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wearyreader's review
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
jswense's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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 utterly consumed me. I listened to the audiobook in two days, and I didn’t want it to end. Sunyi Dean creates a vivid world of people who consume books to survive. The Book Eaters’ society is steeped in harsh traditions meant to protect the six families remaining in Britain. One of the greatest threats to the rigid hierarchy are children who have a craving for something much more sinister than the written word: the human mind.
When Devon gives birth to a mind eater she does not see a monster
but a child she will do anything to protect. Her attempts to shield her family
from the sinister world they were born into sends her on a journey across
Britain to find the producers of a drug that has the ability to save her son
from a life of mind eating.
but a child she will do anything to protect. Her attempts to shield her family
from the sinister world they were born into sends her on a journey across
Britain to find the producers of a drug that has the ability to save her son
from a life of mind eating.
The Book Eaters is a thoughtful look at motherhood, family, and
what we will do for love. It asks the question; how do you survive when your
fairytale life turns out to be a nightmare?
what we will do for love. It asks the question; how do you survive when your
fairytale life turns out to be a nightmare?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, and Acephobia/Arophobia
wanderonwards's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for sending me a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Book Eaters is a unique thrill of a book where every character is a monster in their own way. I frequently found myself alternating between rooting for and against characters as their backstory and motivations gradually became more known. I don’t generally flip between liking and disliking characters so much, and to be able to pull that off with multiple characters is very difficult.
To be honest, though, I think other readers will enjoy this book more than I did. It was much darker than I anticipated (the depictions of violence were borderline too graphic for me) and I got more horror vibes than fantasy. I was also hoping for more smashing of the restrictive and abusive systems Devon grew up with: I didn’t really enjoy reading about the patriarchal Family societies and was waiting for some sense of satisfaction by the end of the book. While the ending was somewhat resolved, there are plenty of issues that are left open.
While this wasn’t really the book for me, I know plenty of other readers who will enjoy it. Thank you again to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the opportunity of reviewing an ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Trafficking, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Vomit
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