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jessthanthree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Rape
Moderate: Animal death, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Homophobia, Child death, Sexism, and Colonisation
Minor: Transphobia, Stalking, Abortion, and Abandonment
kell_xavi's review against another edition
3.5
There is much about the body here, a visceral beastliness and texture to embodiment in many forms—though it is characterized by releasing of waste, blood, semen more often than is my preference. There is also a violence towards bodies, in their ripping apart and consumption, or the devouring of the title. Sexual encounters are carnal and animal as well, filled with pungency, passion.
This is not a book for everybody, but I appreciated the ways in which Das made his shapeshifters seem more animal than supernatural, with an intensity to their worldliness. There is heat and bulk to them, rage and suffering. There is also a culture told by ritual, language, and customs that I could follow in their repercussions while not fully understanding their meanings. Where romance and human-creature relationship are prevalent in many supernatural novels, The Devourers is a welcome subversion. This book at once denies those plot lines, and works them back in, with more messiness and devastation that creates small, earned moments of tenderness.
My last point, and another delightful subversion, is that this book is very queer. When we first meet him, the narrator (Alok) is quietly and somewhat shamefully bisexual; however, though I emohasize it here, in the text this queerness and gender is shown as a part of having a body—of embodying, using and changing flesh. The shapeshifters can choose the appearance of their first (humanoid) selves and their second (beastly) selves, altering gender or appearing with multiple genitalia. They are also sexual in a way not precluded by gender. Though women are treated with a misogyny that fits the historical context, the author (and the narrative) focus/es on agency and inner life of Cyrah with empathy and admiration.
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Cannibalism, Body horror, Gore, and Colonisation
Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Biphobia, Animal death, and Classism
poisoned_icecream's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Rape, Death of parent, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Gore, Excrement, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Violence
sunn_bleach's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Cannibalism, and Body horror
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Transphobia and Medical trauma
mle11's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Violence, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Animal death, Rape, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Biphobia, Excrement, Homophobia, Vomit, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Kidnapping, and Self harm
Minor: Colonisation and Drug use
ssjd411's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Vomit, Stalking, Sexual assault, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cannibalism
triforcefusion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Vomit
Piss and urination happens a lotnodogsonthemoon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Rape, Animal death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
lanid's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Excrement, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gore, Death, Blood, and Cannibalism
Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Murder, Rape, and Death of parent
Moderate: Kidnapping, Child death, Abandonment, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Sexism, War, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Vomit
Minor: Classism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Colonisation, Abortion, Dysphoria, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Racism
Smoking. Urination. Discussion of and explicit descriptions of rape, as well as depiction of aftermath, but no extended scene. Sexual coercion, victim blaming/justification of rape (by character; criticized by others and narrative), discrimination against sex workers. Pregnancy and birth by rape. Decapitation. Metaphorical mentions of bestiality. Sexual relationships in a shapeshifter-unique dynamic compared to but not necessarily equivalent to parent-child dynamics, where one party has sometimes been raised by the other since youth; discussed and alluded to, but not graphically shown on-page.