Eat the Ones you Love | Sapphic Audiobook Review

I’ve had such a good reading year so far & omg, I absolutely loved this one! This was an audiobook ARC, and while I do love audiobooks, it’s a bit harder to write an in-depth review, so please bear with me. Also, fair warning: the rating might be a little inflated. If the narration is good, I’m easily entertained—especially since I usually listen while doing housework or cleaning, lol.

Title: Eat the Ones You Love

Author: Sarah Maria Griffin

Genre: LGBTQ+, General Fiction, Sci-fi & Fantasy, Horror

Ages: Adult

Publisher: Tor Books

Volume: 1/1

Release: April 22nd, 2025

Order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

“Do you mind me asking—what kind of help do you need?”

After losing her job and her fiancé and moving back from the city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig, and the flowers she works with there are just the thing she needs to cheer up. Or maybe it’s Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy?

But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow—and Neve’s secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show, and he is hungry . . . and he has a plan for them all.

When the choices are to either bury yourself in the warmth of someone else’s fertile soil, or face the cold and disappointing world outside—which would you choose? And what if putting down roots came at a cost far higher than just your freedom?

This is a story about desire, dreams, decay—and working retail at the end of the world.

phenomoel …phenomenol…phenominol…PHENOMENAL

got it (sorry have my long nails on mixed with peabrain)

Have you ever listened to an audiobook so good you immediately wanted to buy the book just so you can see the actual written prose…? This was that…

Shell finds a new start in a decaying mall set to close sometime soon where something is growing. Shell and Neve, the flower shop owner and parent?/owner? of baby, find themselves entangled. Blending body horror, social media commentary, and the aching intimacy of weird girl lit fic, this story is as mesmerizing as it is grotesque.

This is weird. This is uncomfortable. This literally made my palms itchy. This is beautifully narrated and it’s so so good.

I’ve fallen in love with weird girl lit fic all over again. Every character is likeable (kinda) and well written—hell, I even liked the creepy plant thing growing in the dying mall.

everything worked for me

the dying mall atmosphere
the clever incorporation of social media with Shell’s character
the relationship between Shell and Neve
the unsettling plant at the center of it all

“The crush had been immediate and made her a terrible leaner,,,”

I really think the narration brought this story to life. It added a bit of humor while also adding to the general creepiness. I have never really been a plant person and thanks to this book I will definitely not be getting any anytime soon.