Reviews with content warning for Death - The Book Eaters

“For here was the thing that no fairy tale would ever admit, but that she understood in that moment: love was not inherently good.
Certainly, it could inspire goodness. She didn’t argue that. Poets would tell you that love was electricity in your veins that could light a room. That it was a river in your soul to lift you up and carry you away, or a fire inside the heart to keep you warm. Yet electricity could also fry, rivers could drown, and fires could burn; love could be destructive. Punishingly, fatally destructive.
And the other thing, the real bloody clincher of it all, was that the good and the bad didn’t get served up equally. If love were a balance of electric lights and electric jolts, two sides of an equally weighted coin, then fair enough. She could deal.
That wasn’t how it worked, though. Some love was just the bad, all the time: an endless parade of electrified bones and drowned lungs and hearts that burned to a cinder inside the cage of your chest.
And so she looked down at her son and loved him with the kind of twisted, complex feeling that came from having never wanted him in the first place; she loved him with bitterness, and she loved him with resignation. She loved him though she knew no good could ever come from such a bond."

THINGS I ENJOYED

Sunyi Dean's writing is stunning (something I've confirmed in her two recent short stories), and I think I might read everything she puts out there
So many great and strong passages! (I'm not one to annotate but this book made me want to)
We love a book that doesn't shy away from talking about misogyny and oppressive societies
How the author explored the topic of love, especially maternal love and how it can twist your moral boundaries (see the quote I included)
The queer rep <3
The concept of book and mind eaters was so interesting and original, and the chapter introductions with the lore really made the experience better
It really stuck with me (it has been 4 months since I read and I not only think about it but almost feel like rereading it)
The dual-timeline storytelling works so well

THINGS I DIDN'T ENJOY

The ending was a bit too rushed and even almost “too easy”.
Some details were given a lot of emphasis in the book but then ended up not playing any part at all, which felt a bit misleading and incoherent.

THINGS THAT I'VE SEEN CRITICISM ABOUT AND WHY I ACTUALLY LIKED THEM

The world-building is limited - I think that the vagueness and unresolvedness of this book fitted it quite well. It's very rooted in Devon, so for me, it made sense that we didn't knew much about the book/mind eaters origin or lore (or other topics of the book in general) because she didn't knew it as well, either because she wasn't given that information as a woman or because it was not knowledge the book eater society had at the time.
The abrupt ending - I actually like open endings and thought this one fitted the book well

READ IF YOU ENJOY

creepy books with grey/dark characters
stories about unhinged women trying to break free
topics like misogynist societies and motherhood
urban fantasy/sci-fi elements as a means to uncover and discuss real-life situations

Content Warnings

ashleyrunswild's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

gurofl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

The themes of this book were very interesting and well executed. It was intense and raw.
The packaging was weird. Book eaters? Mind eaters? So weird. But it worked well.

Content Warnings

netthauser's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

mourningstarr's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

The plot was really intriguing, unfortunately it ended up falling flat for me. What I thought was going to be a cool read with a new kind of character ended up being just another boring book about a mother willing to do anything to save her kid 🙄🙄

Content Warnings

halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This was not my cup of tea. It's quite triggering and has a society that controls women reproductive rights. Solely, from my understanding, on sexual violence.

So I jumped from 32% of the audio to the end and was greatly disappointed with the ending. It leaves a dry cough of hope at the end that is 99.9% uncertain/may not succeed.

Content Warnings

missindyrose's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

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