I didn’t mean to have such a lengthy break, but life has a way of throwing nonstop curve balls sometimes. I spent much of my time sick, and only now is medication finally providing some relief. I’ve jumped around a bunch of different media during my sick time, and it was hard to decide on what to bring to the blog first, but I settled on something horror adjacent for spooky season. My first time covering a book here: Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin.

The last time I wrote about a book, I was likely still in school. Nowadays I feel more equipped to write about game experiences, because I can discuss mechanics without giving away the entirety of the experience. I’ve had some weeks to digest the text, so hopefully that gives me the distance to talk about it without completely spoiling the experience for anyone interested.

Eat the Ones You Love jumped out at me from the library shelf because the book jacket was evoking a campy experience akin to Little Shop of Horrors: A woman begins working at a local florist in the mall, only to learn that the true function of the store is being controlled by a psychic carnivorous orchid in the back. This fun, arresting premise is what pulled it off the shelf for me, but it doesn’t paint the entirety of the picture. The tone here is not camp or pulp, but a slower paced meditation on the dilapidation of third spaces in our society. There’s a lot of slices of modern life with a fun little cast of mall employees, and the introduction of the horror elements is slow, and takes its time to ripen into big payoffs.

I have to highlight that this book is told in the first person from the point of view of the psychic plant. Baby, as it calls itself, is very unnerving, and manages to capture viewpoints of anyone who is unlucky enough to be infected by it. Eventually the plot splits and explores another character as another party racing to try to intervene with the fate of this doomed mall that the florist occupies. The payoffs are interesting, but I didn’t step away from the book particularly wowed. That being said, I ripped through the book in two reading sessions, so I very much enjoyed my journey with the book.

I am trying to read more often, and much like my games I enjoy, I am a big fan of experiences with flaws. This book is not going to be one of my all time favorites, but it was a quick read in a spooky season. The book contains a good deal of romantic plots, which I am not eager to seek out on my own, but the angle of the plant feeling these rushes of emotions as it symbiotically feeds from its hosts is definitely an interesting approach.

For much of last year, I went to my local library with researched lists of what I wanted to read. Lately, I go in and challenge myself if I can have a book jump out at me within ten or fifteen minutes. It’s refreshing to step into these experiences free of expectations. I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading lately! I flit around from media so frequently that it’s hard to settle in with a book sometimes, but what a great feeling it is to burrow in with a fun book, with no idea what to expect.