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Book: “All That Consumes Us” by Erica Waters
Publishing Info: HarperTeen, October 2023
Where Did I Get this Book: copy from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Ninth House meets The Dead and the Dark in this gothic dark academia novel that delves into the human capacity for great love, great art, and great evil. Magni animi numquam moriuntur. Great minds never die.
The students in Corbin College’s elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all—free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. When first-gen college student Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she doesn’t hesitate.? Except once she’s settled into the gorgeous Victorian dormitory, something strange starts to happen. She’s finally writing, but her stories are dark and twisted. Her dreams feel as if they could bury her alive. An unseen presence seems to stalk her through the halls. And a chilling secret awaits Tara at the heart of Magni Viri—one that just might turn her nightmares into reality; one that might destroy her before she has a chance to escape.
All That Consumes Us will pull readers into a hypnotizing, dark reverie that blurs the lines of reality and shows that the addictive nature of ambition—and its inevitable price—always claims its due.
Review: I’ve really loved this current trend in fantasy towards dark academia. It’s no surprise, but many librarians are just the sort to have fond memories of upper education, so sprinkle in a bit of magic, and you’re really onto something! I also really love this cover, as I think it perfectly conveys the overall tone of this book before you even crack open the book. Unfortunately, the story itself didn’t work for me quite as well as the artwork did.
While I ultimately was left frustrated with this read, let’s start with what I did like. As I was putting together this post, I saw one reviewer compare the overall tone of this book to an episode of “Supernatural.” As a huge “Supernatural” fan, not only do I think this is a massive compliment, I also think it’s fairly spot-on as far as the theme and plot of the book. Like the show, the story builds up a creepy, looming presence that focuses on ghosts, possession, and the main character’s slow realization that she may not be in full control of her own actions. There’s a level of psychological horror that works very well, and the writing was very successful at illustrating the spooky nature of the events going on at the school. I particularly enjoyed the growing sense of paranoia and confusion that builds towards the book’s conclusion.
Unfortunately, the book fell apart with the main character herself. I really tried to like Tara, but things didn’t start off well when she immediately threw off strong “not like other girls” vibes when she meets her roommate and with how she generally presents herself to the reader. And then, throughout the novel, she made decision after decision that I just couldn’t understand. Not only were the decisions themselves incomprehensible, but she would literally flip and flop her mind between one thing and another, sometimes within only a few pages of each other. It made for a frustrating read and left Tara a fairly unlikable character. This could be a case of me simply not being the target audience for a YA character, but I do think teenagers can be written better than this.
I didn’t love this book, but I do think that it will appeal to a lot of YA fantasy readers. The pacing is quick and the writing is solid. If you start out the book and find yourself enjoying Tara, than you’re probably through the woods on what bothered me the most. But if you’re an adult reader who is character focused, this may not be the right read for you.
Rating 7: A lot of atmosphere and a creepy build of tension and paranoia were enjoyable, but I struggled to enjoy the book due to my frustrations with the main character.
Reader’s Advisory:
“All That Consumes Us” can be found on this Goodreads list: Best books of October, 2023
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