Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

51 reviews

kllyholt's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Child death

Moderate: Stalking, Sexism, and Sexual violence

pumpkinbisque's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

interesting premise that fell flat for me. all the characters felt two dimensional, the reasoning behind the eaters and their behavior felt so shallow, the relationships between people felt so flimsy. the constant switching back and forth between past and present was disorienting and i found myself wishing there would be larger chunks of one or the other. i felt like the conclusion wasn’t satisfying? it led up to exactly what it said it would from the very beginning and i just felt like it was being set up to be derailed a bit but any disruption from the original plan was moot. i don’t know. i also felt like the writing could have been more polished/edited; some sentences were frustrating and used words more than once in a way that didn’t feel like they were using repetition as a device, just something that should have been trimmed in edits and revisions. i liked jarrett the most of anyone, but i didn’t care for most of the characters in general. a meh book for me, i almost DNFd but it was a gift so i felt like i had to see it through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

bookishbedlam's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Murder, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Sexual violence

howdyhoward's review against another edition

2.0

2 for enjoyment, 3 for quality? This really was not for me but I can totally understand how someone with different taste would love this book. This was not what I thought it was going to be genre wise based on the synopsis and cover art. I thought about DNFing a few times (and probably should have but oh well).

I really dislike when we're in a character's head but we don't get their backstory/why they're doing what they're doing so their actions seem to not make sense even though THEY know why they're doing it. I just feel like I'm being lied to in cases like that. Everything was revealed later and yes it makes sense looking back but I still feel like I'm being led on and manipulated by the author in a way I don't like. 

I had a really hard time with the pacing and thought it ground to a standstill for 50 pages right before the end. I also thought the romance was tacked on and completely unnecessary. I didn't really like any of the characters by the end and was just kind of waiting for it to be over :/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

Minor: Torture and Trafficking

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I think I've found a new author to bingeread!
I read this book with very little knowledge of what I was getting into beyond "people who eat books" and that made every layer of context a wonderful discovery! I loved the ominous oppressive atmosphere, the literary references, the nonlinear timeline, the nuanced internal conflicts given the external circumstances.  This book is fantastic for the story itself, and on top of that provided some much needed representation.

I think what keeps this from being a 5-star for me is that it is not invested in a lot of world-building. I don't think that hurts this story necessarily but I generally prefer books with more intrigue and complex details. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Blood, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Death, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

sassysophie's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

While the idea behind the story is really interesting and had a lot of potential, I felt like the pacing was of. And the writing made the book dry and hard to read. I had to push myself to finish it. I couldn't connect to the story and noticed that early on. The only remotely likeable character was Jerrow. However I think you're not supposed to like the characters. The best part was having an asexual character.
I can see thatn some people would really like this book and the writing style, though I am not one of them. Will not reread this at any point in time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Slavery, Pregnancy, and Trafficking

ncain's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Gore, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child death

bjlinard's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Misogyny

Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Sexual violence

bitteralbatross's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Murder, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual violence, Trafficking, Stalking, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Sexual assault

mraible18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

An eerie, gorey fairytale about motherhood, and the things that people will do for love. The world of the Bookeaters was really interesting and raised some questions that I think are going to linger with me for awhile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual violence, and Murder