Thank you SO MUCH to Netgalley and HarperTeen for granting me access to the e-arc of this book. The review is entirely my own and has my honest thoughts and opinions!

It might be past Halloween, but I’m still not done with my spooky vibes and dark academia reads. And this was deliciously one of them. All That Consumes Us is a fantastic tale of coming into your own power, your own self, and realizing your self worth and owning it. It’s fantastically written and I enjoyed every second of being immersed in this tale.

Writing: I adored the author’s writing in this book. She has a talent for creating different atmospheres to match the location of the main character. Her writing is so descriptive and real that its almost easy to believe she’s writing this tale from personal experience.

Characters: I greatly enjoyed our main character. Tara is incredibly relatable and I think that’s what makes this story so spooky. It’s very, VERY easy to place yourself into her shoes and see yourself as the main character, making the choices Tara makes and suffering the same way that Tara does.

Additionally, this story hosts a fantastic range of characters with representations from all over. BIPOC, Disabled, Gender Queer, LGBTQIA+, Trans - honestly, you name it. This book was written so that anyone could pick it up and find someone who represents them, and I LOVE seeing that in stories.

All the side characters are fully developed and have their own struggles and growing pains that they also go through along side our main hero, Tara. Every single member of Magni Viri are completely fleshed out. They all come alive brilliantly on the pages.

Plot: The plot starts out slow, but about 50% through it picks up. The author is very talented at keeping her secrets while giving incredibly teasing hints of foreshadowing, and then once the ball drops and the truth is revealed, the plot train takes off and doesn’t stop until you’re breathless at the last page. It’s seriously fantastic! I was on the edge of my seat for a good deal of the story once the curtain was lifted on the truth about Magni Viri.

Enjoyment: I LOVED THIS. 100% would read again. And absolutely do recommend!

4.5 stars.

Really enjoyed this one. Will definitely add it to the Dark Academia Instagram post I'm working on.

Now, this is the type of Dark Academia that I love. A lot of the ones I have been reading lately were either too full of drama or didn't have enough of the DA atmosphere. I like my DA with a side of supernatural or murder/mystery, and this has BOTH. It also mixed in queer characters and found family. This was just -chefs kiss- a lovely dark little story.

Will add a link once I make an Instagram post.

the atmosphere all throughout this was the best part of this entire read, it was eerie and perfect to be read on a foggy/rainy day. it was a bit slow at times but that didn't change my overall enjoyment while reading! I'm a sucker for a dark academia vibe, especially when it's sapphic!

Atmospheric, tense, and eerie. This book’s strong point is definitely its vibe; the author perfectly captured that dark academia feeling. However, the atmosphere was probably the only thing that kept me from putting this book away. The plot did not vary much from other books in this genre, and the characters felt flat. Overall this book had potential and many positive factors but was ultimately disappointing.

ALL THAT CONSUMES US nailed the spooky, dark academia atmosphere, even if the pacing and reveals were a bit clunky. It was still a fun spooky season read with and I would definitely recommend to YA readers. At first I thought the characters acted way young, but then I remembered they were only freshmen in college! That's still young af.

This dark academia book follows Tara Boone as she joins the mysterious academic society on campus, Magni Viri. It seems like a dream come true: free tuition, built-in friends, and a guaranteed future. However, there is a cost to joining Magni Viri that no one seems to want to share with Tara. She eventually finds out what she has had to give up in order to belong to the society, and she decides that the cost is too high. She finds a way to break herself free of the chains she never asked to wear. The book is definitely ghost-y and dark and has a diverse cast of characters. While at times formulaic, it is a great spooky season read.

Erica Waters has been one of my favorite authors since I read The River Has Teeth a couple years ago, and this spooky dark academia novel did not disappoint!

Secret society, ghostly possession, and strange rituals combine in this story about an aspiring writing at Corbin College who gets tangled up in the mysterious Magni Viri, an exclusive group of students chosen because of their academic excellence. But what exactly is the price of that excellence…?

This was the perfect creepy fall read with a side of sapphic romance! I also appreciate that one of the main characters had a chronic illness, rather than a side character that didn’t get much page time.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperTeen for this arc 🍂

Back home, Tara was the strange girl who read books at football games, who would rather study than socialize. Growing up in a trailer park, all she ever dreamed of was becoming a writer, someone whose stories mattered, Well, that’s not quite right. Tara wanted to be known. To be famous. To have her books published, read, and loved, to be admired and respected even beyond her death. She wanted to go to college and learn to write. Instead, she’s working as a janitorial assistant while she studies to become an English teacher, teaching students to admire someone else’s books. Tara’s even more alone at Corbin College than she was at home. There, at least, she had one friend. Here, it’s just … nothing. And then, Meredith dies.

Meredith was a member of Magni Viri, the secretive academic society Tara wanted to join. Magni Viri is the whole reason Tara came to Corbin College. Now, with Meredith’s death, Tara might just get everything she wanted as O’Connor, the director of Magni Viri, summons her. It turns out there’s a new opening and Tara’s just the person they’re looking to fill it.

All That Consumes Us leans heavily into atmosphere and mood; Tara’s isolation and loneliness, and her desperation to belong, to be part of something — even if just on the fringes. Tara isn’t exactly a nice person. She’s selfish, self-centered, and very reactionary. On being offered Meredith’s position, she’s delighted, with little thought for Meredith’s friends, who are now her friends, or Meredith’s roommate, who lives just down the hall. She’s constantly surprised that Meredith’s boyfriend isn’t delighted to be her friend. After all, she too was touched by Meredith, as she was one of those there when the body was found. It’s not that Tara is cruel or spiteful. She’s just in her own head (and so are we), and not overly concerned with other people until and unless they cross her path. Her flaws make her, in many ways, the perfect star of a ghost story, because she feels everything so deeply, obsesses so much over what others think of her, and makes all the plot necessary choices for perfectly selfish reasons. However, rather than change and grow as a character, Tara feels like just a leaf in the autumn wind being pulled along by the plot until the book ends.

The plot itself leans heavily on the dark academia vibe, and does it well, keeping the tension between magical realism, madness, and paranormal for much of the book. The first third is strong, the middle had some very interesting moments, and then the ending didn’t quite stick the landing for me. A lot of threads are left dangling, a lot of connections between characters are brought up and then dropped in favor of an easier path to the ending, and the ending itself felt like it belonged to a different book than what the first third was building towards.

The side characters and their reasons for being part of Magni Viri gave Meredith — and eventually Tara — a friend group with a wide array of diversity in background and sexuality. There’s Wren, who uses they/then pronouns and likes music; Azar, who is gay and excels at robotics; Jordan who is black; Neil who is straight; and Penny, Tara’s love interest, with a chronic pain condition. As a group, they mostly worked, but they felt there mostly to herd Tara along the path towards the answer.

The story had a meandering feel, for all that the pace moves along quickly and the writing flows smoothly. I was caught by the first third of the book and enjoyed the initial reveal of what was going on, but as the story continued, I found myself less invested in what was happening to Tara. It’s not that the story was poorly done, it’s just that for me the question of whether it is a ghost or madness was the fun part. The story answered that question so early on in the book that the eventual march to the end felt long and a little flat for me.

Horror has always been a tricky genre for me. When it works, it works. When it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Like comedy, I think it’s going to be very subjective for each reader. If you give this book a chance, I hope you enjoy it! It’s very well put together with a lovely gothic flair, and will make for a fun autumn read.

I did not finish this book. I think it had a good foundation but the writing felt lackluster. The main character felt flat and only some of the side characters felt real. I wish the setting if the book was high school or an early college program with high schoolers. These characters didn't act like college kids, instead they fit more into 9th or 10th graders. I don't think this was a bad book I just wish it had a setting that made more sense for its intended audience.

"An oath to live by. A dream to die for."

**4.5 stars**

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperTeen for the free eARC!!

Tara is a lonely freshman at Corbin College and has her sights set on the mysterious society Magni Viri. The society is known for having great students doing advanced research and creating masterpieces in writing, art, and music. After Tara discovers the body of another student in Magni Viri, she is coincidently offered the student's place within the secret society.

When Tara arrives at Denfield Hall she starts to notice that all of the students within the society look haggard and worn. The students are doing such advanced research that Tara wonders how she was even considered for Magni Viri. However, before she realizes it, Tara starts to lose time and finds that she has started a book but it doesn't seem like it is something that she would normally write. Could this be too good to be true or is Tara really not in control of her own body?

This was a fantastic spooky little read. Erica Waters did a wonderful job at building up the dark academia atmosphere during the whole book. I felt like I was really at Corbin College with Tara and her friends and was hooked from the beginning. I could not believe where the story ended and am so glad that Erica wrapped it up the way that she did. I highly recommend this book during this spooky season!

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC of this spooky secret society story!

This was perfectly atmospheric and creepy. A really interesting look at the price of fame, I found this to be very compelling. Just right for fall reading.

Screaming crying throwing up, this has the vibe and the energy that I was wanting from a spooky book. The setting, the characters the emphasis on hope and love and art. Gah. Yeah. Good

Tara is a student at Corbin College and works two jobs trying to pay for what her partial scholarship didn’t. She wanted desperately to get into Manny Hall for the free tuition but tied with someone else who they picked she feels isolated going to school with all these rich kids including her roommate who isn’t that nice to her. She finds people she does talk to about the kids from Manny Hall act a little cultish and only hang out with each other. Despite that however she would still give anything to be a resident in soon she will get her chance because ,Meredith the girl that won the tie is found dead in the library by Tara and her professor. So after Tara attends Meredith‘s funeral she is shocked when the director of Manny Hall invites her to take the dead girls place. Tera it’s shocked but definitely wants to do it even though she’s heard from her boss and others cryptic warnings about Manny Hall. After moving in tell her it’s happy she doesn’t have to pay tuition and she now has people to talk to it isn’t long before strange things start happening and eventually she feels like she may be going crazy. It seems like their are those who previously lived at Manny Hall and don’t want to leave. She feels she is being haunted by Meredith but that will just be the tip of the iceberg. I love books that have a good forest scene in it and All That Consumes Us definitely does it is almost a second character I think Erica Waters story in this a story I highly recommend if you love possessions in hauntings you’ll definitely love the story I want to thank random House publishers and net galley Thor my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review did a great phenomenal job riding this spooky collegiate haunting. I love a book that involves a forest and in all that consumes us by Erica waters the forest is like another character don’t think you know the trope after reading the summary this is very much an original thought novel I loved it and highly recommend it I want to think harpers Ann Ned Gallie for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

3.75 stars

I really liked the premise of this, a dark academia with a paranormal element and queer main characters. It's perfect for October and a quick read to get you in the mood for fall.

The first third or so felt so slow to me. We're introduced to Tara and there's a death very early, but after that it felt like not much was going on besides Tara meeting the other first years and developing a romance, which I wasn't a big fan of. Once Tara starts to write and dream, things ramp up and then I was pulled into the story.

This was a fun idea that I haven't read before and the cover art is so perfect!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to HarperTeen and NetGalley for the copy.

I haven't delved very deep into dark academia, but it's definitely something I want to read more of. I felt the overall horror in the book was pretty light, but still intriguing and enjoyable. I would definitely file it under gothic and it ticked that box wonderfully. I loved how engaging the overall writing was and never really felt like I was struggling to get through the story. It was full of twists and turns and kept me thoroughly engaged, a great October read!

Gothic dark academia is something I will read over and over and over and still want more of it. I love them. I love the creepiness, the secret societies, the dark twisted plot line of Gothic, eerie within these worlds. And All That Consumes Us was all that. We meet Tara who we learn wants to be an author, (right away, love that.) After finding a student's body she is offered a place at Magni Viri, a secret society. This society helps not only financially but in other ways too. But when she starts noticing things odd, weird, and creepy things going on she starts to question her choices. I won't say anything more as I don't want to give anything away. But I have to say I enjoyed how things unfolded, I like the reviles. There's a lot of ups and downs in the book. The main character, Tara, feels and states that she is alone and has no one she can count on. (It feels like the author really, really wants to get that point across.) There is a little tiny side plot that has to do with Tara's mother and I feel like that is not really needed.
I enjoyed the ending classic dark, gothic acaemia feel to it. I like the themes of found family, friendship, and learning that your dreams have limits. There is a bit of a romance between Tara and someone, it was sweet. Not over the top, but a good balance to the eerie world. There queer rep, and it help well written.
I have to note that I was a bit surprised by the author's writing style. She does such a good job of description, the tone and the settings of this spine-chilling world was probably my favorite part. There is a scene with a mirror that gave me chills while reading it.
It's a creepy and twisted story of a dark academia of horrifying truths of what people will do just to reach their dreams.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

All That Consumes Us is a paranormal, dark academia YA novel about ambition, creativity, and the price of success. It follows Tara, a first-generation freshman at Corbin College, who is having a rough time. She has no friends, little family who cares about her, and, as someone who has to work two jobs just to afford her education, feels like she doesn't fit in with all of the rich kids at her school. Midway through Tara's first semester, a girl from a prestigious academic society, Magni Viri, dies, leaving an open spot that Tara is offered. Suddenly, she is whisked into a new life, where she receives a scholarship, a close-knit group of friends, and is given ample support to pursue her dreams to become a writer. Is it too good to be true, though? Something seems off, and strange occurrences keep popping up - Tara feels like she's being followed, wakes up after writing in the middle of the night, with no recollection of what she originally wrote, and more. What exactly is going on in Magni Viri?

This novel is fun and spooky, but ultimately it is not as memorable as I was hoping it would be. It feels like a book that could be marketed as "dark academia lite for teens." It has all of the elements that make up an interesting dark academia novel, but it falls a bit flat. It's definitely not a bad read, but I expect that some people will find it more fulfilling than others.

I'll start off with what I liked about the story. First, it's really easy to read! The writing is simplistic, which is both positive and negative in some ways. The good part is, though, that it flows easily and is quick to get through. I'm not usually a fast reader, but it felt like the pages were flying by as I read this one. It's engaging, and the author keeps the pace moving at a good speed. I read this in a couple of sittings, because it pulled me in right off the bat. I also liked its themes. It presented some thought-provoking ideas about what people are willing to do for success and the stress modern day students are expected to endure to build their careers.

Additionally, the supporting characters are all interesting. There's some great representation, including many queer characters, a love interest with a disability, a non-binary character, and others from different classes and backgrounds. It all feels natural; I appreciate that, especially in the YA genre. Wren and Penny were my favorite characters. Wren is so sweet and easy to root for. Penny is fun - I especially enjoyed her love of bats. Her disability is handled with care, and I appreciated how respectful Tara always was of Penny's needs - from being mindful of her occasional use of a cane, to watching to make sure she didn't overexert herself, and more. I'm a sucker for sapphic romance, and the romance here was nice (it didn't blow me away, but it had its cute moments).

Finally, I also enjoyed the tone of the book. It's suspenseful and unsettling at times. I could feel Tara's confusion, turmoil, and stress radiating off of the pages. All That Consumes Us is a fun Halloween read. I'm glad it stuck with the paranormal direction throughout the entire novel, instead of tapering out or veering in a different direction halfway through. I personally didn't find the story to be scary, but it was still a great mood read for October.

Unfortunately, although I had fun reading it, this novel was still disappointing at times. I'd argue that the biggest issue was the writing. It felt juvenile, even for YA. I don't mind simplistic writing at all, but it was a bit out of place with the dark academia setting, particularly because all of the characters were pretentious about writing. Tara references gothic literature nearly every chapter. While this book was certainly trying to be gothic, it didn't feel very comparable to all of the books it mentioned (it just made me want to pick up the novels it was name-dropping instead). I also found it strange how important writing was to Tara, yet we never actually got to read any of her work. There's a novella she's working on and frequently references, yet we're never given any excerpts from the book at all. It was a missed opportunity to make the story more unique. Also, the descriptions were often too vague (with too much telling instead of showing). I remember being annoyed early on when Tara first visits Magni Viri's exclusive dormitory building, and she says she doesn't have the language to describe how its gothic architecture looks. Isn't her favorite book Jane Eyre?

My other major issue with this novel was the main character, Tara. We're stuck in her perspective, and she gets annoying pretty quickly. She comes from a difficult background - before college, she lived with a single mother who didn't care about her, she grew up poor, and she seems to have always struggled with forming connections. She is very self-centered, though, looking down on everyone else at her school because she feels they had easier lives than her. Even when her peers tell her about their struggles, she finds ways to envy parts of their lives or centers her thoughts on her own hardships, rather than trying to understand where they are coming from. I suppose it's realistic for a freshman in college, but it was grating to read about. She's also inconsistent, changes her mind constantly, and makes odd decisions. It's difficult to tell if that's just Tara's personality or if she's poorly-written.

There are a couple smaller things that bothered me, such as plot holes in the second half of the novel and an overly convenient ending, but I don't want to be too harsh on this book. I think it will have an audience who enjoys it, but that audience might be a bit narrower than I originally expected. I would recommend this to teenagers and readers who are just starting to read the dark academia genre. I'd also recommend it to readers who want an easygoing, paranormal read for Halloween, but who don't want something overly scary. All That Consumes Us is interesting and has some heart (with a sweet sapphic romance and diverse characters!), but I found it to be more shallow than other books in its genre. That doesn't have to be a negative thing, depending on what you're looking for. If you want something quick and a bit different from the cozy, witchy Halloween reads trending right now, give this a try. If you want something more serious in nature that leans further into the struggles of competitive academia, you might want to try something else.

2.75 stars out of 5 stars, rounded up because I did enjoy this one while reading, even if I had issues with some parts of the book.

Tara finds the body of a fellow student on campus and is then invited to join an elite and powerful secret society. It is a queer story of ghosts and possessions. You can feel the darkness of the society and the campus coming off of the page. Tara was frustrating at times and made unwise choices but it’s a decent gothic story.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for the ARC.

This was a very gripping read. I kept wanting to read more and more even though I found myself not that interested in what was happening most of the time? Now that's some sorcery.
The plot was working for me until it wasn't. A few things seemed a little too childish to me and also a lot repetitive. It was still a good one-time read and I'll recommend it to DA lovers.

Keep an eye out for the triggers in this book. I had to dnf part way in due to the mishandling of schizophrenia rep and it's harm. I was excited for the unreliable narrator rep but this seemed rude.