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unboxedjack's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Aphobiayaelaed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
risaleel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Trafficking, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Forced institutionalization, and Blood
Minor: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
ms_sarah621's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
schausjk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Trafficking
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Lesbophobia
heartofhorrors's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
eggfartz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol
captainsillypants's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Slavery and Trafficking
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
As one of my most highly anticipated reads, I was a little disappointed by how average this book turned out.
The Book Eaters has an intriguing premise that I’m sure would attract every bibliophile out there — after all, what’s not to love about a book where books play a prominent role? To make it all the more interesting, this book features a species of human-like beings that subsist on either books or brains only. They’re hidden from the watchful, fearful eyes of many humans and they have long lifespans. However, their females can only give birth to two children all their life which means that if not enough females are born, there will come a time when they’ll become extinct. As such, knights and dragons play a crucial role in arranging marriages between the Families, which contributes to maintaining and enforcing the status quo.
This results in an insular and strongly patriarchal community where a female’s only worth is the offspring she has…and she’s not even allowed to care for the child past them turning 3 years old. All this gives a lot of room for social commentary on patriarchy, misogyny, misandry, toxic femininity, toxic masculinity and other gender issues. It also allows for explorations on trust and identity.
Sadly, both the execution and characters were lacking. Although there were some complexities and depth to the social commentary, the way the story was written wasn’t strong enough to uphold those notions. It also didn’t help that despite the clear system and context on book eaters and mind eaters, their presence was more secondary. So in overall, these two aspects made for an underwhelming story.
Moreover, I found it difficult to care for the characters. Sure, I could sympathise with them and their situations, but there remains a distance that somehow made them feel flat even though they were all distinct, compelling and memorable.
Everything considered, The Book Eaters has a lot of promise and potential, which makes it a shame that I didn’t find it as mind-blowing as I had hoped for. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a read where the focus is more on an underdog’s journey to gain freedom and independence away from all that confined them and their loved ones, this is a book to try.
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Blood, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Alcohol