Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)'s Reviews > Feed Them Silence

Okay, this novella is weird but it unexpectedly really worked for me. It's a horror novella but at its core I think it's about how many of us seek connection and depth of feeling by immersing ourselves in a virtual world in hopes of finding a sense of purpose and freedom from existential loneliness. All the while, neglecting the relationships we already have and compounding the problem. Feed Them Silence imagines a move toward a more extreme version of this while things go terribly wrong.

In the near future Dr. Sean Kell-Luddon and her wife are middle-aged lesbians with marriage problems. But even as that relationship erodes, Sean throws herself into her research studying neurological connections between humans and animals as a way to create empathy. Sean is herself the test subject, being neurologically connected via surgery to a wolf. While the study is supposed to be clinical, Sean finds herself reacting physically and emotionally to the experience of sessions being bonded with this wolf as she interacts with her pack. Finding comfort and connection that she struggles with in real life.

I really connected with this novella and the horror felt horrific to me. Is it because I have experience sustaining a relationship for well over a decade? Very probably. While the wolf stuff is weird, this touches on very real struggles that are common to long term couples. Taking someone for granted, not communicating, workaholic tendencies, getting too comfortable, losing yourself in media, neglecting to show care, or even (as in this novella with a cross-cultural relationship) failing to recognize where you've fallen into harmful patterns with racial or gendered ramifications. All of these are things you have to actively work to combat in a successful long-term relationship and this very effectively navigates the horror and trauma of a relationship falling apart. And of course creepy brain patterns from being connected to a wolf.

While I suspect this will be a miss for a cross-section of readers it was definitely a hit for me. And I think there's something about Mandelo's writing that just works for my brain. And fantastic audio narration! I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.