embodied by a sentient human eating plant. ^^ Honestly, the way the narrative builds between the slow burn romance between Shell and Neve and the gothic narration of the plant and the slow suburban decay is really neatly entwined. The only piece of this that I'm not sure about was the Jen narrative thread, but it still helps the narrative. The alternating voices of the Shell focused narrator and the plant narrator work really well here (though I'm not sure making the plant voice male was the best choice, feels like it takes a bit of the subtlety out of it).

A plant with a superiority complex, who would have thought? This was such a WEIRD read. The characters were all absolutely unhinged, but the most unhinged ones; the plant and Dr. Jen were top tier.
Neve seemed so unbothered it was just chilling, and the combo of her with Shell just seemed so odd? Their blah personalities worked too well together that it just seemed kind of bleh. Blah and bleh.
The idea of a plant literally getting under your skin gives me the heebie jeebies SO MUCH because I love gardening and have plants all over my house. Now I wonder if/when I'm going to turn into a plant....

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

To start, the audio for this book was fantastic. All the readers did an outstanding job and helped the story flow. There were several actors who switched out, making the story move along. I would definitely recommend listening to this book.

I personally was not super invested in the story, and I wish the characters and their relationships had been developed more.

Overall, a fun listen, but I do not see myself listening to it again.

I had an ALC of this and felt like the narrators brought the story to life. This book is unsettling and quirky, a creepy killer plant. This was a fever dream and I did really enjoy it. I will never look at a plant the same way again.
4 star

Thank you to Netgalley for this ALC.
I had high hopes for this based on the synopsis but it just didn’t quite work for me. I enjoyed the narrators though, they did a great job and I appreciated that we got more than one. I almost found myself wanting MORE unhinged things to happen, it felt a bit tame. I wanted a backstory of how it all happened.

The story itself was definitely on the weird side. It had some interesting moments and a really creepy vibe, but overall it was just okay for me. What really kept me going was the audiobook narration. The narrators were absolutely phenomenal and brought so much personality and energy to the story. Honestly, the audio performance made the experience way more enjoyable than I think it would have been if I had read it in print.

The story: 3/5 ⭐️
Audiobook: 4.5/5 ⭐️

This book asks the question what if Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors was actually an abusive partner?

This was an absolute trip of a listen - after having her life blown up with a messy breakup and job loss, Shell sees a help needed sign at a local florist and immediately applies. She is enchanted by the shop owner, Neve, and is all too excited to get started. As Shell becomes more and more obsessed, she further implodes her life - ignoring her friends and family - solely focusing on the success of the flower shop and Neve.

The audio version of this was great - we get dual narration from Barry McStay and Lauren O’Leary who bring all the varied characters to life. I especially enjoyed the ending and the narration brought an extra twist.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy

A Sapphic horror story set in a flower shop? Yes please and after seeing the stunning cover I couldn't resist picking this one up. Sadly though it was a little too out there for me and I couldn't make it to the end. Perhaps just not the book for the mood I was in at the time? I do hope to try to pick it up again at a later date though. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I found this to very underwhelming and slow. I was intrigued enough to finish it but felt like it did not live up to the great cover.

3.5 Stars rounded up! Definitely a solid entry into the weird girl cannon. Eat the Ones You Love tells the story of a decaying shopping mall, a carnivorous plant that's eating people and souls and the gays just trying not to be consumed.
What I loved: The atmosphere of a florist in a run down shopping mall felt so real and the perfect setting for the story. A decaying mall is so familiar and creepy and it perfectly matched the story of a seemingly mundane houseplant that wants to kill people.

I loved the cast of characters, especially the side characters that provided a small found family for the floundering main characters.

The writing was beautiful and eerie. There were more than a few lines that stuck out to me as remarkable.

What I didn't like: I liked the story being mostly told from the pov of the killer plant in question, but I do think it made it a little harder to be super connected to the characters we are supposed to be rooting for.

I almost wanted a little bit more of how the plant came to be and how it operated. Also there are a few instances where it was spread out into the world, but we never got resolution on what it did out there or if it could survive in these small parts.

📖 Bookish Thoughts
This was eerie, offbeat, and totally my kind of horror. The first 25% felt a bit slow, but once it clicked, I couldn’t stop listening. Shell is delightfully weird, awkward, and just barely keeping it together after moving back in with her parents. Her desperation to get her life back on track was painfully relatable. But the star? ✨BABY✨ A hungry, sentient orchid who absolutely loves his name and wants to eat all of Shell’s friends. I mean?? Iconic. He was just hungry 😭

🖤 Read if you love:
• Sapphic love
• Dystopian retail nightmares
• Sentient plants (with a body count)
• Creepy, creeping horror that sticks with you

💭 Final Thoughts
Weird, creepy, and unexpectedly emotional—this isn’t your typical horror, and that’s exactly why I liked it. If you’re into unsettling reads that lean strange (and a little botanical), definitely give this one a listen.

📚 Ratings & Format
Book Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Audio Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration Style: Dual
Re-listen Worthy: Maybe—mostly for the vibes. I vibed more with the female narrator; the male didn’t quite land for me, but the overall performance held strong.

Book Released: April 22, 2025
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance listening copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

'Eat the Ones You Love' is a bizarre novel, but in a good way. The shopping mall where Shell just got a job is closing. What she doesn't know is this affects more the workers. There's a carnivorous, sentient plant hiding within the walls and floors, who wants nothing more than to eat someone. Baby, the plant, is one of my favorite voices in the audiobook. There is a strong sense of dread and decay throughout the book. Relationships of various kinds are spotlghted throughout the novel. All in all, a nice, creepy story that is also funny at times..
4 stars

Thank you as always to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for sending me an audio ARC of Eat the Ones You Love in exchange for review.

3.5 stars

I’ll be honest, I barely grazed the synopsis for this book. I saw sapphic botanical horror and immediately was intrigued, but it’s more than that it’s also giving disturbing romcom (in a good way).

This was a quick listen for me, though I will say the first 50% was the much stronger half in my opinion. The build up and slow unveiling creep of a certain mysterious happening at Shells new job was very well-paced, but then everything kind of explodes all at once. I liked both main characters (all three? lol) they were all relatable in their own way.

The strongest and most wonderful part of this was the audio and narration though. Taking place in Ireland with Irish accented narrators had my full attention and enjoyment from the first to last page. It added so much for me. If you want a modern queer little shop of horrors-esque fun quick read this is it— but I recommend the audio highly.

Thank you!

Shell Pine recently moved back into her parents house after losing her job and fiancee. Shell wanders into a flower shop and notices a help wanted sign. There Shell meets Nev the owner of the shop and hires Shell to help her out. What Shell doesn't know yet is that there is something wrong with the shop and the other stores located in a crumbling shopping mall. Refered to as Baby, the orchid plant that Nev keeps in the back of the shop. The only way for Baby to stay alive is to feed his hunger and he knows which people that he wants to eat. This was a creative kind of book where the orchid plant had his own voice and knew exaxtly what he wanted and how to acheive it. I absolutely loved this audiobook. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for letting me listen to an advanced copy of this audiobook.

I think one of the most surprising things about a novel entitled Eat the Ones You Love is how "normal" it actually is. Yes, the story is being told from the POV of a murderous plant, BUT this is essentially the story about the people trapped alongside said plant in a slowly collapsing shopping mall. It's a story about late capitalism, human connection, and botanical obsession. It's a time-old tale of dusting yourself off after disappointment and failure and finding what you're truly passionate about. It's just a great human story with an enjoyable dash of weird.

The audiobook production is wonderful, and I can't imagine experiencing this book any other way. The narrator, Barry McStay, is the perfect voice for our hungry vegetal narrator, and Lauren O’Leary does a great job bringing many of the human characters to life.

Highly recommend this one if you want to try something a little different.

I listened to the audiobook version and I'm very glad I did. I thought the narrators were great and added a lot to the quality of the book, by giving more depth to the characters and adding a touch of humour.
The story of the creepy stalker killer plant is really unsettling, and the choice of setting it in a dying mall is a brilliant idea.
Honestly just after finishing this book I'm not sure how to describe exactly my feelings about it, but a creepy vibe remains, in a very good way.
Thank you MacMillan audio for this opportunity!