Scan barcode
takarakei's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.5
This is a very dark book. Oddly it fits as a Christmas read since a lot of it happens during that time, there is a lot of reference to Christmas. I did enjoy it for the most part while reading it, but after finishing it and sitting with it a bit I'm still not sure how I really feel. The concept of Book Eaters is very cool, but I expected that cool idea to be a bigger part of the book. Ultimately this story is about a woman and mother who is brought up in a horrible patriarchal society (separate from ours) and is basically a comment on how far a mother will go to protect her children. It's told in multiple timelines (the past of her whole life for background and present).
Jarrow is the best character. Protect Jarrow.
There is also a minor romance subplot which feels... very underdeveloped. Hella insta-lovey and I just didn't really understand why it needed to be there if it was so underdeveloped. It does have LGBTQIA+ rep.
I'd say this is maybe give it a try if this is your genre cause it's short, but borrow it from your library.
Jarrow is the best character. Protect Jarrow.
There is also a minor romance subplot which feels... very underdeveloped. Hella insta-lovey and I just didn't really understand why it needed to be there if it was so underdeveloped. It does have LGBTQIA+ rep.
I'd say this is maybe give it a try if this is your genre cause it's short, but borrow it from your library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Blood, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Infertility and Trafficking
books_and_fairy_lights's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
It was good, I can't say I didn't like it. I read it pretty fast and got somewhat into it because I really wanted to know what had happened in the past and what was gonna happen now. The story was well built, in that it really kept the reader wondering while still getting some answers. That part was great. The story was also quite original I think, or at least I don't think I've ever seen anything else with book eaters or anything close to that (which is actually quite surprising, thinking about it). So yeah it was a good book. However, it was often "too obvious" for me. Like it was very often trying to make a point/give a lesson/preach some point of view - and I'm not saying it was wrong in its ideas, it just didn't leave much room for nuance in those instances. Ironically I found it very black and white, for a book that was advocating that "things are more complicated than they seem" and "there's no good and bad" it made a heavy emphasis on what it considered "the right idea" and didn't really let the readers decide for themselves. Also, the whole "life isn't a fairytale" thing was really lacking in subtlety in my opinion. In addition to being (sorry if it's harsh) unoriginal, it was also very heavy and expressed too forcefully for me. Like, of course life isn't a fairytale, and I'm the first person to agree with the fact that reality is brutal and full of disappointment and disillusion, but you don't have to say it so plainly. In fact, I think that a less obvious, more subtle way of making it clear (through hints and ideas and metaphors and what not) is way more efficient than just saying it like that. It gives more room for people to interpret it in a way that resonates with their own feelings and experiences.
Anyway, although not groundbreaking, it overall was a nice read and I'm glad to have read it.
Anyway, although not groundbreaking, it overall was a nice read and I'm glad to have read it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
cadence99's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-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
1.25
Where to begin? This was not my favorite, to say the least. I almost DNFed this many times, but what kept me going was the potential of the main plot. I think the setup could have made a great story, unfortunately, this is not it.
To begin with, there is an undercurrent of ableism throughout in the portrayal of the main characters child being born a “mind eater”, and being portrayed primarily as a “burden” throughout the book.
Beyond this, the writing style frustrated me in many ways. It felt as if the author did not trust her audience to interpret even the slightest drop of material, as troupes were painstakingly spelled out, removing any chance for readers to explore this world themselves. The book is very guilty of telling readers what is happening instead of showing us.
In addition, many characters relationships and growth felt VERY unbelievable to me. Characters met and within days (with minimal interaction) were supposed to have developed deep feelings for one another. Other characters are portrayed as incredibly young children one moment, and the next are being expected to make life altering choices.
Overall, I would not recommend this book
1.25⭐️
To begin with, there is an undercurrent of ableism throughout in the portrayal of the main characters child being born a “mind eater”, and being portrayed primarily as a “burden” throughout the book.
Beyond this, the writing style frustrated me in many ways. It felt as if the author did not trust her audience to interpret even the slightest drop of material, as troupes were painstakingly spelled out, removing any chance for readers to explore this world themselves. The book is very guilty of telling readers what is happening instead of showing us.
In addition, many characters relationships and growth felt VERY unbelievable to me. Characters met and within days (with minimal interaction) were supposed to have developed deep feelings for one another. Other characters are portrayed as incredibly young children one moment, and the next are being expected to make life altering choices.
Overall, I would not recommend this book
1.25⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Infertility, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury
starrysteph's review against another edition
slow-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
1.0
The Book Eaters offered up a fascinating concept and - I believe - intended to weave in powerful commentary about disability. Unfortunately, I felt this work was so poorly executed that it actually became harmful & put forth unsettling rhetoric.
When I finished reading, I felt uncomfortable – something about the text simply felt “off”. After reflecting and journaling about it and talking to some fellow readers, I’ve found some clarity and I’ll try to break it apart into the components that felt harmful to me.
SPOILERS BELOW.
Disability Allegory
The author had a compelling commentary to make - I acknowledge her efforts at tackling something that is quite important and also so complicated. She is autistic and I don’t wish to invalidate her identity or experiences. But I believe this work (as it currently stands) does more harm than it offers thoughtful commentary.
The mind eaters are intended to be an allegory for disability. We are therefore viewing them as a marginalized group, and told that some are “good” and “useful” while others are “bad” and “harmful”. They can be “good” if handled by a drug called “Redemption”, given to them by their abusive handlers who institutionalize them. The book eater society is looking into ways to manage fertility - basically so that they can eliminate mind eaters entirely.
This is a snippet from a scene in which a mind eater consumes the mind of a child: “She’d destroyed that infant before giving it back. The child would have missed all its developmental milestones, by not showing emotion or personality or making attempts to communicate. All the things Devon had taken such joy in with her own children would never belong to that woman. Ten minutes to ruin a whole chain of lives.” (This is ableist language, and it is never addressed or resolved.)
Devon’s child (Cai) is a mind eater, and she is both afraid of him and treats him like an adult (he is a five year old child). She repeatedly wonders if there is any bit of soul left in him.
On Devon and Cai’s relationship: “Biologically she was his parent and always would be, but emotionally they had become something closer to partners in crime; mutual abusers locked in codependency.”
Now I believe all of the above is intended to be commentary - challenging us to consider how society treats disabled people, and how parents treat & view their disabled children. But intent does not equal impact, and the plot of the story makes it difficult for readers to comprehend that the eugenics rhetoric is, well, harmful.
Also, in the author’s FAQ she says that no characters are specifically meant to be autistic (alongside this concerning reason): “I do find it easier to write monster characters, though, because if I inadvertently give them autistic traits, neurotypical readers are less likely to complain, as they’re expecting something ur-human anyway.”
Nearly all of the mind eaters are condemned at the end of the novel & die unnecessarily. The survivors? Hester, a mind eater who has had her own long tongue docked so she can’t hurt anyone, and Cai, a child who is basically determined to be “soulless” because his insatiable desire to prey on the innocent has wiped away his own identity. It felt like the messaging became … eugenics is the way to go! These ~creatures~ SHOULD be neutralized because they are innately monstrous. I don’t think I need to explain why this messaging is harmful.
Religious Aspects
“The book eaters did what they have always done best: encourage human technology to advance from the shadows, and then borrow from it. The basics of IVF they mastered long ago…”
The book eaters are scary, inhumans foreigners who have a shadow society and secretly control human progress from afar (these are often red flags for antisemitism). The book eaters are vampirically inspired, and Devon’s family specifically was a nod to Dracula, who has antisemitic origins. (Note: I don’t believe vampires are inherently antisemitic, but it is important to acknowledge their history - and if you are including them in your work of fiction, you should a. do your research on the history of these characterizations and b. employ a sensitivity reader to help catch potential pitfalls or unfortunate tropes.)
Within the text, the book eater society is framed in many ways as Christian. The mind eaters - by extension - read as “disgraced” Christians who feed on the bodies of the innocent (similar to blood libel tropes, and a sub-society of mind eaters even does a sacrificial ritual using an innocent body in the ending segment of the book). In a chapter introduction, mind eaters specifically are linked to Lilith.
Other Issues
Those were the two issues that stood out the most to me, but I didn’t feel as though the queer representation and the framing of women were handled particularly well. The writing conflates ace and aro identities. It wasn’t clear why it would be an issue for a male book eater to be asexual (in fact, you would think the opposite). Devon’s insta-love attraction to Hester and her thought patterns around her queerness were … strange. (It was very “straight woman writing a lesbian” if you know what I mean.) It felt very sloppy.
The women in this book are treated terribly. Now again, that isn’t inherently a problem with the text (and in fact I believe is also attempted commentary), but the issue I had here was that the way women were treated was frequently VALIDATED within the text. Devon and the other Book Eater women are infantilized, treated as cattle who cannot think for themselves or be trusted to make decisions. And Devon truly cannot! I’m also a little alarmed that the author did not include a warning for sexual assault or rape in her content warnings. Did she view Devon’s forced pregnancies as consensual???
Finally, I was just generally let down by the concept. Book eaters were such a cool idea - but ultimately the book-eating aspect didn’t play a significant role in the story at all. The plotting and limitations of the families just didn’t make sense. The attempted feminist critiques played to the individuals and not the systems.
In the author’s notes, she leaves a few comments about the bleakness of the material.
“That impenetrable sense of exhaustion and flat, dull, continuous lack of joy is a common experience for many. We do not all lead happy lives, and I suppose that makes it hard to write happy fiction.”
“The reality of our world is that most suffering is pointless, most stories [aren’t] happy, and sexual violence is the norm [rather] than the exception.”
Well. Message received.
This was not the review I had hoped to leave for The Book Eaters. But I wanted to warn other potential readers of its content. I truly wish the author the best for her future works, and perhaps with some more eyes on future projects she can nail down some powerful commentary.
CW: sexual assault, rape, forced pregnancy, domestic abuse, child abuse (physical & emotional), murder, drug use, alcoholism, body horror, gore, violence, sex trafficking, homophobia, extreme sexism, infertility. gaslighting, grief, starvation, gun violence, car accident
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
pvbobrien's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Trafficking, and Alcohol
mourningstarr's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition
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.
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
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
iloivar's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Infertility, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
mlfey's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Rape, and Sexism
wearyreader's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I’ll start with the positives: The writing style is great and there is a really well managed back and forth of timelines from what I’ve read so far. But, with that I still had to stop.
I DNF’d at 65 pages which is about 21% for the problematic similarities to Romani peoples. As far as I have read, these are what I’ve found.
This group of people are noted to not be human, that they must take extra care to appear human when being amongst people.
They used to be able to travel, but now they can’t because of paperwork issues. (They are undocumented, and they don’t report the birth of their kids, marriages, ext) [Page 3, talks about how our main character has no ID, passport, birth certificate, ext]. The families are noted to not do anything, just hang out where they live. Although some families differ, our main character’s family’s home is noted to be run down and not taken care of. The estate is overgrown and not worked. But it’s important to know they all have really nice, new cars.
The Book Eaters are many different families across Britain. (They used to travel more but can’t now because of the said lack of documentation) Their kids run around dirty, uneducated, and without any outside contact. Women are ‘rare’ and are treated like princesses. Women are only fed fairy tale books and books about compliance while boys are fed adventure stores and stories of valor and more educated texts. When they turn 18 they are dressed like princesses and immediately married off to another family.
They are married to a man (of any age) to produce a child. Once the child is born and give a few years, they are married off to another man to produce another child. After that child (unless they can produce a 3rd) they are allowed to retire at their home family and continue to just exist without further purpose.
Oh, and there’s still a dowry involved in this to entice the woman’s original family to comply with the forced birthing process.
When they are married off, the ‘knights’ ride motorcycles around a
limo to escort her to the new family in the style of a caravan.
But, the Book Eaters publicly are just people who live off the land and stick to themselves and are local legends. Should an outsider stumble upon them, they are drained of who they are/captured, and sent somewhere way far away without their family or loved ones knowing.
The Book Eaters are monsters. You are either born a book eater or born a dragon (someone who instead of eating human knowledge, must eat human experience aka brains). So you are either born ‘normal’ or a monster, inherently evil/with evil urges. These dragons get stripped of their freedoms and are then covered in tattoos which signify that they’re dangerous.
It is noted that indeed, their heritage is Romanian. Straight up.
Am I reading too much into this Maybe I am. But there is too much
intersectionality with the harmful stereotypes or Romani peoples that
it feels so blaringly obvious to me. Instead of the usually paranormal
media depiction of being Lycanthropes and Fortune Tellers, they’re indeed vampiric alien monsters.
As I mentioned, I have stopped reading here. I cannot review anymore than this. There are also more reviews here on Goodreads and other places that report that the book ends up being about not book eating but the family being a cult/cult-like activity. So, I will not be
continuing even more so.
Sadly, I believe this book will be in some subscription boxes so I feel for those who might not be prepared for it and for those who have no idea about the intersectionality of this.
I DNF’d at 65 pages which is about 21% for the problematic similarities to Romani peoples. As far as I have read, these are what I’ve found.
This group of people are noted to not be human, that they must take extra care to appear human when being amongst people.
They used to be able to travel, but now they can’t because of paperwork issues. (They are undocumented, and they don’t report the birth of their kids, marriages, ext) [Page 3, talks about how our main character has no ID, passport, birth certificate, ext]. The families are noted to not do anything, just hang out where they live. Although some families differ, our main character’s family’s home is noted to be run down and not taken care of. The estate is overgrown and not worked. But it’s important to know they all have really nice, new cars.
The Book Eaters are many different families across Britain. (They used to travel more but can’t now because of the said lack of documentation) Their kids run around dirty, uneducated, and without any outside contact. Women are ‘rare’ and are treated like princesses. Women are only fed fairy tale books and books about compliance while boys are fed adventure stores and stories of valor and more educated texts. When they turn 18 they are dressed like princesses and immediately married off to another family.
They are married to a man (of any age) to produce a child. Once the child is born and give a few years, they are married off to another man to produce another child. After that child (unless they can produce a 3rd) they are allowed to retire at their home family and continue to just exist without further purpose.
Oh, and there’s still a dowry involved in this to entice the woman’s original family to comply with the forced birthing process.
When they are married off, the ‘knights’ ride motorcycles around a
limo to escort her to the new family in the style of a caravan.
But, the Book Eaters publicly are just people who live off the land and stick to themselves and are local legends. Should an outsider stumble upon them, they are drained of who they are/captured, and sent somewhere way far away without their family or loved ones knowing.
The Book Eaters are monsters. You are either born a book eater or born a dragon (someone who instead of eating human knowledge, must eat human experience aka brains). So you are either born ‘normal’ or a monster, inherently evil/with evil urges. These dragons get stripped of their freedoms and are then covered in tattoos which signify that they’re dangerous.
It is noted that indeed, their heritage is Romanian. Straight up.
Am I reading too much into this Maybe I am. But there is too much
intersectionality with the harmful stereotypes or Romani peoples that
it feels so blaringly obvious to me. Instead of the usually paranormal
media depiction of being Lycanthropes and Fortune Tellers, they’re indeed vampiric alien monsters.
As I mentioned, I have stopped reading here. I cannot review anymore than this. There are also more reviews here on Goodreads and other places that report that the book ends up being about not book eating but the family being a cult/cult-like activity. So, I will not be
continuing even more so.
Sadly, I believe this book will be in some subscription boxes so I feel for those who might not be prepared for it and for those who have no idea about the intersectionality of this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use