“The result is absolutely sensational. Eat All is unlike anything else in its complete surrender to human violence and nature’s uncontrollable urges. Flo förlag has already bought the Swedish rights. Many publishers in other countries will follow their example. Don’t be surprised if Leander Djønne becomes Norway’s next big literary export.”
Sara Martinsson, Dagens Nyheter, Sweden
“Eat All is a wild, unruly and enigmatic novel brimming with originality. This deeply fascinating story is about a pair of 12-year-old twins who have lost their mother and father in a car accident. They move to their grandparents’ farm, where sadistic forces are at work. But amid all the darkness, there are glimmers of light and love.”
Best books of 2025, Aftenposten
“Yes, of course it hurts when language breaks down and something transformative and, in this case, painful emerges. But would we want to be without it? In literature, no.”
Best books of 2025, Klassekampen
“The darkest novel of the year. Period. The recent winner of the Brage Prize serves up a masterful nightmare that gets under your skin. In a mythological landscape where Old Testament wrath, Sami folklore and Norse myths intertwine, two siblings must survive with their cruel grandparents on a remote farm.”
Best books of 2025, VG
“Horror meets poetry in Leander Djønnes’s terrifying, mythical universe … What on earth have I just been part of? I have just finished reading Leander Djønnes’s novel Eat All, and I am stunned. Although it is possible to point out literary references in Djønnes’ writing style (Vesaas, Fosse, Leikvoll, Faulkner and McCarthy), it is his grandiose determination – and ability – to push the plot and language to the extreme that makes this a very special novel. He describes men’s violence against children and women. The descriptions are extreme, and as a reader you have to steel yourself. ‘I’ve never seen so much blood,’ thinks one of the characters in the novel. I myself cannot remember any Norwegian novel so full of the aforementioned fluid. Believe me, Eat All will not be praised primarily because readers ‘recognise themselves’ in it. The fact that it will nevertheless endure is due to its literary qualities … Djønne has chosen some outstanding literary idols, and in no way does he fall short.”
Espen Stueland, Klassekampen
“A brilliant nightmare! (…) Djønnes’ project is reminiscent of the darkest of sagas, where revenge and lineage drive everything towards doom, but also hints at the world of splatter films and genre literature. Myths and folklore are central when the boundaries between the living and the dead are blurred. (…) This duality – between the highly literary and the shockingly raw – is the novel’s greatest quality (…) It is rare for a Norwegian novel to be so physically uncomfortable (…) not unlike the best books by authors Cormac McCarthy and Jan Roar Leikvoll. In other words: Eat All gnaws at you like a scavenger and does not let go until the last page has been read. This is truly feel-bad at its best. You have been warned.”
Gabriel Michael Vosgraff Moro, VG (5/6 stars)
“Is it too much? I don’t think so. Because in all the darkness there are glimmers of light, and amid all the hatred there is love. For example, in the depiction of the relationship between Våle and Rind. The sacrifices her brother makes for his sister add a much-needed spark of hope to the book … Eat All is unique in every way. It has been a long time since I have held such an unruly, enigmatic and vital novel in my hands.”
Anne Merethe K. Prinos, Aftenposten
“Throughout, a rhythm pulsates: from the heart, from the Sami drum, from everything that lives and everything that does not live. The claustrophobic universe is permeated by a powerful force that trumps civilisation, morality, will and humanity (…) Djønne’s language is beautiful. The rhythm, the prose and the story pull you in and I am hooked on the novel until the bitter end.”
Morgenbladet
“A superb journey to hell … It rains constantly. Summer in Western Norway is a damp, eternal twilight. Everything rots. At the same time, something new comes to life. The author has a particularly good grasp of this. Djønne is simply a brilliant portrayer of Norwegian nature. (…) I sit on the edge of my seat, hoping that someone will come to the rescue of the two children. (…) Leander Djønne thunders on with his hellish journey without looking back. He develops motifs from his debut and adds some new ones. Who would have thought that grotesque family sagas written in slightly old-fashioned New Norwegian would be the new thing?”
Knut Hoem, NRK (5/6 stars)
