What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
Synopsis
The darkness isn’t empty. It’s hungry.
At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good.
Petra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void’s upper levels, where the dangers are better understood, while Jade wants to risk a descent to the deepest and most mysterious Sixth Layer. Because the deeper they go, the better the payout, and the sooner their dreams can become reality. Their friendship is Petra’s whole world, and Jade’s approval means everything–so Petra agrees to do it Jade’s way.
When their job goes wrong and Jade is lost in the Void, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void . . . or what really waits for her in its depths.
Overall Rating
5/5
Gore Rating
4/5
Spooky Rating
4/5
Content Considerations
- Body Horror
- Gore
- Death
- Death of Parent
- Toxic Friendship
- Violence
- Animal Death
- Child Death
- Vomit
Move aside H.P. Lovecraft (*drop kicks him*) Tatiana Schlote-Bonne can take it from here!
I have had the wonderful opportunity to review Schlote-Bonne’s two previous novels, but What Feeds Below has truly changed the game. Not only does it include incredible worldbuilding, disturbing gore and cosmic horror features, it has a palpable beating heart. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, and it is by far one of the best horror novels I have ever read.
Schlote-Bonne is best known for combining emotional situations and characters with various horror sub-genres, and What Feeds Below is no different. However, this time she somehow managed to come up with one hell of a twist ending. She incorporated various bizarre creatures and plants, low-income representation, botany, and a toxic friendship that made this “out of this world” story incredibly human.
I have no idea how Schlote-Bonne came up with the terrifying world of the “void,” and some of the creatures have made it so I will never sleep again. Think the Upside Down from Stranger Things. Her worldbuilding sets the book apart from so many others, and while it does have gore and spooky elements, they are not over the top. Schlote-Bonne’s writing is calculated to present the reader with the most refined story and characters to pull off a novel that – let’s be real – feels like it could be very difficult to pull off.
What Feeds Below has become one of the horror novels that I will always recommend readers. Just when I thought she couldn’t write a book that was better than The Mean Ones.
This novel comes out on October 6, and I recommend it with every ounce of my being. If you are looking for a book that you won’t be able to put down, as well as one that you will be thinking about for quite a while, What Feeds Below must be your next go to. You won’t be able to wrap your mind around what you just read. My heart belongs to the little moss rats.
Rating Scales for Reference
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