Imagine a book about a 30-something woman at a crossroads in life. She's lost her job and her long-term relationship and has to move back into her parents' house in the town she thought she'd left behind. She sees a 'help needed' sign in a local flower shop window and her life changes forever.

Now imagine this is a story directed by David Lynch.

I've been wanting to read one of Sarah Maria Griffin's books for ages and I'm so glad I picked up Eat the Ones You Love. She's a wonderful writer - the prose in this book are absolutely gorgeous. It's a slow burn of a story driven by the characters rather than plot, and she keeps you totally compelled by the familiar faces - in a way, we all know the people in this book:

The girl who has just been dumped and is pretending she's fine (even though we all know she's not fine).

The guy who never managed to break out of his small hometown.

The kid who has so much potential, if only he can get out.

The person who had her life totally planned out until it suddenly fell apart.

In many ways it's a quiet story about a group of friends in a Dublin suburb getting on their lives. I think this was my favourite aspect of the book. Griffin makes these characters shine in their own way and you really feel like you know them because, in a way, you do.

And then, of course, there's Baby.

Baby is our narrator. Baby is also a monstrous, sentient orchid who has crept into the mind and life of Neve, the florist. He is frightening and hungry and a total joy to read as he looms large over Shell's life (though she doesn't know it yet). As someone who has always wanted a triffid to be my friend, it's not terribly surprising that I loved Baby. He's just a little guy doing his best to survive and love.

I loved how unapologetically weird Eat the Ones You Love is. Will it work for every reader? No, probably not. But if you like your books strange and surreal, I can't recommend this one more highly. I can't wait to dig into Sarah Maria Griffin's backlist and experience her writing all over again.

I have been waiting for this book since I first heard whispers of it on instagram and I am delighted to say that it did not disappoint.

"Eat The Ones You Love" is the perfect combination of "Little Shop of Horrors" meets "Twin Peaks" meets north suburban Dublin. There aren't many authors that can take the liminal space that is an old run down shop centre and bring it to life.

The story of "Eat The Ones You Love" strikes true mixing daily minutiae with surrealism in an acceptingly fluid and skilled way. The reader from the out-set finds themselves accepting the notion of "Baby" a controlling morally obnoxious orchid without a blink, no more than we accept that Shell is trying to re-find her balance after she ends her engagement and loses her job. I think Griffin also perfectly captures that weird space in between in your 20's and 30's where everything and nothing hang in the balance all at the same time. It will particularly resonate with millennials who have had no choice but to abandon the path's our parents walked because they are no longer realistic. There is always catharsis in seeing a thing named and I think a lot of the horror of "Eat The Ones You Love" deals in is the fact that it names things for what they are either directly or indirectly. We have all stayed in relationships that damaged us, we have all stayed for too long in friendships that were damaging to all involved, and often, whether we like it or not we have all being the villain in someone's story. Griffin captures those things beautifully and gives them a voice through the ever malicious Baby. Shell narrates the often softer, more insidious fears that can cripple us, our self worth, whether we made the right choice. She is the voice of "How did I end up here?" while also trying to justify it to herself. I won't give spoilers but I find that Shell's voice was deeply reminiscent of those moments where you have no idea who you are and are desperately trying to establish who you'll become.

It also has to be noted that "Eat The Ones You Love" is a strange love letter to the north Dublin suburbs that time is rapidly erasing. As a born North-sider there is deep nostalgia to be found in this book, I can picture perfectly the shopping centres of my youth that were once bustling with business that now have more shops closed in them than open. I understand the dynamics of the sprawling housing estates that Griffin lay's out for us. I know what it is to be loyal to a place even when it starts to fall down around you.

It is safe to say that Griffin's skill as a story-teller is exemplary, I've devoured her work for years and enjoy it more with each book. She is the rare wonder of a writer that can truly suspend mundane reality for her readers and twist it into something else. This is a book that I will be recommending to many. My thanks as always to Sarah Maria Griffin, and netgalley for the eARC.

Shell is starting over. After the end of an engagement and being laid off from her job, she wanders through the local decaying mall looking for meaning when she happens upon a help needed—not wanted—sign outside a florist shop. From there, we meet Neve and a cast of quirky characters tethered to the dying mall in some way, shape or form, and of course, Baby, a plant creature with an insatiable and unsettling appetite.

Eat The Ones You Love is fascinating, dark and creepy but shines brightest when it examines the late 30s malaise through a uniquely millennial lens from Shell's perspective. This novel is as much of a latent coming of age as a plant horror story. Everyday horrors like losing your job, which leads you to question your self-worth and purpose, losing connection with your friend group you already should have left in the past, and the end of a relationship you thought would go the distance is just as scary. With no road map to follow like the one our parents had in a world that no longer exists, growth in no particular direction is frightening.

Baby is the most enjoyable character in the story for me. Hear me out! He is vile, and his constant weaponized (and often fake) incompetence, the constant reminder that he is a baby, is both maddening and relatable. He is also, I believe, the manifestation of the very quandary of getting older in this era, especially as a millennial. We are getting older but do not necessarily feel any more in control or further along in our lives. So, we hold on to when we should let go. Stay in friendships that don't serve us because we don't know what's next and may not want to find out.

Neve is his biggest enabler, and so are we. His voice is alluring, and the precision with which he clocks Shell, her insecurities, and how far she's willing to go to maintain this new shadow of a life is alarming but eerily compelling. After all, what other option is there, starting over again?

If you're a millennial at a crossroads, chances are you'll love this twisted tale that intertwines commentary about grieving the life you thought you would have or never did. Get ready to eat up this generationally relevant horror with Griffin's lyrical and sharp writing.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eArc!

Thanks to Sarah Maria Griffin and Netgalley for a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Eat The Ones You Love tells the story of florist Neve, new assistant down on her luck, Shell and one very hungry plant who gets between them. This books was more of a slow burn and introspective ride but I really enjoyed my time with it. I related a lot to Shell, at a loose end in her life having moved back in with her parents after a break up with her fiancee and distancing herself from the groups of people who are supposed to be her friends. A new start is what she needs and she thinks she's found it in the small flower shop in the local crumbling mall with the 'Help Needed' sign hung outside. But she's about to get more then she bargained for, both with the florist's owner the strange Neve, and in a certain plant called Baby who has wound his way around the shop and its environs.

I really enjoyed the story this book had to tell, bouncing back and forth between Shell who was an easily relatable protagonist, Neve's ex girlfriend, Jen, and the plant itself who has a starring role all his own in the narrative here. Whilst I saw the inevitable conclusion for this story coming, it still was an eerie reading experience and one that tugged at my heart strings, and the ending felt... right, even if it was also bittersweet.

A really interesting story, and I would definitely check out more from this author in the future. Also seeing more horror set in Ireland was nice :)

Also, guess I should really get around to reading The Little Shop of Horrors now, huh?

Having just left her fiance, moved back to her parents and lost her job Shell needs a change so when she sees the help needed sign in the florists in her local shopping mall she decides to take a chance and the beautiful florist, Neve, she's working with makes the decision a lot easier. But the mall has something dark growing in the centre, and Neve belongs to him. He needs her to keep growing bigger and stronger, and he'll stop at nothing to consume her completely.

This was really weird, creepy, and unsettling but so much fun to read. This being told through the perspective of the plant made this so much weirder in a good way watching him consume everything around him and control Neve was very unsettling. I would've liked to have seen more of the plant doing its horrifying creepy stuff, though as I felt there wasnt enough. This has a big found family element and watching Shell get brought into a group of people who like her for her was heartwarming. if you like weird creepy stuff this one's definitely for you.

Loved this book. So atmospheric and such a good mix of friendships, relationships, the messy reality of life and then some WTF horror!

I am a huge fan of plant horror (I have a tattoo of Audrey 2, the og scary plant) and Eat The Ones You Love is definitely going on my list of great examples of the genre.

This book is a wonderfully wild and gothic story, set in Ireland, with lovely queer rep. I think the best way to describe this book is unsettling. It's not outright scary or gory, but you definitely feel off kilter and unsure about what's coming. This is in part due to the wonderful writing style, and the very clever POV shifts.

Highly recommend for people who enjoy feeling disconcerted, and a little creeped out. Do not recommend reading alone in a dark room with the seedlings you've been babying through the colder months.

A very deranged, gothic book with excellent LGBT+ rep, set in Ireland as well which I loved. Highly recommend

Do you like Little Shop of Horrors? If so I think you’ll enjoy this book. I read an eARC on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This book was absolutely wild and I could not put it down. It feels like watching something really horrific unfurling in real time.

There was something so wonderfully incisive about the writing. It would have been a really cool, weird and entertaining story anyway but the writing style made it so memorable. I was completely engaged with this story but the quality of the writing makes this book really exciting. I love that so much of this book is told from the monster’s perspective. What a fascinating narrator! So morally questionable and yet it’s really just in their nature. Their actions are horrific but it’s hard to fully blame theme. This made the book so entertaining, so graphic at times, and raised so many questions!

There was such an enticing positioning of beauty against rot and decay that the author executed exceptionally. Most of the book takes place in a shopping centre at the end of its life, decrepit, and yet loved for the memories, for the friendships formed there.

The plot was absolutely gripping as we follow Shell as she attempts to start a new life in the wake of a break up and job loss. We see her try to forge a new identity, explore parts of herself usually repressed, look for meaning and companionship, and put her old life on mute. I found her fascinating, and even more so, the monsters insidious affection for her.

I absolutely loved this book, gripping plot, fascinating monster, flawed characters, beautiful writing. Just an outstanding read.

I was excited to get approved for this, but I do this I judged the cover . Not a popular opinion on this book but it was too much of a slow burn for me, even if it was beautifully written. I don’t think it should have been so long,

The weirdest book I think I’ve ever read… but in the best way. What an intricate and utterly crazy story. This had me completely gripped from the beginning. As a horror, thriller, suspense novel it hit all the right notes and made me cringe (in a good way). I think this is going to be super popular when it’s released and I can’t wait to see it on shelves soon!!!

First of all, he’s just a baby!

Eat the Ones You Love is about the horrors. The horrors of life, the horrors of love, and the horrors of working in retail. And also maybe a little bit about the horrors of having a sentient orchid who loves you so badly that he wants to eat you…

This book was such an enjoyable read! The way the narrative kept changing and we also got to experience the story from the perspective of Baby (the monstrous plant) was so uniquely creepy and fun! I loved the Little Shop of Horrors vibes and the botanical imagery was so vibrant and vivid! I thought the characters were all interesting and I enjoyed the complicity of their relationships and the showcasing of strong friendships. I also loved the exploration of toxicity and unhealthy attachments and the way that they can destroy and consume you.

Do I wish there had been slightly more horror involved? Yes. I do think this book could have been so much more bloody and horrifying, but I still appreciated and enjoyed the more emotional and character driven direction that the author chose to go with it.

Eat the Ones You Love is a dark and beautifully unsettling story of love, possession and all consuming hunger. (It’s also sapphic and set in Ireland, so what more could you want, really?)


Thank you so much to Netgalley and Titan Books for an ARC!

I received an advance reader copy of this book courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

EAT THE ONES YOU LOVE is a supernatural story where a sentient carnivore plant lives inside a dilapidated shopping centre in north Dublin. I found the plot very creative and the writing was excellent. The character development provided enough connection with the struggles of the main characters while maintaining a light-hearted approach.
I would recommend this book if you are looking for a fun and mysterious read.

This novel is about Shell, reeling from a breakup with her fiancé, after she moves back home to her parents in Ireland. She responds to a request for an assistant job at a florists with Neve, also reeling from recent breakup. This novel is also about Baby, the ravenous Orchid at the centre of the mall where these women and their friends work.

I loved the atmosphere of this, the decay and the way Baby wove his ravenous tendrils into the very mortar and flesh of everything in the Mall. It's mainly told from his perspective as he sees through the eyes of those he's grabbed his greedy tendrils on to. Namely Neve, his guardian, and Shell, whi he artfully manipulates into doing what he craves the most.

An absolute delight to read! Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Title: Eat the Ones you Love
Author: Sarah Maria Griffin
Pages: 288
Rating: 4/5 (3.5, rounded up for Goodreads)
Spice/Romance level: 🌶️

This was such a fun read. Not only because there was a character with my name in there 🤣

It had little shop of horror, skid row vibes, a bisexual female main,
Beautiful florist arrangements, and great friendships. This was also my first book I've read that was based in Ireland!

I thought it was clever to have the perspective of "baby" throughout most of the plot. The intensity and passion between both Neve and baby really shone through in an uncomfortable way. With a rose tinted glasses perspective on things.

The drama between old friendships and relationships were entertaining and the loyalty between new friendships were endearing and offered hope.

It is a short read at under 300 pages so a great, entertaining horror that isn't too gore heavy, and a standalone read.

No. There isn't a singing dentist!

You'll love this book if you like
- Work place love affairs
- monster horror
- possession
- break up
- plants and flowers
- sapphic romance

Eat the Ones You Love is a horror novel set in a flower shop in a dying shopping centre in Ireland. Shell is back living at her parents' house after a breakup, looking for something to do, when a 'help needed' sign at the flower shop in her local shopping centre calls out to her. Shell is immediately drawn to the florist, Neve, and starts working with her, building up the shop's presence on social media even as the shopping centre is threatened with closure. Caught between her attraction to Neve and the strange secrets Neve might be hiding about plants in the shop, Shell ends up in a far weirder situation than she might've expected.

This is a very slow burn book, with some horror elements, but more of an exploration of relationships, capitalism, and symbiosis. The characters are interesting, not just Shell and Neve but also other people who work in the shopping centre, and also Neve's ex Jen who gets some parallel focus as the narrative progresses, and especially what they do or don't do as a result of other people. I liked the shopping centre setting (I love shopping centre horror and what it can say about consumerism or capitalism) and it did really evoke the concept of an almost dead shopping centre. However, I found the pace of the plot and the lack of much really happening caused the book to drag, and I wish it went a bit further with some of the elements. In comparison to the rest of the book, the ending is very quick, and I feel it could've drawn out some of the horror a bit more.

Feed me Seymour! was what I was expecting from this book - did I get it, a bit - was it worth it - sadly no
Beautiful writing style, but there was no substance to the story, it was too long and felt like it could have been condensed by at least 50 pages as there was nothing for so long that I almost put it down and did not return to it again.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC!

A shop with a sinister orchid who's only goal in life is to eat you whole?
I'm all in.
Except I'm not, as I couldn't finish the book.

The premise is very promising. A thirty-year-old Shell loses her job, her boyfriend, and ends up moving back home with her parents. Her reality is bleak, and her family makes her feel like she has overstayed her welcome. It is not the best place to be mentally. So when she sees a sign 'Help needed' at the door of a flower shop, she's curious enough to walk inside. She of course gets the job and the true story begins. Story of an obsessive, starving plant that from the first second starts scheming against Shell and desires to eat the owner of the flower shop, Neve.

Unfortunately, it begins and continues extremely slowly. We mostly get a social commentary, Shell's internal thoughts and problems, and barely any action moving the plot. It takes about 40% into the book before we truly learn about the Baby and its murderous nature. It is implied before, but not enough to build a scary or a tense atmosphere. At which point I lost interest already. I did skim through the book, as I still wanted to know the resolution. However, I wish the grim relation between the Baby and Neve was introduced quicker and that Neve was showcased more, as that would certainly peak my curiosity and investment, and kept me going.

As it was, I didn't enjoy the book, due to the slow pace of the story. Nonetheless, the premise is fascinating, and potentially a perfect match for a reader who's into slow burn.

Big fan of the author (Other words for Smoke is a favourite), her use of language is wonderful and poetic. Strangely enough this is the second 'plant horror' I have read in a month. This time around we are close to The Little Shop of Horrors as Shell answers a Help Needed sign at the local shopping centre. The centre is due to be demolished soon, giving a little desperation to all those who work there, and to the one who lives in the middle of a hardly visited section, Baby. Baby will do what ever is needed to survive, and to get her spores everywhere.
3.5 Stars

This is a horror story about queer love, late capitalism, and man-eating plants, and was one of my most anticipated books of the year. thankfully lived up to aaaalll my hype. I was hooked on the story of Shell & Neve, who work in a faded, crappy shopping centre
selling flowers. One very special flower is Baby, a monstrous orchid who loves Neve; so much that he’d like to eat her up. Literally! As Neve & Shell fall for one another, Baby is always there, watching and waiting. Baby is the primary narrator of the novel, and it’s deeply unnerving to experience his close-first-person narrative from inside the heads of the two human main characters. Confusing, enthralling and very unsettling. The vibes are not unlike that of a Sayaka Murata novel, where social commentary is expertly blended with abject horror.

Griffin is absolutely magic at writing characters: Neve and Shell come to life immediately, and the small cast of characters are vivid and compelling. I'd love to go for a can with each and every one of them. Neve and Shell have electric chemistry, and watching their love story unfold is equal parts giggle-inducing and stomach churning, given that we're watching it from the perspective of a carnivourous plant. Baby, oh BABY! Is he an alien? A freak of nature? Just a little guy? Griffin doesn't tell us; we're left in the dark about what Baby is, which makes him all the more menacing. As his hunger grows, so does our fear - and believe me, fear is the primary emotion I felt. By the time I was half-way through this one I was terrified of plants, and i am still eyeing my spider plants with some tripeidation.

There's so much to talk about with this one - I haven't mentioned the mixed-media elements, the emails between Jen and Bec, our heroes of sorts. I kind of love that Shell didn't save herself, that she relied on other women - friends - to help her out. Grififn has built a complex web of relationships between these four women and it's completely natural and enthralling.

Like the aforementioned Sayaka Murata, Griffin casts a critical eye over the hellscape of late-stage capitalism, and the difficulties of loving and building relationships within it. Elements of ETOYL reminded me of Convience Store Woman - high paise indeed - in its exploration of the horrors - and there are horrors! - but also the softer, calmer elements of working in retail. As Shell learns more about floristry, she falls for it, as much as she does for Shell, and if it weren't f0r the man-eating plant, it sounds like quite a pleasant work environment.

A really special, unique and twisted book - well worth the wait.