Everything the Darkness Eats

I would like to thank CLASH Books for sending me an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings: homophobia, graphic violence, rape, hate crimes, coercion, pedophilia, and kidnapping

I have been eagerly awaiting Eric LaRocca's DEBUT NOVEL since it was announced. I have been a huge fan of Eric LaRocca since Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, and my love for their work has only grown with each additional story I've read from them. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to read We Can Never Leave This Place, They Were Here Before Us, and their contribution to The Book of Queer Saints prior to their releases; I was even more excited to have the opportunity to read Everything the Darkness Eats early as well... especially because the edition of the ARC that I was sent by CLASH Books had the original cover for the novel. Needless to say, I had high expectations for this novel, and it did NOT disappoint.

I want to start by explaining to you how much I love LaRocca's writing. I've said this many times before, but their writing makes me feel like I've never known "reading for pleasure" until reading their works. They, so effortlessly, string together words so that the story becomes a buffet of delicacies for the reader to savor before consuming. I am asked to read every line with intention, and I feel that I've read very few books that request that level of concentration from me, as the reader. Their writing is beautifully hypnotic, and it draws you deeper and deeper into the depths of the darkness after which the novel is titled.

In this novel, we follow the perspectives of three queer men and their experiences in the town of Henley's Edge: Crowley, Ghost, and Malik. Each of these three men are plagued by the darkness at the center of their town; facing their own demons, their paths cross in the most unexpected ways. LaRocca doesn't shy away from the complexities of their characters; the characters within this novel are heavily flawed in their own ways, but we, as the reader, find compassion for most of them. These aren't your stereotypical, cookie-cutter queer men... they are real, and they deal with REAL issues facing the queer community, disabled community, and those with religious trauma.

The conversations, both explicit AND implicit, about religious trauma were mesmerizing, and I was so ecstatic to see it represented in such a manner because it resonated with me so deeply. As someone who grew up in the church with an extremely religious mother, a lot of the conversations presented within this book were ones that I've had internally for decades now, and it was incredible to see it written in such a beautifully horrific way within these pages. This novel made me realize my love for horror stories that center the trauma that many experience at the hands of organized religion.

LaRocca also discusses the everyday fears of being a queer person in a queer relationship. Even within a happy, loving relationship comes the fear of being perceived by the wrong person and feeling like the cause of your partner's pain: "... a common display of affection for some, and yet a vile monstrosity when the hands belonged to two men. They pulled apart, eyes lowering as if embarrassed, as if suddenly remembering they should be ashamed" [pp. 55]. There were so many scenes in this novel that were horrifying and gut-wrenching for me as a queer man because they were rooted in what queer people face for just existing. This was another aspect of the novel that made me feel seen and understood.

There's not much more to say about this novel without getting into spoilers (which I plan to do in the next section of my review); therefore, if you enjoy queer horror, religious themes, graphic violence, flawed characters, and unique speculative elements, then I believe you will enjoy Eric Larocca's debut novel, Everything the Darkness Eats.

Once you read the novel, you should come back to this review to read my spoiler-filled thoughts, and to check out the spreadsheet I created for my annotations. I plan to add to this with every re-read of this book that I do, so I figured that it may be fun to share things that I found important enough to mark throughout the story: the recurring floral motif (19+), the religious themes (16+), the all-too-real queer experiences (10+), my conspiracies while reading (4+), and SO MUCH MORE! Click the following link to see for yourself, but BE WARNED... here there be SPOILERS: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ne2JdUQyIjipBr9TKf-_vXxUsSSFjz6nOLzp7hC2gxo/edit?usp=sharing

SPOILER THOUGHTS:

Okay, now that it's just us squirrel friends... let's talk SPOILERS!

I'm going to refrain from discussing specific plot points here; however, if you want to discuss those with me, feel free to DM me here or on my instagram (@bookishlybrandon) to discuss! I want to spend this time to discuss the overall themes of this novel. To me, it was a commentary on God and humanity. LaRocca seemed to be making the argument that humans hold the true power, and God is merely a conduit for human action or inaction. In this novel, the God present within its pages is only capable of doing what is willed to be done by the humans with which it interacts. For example, Crowley's interaction with this God caused pain and destruction with his ideals that, quite literally, matched up with the rites and ceremonies present within many a Christian sect:

- "Ghost winced, the old man's blood dripping on his forehead. It wasn't long before Ghost's face was spattered with red." (Communion?) [pp. 180]
- "Mr. Crowley flashed a grin at him. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the old man commanded the beads of blood smeared along Ghost's forehead to form the shape of a small cross. When he was finished and satisfied with his work, Mr. Crowley completed the prayer in Latin." (Ash Wednesday or an anointing of oil?) [pp. 182]
- "'You'll have to go under and hold your breath while I recite the prayer,' Mr. Crowley explained. 'It's imperative you stay under until I'm finished.'" (Baptism?) [pp. 194]
- "'If this is going to work, I need you to offer me the very last of your resistance, dear boy,' Mr. Crowley demanded. 'I know you've been hiding it from me.'" (Total submission paired with a confession-- similar to the act of "being saved")[pp. 208]

For Crowley it was: religiosity, priesthood, ceremonies, taking advantage, manipulation, brainwashing, and the want for power. His queerness doesn't relieve him of his villainy... and I'm glad that LaRocca went with that approach to show the full range of the spectrum for queer characters. Crowley sought power, and he was willing to use whatever he could, paired with the conduit (God), to get the power he craved.

Aversely, for Ghost (a queer, disabled man with an albatross of sorts around his neck (which we all know becomes important at the end of the novel)) it was: empathy, love, and the erasure of trauma rather than the feeling of it for the rest of their lives. Ghost has more love for the other queer men in this story than the God that created them because of his wish for the erasure of Malik's memories of his gang-rape and torture. God only does that THROUGH GHOST'S ACTION... without Ghost providing the wish, the God would have kept things the way they were. Not only that, but Ghost didn't even want recognition for his "good deed" toward Malik. God seeks to be praised for all of eternity and literally asks for "all the glory" from his creations, but Ghost sees that it isn't necessary. He can live his life knowing that he helped other people without feeling that THEY needed to know that he helped them.

It wasn't until writing this review, and referencing Ghost's "wraith" as an albatross, that I started to speculate about its potential meaning a bit more. I literally wrote on the last page of the book, "is it representative of intuition?" We saw that Piper, too, had a wraith around her neck; because of this, I was left wondering what the wraith represented. I think it may, like the albatross from Susan Hill's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," represent the burden of guilt and regret.

Ghost carries the burden of the death of Hailey, his partner, and their unborn child: "It was his fault she was there, after all. It was all his fault" [pp.49]. Ghost was driving in a storm, Hailey had asked him to pull over, but he insisted he could keep driving through the storm. One distracted glance at Hailey later, and headlights were pointed right at him. He swerved to miss it and ran into an oak tree that crushed the car and his partner. Because of the guilt that Ghost harbors for the death of his partner, he wants to prevent anyone else from experiencing the pain and heartbreak he's experienced.

This wraith of guilt also destroys Crowley when he comes into contact with it because Crowley doesn't seem to have an ounce of guilt for the pain and destruction he's caused; when confronted with it, it becomes to much for him to bear, and he perishes.

As for Piper, we're never explicitly given a reason for a feeling of guilt she may have around her neck in the form of her wraith; however, I think that it isn't difficult to relay it back to her blindness and the fear she has of burdening her mother, Gemma. We never see Gemma express this sentiment to Piper; however, the fact that Gemma was willing to follow Crowley for the opportunity of Gemma's blindness to be "cured" could be argued that it may have been because of the increased difficulty of raising a blind child. Again, this could have been exacerbated by Piper and Gemma's family members who cared for Piper while Gemma was missing. Expressing their hopes for their daughter being alive through some excuses that may have been reasons why Gemma would've just left Piper without warning. One of those reasons could've been, again, the added stress that Gemma faced as the parent of a blind child. Again, most of this is based around assumptions, but it could be argued nonetheless. I think this understanding of the wraiths makes more sense than any of the others I've thought up so far.

I look forward to rereading this novel someday and picking up on things I may have missed during my first read; however, I know that this book will be one that I think about LONG after finishing it (it's already been several weeks since I finished it, and I'm STILL thinking about it daily). I'd love to hear what you all thought of it as well, so feel free to let me know in the comments!