Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

92 reviews

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Grief, Sexism, Violence, Gore, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Abandonment, and Gun violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Rape, Alcoholism, Medical content, Alcohol, Car accident, Torture, Drug use, Addiction, and Infertility

Minor: Racism, Pedophilia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Homophobia, Vomit, Child death, and Trafficking

slburg's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse

ella_dali_raynor's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

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

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

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

assembledbats's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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 is a new concept of vampires (as per the author in an interview) and the thought of  a new take on vampire book eaters was so interesting to me and throughout the book I loved the story. The complex relationship of mother and son and how far a mothers love can go to save her child regardless of the consequences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Sexual violence, Classism, Confinement, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Blood, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Addiction, Misogyny, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Sexism

auroramw's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

1.5

I love the book's premise, but it fell short in my opinion. The story is as subtle as a sledgehammer. There's a lot of pacing issues, especially towards the end of the book. Despite all this, I find that the bigges problem for me is how under developed the characters feel. The dialogue feels like a poorly written script where no one has a distinct voice. The characters lack personality which made them deeply unlikable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Violence, and Sexual assault

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