Evil In Me is a unique possession story that somehow left me...smiling?
I am having a hard time describing this book because it made me feel such opposing emotions simultaneously.

It's haunting but also charismatic. It's gross but wildly entertaining. There are parts that make you feel icky, but there are also scenes that absolutely warm your heart. And despite the weird circumstances the characters find themselves in, it's incredibly relatable. I LOVED this book.

There is a whole bunch of gory, nasty, evil stuff (the main characters are trying to escape a demonic Lord who eats souls and turns them into worms that live in her belly as enslaved demons for eternity), but at its core, Evil in Me is an empowering tale of friendship and discovering yourself as an adult.

Evil in Me will be in my top 10 for the year.

The vibe reminded me a lot of Grady Hendrix's My Best Friend's Exorcism. And the main character, Ruby, made me think of Holly Gibney from Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes Trilogy, The Outsider, etc.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for an advanced copy!

Brom's books are really something. The illustrations are just amazing just as the story within is compelling. The characters were definitely interesting, and I still think of them weeks after reading this book. There were times at which it dragged and I wanted it to just finish but in the end it was worth it. To avoid giving spoilers, I will just say that the ending is just worth it. A really well written story that feels like exactly like crash-landing. I can see why this can become a big fan favourite!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for providing me with an e-ARC of this book!

Evil in Me is a story about a troubled young woman living in the South, who encounters a ring possessed by a demon which changes the trajectory of her life.

I....had a lot of issues with this book. I did not like how the Jewish characters were written and treated, as it felt very much like they were caricatures. I couldn't connect with the main character until the last 20 percent of the book. And I really felt like the premise of the book from the blurb didn't start to happen until that last 20 percent, which made it feel a bit bait and switchy. There was WAY too much Deus ex machina in the last half of the book, and the sudden flip of the protaganist from EVIL to sweet was MUCH too jarring to be believable. While a fast read, I just...couldn't find much to like beyond poor Vutto, who did not deserve what happened to him.

This was a fun quick read. There were a lot of POVs but they were easy to keep up with and the 80’s atmosphere was great. Cannot wait to see if finished with illustrations

Evil in Me by Brom
Evil in Me
by Brom (Goodreads Author)
15793786
Katie Holder's reviewJul 24, 2024 · edit
it was amazing

Slewfoot by Brom is my all-time favorite witchy book. When I saw NetGalley was offering an arc for Brom's newest horror novel Evil in Me, I jumped at the chance to be one of the first people to get my hands on his book. I can't wait until September 17th so I can get a physical copy of this book to check out the artwork that Brom always has in his novels to represent his story, and of course I need a trophy for my bookshelf. Look at the cover, it's going to look gorgeous sitting next to Slewfoot on my bookshelf (everyone imagines books on their bookshelf, right?).

The scene is set in the 1980's which I absolutely I loved. Ruby Tucker is stuck in a small town; backwoods hell hole and she can't wait to get out of Alabama. The family dynamics around Ruby are weird and toxic. She needs to finish up somethings so she can move on with her life. In the meantime, she is helping to care for an elderly man. Josh is her friend; she actually enjoys him and knows she'll miss him when she leaves. While helping him organize some old religious relics an ancient ring attaches itself to her, and all hell breaks loose...literally.

I was immediately drawn into this book, but then about halfway through I was like wait what happened we kind of lulled in the story, but the ending was absolutely dynamite!

The setting, the characters, and the plot were done exceptionally well. The dialogue was mostly wonderful except towards the middle it seemed forced.

I rate this book 4.75 stars rounded up to 5.

I recommend this book to anyone who's lived in the south in the 1980's, who lived through the punk era, or wished they had.

This was such a fun read thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

This was a little different than the other Brom books that I've read. I hate to say that I almost DNF this book. However, the last half or maybe third made it worth it. Is this as brilliant and heartbreaking as some his other work? In my opinion. no. But, I think sometimes authors want to take a break from their usual heavy themes and write something fun and lighthearted. This is a little more on the YA side, but I still liked it, especially toward the end. To be honest, I have been reading so many heavy books and I needed something cozy and campy. If you go into this book with that mindset, and not try to compare it to his other literary greats, this was a good time. I loved the references to some bands I love and the love for music that this book shares.

Rock n roll will save your soul… kinda. I loved this, it’s the sort of book that grabs you and doesn’t let you go until it’s done with you. Beel was such a sweet, sad character and my poor Vutto deserved better. Even Eduardo ended up being a nuanced character.

Magnificent! I've enjoyed all of Brom's work both writing and art and this book was no exception. The writing felt a little YA to me but none the less I enjoyed it. Never stop writing!

I have only read one other book by Brom which was an intense wild ride through the entire novel. I am eager to get into this one and see if the author’s ability to create a chaotic and unique tale prevails. More soon!

That wassss…certainly something! Overall, I did enjoy it. I think it would’ve made an awesome 80s/90s horror movie and I really liked the author’s writing style. However, it did feel a little flat and I wish there would’ve been more substance in the ending or an epilogue or something. But this was my first book by Brom and I’m very interested to see what else they’ve written!

Beautifully written. I was hooked from the first page. The story was unique, entertaining, imaginative, and thought provoking. The characters were deep and well written, and I didn’t have one that I didn’t enjoy. The plot was great and like I said previously very captivating, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. The ending was perfect!! I will definitely be picking up more of Brom’s work in the near future and would highly recommend this book to anyone.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Tor Publishing Group, for an advance copy of this novel of terror dealing with occult rites, ancient practices, the 80's, punk rock and the weird, wild and wonderful people that drawn to these things.

Stories of the supernatural in music have been popular since the legend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made a deal at the crossroad outside of Vienna with a demon, trading his soul for Pachelbel Canon in D Major. Blues singers, pop singers, even Tibetan throat singers have bargained, cheated, upsold and gave away for free whatever parts of them could make them superstars. Souls, self-respect, privacy, love, band members, all have been traded to be jukebox heroes, results have varied. Auto-Tune has probably rid the physical world of more demons than any exorcist can claim. The novel, Evil in Me by writer/artist Brom takes us back to the 80's when music was changing, Reagan was claiming that the apocalypse was coming, and the Satanic panic was real, at least in this part of America.

The book begins in 1951 in Brooklyn with a young man stripping off his clothes, taking only a briefcase containing bottles of gasoline, a ring on his finger, and socks on his feet. The man is consumed by hate, a hate that makes him burn, and want to burn others, no matter how much he tries not to. After this the book moves to the mid 80's where we meet Rudy Tucker, 23 years-old and to quote the Ramones a punk rocker. Though her life is a little bit of a mess, being on parole. And maybe without a band, which is the only dream Rudy really has. Rudy is helping a neighbor, a weird fellow into religious artifacts and esoteric knowledge, and Rudy's life gets even worse. A familiar ring has wrapped itself around her finger, and will not come off. Even worse the strange visitor, a demon who abides in the ring has taken possession of Rudy. The ring also serves as a weirdness magnet, calling other demons, creatures and and even serial killers to Rudy. To save her soul, and safe a lot of lives, Rudy must get the band back together, or be damned in many different ways.

I have always been a sucker for music and horror joining forces. Many of the stories, and movies though have not been good. Evil in Me is the exception. Brom is not only a talented artist, the book is to be illustrated, my advance did not have them, but a very clever wordsmith. An artist who enjoys music also. The idea of Jewish mysticism is something that comes up rarely in comics, and is welcome here. Brom creates characters that love or hate, and something Rudy can be both, one does want to know what will happen to them. The setting of the 80's is done well also. Considering Brom and I are close in ages, he knows what he speaks of, and much of it isn't written in that, oh the 80's were awesome style. The 80's were a dark time, with art under attack, people dying from a disease no one was sure about, a president who seemed to want the end times, and religious people trying to tell people how to live. Sort of like today, only in the 80's we had hope. Punk rock is a good genre for horror, and Brom really knows what he is talking about, and how to portray it.

Great story for fans of Brom, and for new readers. The mix of music, 80's nostalgia, and gore will keep readers on record needles until the end.

I will start by saying I wasn't a huge fan of Slewfoot, which is the only other Brom I've read. My big gripe there was that it wasn't in the least bit scary, and shouldn't have been defined as horror, so much as historical fantasy.

Evil in Me is correctly identified as horror. And this premise is great. Possessor/possessed Buddy adventure? Hell yeah! I also love multiple POVs like this.

I'm clocking this at 3.5 stars because I feel like it lacked proper research of Judaism. I grew disappointed in the beginning with references to Hell and the devil from a Jewish perspective. Jews don't hold the same views of hell and Satan that Christians do, and it was so painfully obvious that this was written by someone surrounded by Christian culture who thought Judaism was just Christianity without Jesus. At first I was excited about some Jewish representation in horror, but this just didn't land because it didn't actually feel Jewish. Which, in a time like this, with antisemitism on the rise, just felt like a slap in the face.

I would have rated this 4.5-5 if it had been more genuine to Jewish belief systems. Or had just stuck with Christianity.

What I wanted to be able to say was how much I adored this, and how this would be my book of the year, bc it's Brom! What I can't say is any of that. I can tell you that this reads like a slightly gorier YA, with a lot of heart, a big cast of varied characters, all at different points in their life, and a heavy lean on rock and roll. There's a ton of 80s nostalgia, and I think folks from that era will be thrilled to see how well represented their lives might be within these pages.
A solid 3.5, that you should give a shot when it's released.

Side note: the art, as always, is impeccable. Even if this wasn't my number one Brom story, I am bowled over by the quality of the art for this, and you will be as well.

I received a free arc from NetGalley and the publisher. I voluntarily wrote this review.

I give this 3.5 stars. I absolutely loved this book up until Ruby got possessed. After that the story felt a bit meh, until the finale. The finale was good. Ruby was pretty annoying. I didn’t like her attitude. Luckily she found some emotional healing at the end. After all the events I wonder if she will be able to have any sort of normal life.

Brom has outdone himself with this action packed punk rock possession story. Like all of his books, the heroes and villains are both extremely complicated and this one has possibly the most lovable demon in modern horror fiction!

This was an ok read for me. Not bad but not great. Loved the premise but seemed like a lot was going on, serial killer, mental illness, cursed ring, possession, terrible stepfather, a maybe evil God. Love Brom but this was just ok. Thanks for the ARC, @NetGalley!

The beginning is a blast, a gory, scary, messy (in a good way) start, fully promising of a fascinating horror book. But then it calms down and turns into something else. I enjoyed it, overall, but I expected something entirely different (in a word, I expected horror!). This is a nicely done coming-of-age tale via theology and Jewish mysticism, with a good pace, some interesting concepts, and an abrupt ending. That said, it's a Brom book, I haven't seen the artwork yet, and there are demons, there's world-building galore, and a B-movie type of atmosphere, combining dread and nostalgia in ways not always easy to pull off for less talented writers. So the book still gets my 5 stars!

Brom took us on a chaotic, creative journey through hell dimensions and beyond. Overall, the characters were engaging and I thought Ruby underwent a believable character arc that left her wiser but still herself. Ruby's path to freedom from demonic possession was fun and effervescent with just enough emotion to explore deeper themes in a nuanced way.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this book. It was a mix between boring and chaotic. Reading this book feels messy. It zooms in the beginning and then a few pages later it's full stop. The first few pages were so brutal and graphic and quite confusing. Then the next few pages are about Ruby's mundane life as a music teacher. Ruby isn't interesting at all. The demonic ring isn't interesting. The world-building isn't interesting. Every attempt at reading this book was met with "Why should I continue reading?" Now I have my answer "There is no reason to". I will continue to read the rest of his back catalog, but I'll pass on this one.