Reviews

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

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ataraxiatrove's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Ok this book was way better than I expected it to be. The plot, the characters…wow. It kept me on the edge of my seat from the very first chapter and some plot twists really hit me! I was so fascinated by Devon’s strength, by her willpower. The story really was great, the way it related to fairytales and compared everything. I am so astonished, I really really liked it!!

danielle2121's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

This was, whilst not the book and plot I thought it would be, very interesting. It’s a great concept and definitely unique and original, I think maybe it’s just not a genre or style of book I tend to read and enjoy, because I don’t believe it’s a bad book at all. Just not for me.
I couldn’t really get invested in the characters and their relationships and I didn’t feel much for them when certain events happened, but again, I didn’t dislike any of them or how they were written.
I did, however, find the lore and the book/mind eaters and their story and history as creatures, actually really fascinating.
Also shout out to there being a whole chapter set in Brighton, my home town!

megank27's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A pretty good story, one that I think is very unique to anything else I’ve read. I found it hard to keep up with the amount of characters and converging storylines at times but everything was tied up neatly at the end.

stacy_85's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.75

emilyalsop's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Generally good with an interesting premise. However, I found the Americanisms jarring compared to the UK setting which took me out of the whole story.

I didn’t quite click with Hester as a character. I finished the book feeling like I didn’t really know much about her (even though I felt like I understood other characters with less presence in the story better). In turn, this made romance storyline between Devon and Hester feel rushed and not fleshed out. I struggled to understand why Devon liked her. By the end of the story, it felt like the only way to justify Hester escaping with Devon, Cai and Mani was to have her as a love interest even though it felt rushed. It could have potentially worked better if a future romance between them had been eluded to or if it had been fleshed out more in future books rather than forcing it into The Book Eaters where it felt like it didn’t quite work