About the Book
-
Author:
- Erica Waters
- Voices:
- Bisexual
- Cis Girl
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: Back to Nature
BFF Charm: Big Sister
Talky Talk: Dark and Dreary
Bonus Factor: Kickass Gramps
Anti-Bonus Factors: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting, Awful Grown-Ups
Relationship Status: Hopeful
Cover Story: Back to Nature
This is the second book in a row I’ve reviewed with hands, vines, and moths. It. too, is applicable to the story within, and I love the added gothic nature of one hand being just bones. I also love the juxtaposition of the sweet-looking plants (can plants look sweet?) with the ominous title.
The Deal:
Tara Boone works two jobs to make it possible for her to attend Corbin College. And although she’d love to be a novelist, she’s on the English to teach track, since she knows she’ll have to make money to pay off all of her student loans after she graduates. So when she’s given an opportunity to join Magni Viri, Corbin’s most elite (and mysterious) academic society—meaning that her entire tuition, plus books, plus room and board, plus a personal stipend, will be paid for—she jumps at the chance. She doesn’t think the rumors about the society are true, but sometimes there are worse things than a little devil worship.
BFF Charm: Big Sister
Tara’s an interesting person who’s overcome a lot of crappy life situations. Her mother is only a mother in the biological sense and she feels like she can’t do what she really wants to do in life because she doesn’t have any money to spare. She’s looked down on by other students at Corbin thanks to her upbringing and scholarship status, even though she worked twice (or more) as hard as any of them to get into such a prestigious school, and early at that. I liked her gumption and passion. But she has a lot of confidence issues and frequently turned morose and nearly gave up when things got hard. I get that she’s only 17—I likely would have given up for reals were I in her place—but it made her a bit of an unreliable narrator and not someone I’d really want to be friends with until she did a bit more maturing.
That said, she’s someone I would love to be an adult in her life for, someone who could be a grounding presence and give her the love she’s been missing out on.
Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Tara’s immediately taken with Penny, another Magni Viri Freshman, and it seems like Penny likes her, too. But the many secrets Penny (and Magni Viri) are keeping cause Tara to pull away, and rightly so. There are some sweet moments between the two, but for the most part, there’s an underlying current of untruth that really dampens the swoon.
Talky Talk: Dark and Dreary
Have you ever watched a TV show and wondered why/how it is always dark in that location? All That Consumes Us gives off that kind of vibe, even when the characters are in the sunshine. There’s a dark pall that hangs over the Corbin College campus, but in the case of this book, that’s a good and fitting thing. Waters excels at writing suspenseful novels with an otherworldly flair, and All That Consumes Us is no exception.
I also love her descriptions, which are detailed and extremely visual:
The others turn, and I do too, just as a trio of freshmen from Magni Viri walk in. Two girls and a guy, deep in conversation. They’re as well-dressed and self-assured as all the other students, but they look slightly hungover, their eyes red-rimmed, their clothes wrinkled like they slept in them. I only know one of them, a girl with waist-length curly red hair and pale ivory skin, dressed all in black except for the checkered laces in her Doc Martens. Meredith Brown, the English department’s fastest rising star.
Ed. note: I pulled this quote from an advance review copy of the book; the final text might be different.
Bonus Factor: Kickass Gramps
Tara’s boss at her janitorial job, Mr. Hanks, is a gruff older gentleman that Tara initially thinks hates her. But she quickly realizes that it’s only his exterior that’s mean, and he actually has a wonderful heart. He warms to Tara when she needs him the most, and it made me so glad to see that she had at least one adult in her life that was there when she needed him.
(I actually don’t know how old he is, but he gave off more grandpa vibes than father-type ones.)
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Although Tara’s mom isn’t a character so much as a presence that affects Tara’s life, she’s a horrible mother who deserves none of Tara’s concern. She not only stops talking to Tara after Tara “leaves her” to attend Corbin, but—SPOILER ALERT—up and moves away, without leaving a forwarded address and disconnects her phone so that Tara has absolutely no way of getting in touch.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Awful Grown-Ups
Pretty much all of the other adults in the book are terrible, out for their own power or fame, and using Tara and her friends for their own gain. I really don’t get how people can be so vain and heartless, but I suppose humanity’s filled with all kinds.
Relationship Status: Hopeful
While the time we spent together was fraught with suspense, Book, I have a feeling that you’re going to be OK in the long run. I’d love to continue to be in your life to be a solid adult presence. (As much as I am a solid adult …)
Literary Matchmaking
If you like the feel of this book, definitely check out Waters’ The River Has Teeth (and her other books).
April Genevieve Tucholke’s books, such as Wink Poppy Midnight, are also filled with atmosphere and dark suspense.
Ava Reid’s A Study in Drowning also features a young woman who feels alone in her college, a love of literature, and secrets with gothic leanings.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from HarperTeen, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. All That Consumes Us is available now.
