'This Vicious Hunger' is a darkly gothic, romantic, suspenseful, visceral tale of obsession and love, dangerous ambition, dark secrets, female oppression, and poisonous plants! *phew* This book certainly packs it in!
I was gripped by Francesca May's dark, delicious prose from page one. Thora is a young woman who achieves her dream of becoming a scholar of botany at a prestigious university. She begins working for a reclusive and rather sinister Doctor, a fellow woman, but one whom Thora soon discovers is more dangerous than any of her male rivals. When Thora discovers a hidden, secret garden of deadly plants on campus, and a woman called Olea who is trapped within its walls, the danger turns lethal, Thora must question all she holds precious, and risk her life, if she hopes to save herself, and the woman she has come to love.

In This Vicious Hunger, Francesca May offers readers a darkly intoxicating tale of obsession, desire, and the perilous beauty of forbidden knowledge.

Thora Grieve, daughter of a mortician and a woman long denied the hallowed halls of academia, finds herself at a crossroads after the untimely deaths of both her father and husband. Fate intervenes when a family friend extends an invitation to study botany under her guidance at the university—a seemingly golden opportunity that soon reveals a far more dangerous allure.

Drawn into the dark, seductive world of poisonous flora, Thora becomes ensnared not only by the mysteries of her mentor’s groundbreaking experiments but also by the enigmatic and captivating Olea. As the tendrils of obsession wind ever tighter around her heart, Thora descends into a fevered intoxication from which there may be no escape.

..: A Blend of Shadows and Scented Poison :..
From the very first page, I was utterly entranced. The prologue’s sumptuous prose and haunting depiction of death rites left me breathless, eager to tumble headlong into the shadowed corridors of May’s imagination.

This novel shines most brilliantly when it embraces its gothic roots, and three elements stand as shining (or perhaps shadowed) examples:
- The Setting: From sepulchral chambers heavy with incense to a midnight garden blooming with poisonous beauty, every location is rendered in prose as rich and heady as the scent of oleander on a summer’s night. The settings took my breath away, each scene a darkened painting brought vividly to life.
- Thora’s Descent into Obsession: In true gothic tradition, Thora’s pursuit of both knowledge and forbidden romance spirals into near-madness. Her hunger—both literal and metaphorical—is exquisitely portrayed, her withdrawal from her “fix” of botanical intoxication as raw and desperate as that of an addict. These moments are described with aching beauty, a slow unraveling of sanity drenched in longing.
- Toxic Relationships: Every bond Thora forms is steeped in poison. A life spent in isolation has left her ill-equipped for healthy connections, and her yearning for belonging manifests in relationships as beautiful and deadly as the plants she studies. This thread of hunger—be it for love, knowledge, or freedom—runs through the novel like the poison in our veins, gleaming and dangerous.

Francesca May clearly knows her gothic canon. Echoes of Rappaccini’s Daughter (the most obvious inspiration, with its deadly garden), Carmilla, and even Frankenstein whisper through the pages, but never so loudly as to feel derivative. Instead, May offers a refined, sapphic reimagining of the genre, steeped in poisonous blooms and the bittersweet ache of forbidden desire.

..: The Bitter Draught :..
Yet, for all its beauty, This Vicious Hunger is not without its flaws. Where it revels in atmosphere and longing, it stumbles in other, equally important areas:
- Underdeveloped Characters: While Thora begins as a fascinating and layered protagonist, her rapid descent into primal obsession robs her of growth. For much of the novel, she feels trapped in a single emotional state, and I longed for a deeper connection to her evolving thoughts and inner conflicts.
- A World Half-Glimpsed: It is clear May has done painstaking research—particularly in her richly detailed death rites and botanical lore—but I yearned for the curtain to be drawn back further. The wider world remains tantalizingly out of reach, leaving the novel feeling, at times, frustratingly narrow in scope.
- Uneven Pacing: Thora’s fall into obsession happens almost too quickly, and just as the plot seems poised to crescendo into madness and liberation, the story draws to a sudden, jarring close. A more deliberate pacing—allowing the tension to rise slowly and inexorably—would have better served the novel’s gothic ambitions.

..: A Lingering Taste of Beauty and Ruin :..
Despite these missteps, I remain deeply impressed by Francesca May’s ability to craft a lush, venomous world and a protagonist who aches with longing—both for knowledge and for a life beyond society’s cruel confines. Fans of Kat Dunn, Johanna van Veen, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and the gothic classics (Rappaccini’s Daughter, Carmilla) will find much to savor here. That is why I'm rating this 3,75 stars rounded up to 4.

This Vicious Hunger is a seductive, haunting tale—a heady draught of beauty and poison that lingers long after the final page is turned.

..: Full Disclaimer :..
I received an Advance Reader Copy of This Vicious Hunger from Orbit via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Many thanks to Orbit for their trust. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Hm. Mixed feelings.

This book starts out really slow, with Thora, our main character, fresh out of mourning for her dead husband (whom she didn't really love. or even like, tbh). The mourning rituals that start the book suggest an amount of worldbuilding that never really comes to anything, a gun with a big-ass "CHEKOV" written on it that never does go off. Anyway, the death of her husband provides a catalyst for Thora to go to university and study botany, in a plot point that really doesn't make sense to me (as in, how did "husband dying" equal "go to uni, where women are barely allowed to be"). Her mentor is this lady I can never remember the name of, despite having read it hundreds of times during the course of this novel. Obviously, it is immediately clear to even ME, the stupidest of readers, that the professor is the big bad evil guy. Or girl, I guess.

The beginning of this book is extremely boring. Thora goes to endless botany lectures and makes friends with a guy named Leo, who seems to be put into the story to basically show how uninterested Thora is in men. Of course, we receive our needed dose of misogyny at this university, which apparently even permeates the botany students, because boys will be boys and all. I mean, I guess? It just felt really clumsy. As in, the author seemingly only included these scenes to show how different Thora is from literally. every. other. woman. She is so special! She likes LEARNING, and she is a WOMAN??? MIND BLOWN.
I admit I zoned out during the whole botany stuff. I am notorious in my family for having the exact opposite of a green thumb, and plants never did interest me. But still, the amount of latin plant names was excessive.

After some time, Thora meets Olea, who tends to a garden of poisonous and rare plants. At first, she only wants to go into the garden, but then ... she wants Olea, too! PLOT TWIST (not really.)

The relationship between Thora and Olea was really strange. Maybe because they only talk through a gate, or because Olea never had contact with the real world outside of her strange garden, or maybe it's because Thora has no personality at all except being a woman scholar. Olea is a really strange character, and this is where the book started getting good for me. I wanted to figure out what was going on with her. I didn't give a damn about Thora, and I still don't, because she really is such a blank slate before. It's only when she meets Olea and starts trying to find a cure for Olea's curse, that she becomes stranger. She's still rude as fuck to everyone, but her character makes a big shift towards what I like to call the Hungry Woman stereotype. Essentially, all main characters in novels like these are the same and undergo the same transformation. First, they're normal, and then something happens that makes them capital-H Hungry, culminating in either literal or symbolic cannibalism. At this point, I feel almost tired of this type of character development. It was fun during the first few times I read it, but by now, it's lost its appeal. This Vicious Hunger brings nothing new to the table (wait, that was unintentional, I swear), except maybe the botany angle. I was so eager to get to the bottom of the mystery that when I found it out, I went like "wait, that's it?" Yes, that was indeed it. And it's a shame.

One thing this book does well is the ... well, the vibes. I'd say athmosphere, but that's not really the word - it's vibes, it brings amazing vibes. A lush, poisonous garden paradise. The moonlit maiden tending to her plants, and the plants caring for her in return and protecting her from those who mean to harm her. The evil professor, tenderly stroking a sentient vine. The crazed couple lusting for human blood, surrounded only by plants, forced to eat those to still the ravenous hunger and desire for blood and flesh (which is a weird description, but it's a "good" vibe - I just can't find the words to adequately describe it). This was the best part. I could basically smell those plants, even though they would have killed me instantly.

In the end, I just wish the plot had risen to the level of those vibes, or that this book has done something ... new.

Dark gothic toxic lesbians in an old colleague secret garden.

This book had highs and lows for me.

The setting brilliant absolutely loved it.

The main character not so much, every criticism the other characters had of her was absolutely accurate. She was self righteousness and knew nothing but conviction that she knew everything.

Also very confused as to why the summary of the book gives away 50-60% of the book. A bit like modern movie trailers giving away far too much of the movie and then filmed/ written like I don’t already know that part of the plot. Thankfully there was plot that was unknown and was surprising and a little confusing but interesting and then it just suddenly ended? I think I assumed it was a standalone but it definitely ended as if there is a sequel. I am unsure.


Thank you to netgalley and the publishers giving me the opportunity to read and review this book

Quite literally toxic lesbians.

Gothic, academic, and very supportive of women's wrongs, this book had me hooked very early on. I enjoyed Francesca May's first book though with some caveats, and this book shows her growth as a writer immediately - it's beautifully written and immediately enthralling.

While this is set in a world not dissimilar from an English historical world, the key differences, such as the death rites, were laid out early on and very well-done. Beyond that, the settings came to life, especially Olea's garden.

Where this book focused - and where it shone - was the characters and their relationships between one another. It's best to go into this without knowing much so you can discover the world and discover Olea alongside Thora, but if you're not a character-driven reader, then this may be a bit frustrating for you. If you are a character-driven reader, then can I interest you in sapphics in a poison garden?

I think this would have worked a bit better as a standalone, perhaps - though if you tell me it was a standalone, then I think the ending should have been reworked slightly, so there's just no pleasing me on this matter.

Overall, a captivating and fantastic entry into what is poised to be a toxic lesbian summer.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

I could not get through this. The writing style is weak, the attempt to make a mystery out of Aurelios death was weak. The first chapter was good and its all downhill from there. The cliche of the outcasts being friends, the cliche of one single woman in power, the cliche of the bad mother in law that inadvertedly does smth nice for the mc, the bad writing style. Idk, this does nothing for me and i will be stopping.

Very hit and miss I felt.
Some really very good stuff in there, but also some not great stuff.
Thora wasn't a character I warmed to, she seemed a bit too stroppy for my liking.
The garden, the poison and its effects were excellent.
I wish it had continued on beyond the end too, as surely there's far more to say now?
Overall I enjoyed it. It had me wondering at what was going on a fair amount, and I enjoy a book that's not too predictable.

if you looked up the definition of gothic fantasy, it would just be a picture of this book.
add in slow burn and this is a feast fit for a king (me, of course)

A darkly gothic tale abut obsession, hunger and the pursuit of knowledge no matter the cost. Decadently vivid prose will carry you off into a world not quite unlike our own and spins the story of ones woman’s desperate pursuit for autonomy and knowledge. There was something about this novel that will sink its teeth into you while you fight to keep the darkness bleeding out between the pages. Haunting and seething with dark desires.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐔𝐊 | 𝐎𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐲

This book is super dark and heavy...and yet I couldn't put it down. I'm a huge fan of poisons in stories and this was a unique take on the subject. Thora was a wildly complex character and my heart ached for her and Olea throughout the story.

This was just ok for me which was a matter of personal taste rather than there being anything wrong with the book. I found this a little too immature for my taste however the story was interesting and the writing was good, I’m interested in anything with botany so that was a plus. I found the pacing was even and there was enough mystery to keep me intrigued

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc