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Eviscerate
HyveFest has everything an elder emo could hope for in a music festival; the best bands in the genre, mosh pits, and an ample supply of nostalgia. For Mallory, it’s a refuge. When Jared, a popular influencer and notorious bad boy, goes missing during the festival, her safe haven becomes a source of trauma.
Mallory is consumed with guilt over Jared’s disappearance. She was the last person to see him alive, and the events of that night are too horrific for her to admit to anyone—even herself. So on the anniversary of his death, she and her motley crew of online friends meet IRL to figure out what happened to him.
She hopes it will be enough to finally put her demons to rest, but instead, Mallory and her friends become trapped inside the same place Jared disappeared. Someone blames them for his death and won’t stop until they’re all punished. Forced to participate in a series of increasingly sadistic games, secrets they’ve tried to keep hidden are brought to light.
Tensions rise and even as their trust in each other dissolves, the group must work together to find out what really happened to Jared… or be picked off, one by one.
Mallory is consumed with guilt over Jared’s disappearance. She was the last person to see him alive, and the events of that night are too horrific for her to admit to anyone—even herself. So on the anniversary of his death, she and her motley crew of online friends meet IRL to figure out what happened to him.
She hopes it will be enough to finally put her demons to rest, but instead, Mallory and her friends become trapped inside the same place Jared disappeared. Someone blames them for his death and won’t stop until they’re all punished. Forced to participate in a series of increasingly sadistic games, secrets they’ve tried to keep hidden are brought to light.
Tensions rise and even as their trust in each other dissolves, the group must work together to find out what really happened to Jared… or be picked off, one by one.
- GenresHorror
334 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2023
9 people are currently reading
285 people want to read
About the author
Danielle Renino
5 books41 followersDanielle Renino writes horror and speculative fiction. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring abandoned buildings, eating her way around Boston, or checking for monsters under her bed. Find her online at daniellerenino.com or @daniellerenino on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 21, 2023
No. Never again. Never will I read this again nor will I ever recommend it.
“Saw but with more millennial panic!” like no. Sure there was panic, but also the sheer amount of stupidity in this book was astronomical. Every time I opened kindle to continue I grimaced. Especially Mallory. Girl stfu. You delusional, self centered, annoying, pity party of a girl. Fucking obsessed with a dude for 12 years? Begging for any form of praise or even just attention. Grow up, go to therapy. Even in denial over the self harm.
The ONE girl who I wanted to fucking see come out on top, get some revenge, didn’t. Of COURSE not. The two delusional women survive and end up together, which yay! wlw representation, but also my gay ass wishes they both had died. Characters I actually liked died.
I wish I could go back in time and shake my past self to never read this. Just delete it out of my memory and my tbr. Book makes me want to crawl into the open mouth of a lion.
In short? Fuck this book.
“Saw but with more millennial panic!” like no. Sure there was panic, but also the sheer amount of stupidity in this book was astronomical. Every time I opened kindle to continue I grimaced. Especially Mallory. Girl stfu. You delusional, self centered, annoying, pity party of a girl. Fucking obsessed with a dude for 12 years? Begging for any form of praise or even just attention. Grow up, go to therapy. Even in denial over the self harm.
The ONE girl who I wanted to fucking see come out on top, get some revenge, didn’t. Of COURSE not. The two delusional women survive and end up together, which yay! wlw representation, but also my gay ass wishes they both had died. Characters I actually liked died.
I wish I could go back in time and shake my past self to never read this. Just delete it out of my memory and my tbr. Book makes me want to crawl into the open mouth of a lion.
In short? Fuck this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2023
I picked this book up expecting a fun gory seasonal read, and while I certainly got that, I also got a heckuva lot more.
Somehow while writing a thrilling horror novel with some delightful twists, Renino managed to weave in peak millennial nostalgia, a precious love story, and a surprising redemption arc. Behind all of this action, Renino's familiarity with the edgy-punk scenes of the aughts and the tropes of the SAW-Horror genre makes the world and character building feel effortless.
The end result is a book surprising in its heartfelt earnestness in the midst of literal and literary horror. In addition to trying to solve the who-done-it murder and to figuring out who's the torture mastermind, you'll find yourself rooting for love, friendship, and forgiveness.
Somehow while writing a thrilling horror novel with some delightful twists, Renino managed to weave in peak millennial nostalgia, a precious love story, and a surprising redemption arc. Behind all of this action, Renino's familiarity with the edgy-punk scenes of the aughts and the tropes of the SAW-Horror genre makes the world and character building feel effortless.
The end result is a book surprising in its heartfelt earnestness in the midst of literal and literary horror. In addition to trying to solve the who-done-it murder and to figuring out who's the torture mastermind, you'll find yourself rooting for love, friendship, and forgiveness.
October 17, 2023
AMAZING Saw meets Pretty Little Liars Slasher
By far my favorite read of the year. I typically can guess the twists but Danielle had me on my toes the whole time. And just when I thought the traps couldn’t get worse, they got dark and twisty and made my stomach twist.
By far my favorite read of the year. I typically can guess the twists but Danielle had me on my toes the whole time. And just when I thought the traps couldn’t get worse, they got dark and twisty and made my stomach twist.
January 25, 2024
I wanted to love this book because the premise sounded so rad, but the characters were mostly unlikable and it really had nothing to do with a music festival. However, I did enjoy the creative traps and the suspense of the mystery.
February 5, 2024
This book had me hooked and there was a lot of potential but the writing was kind of choppy and didn’t flow very well. I also felt like some of the characters weren’t fleshed out enough, like the boy twin (I forget his name) I feel like at the end of the book we were supposed to like him more when he died but I didn’t like him at all still. He was such a bitch tbh. They all kind of sucked. Idk it wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t the best either. A good inbetween series book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 15, 2024
Huh. What an odd little book.
A handful of (extremely unlikeable!) elder emos trapped in an abandoned park turned escape room. It's super wild and bingeable but is also full of typos and inconsistent characters.
A handful of (extremely unlikeable!) elder emos trapped in an abandoned park turned escape room. It's super wild and bingeable but is also full of typos and inconsistent characters.
July 13, 2023
Another killer book from my favorite horror author.
October 25, 2023
Perfect for fans of the SAW franchise, this story weaves together messy games and flawed characters in an unforgettable, thrilling ride.
February 15, 2024
She used to love the way he would lean in and whisper, “If I’m Donnie, you’re Gretchen.” When really, she was Frank the rabbit. And he was the one who put a hole in her head.
October 9, 2024
Fun read. Good intro book for splatterpunk. I don’t think I’d like splatterpunk lol
June 22, 2025
Liked the suspense. It kept me page turning
January 2, 2024
I decided to challenge myself to actually write reviews this year, so here I go with my first. After obsessively devouring Whispers the Blood, I was ready for more of ANYTHING by Danielle Renino.
Eviscerate did NOT disappoint. I love the complexity of the characters and how their motivations are slowly revealed throughout the book. They're dimensional enough to be both infuriating at times and leave you still rooting for them. (Well... MOST of them. Let's be honest: some got exactly what they deserved, and I cheered on the ones that delivered those fates every step of the way.)
I'm a horror girl through and through, and I loved the nods to my favorite genre- some blatant (Can anything that takes inspiration from the Saw franchise actually be bad? The answer is no.) and some more veiled. If you have triggers you're sensitive to, I do suggest doing your research first, but I found this book to be darkly enjoyable. I really look forward to seeing what this author does next!
Eviscerate did NOT disappoint. I love the complexity of the characters and how their motivations are slowly revealed throughout the book. They're dimensional enough to be both infuriating at times and leave you still rooting for them. (Well... MOST of them. Let's be honest: some got exactly what they deserved, and I cheered on the ones that delivered those fates every step of the way.)
I'm a horror girl through and through, and I loved the nods to my favorite genre- some blatant (Can anything that takes inspiration from the Saw franchise actually be bad? The answer is no.) and some more veiled. If you have triggers you're sensitive to, I do suggest doing your research first, but I found this book to be darkly enjoyable. I really look forward to seeing what this author does next!
July 6, 2024
I went into this not sure what to expect, overall it wasn't great but it wasn't horrible. The mystery of it was fun to try & figure out as different secrets were revealed. There were also a lot of twists that keep you guessing & wanting to find out more. The descriptions of the world & scenes really put a movie in my head.
But a few things kept me from loving this book. It's clear that the games were inspired from Saw which is fine, I wasn't expecting the character to name Saw as a source of inspiration directly. I also didn't feel a connection to any of the characters, some I didn't like at all, so I didn't care what happened to them.
But a few things kept me from loving this book. It's clear that the games were inspired from Saw which is fine, I wasn't expecting the character to name Saw as a source of inspiration directly. I also didn't feel a connection to any of the characters, some I didn't like at all, so I didn't care what happened to them.
November 6, 2024
Fast-paced, easy, fun and gory. The switching perspectives got confusing at times but it read just like a movie that I could see playing clearly in my head.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews