Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

115 reviews

msgslibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

This book was a marvelous piece of writing, able to carry a story in a non-linear style chapter by chapter to slowly peel back the layers of the main character's life. I was worried I wouldn't like it at first because the opening chapter makes it seem like the main character's primary personality trait is being an alcoholic, but that thankfully isn't focused on with the same intensity for the rest of the book. If that's of concern, get past the first chapter and the story will get better from there. The worldbuilding that Dean is able to weave throughout the story is masterful, even though there are holes. In fact, the holes that are left make it all the more interesting. Our own history as a species is full of mystery and unanswered questions the further back in time we try to study, and the Book Eaters of this book are no different. This, paired with the rigidity of the social structures the Book Eaters live under, makes for a wholly enjoyable read with enough lore to not get bogged down. And if you love a feral woman/lesbian main character, Devon, this book's lead, is for you! There is also an underlying metaphor of disability rights and how to navigate the world as an autistic/neurodivergent person, at least through my reading, that Dean works in so subtly and fluidly that is moves but doesn't overstate itself. Wile extremely gory and dark at points, by the end this book was a breath of fresh air for a sci-fi/fantasy lover like me who loves seeing unique ideas in the genre executed well!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Blood, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Cursing, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Vomit, Sexism, Sexual assault, Murder, Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Gore, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Death, Misogyny, and Mental illness

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

happy ending

esme_may's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Sexism, Alcohol, Gore, Violence, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Blood

Moderate: Physical abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Child abuse, Acephobia/Arophobia, Gun violence, and Rape

Minor: Trafficking, Homophobia, and Incest

shannshnan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Kind of a slow start as you get through the exposition but overall a great book with a driving plot 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Death, Pregnancy, Gore, Grief, Murder, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

arejaytay's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture

booknerd_therapist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Murder, Body horror, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy and Suicidal thoughts

cakrolik's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Gore, and Rape

Moderate: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

astralfeline's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book has really captured my attention from the first time I heard a synopsis of it. I love how unique this concept is (at least to me) and the sort of "dystopian" feel to it. There are so many layers to this book, different themes or metaphors that stand out to me. I also listened to the audiobook version while following along in the ebook and loved the narrator's accent. I can tell there was just so much time, effort, and intention behind this story and it really delivered. I feel like I'll be thinking about this book for the rest of my life. I also have to add that I enjoyed the casual inclusion of LGBT characters, where their identity wasn't their whole characterization and the plot very much had it's own leg to stand on. Not that I dislike books where the whole plot is about the characters being LGBT, but I feel like the characters and their place in the story were very well done and not overly "shown off," but also wasn't just mentioned once and not really mentioned ever again. You know? 

Anyway, definitely recommend this book to literally anyone. Very intriguing concept, great characters, and the plot is very well written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Gaslighting

khakipantsofsex's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Rape

aliclare's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Confinement, Misogyny, Death, Murder, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Gun violence

tctimlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.0

I’m not much of a fantasy reader, so that may have colored my perception of the book.  The premise (that there is a race of people living in England who look similar to humans, but instead of eating food, eat books) is weird - but gets weirder when you learn that occasionally instead of giving birth to book eaters, they give birth to mind eaters, who can only survive by sucking out all the knowledge in a person’s brain.  The plot bounces back in time, and the present time events are propulsive, and the battle at the end is fun and exciting.  The author also attempts to raise big issues, like motherhood, family, what we do for love, gender roles … maybe too many issues.  At the end, the author kind of leaves the door open for a sequel, but I don’t know that I have the appetite to eat any more pages.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Cannibalism, Sexism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Murder