This was a really fascinating and entertaining read, lacking on the horror for me, but full of exploration into relationships, both those with other people and those with animals. I found the passages in which Sean was communing with the wolf pack particularly compelling and overall, thought this was a pretty unique and interesting book that I would definitely recommend.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I enjoyed the premise but wanted it to go a little bit further. That being said it works well as a novella.

This book was dark and it highlighted the natures of humans and wolves. It was bleak and depressing and although I liked the writing style, the plot did not draw me in as much as I thought it would.

At the heart of the story is Dr. Sean Kell-Luddon, a neuroscientist who embarks on a groundbreaking project to save one of the last wild wolf packs. By using a neurological interface, Sean connects her mind to that of a female wolf named Kate, hoping to gain insights that could aid in conservation efforts.

The connection between Sean and Kate proves to be more profound than anticipated, yielding valuable data and creating an intense bond. However, this bond starts to overshadow Sean's real life, straining her already troubled marriage with her wife, Riya, and causing her to lose objectivity in her work. Sean becomes increasingly consumed by her desire to experience life through Kate's eyes, leading to a detachment from her human relationships and responsibilities.

The novella is well-written and thought-provoking, tackling complex and controversial themes. Despite the bleakness of the story and the deeply flawed characters, the writing kept me engaged. Sean and Riya are portrayed as deeply flawed individuals whose relationship is marred by guilt, manipulation, and a lack of genuine communication. Their marriage is depicted as toxic, making it difficult to root for either of them. Sean's descent into obsession is both fascinating and tragic, highlighting the darker side of scientific passion.

While the novella's tone is undeniably bleak, and some animal lovers might find the story distressing, it is a compelling read that examines the ethical and personal ramifications of pushing scientific boundaries.

This is a sci-fi/horror novella that takes place in the near future and it was odd...like really odd, but it worked! Only being about one hundred pages, we follow main character, Sean and she dives into her research, while running away from her failed marriage.

Highly recommend this one for a quick read!

"Feed Them Silence" by Lee Mandelo is a thought-provoking novella set in the near future. It explores the concept of "being-in-kind" with a nonhuman animal, specifically one of the last remaining wild wolves. Dr. Sean Kell-Luddon, the protagonist, uses a neurological interface to connect her own mind with that of the wolf, allowing her to experience the world through the wolf's perspective.

ahhh!!! I can't believe how much this story has invaded my brain, especially considering it's only just over a hundred pages. This was way sadder than I had anticipated, which honestly sold me. I am a sucker for self torture. But this had so much depth to the sadness! I felt the pain of our main character, could see that she was flawed, could empathize in her struggles. Watching this marriage crack was painful but it was such a nuanced imagining of this situation, ugh cannot say enough good things about this depiction of marriage struggles. And Kate the wolf! Excuse me as I cry. I thought this was such a cool way to write about parasocial relationships because damn, I felt attached to Kate too, as well as Dr. Sean. And alas, those fictional characters will never know the depth of my devotion to their plights *sigh* Ok dramatic review over, thank you to Lee Mandelo for this heart wrenching story, bravo!!

This book skillfully brings together the impending extinction of wolves and the dying of the protagonist's marriage. Centring on a workaholic scientist, this follows the testing of a means of seeing through the mind of a living wolf. Unexpectedly touching and confronting, this story speaks to the slow horror of our current extinction event and the tension of love at the end of the world as we know it.

Mmmm. My feelings on this one are deeply mixed.

On the one hand, I think it mostly sets out what it means to do: Show that you cannot force a two-way intimate bond between two living creatures, especially without consent. Show that there are consequences to treating other people as objects. Show that the idea of a science where one creature can live in another one's brain is inherently changing but also abhorrent.

Unfortunately, it forces us to do this by living in the brain, or at least the POV, of someone who did all these things and all of those mattered more to her on a personal level than the failing relationship with her own wife that it was reflecting. I wasn't meant to like this experience; narratively, if I enjoyed reading this, it would have betrayed its own narrative. Unfortunately, this meant that I basically hated the entire experience of actually reading this very well-crafted story.

The end, also, didn't entirely work for me -- <spoiler>It worked in thematically, by showing that even given the opportunity for change, someone like that will invariably backslide. Yet somehow it feels like this isn't what it had meant to want to do. I felt like it had wanted to say that some methods of interpreting others feelings (fictionally, emotionally) were better than others (literally, as data) but what it DID do was put Sean back in the driver's seat as the self-absorbed rock star who is exploiting others' experiences to put herself in the spotlight. The fact it did this while not actually resolving if she'd actually support her wife and try with her at all was crushing -- especially as I came away with the impression that the person who could do this wouldn't do THAT. So like -- maybe that was the point of it. That people like this will never change etc. </spoiler> But it wasn't something I loved to read and experience.

Very well-written, though, and someone with more of a stomach for bitter narratives may enjoy it more than I did. Horror is one thing, but this feels like something else. Disregard, maybe. A narrative of compulsive disregard.

‘Feed Them Silence’ had an excellent premise - the complexities of a queer relationship paired with the speculative aspect of the wolves made for a really interesting juxtaposition that only heightened the reader’s attachment to Sean. However, I really wish it was longer so that Mandelo had been able to develop the speculative stuff further!

I was really excited about the premise of this book, and overall it was an enjoyable read. Sean, the main character, is complex. I found myself feeling sympathetic to her in some moments and so frustrated by her in others. Throughout the book, Mandelo does not shy away from the more taboo elements of being in the mind of a wolf, however I felt like the book could have explored them even more.

This is a shorter story so I did push through until the end, however, it just wasn't for me. From the characters to the storyline I just struggled to connect with this one.

I didn’t realize this one was a novella until I started listening to it. I pay attention to some things, I promise!

Feed Them Silence is the story of Sean, who is a scientist living in the near-ish future where something has happened that has endangered almost all of the remaining wild wolves in the world. Her research has helped her bring about a technology that allows her to more or less be in the mind of a wild wolf, to see if she can figure out what is happening with them. She can see through the eyes of an adult female wolf. However, her research and the long hours of obsession that it has caused in Sean has made her relationship with her wife very strained, and so Sean must make some tough decisions.

I quite liked this novella. I listened to it in just two sittings, which is really good for me, these days. I liked Sean as a character, and I often understood where she was coming from, and related to her pretty hard. This story was extremely easy to fall right into, much like Sean falls into the mind of a wolf at times, and I found it really hard to put this one down to do things like sleep or eat.

The narrator, Natalie Naudus, did a fantastic job, and made each character come to life for me. Her narration definitely made a wonderfully written story into a great experience for a couple afternoons. I’d recommend this one to anyone who wants something unique, with interesting characters. 4/5 stars!

having liked mandelo's debut i was really looking forward to this novella but feed them silence didn't keep me engaged all that much.

I enjoyed reading this book, if only because I got a new perspective about the lives of wildlife and the lengths scientists go to for their research sometimes forgetting that animals are feeling creatures. The end was sadly logical, and it adds to the existential pain that lingered in the end. I give this book 4/5 stars just because there was no clear conclusion to the MC's struggling marriage, and also because there was an infidelity that was never really addressed. Because it's a short read, I really recommend all sci-fi and animal lovers to read this book. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to have access to this title.

I'm not going to be able to finish this one. I love a well-written bad character but I do not want to spend the next 100 pages with this selfish egomaniac. I feel for her wife and the wolf she's strapped herself to. I don't want to know where the journey leads.

This short sci-fi novella merges a character with whom I feel sorry (the wolf) with a character who kind of drives me nuts (Sean). Despite this, it is Sean's behavior that provides the conflict to the tale, so very necessary. This story brings up a lot of deeper topics to consider and discuss in a class or book club, including human selfishness, anthropomorphism, and the power of ambition.

In a near future world, people have the possibility to communicate and understand animals. But is it worth it to pursue? That's one of the main questions Sean faces on all fronts as she is struggling with colleagues, a frayed marriage, big corporations and lack of connection overall.

To be such a short novella (where it is almost incredibly impossible/hard to have a well-developed plot and/or characters) it is incredibly well written and developed. It wasn't a fun read by any means, but the portrayal of emotions felt is extremely touching: loneliness, lack of feeling, etc.

At the same time, it manages to make some short but accurate commentary on scientific fields and bias: women in STEM (mainly how they have to work harder because they are seen as "emotional"), the workings of big corporations (rendering and profiting of life), conservation efforts, racial bias (within a marriage) and certain implications that could happen within research (although a bit weird to be honest).

Overall, it has a cool-weird dark sci-fi vibe, and I definitely recommend it!

Thanks to MacMillan-Tor Forge for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“What else was she, really, but another animal body afraid of being alone in the cold?”

I will never say no to fucked up sapphics communing with nature, but Lee Mandelo has me shouting HELL YES. FEED THEM SILENCE is a novella about Sean, an ambitious, mid-fifties researcher who has finally received funding for the project of her dreams: inserting twin neurological interfaces in herself and a wolf’s brain in order to feel everything the wolf feels. Sean gets more and more enmeshed in the life of Kate (her chosen wolf) as her pack struggles to survive the frozen Minnesota winter in an increasingly barren ecosystem, neglecting her already fraught relationship with her wife and ultimately sacrificing her work in her pursuit of that which she has always desired: a sense of belonging.

I really liked this book. I’ve been mildly obsessed with Mandelo ever since I read his debut SUMMER SONS, and this novella pulls on many of the same threads: the horrors of academia, racial tensions between queers, powerful feelings of isolation even when community is seemingly there for the taking. Mandelo isn’t afraid of leaning into messy, primal sexual desires and their connections to other aspects of life. This novella also touches on the ethics of research and the broader interplay between humanity and the environment we live in and so often, irreparably corrupt. As with many novellas, this one only scratches the surface of big concepts, and at the end I found myself still wanting more; the narrative arc feels unresolved. Will definitely continue to read absolutely anything that Mandelo publishes. Thanks to Tordotcom and Dreamscape Media for the review copies!

Content warnings: animal injury and death, medical procedures, blood/gore, infidelity, racism/sexism

Thank you so much Tordotcom for sending me an ARC!
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Lee Mandelo is one of my favorite authors and when it comes to their works, it is a no-brainer for me. There is just something about their writing that does it for me and I can’t wait to read more from them!