A review by booksborrowed
All the Hearts You Eat by Hailey Piper

challenging dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ivory finds herself searching for answers to Cabrina Aphrodite Brite's death. She finds Cabrina's death poem on Ghost Cat Island, and a dark pull and connection are explored. The story explores multiple points of view from Cabrina's diary, her friends, Rex and Xi, Ivory, and Cabrina's controlling mother, Viola. I listened to the audiobook, and each POV has a different narrator, which is well performed. 

This gothic horror was uncomfortable, which I loved, while exploring themes of transformation, inclusion, love, and identity. The complexity of each character is well written and is portrayed in a way that you can understand each one's desires and decisions. Piper does a wonderful job of making the reader think about how our lives are interconnected and how others' decisions affect our being. I very much enjoyed the descriptive writing and how Piper was able to place me right into a scene or into the thought process of each character. I hope more people can get comfortable with the uncomfortable and open their hearts to this book and the sea.

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