Baby is a monstrous plant that feeds on humans, biding his time in a dying shopping mall. He relies on Neve, the flower shop owner, to feed and protect him. But what he really wants is her heart—to meld the two of them together. While she provides for all his other needs, this is where she draws the line. Then, Neve hires a new employee, Shell. There’s chemistry between Neve and Shell, but Baby has a plan to use her for his own means.
The easy pitch for this book is “sapphic Little Shop of Horror,” and it’s not wrong… it just doesn’t quite capture the tone. This doesn’t have the campiness of the musical, and while sparks fly between Neve and Shell, that’s more of a background hum. (Not to mention that Shell also has a relationship with a guy for part of the book.) It’s not as funny as I was expecting, but it also doesn’t tip over into gory horror. (Though there is one moment of body horror that really got under my skin.)
The biggest issue I had, though, was with the characterization. Baby can influence people through his spores, but not completely puppet them. Many times in the book, I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to think Neve or Shell were doing things because of Baby or of their own accord. Their choices often didn’t make sense to me. It was hard to tell what their personalities were supposed to be, because I didn’t know what was them and what was Baby. Add to that the layer that Baby narrates most of the book—he may be an unreliable narrator—and I felt like I didn’t know the main characters at all. Also, a quick heads up that Baby’s narration is essentially like being inside an abusive man’s head, so be aware if that’s not something you want to read.
There were some great elements to this: I think the premise is fun, and there are some very memorable lines, like Baby’s creepy assertion that he will “find a way to crawl through the o in her no.” But overall, this felt muddled. Characters who seemed minor through most of the book take on significance at the end. I read this in an online book club, and most people were confused by the ending. It feels like the elements don’t all meld together coherently.
I’m sure there are readers who will love this, but it didn’t connect with me.
