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!

Eat the Ones You Love definitely pays homage to Little Shop of Horrors with its quirky, macabre charm and over-the-top premise. Unfortunately, the first 50% of the book really drags. The buildup feels unnecessarily slow, and just when things finally start to pick up, the ending rushes in so quickly that it leaves me feeling unsatisfied. Pushing through the slower parts felt like a chore, only to have the payoff cut short.

I would’ve enjoyed it more if the pacing had been more balanced throughout, gradually building tension instead of stalling and sprinting to the finish. That said, I can still see this becoming a new cult favorite for readers who enjoy offbeat horror with a campy edge. Thank you Macmillan Audio!

Michelle "Shell" has moved back to her parents' in the Dublin suburbs, having left her fiance and lost her job in the pandemic. Wandering the mostly abandoned mall of her childhood, she spies a sign that says "Help Needed" in a floral shop, where she meets Neve, the captivating woman who runs it. Neve hires Shell (whose background in graphic design isn't related, but at this point, even minimum wage is ok....) and invites her into the orbit of her life. What Shell doesn't know, and what Neve is barely controlling, is that the orchid that lives in the back of the shop is sentient: his name is Baby, and he has an insatiable hunger for everyone around him, Neve most especially.

I rarely pick up horror, but this weird sort of Little Shop of Horrors adaptation about love and identity and possession sounded super interesting. Baby is the primary narrator, and he knows and sees all, because his tendrils are everywhere. I found his POV clever and creepy, and kind of loved him, even as he infiltrates the minds of Neve's friends. Neve has to forbid him from eating her friends, and he only reluctantly agrees. The story verges on the absurd, in a speculative fiction sort of way; it never strays to the intense or scary, which I appreciated.

I enjoyed the audiobook, since Baby has his own narrator and the rest of the POVs share another narrator, which heightens Baby's omniscient and creepy perspective.

4.25/5 Stars

Eat the Ones You Love is an eerie, atmospheric experience that kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end. The audiobook specifically was masterfully done, the rotating of narrators and the voice that is given to the "Baby" (the carnivorous plant hoping to devour people) was so well done I was blown away. If you decide to pick this up (you def should if you like horror) I would highly recommend the audiobook version. It added a layer of depth and created that oh so wonderful tension. 

So now that I've waxed poetic about the feeling of this book, let's talk about the story. Shell has just moved home after ending a long term relationship and losing her job. She is down on her luck and feeling pretty woe is me. She passes by a local flower shop with a "help needed" sign on it and our story takes off. Shell is quickly taken with Neve, our beautiful abet mysterious flower shop owner and becomes slightly obsessed with her and this new life. But it's not just Neve and Shell in this duo, Baby lingers in the background with a plan all his own. 

The prose in the novel is gorgeous and creates such a powerful atmosphere.  I adored the tension between Neve and Shell and seeing them through "baby's" eyes was such a unique experience. It added another level of texture to the story and character development. We got to see some characters through their own eyes and then through baby's eyes. It was an experience. 

Highly recommend this audio experience. The unique story, the prose, the tension, are immaculate. Thank you to the publisher for providing an ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Eat the Ones You Love is a weird, messy little book that I mostly enjoyed. It’s set in a dying Irish mall and follows Shell, a directionless thirty-something who ends up tangled in a love triangle with Neve (mysterious florist) and Baby (a sentient, carnivorous orchid who is deeply obsessed with Neve in a “I want to eat you and be with you forever” kind of way).

The premise is super fun and the writing is sharp. There’s some great commentary on burnout, retail life, and the strange intimacy of dead malls. I especially liked how unhinged Baby is and how genuinely creepy his love for Neve gets. Shell’s chaotic spiral is also fascinating to watch.

That said, the story loses steam in places, and I wanted more of the horror and less of the wandering side plots. Still, it’s unique, it’s queer, and it’s got a killer plant. Overall, recommend!

This book is like if you combined little shop of horrors and Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval and the outcome is somthing I am absolutely obsessed with! The perspective switching and the slow prgression of the plot that builds up to a nail biting ending make this book a must read in my opinion.

Botanical horror?!
YES PLEASE.

One of the main povs of this book is a blood hungry plant. Um so. Duh I loved it.

Other things to peak your interest if that wasn’t enough.
-sapphic
-a lil gruesome
-multipov (multi narrators on the audio)
- dry humor

Huge fan.

Thanks to netgalley and Macmillan audio for an alc

For lovers of The Little Shop of Horrors, Eat the Ones You Love is a fantastic listen with the story being told by Baby, the carnivorous eldritch plant monster who runs the show.

This was creepy and disturbing, and just everything I hoped it would be!

5 Stars! Lush, evocative creepy gothic tale with sharp commentary on the modern life.
So, I'm going to gush a bit. Lets start with the beautiful cover. This is a must have for your shelf. Every time i look at the cover, I see something new in the art, amazing.

Of course that's only the cover!
In short-
Shell's down on her luck, she's just left a long relationship and been made redundant at her job and she's had to move back in with her parents. She's muddling along when she sees a help wanted sign in a flower shop. She likes the flowers, and also the florist- Neve. Inside the flower shop- deep in the heart of a floundering shopping center is a orchid named Baby. Baby is hungry, and will stop at nothing to consume the things he loves.
I was expecting a bit of a campy kind of tongue in cheek satire about shop girls at the mall. Instead I got a much more solid "book meal" if you will- a Gothic Horror novel set in a ultra modern setting, showing via dark humor and price prose- our current human condition. I loved it.

Listening on Audio, I enjoyed the narration. Barry McStay and Lauren O'Leary do a great job bringing the story to life, and also sort of being un-noticeable, neither narrator overshadows the narrative and they both just sort of settle right into your listening brain- kind of , sort of, like maybe how Baby will settle into your brain and thoughts! It's a great thing when the narration flows so well that it isn't front an center.

I

I enjoyed this book overall, it was very slow to start but picked up pace near the end. I'd say most of this novel was from the perspective of a plant which made it unique and one of the most different books I've read recently. I think I didn't feel as connected to the characters because we spent too much time in the plant's perspective although I did really like reading their story. The best part of this book was the climax, it was very satisfying and was a good pay off for how slow the book started out. I loved the setting of post covid life, as it made the book feel more real and relatable. Overall I think I'll recommend it to people who like slow burn, kind of quirky, dark books.