Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Do the end's justify the means?
Should brilliance be allowed to live forever at the expense of life?
All That Consumes Us asks these questions as we explore the mysterious Magni Viri through Tara Boone's eyes. She's come to the prestigious Corbin College searching for a way to escape a very humble past and after one fateful night the mysterious death of a student launches her into a new life. A life that could lead her to her one wish; become a writer. She gains friends, a girlfriend, and her writer's block slowly crumbles within Denfeld Hall, the home of the infamous and venerated Magni Viri. This group has pumped out some of the most brightest minds and Tara can't believe her luck that she now calls this place home. However she starts to see the rot beneath the shine. She begins to write with a fervor that she soon finds out is not her own.

This book was so good. Plain and simple. The tension is beautifully built through the book as we're brought through each twist and turn. The cast of the book was extremely diverse and I found myself loving all of them because they were written with flaws and dreams and many of them actually surprised me. As someone that would love to be a writer I connected immediately with Tara and found myself wondering if I could have whatever I wanted, would I do whatever it takes? No matter the consequence? Maybe not to the extent that the book presents, but the what if is still something to ponder.

All That Consumes Us is a haunting look at the lengths ambition will go to finish works of genius. Deeply gothic, engrossed in the nightmarish mysteries at the heart of a secretive academic society.

This story was wonderfully written, a perfect spooky fall read that I'm excited to recommend this season (and for each hallowseason after). Highly recommend for fans of dark academia, gothic, and queer horror!

queer cast | ghosts | dark academia | found family | centuries-long love | achievement and revenge

All That Consumes Us started out very strong but sadly dropped off near the end. The first half of this book was spinetingling creepy, it legitimately had me freaked out. You really have no idea what is going on and the thought of Tara being haunted by a fellow student’s ghost was pretty frightening.

However, the second half of the book gets a little repetitive and considering the somewhat quick ending, it goes on a bit too long. The secret of Magni Viri was revealed way too soon and the horror/mystery side of the story suffered because of it. I really struggled to get into the last 20% despite this being such an interesting story.

The concept of this book was very unique in my opinion - I’ve never read anything like this. I’m not going to give away the main themes as they aren’t mentioned in the synopsis, but it’s an interesting one, trust me.

I wish more time was spent at the Magni Viri house. I’m a sucker for old Victorian houses, especially as the settings for horror media, but you don’t get to see much of it. This is an element that the book was lacking ever so slightly. There wasn’t a lot of description, especially with the settings. A decent amount of this story takes place in a graveyard and I feel like an in-depth description of it would have made the second half of the book much scarier.

I wasn’t very keen on Tara as the main character but I did like the cast of characters as a whole. They all had a part to play and their little eccentricities were very endearing.

All That Consumes Us is a very decent mystery thriller and I’d highly recommend it if you are into books about secret societies.

Gothic. Dark academia. Occult.
My god the vibes on this!! Perrrfect for October.

Tara Boone wants more than anything to get out of her small town far away from her abusive mother to become a famous author. She works her ass off to get into Corbin College with hopes of getting into Magni Viri-an academic society that covers tuition, gets incredible mentorship and guaranteed success after graduation. But at what cost?

I thought this was so haunting and lovely. The build up and tension to learn exactly what is going on in Magni Viri was palpable. We love a diverse cast and accepting peers. I did think some of the characters could have be fleshed out a little more. And the ending seemed rushed but I had such a great time with this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an eARC.

This dark academic tale has stupored my brain.

A book about a girl who wants to be a writer lured into the elite society of college 'Magni Viri'. And while everything lustres here like gold, the students look all insane. All that consumes us has literally consumed me while I consumed it. This devious cycle goes on throughout the book.

Loaded with ghostly spirits, Latin spells, and madness to excel at their courses, the story is a maddening tale of students in pursuit of passion. It captures the reader's attention like nothing else. It's scary and captivating, and the world buildup is so real and freaking great. You can't separate reality, imagination, hallucination, or possession 👻

A perfect companion for your Halloween week!

I loved The Restless Dark - and I enjoyed The River Has Teeth well enough - but I think so much of what made those stories compelling was a balance between complementary characters. In All That Consumes us, we just have Tara - who is the limpest of limp lettuce, like the most boring typical English major from a poor background; there's no spark there to draw the reader in (and she knows it and brings it up, like, every other paragraph, which is even worse) and even Waters' gorgeous prose cannot save this book from Tara's meritocracy. And every other character was pretentious as hell in an overly dramatic "the only books I've ever read are the classics + The Secret History because I'm an English Major" kind of way. Again, I think that's mostly Tara trying to affect pretentiousness (which, why) but STILL no one has a personality they're just "dark academia character #6"

The prologue is pretty much the only interesting thing that happens in the first half of the book, and that's just... Disappointing.

I did love the casual queerness and disability rep, and how the character who uses a mobility aid pointedly does not use it all the time, which is just a great nod at how disability isn't a monolith even within one person.

The concept was very unique! It’s definitely different from other dark academia stories. Readers get to witness the spiral of Tara, the protagonist, as she navigates her life at Magni Viri. The cast of characters was mainly likeable, and there was something I haven’t read enough of that I enjoyed: disability representation!! The general rep was pretty good, but seeing a main side character with a chronic illness was refreshing

The narrator is unreliable, and this was a turnoff for me at times. The plot also felt lagging at times, and by the last third, I wanted it to wrap up. At least the ending vindicated the slow plot.

This is the perfect read for October. A mysterious dark academia read that completely held my attention the whole way through.

Tara, the main character, is ready to give up hope at Corbin University, where she attends hoping to one day be an author. Suddenly, she is inducted to a secret society, Magni Viri, which is known for the brilliance of its students. She is elated. That is, until she realizes what is actually happening here.

I loved this! It is a gothic ghost story that I definitely recommend for a good autumn read!

Out October 17, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

The beginning and end of this book were the best parts of this story.

The beginning and end were so gripping—that prologue, when Meredith read her story, when the ghosts were banging on the mausoleum?!! I was entranced! But, I feel like the pace dropped off after Tara was accepted into Magni Viri. Her descent into her possession was so slow and yet it felt like she jumped to the conclusion. It was also a bit interesting how she would commit to fight only to end up feeling resigned to her fate.

I feel like this would be an excellent movie, and maybe that means that the author did more telling than showing? Overall, I had just an okay time.

<b>3.5</b>🌟 Dear World, dark academia books can be valid and successful without references to The Secret History. Thank you. 👩🏻‍🏫

This was fairly average in a neutral, mostly not negative way - tense, eerie ghost story in hallowed halls and all that. Vibes were there for a start to spooky season read, though I really need to stop picking up these quick YA books solely based on the perceived atmosphere. 😅 Nothing against the book, really, I’m just not the target audience and need to stop convincing myself I might be because of mood reader FOMO. 🙃 Great representation all over and something you can read in a day or two; leave your expectations in the bin where they belong and you’ll have a good time.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an eARC of this book.</i>

This book is perfect for spooky season!

It's a queer dark academia Gothic story. That's not usually my genre, but lately I've been reading more of these spooky reads and finding that I'm enjoying them. All that Consumes Us is especially great. The prose pull you in and doesn't let go. The author did a great job of creating suspense and building the mystery around this elite academic society.

I found that I really related to Tara's first Gen insecurities since I was also a first Gen lot major with major imposter syndrome. All of the characters were so well written and had depth. She made me love all of them. There isn't anything I enjoy more than lovable characters and this book delivers.

If you're on the lookout for a spooky book to read this spooky season definitely check this one out. Especially if you're a fan of dark academia, found family, and ghosts.

Out October 17th

Thanks netgalley for the E-arc!

Thank you HarperTeen and Netgalley for this eARC. This opinions are my own. Perfect for spooky season! When Tara discovers a body at school she ends up being invited into a secret society. Their responsible for creating artists, authors, etc. all of import. Plus they’ll help Tara with financials. Soon she’s writing things that she can’t recall writing. Why doesn’t she remember? Is it really her writings? What’s going on? This book kept me hooked and I couldn’t put it down! I loved that it had ghosts and possession mixed with students trying to achieve their passions. Erica Waters world building really puts the readers in the story and you can feel all the spooky things happening! A perfect Fall read that will keep readers captivated! Can’t wait to read it again!

The moment I started this book I was sucked into the academic atmosphere, and as the plot and relationships progressed I was HOOKED. This is the absolute perfect combo of plot/horror and the dark academia ~vibes~ - I find a lot of books only do one of those things successfully.

Great queer rep! I would say this was pretty light horror, but a few scenes definitely would have terrified me if I was alone in the dark.

Deeply atmospheric, this Southern Gothic ghost story will give you chills.

First-generation college student Tara Boone has sacrificed everything to get to Corbin College, but she still feels like she's struggling to keep her head above water. All she wants is to be able to write. After a tragedy opens up a spot in the elite secret society Magni Viri, Tara finally feels like she has a chance: free tuition, academic mentoring, guaranteed success after graduation, and a close knit group of peers who are also driven to achieve greatness. But of course, nothing comes without a cost. But the farther she descends into Magni Viri, the more she suspects that the price is even higher and darker than she could have imagined...

I think this is a phenomenal example of YA dark academia. The setting here really is its own character - old Tennessee school, intimidatingly old and dark buildings, and graveyards. There's a steady feeling of paranoia buzzing in the background as Tara struggles to discover the truth and survive.

One of the aspects that elevates this ghost story is the care that Waters takes in developing interesting, well-rounded, and diverse characters. Several of the characters, including Tara, are explicitly queer. Although this is definitely not a romance overall, I enjoyed the sapphic relationship between Tara and her love interest. There is a side character who is non-binary, and the conversation around pronouns is simple but well done, as well as a side character with an autoimmune disease who uses a mobility aid. Classism is also discussed and important throughout the story - Tara struggles with feeling like she belongs at an elite institution and importantly doesn't have a safety net to fall back on.

If you're looking for something spooky to kick off this fall reading season that will give you chills but not nightmares, All That Consumes Us is a great pick for you! In general, I'd recommend Erica Waters' books to anyone who's interested in sapphic Southern gothic ghost stories (a subgenre you perhaps didn't realize you needed in your life, but you do).

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was not my usual read. It was a tad too creepy for me, but I had to finish. It is beautifully written! Dark Academia with a gothic undertone. Highly recommended this for anyone who loves this type of story.

A perfect spooky fall read! All That Consumes Us follows Tara, a first-ten college student who gets accepted into an elite academic society, believed by outsiders to be a satantic cult. As Tara settles into her new life as a Magni Viri student, she begins having odd, frightening dreams, and when she wakes, she finds she's written stories she doesn't remember writing.

I never fully knew where this book was going, which is a good thing. I usually figured out the twists at the same time our narrator did, so this book was incredibly hard to put down. As a first gen college student and creative writer myself, I found Tara to be a very relatable character and I immediately empathized with her and her goals. I enjoyed getting to know the other characters as well, and there was a ton of diversity which to me felt very well done. The author did an amazing job developing all of these characters and it was hard to know who to trust and what was really happening.

And as a minor detail -- I usually hate when modern references are included in books as it takes me out of the story, but the few instances of this in All That Consumes Us were very well done and didn't at all feel removed from the plot. It was a breath of fresh air.

"Ninth House meets The Dead and the Dark in this Gothic dark academia novel that delves into the human capacity for great love, great art, and great evil.

Magni animi numquam moriuntur. Great minds never die.

The students in Corbin College's elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all - free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. When first-gen college student Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she doesn't hesitate.

Except once she's settled into the gorgeous Victorian dormitory, something strange starts to happen. She's finally writing, but her stories are dark and twisted. Her dreams feel as if they could bury her alive. An unseen presence seems to stalk her through the halls.

And a chilling secret awaits Tara at the heart of Magni Viri - one that just might turn her nightmares into reality; one that might destroy her before she has a chance to escape.

All That Consumes Us will pull readers into a hypnotizing, dark reverie that blurs the lines of reality and shows that the addictive nature of ambition - and its inevitable price - always claims its due."

Yes yes, just the right time of year to delve into some dark academia.

📚Tara is a freshman at Corbin College who was just given a once-in-a-lifetime, extremely sought-after chance to enroll in the elite academic society at the college, Magni Viri. Not letting the chance slip past her, Tara is immediately thrust into a new dorm and is finally writing again. But the stories are dark. Darker than anything she had written before. When strange things keep happening Tara learns a secret that might take her dreams and make them into nightmares.
💀I loved this gothic horror ghost story. I did find Tara a little annoying and her actions and choices a little frustrating. But the story more than made up for that and holy wow, that big reveal. I loved it!
This dark academic gothic with its amazing prose and atmospheric setting raises the question of sacrificing oneself for the sake of ambition and where we draw that line. This is not one to miss!
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A deeply Gothic, atmospheric and spooky example of Dark Academia, this is the story of Tara. She is insecure and drowning in debt. Her biggest dream is to become a part of Magni Viri, a mysterious society of geniuses. When she has her shot at joining them, she realizes how sometimes it’s worse to get what you want. I really, really loved the Victorian mansion where the action is set, as well as the surrounding woods. You can almost smell the trees and hear the cicadas. I also liked the characters. Usually, these types of novels aggravate me, with teenagers thinking that writing is comparable to curing cancer. Tara is relatable and humble enough, though, that she keeps everything in perspective. I personally enjoyed the brief glimpses of the classes that Tara takes, as well as the fascinating work her housemates are conducting (yes, Penny, please show me the bats!); and the novella that Tara is writing. The final part was insanely suspenseful. Very enjoyable.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperTeen!

This is definitely the best Erica Waters book I've read so far - you can see real growth in her writing and her characters. This book is also perfect for fall. The vibes and atmosphere are immaculate.

There's a large cast of characters with diverse backgrounds and identities. There were some twists I saw coming - but not all of them played out the way I expected them too. The only thing I didn't really enjoy was the refences to other dark academia books. I know dark academia is having a moment, but it was too self-aware that it was a dark academia. I think removing those references would not hurt the story and would help the book feel less self-aware (super curious to see if they make the final cut).

Overall, I had a really great time reading this book. It's truly a perfect October book.