Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Book Eaters

Horror novels are slightly outside my usual comfort zone for reading, but I’m so glad I decided to push my boundaries and give The Book Eaters a read! Though I was very creeped out at times during the book, I accepted this discomfort as part of the reading experience with a novel this dark, and was able to embrace it! My favorite part of this book was the driving relationship between Devon and Kai, and the intense love between them. Devon is so well written, in that each of her actions is perfectly justifiable from her point of view. She is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her son, whether or not it is the “good” or “morally right” thing to do, which drives the story forward. To me, The Book Eaters feels like the most original fairytale I’ve ever read, earning it a full five stars as my rating!

One thing that I especially loved which was unique to the audiobook was the short interview at the end with the author and the narrator, Katie Erich! It made the book extra meaningful to me when I got to listen to the narrator speak about her experiences as a neurodivergent and hard-of-hearing person (both of which are identities I share). I was delighted to hear a bit about someone like me working in the audiobook industry, especially after listening to and loving the entire story and the narration! As of August, this is my favorite audiobook of 2022, and I sincerely hope that Katie Erich will continue her work in the industry!

My Recommendation-

If you enjoy dark novels with rich and original magic in them, you should grab a copy of The Book Eaters! I would caution more sensitive readers to take a look at the content warnings, as this book does go to some graphic and potentially triggering places.

Content Warning (taken from the author’s website): Body horror, gore, explicit violence, domestic abuse, violence against children, cult-like environment

Content Warnings

sarah984's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

If you remember that era in the early 2000s where everyone was making zombie media but it wasn't really cool anymore, so they were all sort of ashamed about it and like, "well MY creatures aren't zombies because they [one random gimmick; it's a fungus or whatever]," even though they totally are zombies - this is that but with vampires.

Even at the end I was totally unclear on how book eating was supposed to work. The characters' homes are full of intact books and they have fangs so I assumed they drained the book's "essence" or something, but later a character is putting ketchup on one, or soaking it in water to make it easier to eat. Book eating is always sort of elided, which is kind of funny because mind eating (a sort of mutation that some book eaters have that requires them to eat brains) is so vividly described on multiple occasions.

The characters all sound the same and half the book is characters describing events that have already happened to each other, so there isn't much suspense until right at the end. There is one problem that hangs over the characters for most of the runtime but then is IMMEDIATELY solved the second it actually comes up, which felt kind of pointless.

The romance is terrible; the characters barely talk and suddenly the kid is calling them girlfriends. This woman is the only one the main character really interacts with, which is sort of weird for a book billing itself as feminist. She looks at most other women with either pity or scorn. There is an extremely weird chapter where characters quote the dictionary definition of asexuality at each other that ends up being almost insulting, and the "I ruined a baby with my son's Autism Beam" bit was ridiculous.

I have no idea what the book was trying to say: parental love can be self destructive? Fairy tales destroy the imagination? The author really likes Tomb Raider and needs to make sure we know it?

Content Warnings

azrah786's review against another edition

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4.75

[This review can also be found on my BLOG]

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

CW: violence, blood, gore, body horror, murder, death, domestic abuse, child abuse, confinement, pregnancy/child birth, alcohol
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A refreshing urban fantasy-horror mashup based around supernatural beings who consume books that will draw you in from the very first page!

The Book Eaters introduces us to Devon Fairweather, a daughter of one of six Book Eater families that covertly coexist with British society. Alternating between dual timelines, the narrative has an air of mystery to it with chapters set in the past depicting Devon’s upbringing and what life as a female Book Eater entails, slowly uncovering how she has ended up where she is in the present, on the run to protect and save her Mind Eater son.

With writing that effortlessly captures both emotion and atmosphere, trust me when I say it’ll be hard to put this book down. Truthfully I feel like my words are insufficient to sum up how brilliant it is.

"..we can only live by the light we're given, and some of us are given no light at all. What else can we do except learnt o see in the dark?"

Dean’s prose gives the story a fairytale-esque feel to it however, the suspense filled storyline that has our dear protagonist darting across modern day Britain also adds a realistic edge to it all. It sure sent my mind to questioning the possibility that this hidden society could so easily be more fact than fiction.

Though the inspiration from Vampirism is evident, the lore within this story is so wholly original and I can’t commend Dean’s creativity enough. The concept of Book Eaters hooked me in from the moment I read the synopsis and as with any good monster story my fascination as well as my dread only grew with each turn of the page. And don’t even get me started on the Mind Eater side of things.

If you’re like me and not really a horror person don’t let the label scare you away. Though there is a fair bit of gore, the horror elements in this are more eerie than panic inducing – the equally fascinating and unsettling kind that make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. Yet the true terror comes from the attitude towards women in the story and the views on body autonomy that mirror parts of the real world today.

"For here was the thing that no fairy tale would ever admit, but that she understood in that moment: love was not inherently good."

Alongside outstanding commentary on the patriarchy, is the thought-provoking exploration of the themes of motherhood, morality and survival. Devon is such a well written character and watching her grow and come to terms with the lengths she will go to for the sake of herself and her loved ones was so compelling.

A powerful and gripping read that will stick with you as though you’ve ingested it yourself. Super excited to see what Sunyi Dean writes next!
Final Rating – 4.75/5 Stars

Content Warnings

rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

georgeanna_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

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