STARRED PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW: "Astounding, inventive."
STARRED KIRKUS REVIEW: "Lush and innovative worldbuilding, gruesome body horror . . . A nail-biting tale set in a beautifully rendered world of darkness and danger"
The darkness isn’t empty. It’s hungry.
At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good.
Petra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void’s upper levels, where the dangers are better understood, while Jade wants to risk a descent to the deepest and most mysterious Sixth Layer. Because the deeper they go, the better the payout, and the sooner their dreams can become reality. Their friendship is Petra’s whole world, and Jade’s approval means everything—so Petra agrees to do it Jade’s way.
When their job goes wrong and Jade is lost in the Void, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void . . . or what really waits for her in its depths.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
STARRED KIRKUS REVIEW: "Lush and innovative worldbuilding, gruesome body horror . . . A nail-biting tale set in a beautifully rendered world of darkness and danger"
The darkness isn’t empty. It’s hungry.
At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good.
Petra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void’s upper levels, where the dangers are better understood, while Jade wants to risk a descent to the deepest and most mysterious Sixth Layer. Because the deeper they go, the better the payout, and the sooner their dreams can become reality. Their friendship is Petra’s whole world, and Jade’s approval means everything—so Petra agrees to do it Jade’s way.
When their job goes wrong and Jade is lost in the Void, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void . . . or what really waits for her in its depths.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Praise for this book
"What Feeds Below pulled me into the depths of the Void, where I encountered otherworldly treasures alongside unimaginable horrors. This book was exactly what I needed to satisfy my craving for subterranean terror - quirky yet terrifying, gory yet whimsical. This is body horror at its finest." - Katya de Becerra
"Gory, claustrophobic, and very dark - this is a book best read in sunlit places, breathing fresh air, under an unobstructed blue sky." - Nick Cutter
"A gorgeously vivid and viciously entrancing nightmare of a story that had me hooked. With fantastical toxic plants, horrifying monsters, and a high-stakes quest, it's the perfect mix of surreal, addictive, and creepy. A must read for anyone obsessed with botanical horror." - C G Drews
"Dense, disturbing, and disgusting, this manages to be entirely new and horrifically familiar at the same time. It was exactly the length it needed to be, and yet I can't help hoping for a return to the Void to see what other terrors might be waiting in its depths. This is something that I just read, and I hope the author is prepared to come and rock me to sleep tonight." - Mira Grant
"Spine-tingling cave horror like you've never seen before. Schlote-Bonne brings her own unique twist on subterranean terror, one that will force you to leave the lights on. What Feeds Below is absolutely horrifying, in the most positive way. I could not stop reading." - Taylor Grothe
"Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is a horror-genre alchemist, a mixologist able to blend together niche subgenres and cultural hyperfixations to create wildly satisfying stories that hit on so many levels. What Feeds Below is a horror-fantasy hybrid centering an opposites-attract friend dynamic, plunging the characters into an anime-style quest set in a horror landscape with high-fantasy elements. This is addictive brain candy. I could live in this book." - Sadie Hartmann
"What Feeds Below is a heart-pounding, gruesome adventure featuring some of the most innovative, vivid world-building in the genre. Horrifying monsters, geological dystopia, and characters you'd die for await you in these pages. If this book isn't one of your 2026 must reads, you might want to make sure you don't have mushrooms growing in your brain." - Liz Kerin
"What Feeds Below hooked me from the very first page and then took me on a wild dive through a world that is as magical and hypnotic as it's dangerous. I loved it and all of its creepy creatures!" - Hildur Knútsdóttir
"Creepy, horrifying, and dangerous, What Feeds Below will wriggle underneath your skin and won't let go." - Jessica Lewis
"Fun and gruesome, What Feeds Below is a feast for botanical-horror lovers. Fans of disturbing, heartbreaking stories will not be disappointed." - Trish Lundy
"Readers need authors willing to dig their claws deep into the viscera of the human experience. Readers need authors who write without compromise. Readers need authors who know exactly how to twist the knife - and bring their worst nightmares to life. Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is just that author - an unflinching and invigorating must-read voice in horror, whose talent makes the most of every word. Readers need What Feeds Below!" - Courtney Summers
"Lush, terrifying, and utterly consuming. What Feeds Below is a fever-dream descent into a world where wonder and horror share the same breath. Schlote-Bonne crafts a friendship as fierce as the abyss is hungry, asking how far we'll go for love - and what we're willing to become in the dark." - Aiden Thomas
"Fast-paced, suspenseful, and plenty gory, What Feeds Below is a richly imagined fantasy-horror novel that you'll want to devour in one sitting rather than feed on for days, but be careful: It'll linger long after you've gobbled up the final page." - Johanna van Veen
"Gory, claustrophobic, and very dark - this is a book best read in sunlit places, breathing fresh air, under an unobstructed blue sky." - Nick Cutter
"A gorgeously vivid and viciously entrancing nightmare of a story that had me hooked. With fantastical toxic plants, horrifying monsters, and a high-stakes quest, it's the perfect mix of surreal, addictive, and creepy. A must read for anyone obsessed with botanical horror." - C G Drews
"Dense, disturbing, and disgusting, this manages to be entirely new and horrifically familiar at the same time. It was exactly the length it needed to be, and yet I can't help hoping for a return to the Void to see what other terrors might be waiting in its depths. This is something that I just read, and I hope the author is prepared to come and rock me to sleep tonight." - Mira Grant
"Spine-tingling cave horror like you've never seen before. Schlote-Bonne brings her own unique twist on subterranean terror, one that will force you to leave the lights on. What Feeds Below is absolutely horrifying, in the most positive way. I could not stop reading." - Taylor Grothe
"Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is a horror-genre alchemist, a mixologist able to blend together niche subgenres and cultural hyperfixations to create wildly satisfying stories that hit on so many levels. What Feeds Below is a horror-fantasy hybrid centering an opposites-attract friend dynamic, plunging the characters into an anime-style quest set in a horror landscape with high-fantasy elements. This is addictive brain candy. I could live in this book." - Sadie Hartmann
"What Feeds Below is a heart-pounding, gruesome adventure featuring some of the most innovative, vivid world-building in the genre. Horrifying monsters, geological dystopia, and characters you'd die for await you in these pages. If this book isn't one of your 2026 must reads, you might want to make sure you don't have mushrooms growing in your brain." - Liz Kerin
"What Feeds Below hooked me from the very first page and then took me on a wild dive through a world that is as magical and hypnotic as it's dangerous. I loved it and all of its creepy creatures!" - Hildur Knútsdóttir
"Creepy, horrifying, and dangerous, What Feeds Below will wriggle underneath your skin and won't let go." - Jessica Lewis
"Fun and gruesome, What Feeds Below is a feast for botanical-horror lovers. Fans of disturbing, heartbreaking stories will not be disappointed." - Trish Lundy
"Readers need authors willing to dig their claws deep into the viscera of the human experience. Readers need authors who write without compromise. Readers need authors who know exactly how to twist the knife - and bring their worst nightmares to life. Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is just that author - an unflinching and invigorating must-read voice in horror, whose talent makes the most of every word. Readers need What Feeds Below!" - Courtney Summers
"Lush, terrifying, and utterly consuming. What Feeds Below is a fever-dream descent into a world where wonder and horror share the same breath. Schlote-Bonne crafts a friendship as fierce as the abyss is hungry, asking how far we'll go for love - and what we're willing to become in the dark." - Aiden Thomas
"Fast-paced, suspenseful, and plenty gory, What Feeds Below is a richly imagined fantasy-horror novel that you'll want to devour in one sitting rather than feed on for days, but be careful: It'll linger long after you've gobbled up the final page." - Johanna van Veen
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