We Ate the Dark

A Novel

By: Mallory Pearson

Narrated by: Alaska Jackson

Four women investigating the haunting murder of their friend discover more than they ever imagined in a terrifying novel about good and evil, love and death, and the spaces between.

Five years after Sofia Lyon disappeared, her remains are found stuffed into the hollow of a tree bursting through the floorboards of an abandoned house in the woods. The women who loved her flock home to the North Carolina hills to face their grief.

Frankie, Sofia’s twin, is in furious mourning. Poppy is heartbroken. Cass has never felt more homesick. And Marya knows something the rest of them don’t. Determined to find Sofia’s murderer, they share more than a need to see justice done for their friend. Each woman is haunted, bound to the next by something both cruel and kind, and now stalked by a shadowy presence they’ve yet to understand. Only to question, and to fear.

As Sofia’s secrets unravel, so do those of the woods, and the women soon realize that Sofia might not be who they thought she was at all. And that whoever—or whatever—killed her is coming after them.

©2024 by Mallory Pearson. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“With stunning prose, Pearson draws readers into the lives of her characters and weaves a horror-esque fantasy tale.”—Library Journal

“The two story lines wind and twist and eventually connect in this leisurely paced, lyrically written paean to the power of friendship and chosen family.”—Booklist

“We Ate the Dark is a gripping tale of friendship and grief and the real and imagined ghosts from the past that come to haunt us. Deliciously queer and wildly Southern, this book had me turning pages fast, lost in its poetic language, immersed in the lush landscape, holding my breath in anticipation. Mallory Pearson has written a stunning debut filled with sentences that continued to surprise me with their beauty and generosity until the very last page.”—Genevieve Hudson, author of Boys of Alabama and Pretend We Live Here

Needs a different narrator

I am unable to review the story because I had to stop listening, so please know this is not a review of the story or author. The narrator is terribly flat and delivers everything with the same monotone voice so that you don't even realize you stopped listening. It feels like she's reading a bedtime story, which is not what I was expecting or wanting after reading the premise. Definitely try this if you are wanting to fall asleep, otherwise pick something else.

Confusing

The story line of this book was really good. I disliked how descriptive the author was in almost every scene. It made the story hard to follow.

Trying too hard

Attempting to be Hemingway? So difficult and unrewarding to listen to. Pick something else to listen to.

Hard to like

Gonna start by first praising the narrator for doing a great job and bring the story to life. I liked most of the main cast of characters and how they were imperfect. Unfortunately halfway through the lack of any true growth from the characters and their flaws grew to be irritating. One second they felt like they'd be moving toward being better but than reverted back to exactly how they were at the beginning. The mystery was interesting but ultimately stalled out and stopped shocking me. The lacking of any true conclusion was the ultimate cap to this frustrating experience. Many parts of this book I enjoyed but I don't think I could recommend with how the ending is a cliffhanger.

Monotone

I have listened to hundreds of books via Audible….and I typically do not leave a review. I thought I would try something different and the premise of this story sounded promising! The narrator was soooo drabby and monotone that it was sooooo tedious to listen to. Maybe the story would have seem more interesting had there been some inflection in the speaking tone? Plus it ends on a cliffhanger…but I will NOT be reading anything else by this author, unfortunately.

Sloooow

The writing style is beautiful, but the story itself seemed to drag on until the last 8 chapters.

I had to stop listening

I really enjoyed this book but I did NOT enjoy the Audible version. For the first time ever I stopped listening and found a way to just read the book. I can't see up close anymore which has really sucked but I can still see far away so I read the Kindle version on my TV.
The narrator is just bad. I lost interest almost immediately listening but reading it, I couldn't stop. Great story, horrible narrator.

Gave Up

Nowhere in the summary did it say anything about witches! I loathe anything with witches and demons and monsters. Made it an almost 2 hours, but I can't take anymore spells and curses nonsense.

I could barely keep track between the abstract writing & the monotone narrator.

I listen to SO many books of very different types & this one just fell flat.

This could be an interesting story if the author had more experience and a better narrator. It took me forever to finish; I kept hoping for something redeeming…. but no.

The fragility and strength of friendship

The narrator was the perfect choice and lent a hypnotic and languorous quality to this story esp given the geographical setting. Beautifully written. I loved it.