Content warning for this review: the book being reviewed is pretty gross, it’s a horror book. Discussing the content of the book may be a little gross too. If you like being grossed out, you may enjoy this book! If not, you may want to check out something else.

A novella written in pieces, a collection of short stories meant to be read as one thematically cohesive work, Eric LaRocca’s They Were Here Before Us touched me and disturbed me in equal measure. The thread that connects the stories is the brutality of love. Including stories of a beetle in love with the corpse it lives on, a bird who’s forced to watch as a sadistic boy violently attacks her eggs, and a father and son forced to face both Earthly and cosmic horrors together- They Were Here Before Us covers many types of devotional love, exploring the beauty and the horror duty brings.

The collection fascinated and disgusted me, I couldn’t stop reading. LaRocca’s writing is violent and unflinching, masterfully highlighting the darkest aspects of love and the most beautiful aspects of destruction. The collection is not for the squeamish, and the focus on nature in this collection may make it less appealing for animal lovers, but it is a well-written, emotionally impactful collection of short stories exploring the central theme: the only thing more brutal than nature is love.