The Guy Sure Looks Like Plant Food To Me

by Santana Knox

♪ ♬ THE FLOWERS THAT KILL IN THE SPRING - TRA - LA - LA ♬ ♪

From the best-selling author of Heartless Heathens, TGSLLPFTM is a killer rom-com, feel-good, magical short story about fated love blooming in the most unexpected of places.

I'VE GIVEN HER SUNSHINEI’ve given her dirt

She's given me much more

Than I ever deserved.

I’m begging her sweetly

I’m down on my knees

Oh, please,

KILL FOR ME

TGSLLPFTM Is a novella inspired by Roger Corman’s The Little Shop of Horrors



Fated soulmates

Plant biologist & witch

Sentient plant as an attack dog

Men as fertilizer

Bone soup

Why would a man be there?

Genres: Romance, Lesbian, Novella, LGBT, Queer, Horror, Adult

78 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

Santana Knox is a Brazilian author, a South American immigrant, a mother, wife and witch.

Santana got tired of letting the voices in her head drive her crazy, and decided to write down the stories they were begging to tell instead. A lover of the unusual, and a hopeless romantic when it comes to toxic villains, Santana's books should always be taken with a grain of salt, specifically the kind that keeps demons away.

Reviews

[Stillbelieveinnightmares (busy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

TIL that the ideal power move is cooking man stew to make sure your foster plant can thrive 🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️

________
pre-read:
the title very much does speak for itself and I love it

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the plot, and the book overall, but the romance was extremely rushed, like they just met, and two days later they're madly in love and can't live without each other...I know it's harder to make it seem gradual in a novella, but this was faster than it needed to be, especially with how the rest of the book was developing in the background. It would've been sooo much better as a full length read, I'm certain, but it was still good and I would recommend it.

3.5

[Juniper L.H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this novel was very interesting, but the execution wasn’t very good. I enjoyed it and had a good time, but 🤷.

I love the Little Shop Of Horrors inspiration. I love the idea of a pet plant that eats crappy men. The bones of this story were wonderful and I would love to see a longer and better version of it. This probably isn’t worth 3 stars, but I just love the man eating plant vibes so here we are.

Unfortunately, it was incredibly short and took far too many shortcuts. The romance between the protagonists was a very phoned in, soulmate-based-instalove, which is just lazy and disappointing. We didn’t really see any connection between the characters as people. There was also very little characterization of the protagonist, beyond backstory info-dumps (that took up far too much of the limited page count).

Considering how short this is and how quick it is to read, and that I did enjoy it, I would say that if it sounds good to you then you should probably read it. But set your expectations accordingly.

[Kseniia ✨️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

Good premise, but the story is too short, too rushed, too insta-love and too boring.

[Bri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this as an ARC. It's a quick read novella. Super cute and silly. It's a WLW comedy horror romance. The relationship moves super quick (it's less than 100 pages so of course it does). Chewie, the guard-plant, is a perfect little baby. I've become attached to this fictional mantrap.

Highly recommend.

[Zephyr Morason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I promptly get an ad for carnivorous plants? Yes.
Did I immediately order some carnivorous plants so I can have my own chewy? Also yes.
This was a very quick read, super fun ride. Love the horror/gore aspects! Also love some sapphic smut 🥰
Thank you for the opportunity to be on the ARC team! 💜

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this as both an ARC and ALC and omg This was a super cute and fun little read and the narration for the audio was perfect! Sapphic little shop of horrors vibes with the giant man eating plant (literally). Now I want my own Chewy.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella was SO much fun! Runa and America have incredible chemistry and their romance was so sweet. In such a short story, the characters have so much depth!
The Little Shop of Horrors vibes were immaculate, and I simply adore the concept of using men for plant food.

Thank you to the author for sending me an eARC of this book!

[★ Reshika · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️/5⭐️

Good plot it was really interesting and funny with the Venus fly trap plant and the witch aspects
The plant hating men is the highlight of the book!
But falling in love in two days is a no
And I really didn’t feel any chemistry between the characters and it was bland

[TJ Phillips · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was…awful. The premise is solid; A Little Shop of Horrors fanfic but make it sapphic. I’m in. The execution however was terrible. The villains were Smurfs cartoon level evil and the instalove and “yearning” was ridiculous. Considering after you met this woman, 20 minutes later, you both fell unconscious for 2 days, like how are you in love with her and her plant already? The pacing was bad, the dialogue cringey and I only finished because it was so short. I should have spent the time washing my hair.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.5/5

Thank you Santana Knox for providing this e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was a short and sweet novella. Runa is looking for a botanist to help her with her newly grown oversized Venus flytrap, “Chewie”, who is sick. In steps America “Meri” Corsetti, looking for a way out of the clutches of her renowned politician father and his sidekick Williams. Follow along as witchiness ensues and a sapphic romance entails.

I loved the idea for this story, so I was disappointed I didn’t enjoy it more. The writing felt disjointed and moved too fast for my liking. Maybe because it was a novella, it skipped around more than if it was a full length novel. That being said, I did enjoy that this wasn’t the typical LGBTQ+ story where one of the main characters has a gay awakening and finally comes out. If the author were to ever decide to expand on this story/characters, I would definitely read it!

#TheGuySureLooksLikePlantFoodToMe #SantanaKnox #ARC

[Stephanie Markevich · Rating 5 out of 5]

✧I received an ALC for an honest review✧

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶

🖤Saphic Romance
💗Fated witches
🖤Men as Fertilizer
💗Sentient Plant as an attack dog
🖤Man Soup

This is my first Santana Knox read and I am NOT disappointed! This story was fast paced but beautifully written, also adorable and so much fun! Chewie was the star and I loved every minute of it! The chemistry between Runa and Meri was absolute perfection, and the narration was everything! Definitely recommend this read!

"If you ask me, all the good girls bite. So remember to chew".

[Lizs.book.nook ||Elizabeth|| · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun, sexy, quick novella! I love the play on Little Shop of Horror but with Santana's own brand of wicked awesomeness. Runa and Meri were fire and chemistry personified, and their love for Chewie...I mean so freaking cute! I really really enjoyed this quickie read.

[brynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was giving sapphic meets little shop of horrors and i loved it!! chewie was my favorite obvi but runa and america have such great chemistry i loved them🥹😭 this was such a fun short read and exactly what i needed rn😫 and the spice? yeah i need a full length book including more of that 😀

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC in return for an honest review.

The Characters

America "Meri" botanist, badass, but unfortunately a daughter of a senator who doesn't want her fun hair or fun personality and wants to marry her off to the first male he meets with a heartbeat.

Runa, witch, and owner of a witchy store and rids of horrible men in a very creative way.

Chewie "Chewbacca" is the most creative way to get rid of men... Y'all remember the cow plant from The Sims 2 when you would use your cheat codes to access all of the maxed out hobby prizes, and would get that super awesome Cow Plant? Or Audrey II from Little Shop of Horror? Yeah, we love her.

The Plot

So Runa takes a venus fly trap and turns her into Chewie using a spell from the solar eclipse, but she (Chewie) is getting sick and she needs help so she posts it online. Meri just graduated and two weeks later her dad (whom she calls Daddy) is like "you need to get a job or get married and I want you married" even though she's 25 and literally just graduated, probably didn't even get diploma in the mail yet. Anyways she finds the online post, there's sex pollen, and then Meri and Runa are running away from everything to live in a dream house surrounded by the forest. And don't worry remember how I said Chewie eats all the bad guys? Well she also uses them as fertilizer to help her grow ❤️❤️❤️❤️


The Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Spice: 🌶️.5

My only wish is that it was much longer, literally read it in one sitting during my lunch hour.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love when women ya know?

[Shannon O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will always be for books where men get eaten 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Nicole VanAuken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super quick read, a WLW comedy horror romance and it’s just SO CUTE. Never thought I would say that a plant is the most adorable side character ever but I just adore Chewie! It’s basically a sentient violent, little guard plant! Audio narration was also well done!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Santana Knox for the opportunity to listen and read this novella before its release!

The Guy Sure Looks Like Plant Food to Me was a quick and fun read. The story of two lost souls finding each other and saving a carnivorous-human-eating plant was a joy to listen to! I would love to know what this couple and Chewie get up to in the future!

[Erin Flanegin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book?? Obsessed. 🤭 The Guy Sure Looks Like Plant Food to Me was my first sapphic romance and it had me giggling, blushing, and kicking my feet the whole time. Santana Knox knows how to write chemistry that jumps off the page — hilarious banter and all the feels. 10/10 would read again (and again). 🌿💋

[Jay Shiplett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Santana kills it once again. The reassurance Runa gives Meri is exactly what I needed. 🥹 Using men as food for a sentient plant? Sign me up! This novella was so fun and I would read it a thousand times over. Thank you mother for the ALC. 🖤

[Tiffany J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute novella. Chewy just won my heart 🤣🤣

Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Audio narration ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
.5 🌶️

[Kellie Honaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun. It was cute. I laughed a few times. I’m not a romance girlie, so the fact that I had a good time speaks for itself.

[Ashlyn Craig · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hey so this Little Shop of Horrors fanfic was… bad. The idea? There. The execution? Not. The story didn’t make sense, the insta-lust felt unrealistic, unfounded, and uninspired, and the father character and assistant were cartoon villains to the extreme for no reason. There was too much here for it to be a novella, so the pacing was just all wrong. Sorry bestie, hated it!

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had so much more potential...

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun concept, quick read. Could have stood to be a bit longer - nothing felt particularly fleshed out, especially the romance. I get things moving along quickly in a novella but the insta-love in this was just beyond absurd.

[Randinicole_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

so much fun.

novella
sapphic romance
witch with a sentient plant for a pet/bestie…who eats men & his name is chewie (love that)

if you want a quick audio, samantha is one of the narrators & one of my favs!

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review - out 9/30!

This was a fun, short novella that was a great callback to Little Shop of Horrors! I had sun a fun time reading this, especially as someone who was in the play growing up. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a cute fall novella! (Again, or any time of year if you’re like me).

4.5 stars

[MarissaIsBooked · Rating 4 out of 5]

good soup?

This is a quick, fun read under 100 pages. Creepy and witchy, but also a lot of fun. A bit insta-lovey, but it works in this novella

[Rpvbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

super cuqui