Brom knows how to write a book that takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions and makes you both love and hate his characters.

The idea that music can be both your damnation and your salvation is so accurate. Brom hits the ground running setting you directly in summer in the 80’s in the mind of a woman whose off her meds and just trying to get through her probation so she can finally be free to pursue her music career. Ruby is angry and with every character you encounter you can see why. And what mixes perfectly with satanic panic and an angry girl that loves rock n’ roll; a procession!

I really love Brom’s take on a procession story that’s set in the Jewish religion over the typical Christian demonic procession. The way everything revolves around music from the way Ruby gets possessed, to the way the ring (the tool of her possession) sings a song that is a beacon to anyone evil around, to the fact that getting a group of people to sing a song will (hopefully) eventually set Ruby free makes it fun! The story weaves between gory to funny and is, to be frank, a ridiculous ride. A ride I enjoyed.

We also get the perspective from multiple characters including characters that you don't necessarily want to be in their head. It can be slightly jarring at first, but easy to get used to the different perspectives and adds a lot to the book. It also keeps the action moving and gives you a glimpse into the why behind some characters.

This is definitely on the lighter side for a Brom book but still has plenty of scenes that had me flinching. This was an ARC so I didn’t get to see Brom’s signature images but I’m excited to get a physical copy to see them.

I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. Not only were the narrators fun, but it makes the music aspect very immersive. I listened to the audiobook at 2x speed so if you’re like me I highly recommend when it comes to the music putting it to 1x speed so you can get the full song experience. I love that this was included and is an actual recorded song specifically for the audiobook.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

3/5 stars.

Ruby was a compelling protagonist that you can root for throughout the story, despite making some questionable choices. Evil in Me is definitely for people who have a love of both the horror genre and punk rock music. The audiobook was wonderfully produced, and the narrator did a fantastic job bringing the atmosphere of a Brom book to life. The book was quite fast-paced and things picked up quickly.

While overall this book wasn't a standout favourite for me, it's a niche in the genre that I'll eagerly recommend to people that I think it would suit.

I will forever love Slewfoot, but I think that that was an outlier for me.

Brom's art is truly beautiful, and I'll always check out the prints in whatever else he writes. But I think it's time to admit that the rest of the books in his catalog just don't interest me that much.

Also man, I was not expecting so much circumcised penis and foreskin chatter in that first chapter. (To be fair, I wasn't expecting any-- but it was still a lot!)

Evil in Me was was entertaining and fun, but nothing particularly new or groundbreaking. I felt like this book was very middle of the road- I didn't love it, and I definitely didn't hate it. This was my second Brom book, and like the other I read this one, it just felt too long. I didn't enjoy the stalker/serial killer bit- I don't think this subplot was necessary there was more than enough going on already. There was a lot of action, gore, and chaos to keep me engaged the whole time. I love how he has a way of writing traditionally "evil" characters that leads you to not only empathize with them, but love and root for them.

I listened to the audio of this book, and while I think it is really awesome that a real band composed and recorded a song to include- making the book even more immersive- I did quickly get annoyed at how often I had to hear the damn thing. I understand it was important to the plot and they played it when it was written in the book, but it was just too much for me.

That aside I loved the audio narrators- they kept me engaged and brought real life to the story.

Evil In Me is such a trip. Ruby’s down and out just trying to do better for herself in a system that’s constantly working against her had my heart from the start. Her passion for music is incredible and she is a total badass. I’m also high key jealous of Ruby’s bond with Beel….
Evil In Me is kind of like an extreme fever dream spiraling through the punk rock world of the 80’s. Everything about this story was extreme. The gore is phenomenal, the punk rock is at maximum power, and the dark dread is all-consuming. I definitely need to do a re-read of this one with my earholes and experience the narration that EVERYONE is raving about. Thank you @netgalley for my eRead, and @tornightfire for my gifted finished copy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

It's an audiobook that truly benefits from the medium. Full of rock and roll beats and a unique twist of selling one's soul to rock and roll, this work by Brom turns the Faustian deal on its head.

Evil in Me was not for me. The first introduction to the main character was the epitome of “she’s not like other girls” combined with slut shaming. The dialogue of the adult and young adult characters throughout the novel felt incredibly juvenile.

In terms of this being an audiobook, I think the medium detracted from the work. Normally Brom’s work is paired with artwork, so I imagine that could make the experience better. The song featured multiple times in the work was difficult to listen to. I will still probably try other books by Brom, but I’ll be skipping the audiobook versions.

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this on audiobook from NetGalley for review.

Thoughts: I liked this. To be fair, I am a big fan of Brom, and while this was far from his best book, it was still interesting and I am happy I read it. I want to pick this up or at least look at it in paper form at some point because Brom usually has some fantastic illustrations in his books that I am sure I missed because of the audiobook format.

Ruby has been having some mental stability issues and is off her meds again. But she's okay, she's doing fine. If she can just get through her community service, she can start over, leave town, and join her friend's band. Then she gets the evil demon ring stuck on her hand, and suddenly she is in a race to find a way to get this evil thing off her finger before other evil things hunt her down.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was well done. I found the constant replaying of Ruby's song by the band to be annoying; it was jarring. It was okay to hear it once, but I didn't need to hear it over and over again...Brom could have just said "they replayed the song". I was annoyed that I had to spend time listening to this simple (and not at all awesome) song over and over. I wanted to fast-forward through those parts but was driving in heavy traffic and couldn't do that safely.

The premise was intriguing, and I enjoyed the characters. This is kind of between dark paranormal and horror. I thought this was an interesting and creative story. There are fun twists throughout. The story alternates between longer sections with Ruby and shorter parts with a serial killer named Richard. I honestly didn't think Richard's parts of the story were necessary, however, they do help add some ironic twists to the ending.

I enjoyed Ruby a lot as a character. She has had a rough life with a lot of sucky things happening to her. I loved her persistent and tough attitude and how she was always trying to make the best of things. There are some very good side characters in here as well. I enjoyed how unpredictable the story was and how crazy some things in here were.

This definitely has a lot of gore and horror in it. Brom is not an author to read if that bothers you. It also has a lot of very dark (but strangely humorous) themes; again, you don't read Brom for unicorns and rainbows. I always enjoy the darkly humorous themes and unique ideas and characters that Brom brings to the page.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. While I didn't think it was Brom's best book (I still like "The Plucker", "Slewfoot", and "The Child Thief" more) I did still enjoy it. It was creative with interesting characters, unexpected twists, and dark humor. I wasn't a huge fan of the live band parts in the audiobook; I just found them too repetitive and jarring. However, aside from that, the audiobook was well done and I appreciate the effort that went in to trying to make the audiobook a bit more unique. I look forward to what Brom writes next.

A funky fantasy horror of a twisted ring, the power of music, and new beginnings.
So this book may not have been for me. There were things that I found interesting like the magical ring, the history of that, and seeing how it affects people was probably my favorite part. What I didn't care for was the thriller and stocking aspect took away from the parts I did like. There is also a huge music plotline, and I do love books set around music it just wasn't for me in this book. I can see why so many people have and would enjoy it. It's witty and has a dark charm about it. I would say there is a bit of humor in an odd way. You get to see a lot of character growth. It's filled with tons of action and intense scenes. This book also pulls at your heartstrings. Sadly Evil in Me and myself just wasn't a match.
A dark and witty story of a magical ring and fighting evil.

EVIL IN ME
Well @geraldbrom has done it again. I was in the moment I saw the cover for Evil in Me. Then I heard a little about it and I couldn't wait to read it. Let's be honest though, I really went into this one blind because I never remember a synopsis. Then I just about lost it the moment I got the ARC on @netgalley. Finally I almost fell over when I got the ALC.
This book was so enthralling. It had so many things that I love to read about. There's the 80's setting, punk music, demons, possession, some kickass female characters and last but certainly not least VUTTO.
There's also an unexpected subplot that really ties into the story by the end. I really enjoyed this but the audiobook gets ALL of the stars. It was phenomenal and I would highly recommend if you can listen to it. If you don't listen to the audiobook, at least go listen to the fully produced song with the same title. This audiobook is a galaxy of stars. It is so well done and well produced.

Wow what a fun ride. This was such a treat to be in this world of rock and roll and punk music and demons. I had a good time with this and as always Brom's illustrations are incredible

I will recommend that people get this in physical copy as well so they can experience the artwork that makes Brom so unique. Loved the story as they are a favorite author. Will recommend all formats.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. Stephanie Németh-Parker and Shahjehan Khan both do a fantastic job delivering their character work.

Ruby Tucker has run into some problems, and while she usually lets her anger out, rather than bottling it up, she’s just trying to course correct so she can move on. After her court mandated volunteering, she makes a bit of money on the side helping her disabled and eccentric neighbor. But while cleaning up and organizing his collection of religious relics, Ruby comes into contact with a possessed, demonic ring. Attaching itself to her finger, there’s little she can do to get it off. I enjoyed the use of Jewish mythology for the story, especially as it’s not something I’ve experienced before.

I’ve seen a lot of things label this as fantasy, and I have to say the mythology parts certainly had a fantasy otherworldly feel to them, but if anything it’s definitely urban fantasy/mythology based in horror.

While most of this read as kind of an unserious novel, the author actually does a pretty solid job combining a large number of elements. Personal and familial drama, possession and demonic influence, a rogue serial killer, and a time in which rock-n-roll was fueling the news and nation into a Satanic panic.

Not only is the ring vying for control of Ruby’s mind, but there is an actual entity bodily inhabiting her. Sent by the demon controller of the ring, his momentary freedom allows for him to try to steer Ruby to freedom as well. While the first attempts release demon spawn, at the very least one of them can play the drums. These kind of silly things kept me engaged with the plot line that was a bit more far out, and it did build into a nice emotional connection with the otherworldly characters.

The ending for me wasn’t entirely a win, it didn’t stick the landing. It certainly does subvert expectations, but it just seemed too much like giving up…spend the entire novel fighting it and looking for a way out and then you just give in? I won’t say more as I want to avoid spoilers, but that’s my gripe with this one. There is also an original song that plays throughout the novel, representing the song that Ruby must get people to sing to build the magic that will save her. Definitely not my cup of tea, I found it kind of corny, although it was for sure stuck in my head by the end. Regardless, this is one I will be thinking over for a while for sure.

Ruby Tucker has dreams of escaping her hometown and making it big as a musician, but things aren’t looking too good in that department after having a disagreement with her bandmate and best friend. In the meantime Ruby has been helping out a neighbor of hers, but when a strange ring decides to attach itself, literally, to Ruby’s finger she suddenly finds herself possessed by an evil demon. The only way for her to remove the ring and escape the evil in attacks is to have hundreds of people repeat a spell, and the only way to accomplish that is to get the band back together.

When I saw there was a new novel by Brom out in the world I jumped at the chance to immerse myself in another one of his stories, and Evil in Me did not disappoint. I enjoyed the characters, the events, and especially the music. Not only did Shahjehan Khan and Stephanie Németh-Parker do an amazing job telling the story, the fact that music by The Maxines was included was simply epic. Not only did I like the song, but I also loved how it brought people together, as music often does. This is one of the best audiobooks that I have listened to.

This isn’t a book. It’s an entire artistic EXPERIENCE. I LOVED every rich MAXIMALIST Punk rock moment of my time in Brom’s Evil in Me. I actually had to slow myself down and take this one in with all of my senses. I listened to the audiobook, while reading the GORGEOUS hardcover, and I even loved this so much, I ordered the Maxine’s as The Nightmares EP of Evil in Me.

An absolute bad ass artistic meditation on what it means to be human and the many internal battles we all can face while walking this earth. Though we may have many different beliefs, there are some evils within and without ourselves we all know very well.

I absolutely love Brom. I own all of his physical books because his artwork is magical. I even bought a copy of Evil In Me that was signed. I was so excited by the premise of this book, but unfortunately it seemed a bit chaotic to me. I liked the idea of Richard’s character, but the way it all connected seemed forced. I wish Richard had his own book unconnected to Rubys storyline. In terms of the audio, I thought the narrator was perfect! I especially loved the contrast of Richard’s narrator. I also really loved the song that was created for this novel. It was really cool how they worked the song throughout the audiobook. I really wished I loved this storyline more. I didn’t even super love the ending.

I'm not much of one usually for possession stories, as usually (the big names one at least) tend to be about how people should act in a faintly ableist "wouldn't it be HORRIBLE to be neurodivergent" or are just Christian propaganda pieces about how the devil sucks. Neither of which I vibe with for multiple reasons.

However, I've greatly enjoyed Brom's other novels (I've read Child Thief, Krampus, and Slewfoot) so I went into this novel expecting to enjoy myself. And boy did I!

I think this one actually ended up above Krampus and Child Thief, just below Slewfoot for me, which wasn't what I expected opening the novel (yes, I still very much need to read Lost Gods and see where that ranks for me!) Brom's got a knack for writing women I like, and I enjoyed seeing Ruby's transformation from "mentally ill and shut off for it" to someone who's more loudly and proudly punk. I find it interesting, too, that Brom starts us in the head of someone mentally ill, and it's partly through our sympathetic possessor that Ruby is able to better pull herself together.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. This one is a bit slow to get off the ground past a wonderfully gory opening, but about 15 percent in we've got a character possessed and have to start fixing that! And from there it's a journey that winds through moral panics (specifically the Satanic panic of the 80s), cops being cops, 'ain't no hate like Christian love' and distrust of the other.

Though some people truly have some vile moment, Brom will manage to wring some sympathy for just about everyone by the end. I would say this ultimately seems very much a novel about second chances. However, that doesn't mean there aren't some (purposefully) senseless sacrifices to get there, a nuanced take.

I was also intrigued we were drawing upon Jewish mysticism for our possession tale, though I must note I am a goy or gentile... or not-Jewish basically. So I don't feel it's my place to speak on this further.. I'll just say it's nice to see some not-Christian elements to this well-worn genre of horror and it's nice to have possessing "demons" that have an agenda and character beyond "evil and want to mess with humans."

I also think this is one case where I DEFINITELY have to recommend the audiobook version, if only so you can actually hear the titular song for yourself and let yourself get swept away by it.

Demons. Possession. And a rock band. I enjoyed everything but the band aspect. I think that trope is just not for me. That being said, I’m still singing the song in my head. Thanks Brom.

The mess of personal growth in lieu of a demon and an ancient relic intrigued me. Relics are a piece of history that will always be baffling whether in fiction or not. The thought of having to break free from it in an unconventional way could have been great; however, after a while, it almost felt…silly.

The audiobook narrated by Shahjehan Khan and Stephanie Németh-Parker helped to separate the various characters and give personality to each. They were also easily understood at faster speeds. For the music lovers, it does include a taste of the band too!

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and author Brom for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Yessssssss! Brilliantly weird! Evil in Me by Brom was so organically brilliant and creepy. I adored the characters, all of the characters. The plot points and suspense was EVERYTHING! More please! I need to read this author's backlist immediately. Great audio narration and the musicality was spectacular and added to the plot points.

Brom hits another one out of the park. He is so good at writing charters and Ruby is his next masterpiece. Evil in Me is another excellently creepy work of demons and possession, and is endlessly captivating. This book is for horror and punk rock fans alike as well as fans of 80s pop culture.