I adored the first book in this duology and this sequel was a stunning conclusion to Laure's story. Mixing eldritch horror, social commentary, and finding one's self after major life changes that leave you unsure about yourself and those around you. Laure is going through it at the start of this book and grappling with the events of book one. There are a lot of personal insecurities with herself, her dancing, and relationships.

It was a bit of a slow build up for this one because we explore more of Laure's state of mind and godhood which are battling it out in her new state of existence. It's great seeing her develop and handle her problems. Both internal and external. I was locked in after her new normal was established and I flew through this.

The horror of Laure's story is both supernatural and societal. The balance between both of these concepts are done beautifully and at times can be subtle to really round out the messages in this book. There are many heavy topics explored and I think they were done well and that this really let her story feel completed. I'll revisit these books time and time again.

The perfect sequel to I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me. I loved the first one so much! I was slightly confused to see a sequel as the first book was very much wrapped up well but happy to have been able to continue the storyline.

I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call" by Jamison Shea is a chilling, beautifully written horror novel that masterfully blends eerie atmosphere with deep, emotional storytelling. The tension builds relentlessly, and the rich, poetic prose makes every moment feel immersive and haunting. Kristolyn Lloyd’s narration is exceptional—her dynamic performance enhances the creeping dread and raw emotion, making this an unforgettable listening experience.

An absolute delight! I loved not only the pacing of the story, but the telling of it as well. From start to end, I was given an adventure!

An absolutely remarkable follow up to one of my favorite books of last year. I was captivated hook, line and sinker in this book and the narration always keeps me in even more of a chokehold. Just when I feel i can't get any more addicted, it becomes even more impossible to get the story out of my head. Hats off to jamison Shea.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a free advanced reader’s copy. I received this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Once again, Jamison Shea has done it. A beautiful tribute to rage and power and self-confidence that was at once so nerve wracking and stressful and still so satisfying, tender, and rich. I thought I loved ‘I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me’ before but this continuation was everything I wanted and more.

With another amazing performance by Kristolyn Lloyd, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t pick up, very specifically, the audiobook of this amazing duology. Laure is a character that Kristolyn embodies so well, someone who contains multitudes, who is so desperate to be happy and human despite all her rage and all her confidence and her unsurety.

Laure is one of my favorite characters I’ve ever read, someone who is not soft, who’s sharp edges cut and bite but are still polished and glimmering. If you love good for her lit, villain arcs, and truly morally grey characters, pick up I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call.

Usually a second is very hit or miss. For me, I liked this one better than the first! Kept me engaged and wanting to know more. Can’t wait for more from this author!

I liked her second book in the series better than the first. It kept my attention. Laure was more of a likeable character in my opinion. Overall, pretty good!

I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call is good. I did like it and also feel it's a solid follow-up to I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me, but for me, unfortunately, it wasn't quite as compelling. While this still had the same gloriously-dark, often gory imagery, toe-curling body horror and rage-filled 'good for her' moments, it nevertheless lacked a bit of the drama and the easily-understandable motivations of the 1st-book.

Additionally, part of the draw for me to that 1st-book was the backdrop of the high stakes, cut-throat world of a professional ballet troupe. There's really not much of that left by the time the story progresses to this point. This novel is set about two months after the events of the previous book, and Laure has pretty much left the ballet in her wake. She is spiraling a bit, drinking, partying and basically being a monster, menacing the streets of Paris.

It's on one of these nights though, that she discovers the dead body of a woman she had been associating with. It's this event that spurs Laure into seeing that something isn't right within the city.

As it turns out, she's not the only monster in town...

This focused a lot on Acheron and Elysium, as well as Laure's family and potential reasons why she may have actually found herself in her current circumstances. I did like learning more about her background, but as mentioned above, I did miss the ballet and Laure's original ambitions. My mind wandered and at the end of the day, I'm sure there's some substance that I sort of glossed over.

Nevertheless, I can appreciate what the author did here and I know so many Readers are going to love this. For me, it just didn't quite live up to the first book.

Thank you to the publisher, Henry Hold and Co (BYR) and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I will be picking up more from this author!

Absolutely loved this duology. I think this was a great sequel and can't wait to read more from this author.
This was a bright point through the effects of Hurricane Helene, I was able to listen and begin our recovery. It was a great distraction.

This is very different than what I expected. In the last book, everyone made their deals to gain something and now they have to deal with it and figure out what comes next. I liked the various ways that people were dealing with what came next. There weren’t any easy answers. It was complicated, sometimes good and sometimes bad. There was a lot more depth than I expected. I think I would have liked it more knowing that there was some deep character work going on. I did enjoy it and I am still thinking about it days later though.

I think that this was a solid follow-up to I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me. We still get that dark fantasy and slightly gory body-horror as we did in the first installment, and the tension is still through the rook (in a good way) throughout the span of the book.

However, I didn't find myself as invested in the conflict as I was during the first book. I think that this lays mostly on me though, since what drew me to the books in the first place was the look we got into the inner workings and tensions of the ballet world. There's a lot less ballet in this book, and focuses more on social relationships outside of that aspect of Laure's life. I also feel like there are a few things in the end that were almost co-outs when it came to the drama, but I won't go into too much detail since it is ultimately a spoiler.

The final battle was pretty epic and well-written, and made a good finale to this duology.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.

I read the first book and really loved it. I had some reservations about starting the sequel but I'm glad to report that Shea killed this sequel as well!! I was proud of Laure for sticking with her morals despite Acheron whispering to her. This story I think is a lot more bloodier and gruesome than the first. There's a lot of body horror that happens so listening to all that through an audiobook was a bit stressful honestly but I still enjoyed it! I was surprised that the book seemed to end too. I thought this story would be a trilogy. It kind of felt like it would be but I guess not! Either way, a fantastic duology and I'll be sure to read more from Shea in the future.

It was a very weird book. I had not read the first book, I didn't realize there was one until I got about a third of the way in and I felt like I was missing something. So doesn't work as a standalone but man oh man I could not stop listening.

The writing is amazing! The narration was bad-ass!!! I was lost a few times but I enjoyed the heck out of this book.

CREEPTASTIC!!

4 stars

Thank you to the Jamison Shea, and Macmillan audio for blessing me with this ARC of this book. Firstly, I would like to start with the narration.; for me the narration can make or break my experience/ interaction with the characters and the storyline. The narrator-- Kristolyn Lloyd did an excellent job. Although, I am reading the books out of order, I was able to follow along. Laure is working hard to live life without ballet, which is all that she has ever known. The world that she is now apart of, with Acheron, also includes new recruits that are being problematic. Laure fills her world with partying and drinking to numb herself, as she works to recapture her life as a dancer, and reclaim who she was as a person.
It was obvious to me as I read the book that I would have had a more intimate experience with this story, if I had read the first book .

I was so excited to receive an audiobook ARC of I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call by Jamison Shea, thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. Unfortunately, this sequel didn’t quite capture the magic of its predecessor for me.

The first book had such a powerful ending that I wasn’t sure where the story could go from there, but I was curious to see how Shea would expand this world. While there were some intriguing elements—especially the lore and exploration of the entity—the story as a whole didn’t feel as compelling this time around.

One of the standout aspects of the first book was how Shea captured the main character’s struggle and sacrifice against racist and blatantly unjust treatment. It was passionately resonant while delving into discussions of class, expectations, and race in the intriguing ballet world. We were able to see her determination, desire to belong, and ascension all. leading to her ultimate sacrifice. In this sequel, however, that theme isn’t as present, and I found myself missing the emotional depth and rawness that made the first installment so impactful.

That said, there are things to appreciate in this sequel. If you loved the first book and are eager to dive deeper into the lore and the character’s life with the entity, there’s still value in picking this up. Additionally, the audiobook narration was excellent. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing the darker, more atmospheric parts of the story to life while skillfully introducing new characters. I enjoyed tandem reading the audiobook alongside the e-book (shoutout to Libby!), which added to the overall experience.

Still, the story itself felt a bit aimless at times. With so much happening, it was surprising how flat and bland the narrative felt in certain moments. It left me wondering whether this sequel was truly necessary, as the first book stood so well on its own.

That said, I remain a fan of Shea’s writing. Their voice and storytelling have such potential, and I’d love to see them venture into adult fiction and experiment further. While this sequel didn’t fully land for me, I’m still excited to see what they create next.

2.5 rating

Jamison Shea delivers a hauntingly poetic and gripping tale with I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call. Blending dark fantasy with visceral emotion, this book explores themes of identity, vengeance, and power in a way that feels raw and unflinchingly honest. Shea’s atmospheric writing and unforgettable characters make this a chilling yet deeply resonant read. A must for fans of stories that linger long after the final page.

Unfortunate DNF (my rating reflects what I did read). Had this for many months and wasn’t hooked enough to finish. Took me a bit to get into this sequel, maybe because I was listening on audio whereas I read the first installment. In the first book, the world was new, and though the start was slow I didn’t mind as I explored Laure’s world of cutthroat ballet. Here, however, the slowness was more evident and a lot of what I liked in the first book was gone (characters, plot points, etc).

I listened to the audiobook for this one and I thought the narrator did a great job. This book takes place a couple of months after the last book left off and it was also full of wonderful horror. I liked getting to see further into some of our side characters and new characters were introduced. Laure is trying to find herself and figure out who she’s s after losing her best friend and ballet in one violent night. She’s working hard to feel nothing with a flurry of drinking and partying and avoiding everyone except the demon living inside of her. When something seems to be happening to Elysium Laure and her friends are desperate to try to save it as who knows what will happen if Acheron’s river is destroyed with their ties to the demon. Overall I gave this one 3.5 stars rounded up for the wonderfully horrific images this one left me with. Overall a fun duology full of drama but also full of Laure figuring out who she is and taking that back.

That ending!
This is the continuation of the very dark paranormal about a young lady who seeks to be the prima ballerina of a dance company. All that Laure and her best friend and family does and what price they are willing to pay to be at the top. Laure is back after the crazy ending of book 1 and she is learning to live with the voice of the beast in her head Alkaron.
I enjoyed book 2 more than book one which is a good thing. I like for the next book in a series to be better than the first in a series and when the stories comes together.
In this book Laure and her friend must fight the powers of Nore. Laure discovers what true friendship is and finds her true power within. I enjoyed seeing Laure becoming more mature and finding her strength that lies within. Laure finally activates the power that is within her to make a difference in the world.
If you are a lover of dark stories, monsters and dark creatures with powers this is your book series.
Thank you so very much Net galley and Macmillan audio for allowing me to review this book. I really enjoyed this dark ride.