TW/CW: Language, graphic sex scenes, abuse, cheating, drinking, toxic family relationships

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Angelina Sicco was born and raised in Cadenze, an ugly little mountain town that's dead most of the year. Determined to be content with her lot in life, she walks her mongrel dog, attends her brother's heavy metal concerts, holds court in the local dive bar, and does everything she can to bait hot, queer women to her sleepy, conservative hometown. But on the night of a family party, Angelina runs into the sternly handsome Jagvi, who's back in town for a spell.

Upon Jagvi's arrival, an ancient evil is awakened, and a monstrous force infiltrates Angelina's life. Only Jagvi’s touch repels it — the final trigger for a secret, passionate romance. But this monster feasts on all the passion, heartbreak and mess that makes up a life, and Angelina Sicco’s life has never looked tastier. What will Angelina do to protect her future? And what will it cost her?
Release Date: October 29th, 2024
Genre: Horror/Romance
Pages: 304
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Loved the small town vibes

What I Didn't Like:
1. Did not like Angelina
2. Where's the horror
3. Just a book centered on sex only it seems not really romance

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Everyone in town seems pretty relatable and real even down to everyone sleeping with each other. That's how small towns are.

I can not buy into that this armpit town is just more than accepting that Angelina is gay and even goes as far as helping her in ways to get laid. A few people but the town. Nope.

Oh look another sex scene...

She slept with her brothers girlfriend ewww. No thanks.

Final Thoughts:
As I was reading this book I was enjoying how much Angelina loved her small town. It reminded me a lot of True Blood and Sookie's love for her small town.

I don't read romance but this sounded interesting so threw caution to the wind and asked myself "why not". Unfortunately it doesn't feel like romance but a smut book that is trying to incorporate horror into it. Wasn't a fun time for me. Thought the book would have "romance" sprinkled in it and horror to round it out, but it's just sex scene after sex scene. If sex isn't happening it's being thought of/talked about.

I kept thinking this book felt like a Marvel comic book. It's like Venom with a queer twist, but not in a good way. I didn't care for our two lead ladies and began annoyed at their "should we shouldn't we" batter that laid on every page.

I dnfed this book at page 148 (48%)because at page 125 I stopped caring but pushed myself to finish. Lots of people loved this book but definitely not one for me.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

While this book was readable and enjoyable to an extent, I sadly did not love it as much as I thought I would. The ending quickly became predictable and seemed rather halfhearted. I wish I had vibed with it better because the parts that I liked, I LOVED.

Some books grip you with action, others with language—this one does it with a quiet, undeniable pull. Before you know it, you’re fully inside its world, thinking about its characters as if they’re real. It’s not just a book you read; it’s a book you live with.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.
MORE SAPPHIC HORROR IN 2025!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Slow start to this novel, but when it gets going..........oof!! Characters, story, monster, all 10/10.

2.5 stars!!!

I really wanted to love this because the idea of eldritch horror always interests me, but I found myself not caring even 90% of the way through this. This book is marketed as a horror but it felt more like a romance with a horror in the background. The romance felt like it kept overtaking the story away from The Monster. I can tell you all about how the love interests care about each other and being the only queer, brown people in their small town but I can't really tell you much about the horror. I felt like every time the horror started ramping up, it always fell flat. I don't mind a background romance in horror but the smut and romance in this felt out of place in the story the authors were trying to write, but that might just be personal preference.

Content Warnings: Homophobia, Racism, Possession, Physical Assault (Blood, Broken Bones), Dog Attack (+ Wound Description), Animal Death

For the sex averse, there are multiple, explicit sex scenes. All are well telegraphed and mostly skippable, though one has some minor plot importance.

Clements and Datta have produced a fantastic queer horror novel. I'll admit, I found the opening, which centered around a family get together, a little slow - but immediately after that? Hooked with an intriguing local urban legend and with a fantastic first appearance of The Monster that clashes with main character Angelina throughout the book. Angelina is a mixed-race member of the Sicco family, who are well known and influential in their rural town of Cadenze. Angelina is no exception and has tried to shape her space to fit her needs, including making it more of a tourist destination for queer folx (especially lesbians).

In addition to The Monster, Angelina struggles throughout the book with her (initially buried) attraction and obsession with Jagvi, her brother's ex and the first lesbian she ever knew. As Angelina's encounter with The Monster increase, Jagvi becomes the only thing capable of keeping it from controlling Angelina. Their relationship's evolution throughout the novel is as key to the narrative as The Monster, and just as intense - visceral, and never saccharine.

The book uses flashbacks of Angelina and Jagvi's shared past, as well as their present, to explore their shifting relationship over time, as well as the horrors that can come from racism, homophobia, and how small communities and family histories can suffocate burgeoning dreams. These horrors are as clear as the external force of The Monster, and all are explored in satisfying ways.

I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who likes queer horror, romantic horror, or any combination thereof.

This is an atmospheric, dark, queer horror story outside of my usual read. The horror was a little too much for this non-horror reader, but it was still well-written, and I think it will work for many who read horror normally.

Feast While You Can has all the right ingredients—queer yearning, small-town grit, and a creepy, all-consuming monster—but it didn’t quite deliver the feast I was hoping for. Angelina’s sharp edges and Jagvi’s brooding charm had potential, but the chemistry between them felt more simmer than sizzle. The horror elements were unsettling but not enough to keep me awake at night, and the pacing sometimes dragged, leaving the monster’s threat feeling more metaphorical than terrifying. Still, the writing was lush, and the moments of queer joy and messy humanity shone through. It’s worth a read, but I wouldn’t rush to recommend it.

Would recommend for fans of Nightbitch and Monstrilio!

It honestly took me a little while to get into this one. But it was worth it. I think part of it was that I could never pin Angelina down? But once you get to the end you realize just how much it was all a narrative device and it really pays off.

Enjoyed much more than I thought I would!

In the small town of cadenze lives Angelina. Angelina wants to be content in her life, walking her dog, attending her brothers concerts, and baiting hot women to come back home with her. Everything shifts when her brothers ex comes into town, jagvi. Jagvi is handsome and enigmatic and immediately catches the attention of Angelina. Everything is quaint in there little town except the legend of what is lurking in the cave. One night they get bold enough to enter the cave and Angelina comes out changed. A super sexy sapphic horror novel I gobbled it right up!

I’m agree that this is great for Nightbitch fans— one of my favorite books ever and this can have a stop of my top 2024 reads as well. It took me awhile to get into it but the payoff was there in the end. I struggled to understand the main character, even such that I couldn’t figure out if she was a teen or an adult. I think I started to like her when it became obvious that she didn’t understand herself either. Lots of fun. Long live the creature from the pit!

Just in time for dark, chilly winter nights, Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta’s Feast While You Can (Grand Central Publishing 2024) is one of my top reads of 2024 and has quickly become one of my most-recommended queer horror novels!

Marketed as perfect for fans of novels like Nightbitch, Feast While You Can is a novel of queer love and a haunting in a small town. In Cadenze, which sits in a valley isolated by three mountains, Angelina Sicco spends her days working at the local bar and watching for queer tourists passing through town. From a long line of family members born and raised in Cadenze, Angelina loves her hometown, despite its lack of queer residents and its sleepy seasons when the tourists are gone.

On the night of a family party, Angelina’s brother Patrick brings his ex back into town. Jagvi has always fascinated Angelina, with her aloof judgement of everything about Cadenze—Angelina included. But the night Jagvi arrives, Angelina awakens something ancient in the caves near Cadenze, and suddenly nothing about Angelina, the town, or its secrets can stay contained for long. As the thing possessing Angelina comes closer and closer to the surface—walking with her body, talking through her dog, eating her memories—the stakes get higher. Somehow, only Jagvi’s touch repels the creature, and the two women grow closer, giving into the tension that has been broiling under the surface for years. But the monster feeds on joy, passion, and heartbreak, and Angelina’s desire for Jagvi is a feast of emotions, forcing Angelina to make a choice about how far she will go to save herself.

I read this book on a recommendation from a friend immediately after it came out—with almost no idea what it was really about other than that it was queer horror (a favourite genre!). I was more than pleasantly surprised at how sharp, clever, and well-written the novel was, with excellent suspense, pacing, and drama. The horror elements, just as much as the romance, were thrilling. Angelina and Jagvi’s desire for one another was sexy and believable, and the horror plot—which also reminded me a lot of Stephen King’s It—was disturbing enough to keep me compulsively reading.

I finished Feast While You Can in a day because the plot was truly propulsive. My favourite horror novels are also the books that prioritize poetic writing. The language in this novel is immersive and paints a clear picture of a town that is just as much a character as Angelina, Jagvi, and Patrick are. The structure kept me guessing until the very end. This was an essentially flawless horror novel brimming with multiple aspects of queerness.

With genre fiction like Feast While You Can, I can’t emphasize enough what a fun, exciting novel this was. Absolutely a book in my top ten of 2024!

I highly recommend Feast While You Can as the perfect queer horror read for this winter!

Please add Feast While You Can to your TBR on Goodreads and follow Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta on Instagram.

This book was creepy and unsettling. Small town horror will always be a favorite and throw in sapphic romance and social commentary? 5 stars!

It's a weird book, but I kinda vibed with it. The characters I could honestly care less for, I think I was here for the urban legend aspect and the monster manifesting actually for the main character as a reflection to Angelina's desires and all that jazz. I could not stand Jagvi for the life of me, but the story kept me intrigued to the end and I'm still a bit shocked, but it was an interesting book overall

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get through this novel. I found it to be a bit boring and I didn't quite care for the characters. I think this is particularly because I felt like I couldn't identify with them. Therefore, I believe this book could work for others. I don't think I am the target audience for the novel. It reminded me as well of Model Home, where it became at times more about identity nuances than actual horror.

Messy and sapphic with the perfect amount of horror. I really enjoyed this one! Perfect for fans of Nightbitch or Someone You Can Build a Nest In. All about embracing the monster within instead of quashing it.

I read this in 2 days.
It’s horror and passion.
It’s messy and emotional.
I. Could. Not. Stop. Reading.

I love a good small town story, bonus points if it’s sapphic. I genuinely felt creeped out by this book, which is what I look for in a spooky season read. I really enjoyed the way this story played out. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

An utterly creepy queer small town horror story filled with a diverse cast of characters, Sapphic love, demon possession and more that was completely different from the author duo's debut but I really enjoyed it. Different but great on audio with excellent narration, this is perfect for fans of Rachel Harrison and Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

In full disclosure, I ended up DNF'ing this book around 45% of the way through when it became clear it just wasn't a good match for me. However, this does not mean it wasn't a good book.

In Feast While You Can, Angelina, a long-time resident of small town Cadenze, becomes literally haunted by the evil darkness at the bottom of a cave. In the meantime, her brother's ex-girlfriend returns to town, reigniting feelings between her and Angelina.

Here are some aspects I enjoyed: first, the atmosphere. The writing definitely had me on edge and tense as any good horror book should. Cadenze and its denizens felt eerie and on the edge of unsettling. I also enjoyed the queer romance aspects of this - it felt like a true queering of the horror novel, rather than just a horror novel with some queer characters thrown in for fun.

Ultimately, the major problem is that I don't like horror novels... and that's on me, not on the authors. I also think I wasn't really in the headspace to read something complicated. However, I could see several people in my queer book club enjoying this, and it would definitely spark conversation - I'd consider picking it back up again to read it with a group to help me dissect it! (And maybe to talk me through the scary parts.)