Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Book Eaters

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.

Content Warnings

isaaah's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

I'm always weak for stories that talk about the power of stories. I suppose you can say I ate this one up. The Book Eaters tells us that the stories we consume, that we are given, shape the way we see the world, and how we imagine our future. This fantasy of people that eat books and minds seems surreal, but their society, strictly managed by patriarchs who decide what stories their children are allowed to consume, does not seem so far from the truth to me. I'm thinking of real life censorship and book burnings and pearl-clutching parents that think certain stories might lead their children away from the life path they envisioned for them.
This story is about a woman trying to escape the system she is born in and envision a different future.

The book also talks about love, and the lengths we go for it, which is a theme I'm also always happy to explore. I especially enjoyed the notion that love is not inherently good, it is just something we make choices for. A lot of it focuses on Devons relationship with her children, which I thought well done. However, I'm not a parent, nor do not I wish to be, so some of the emotional layers might have been lost on me.

I was more so interested in the development of her friendships with Jarrow and Hester. Devon grew up isolated and sheltered and only rarely met strangers. Later she is made to fend for herself in a world full of a people unknown to her, and that are functionally prey for her son. I thought this made for an interesting perspective to the process of trusting new people and making friends, and I'd have liked to see more of it. I personally would have preferred her relationship with Hester to stay platonic, as right now, the romance seemed underdeveloped to me. It seemed more like something to be explored in a potential sequel (or just leave up to the imagination). But then again, my verdict for 90% of romance plots is that it goes too fast; at this point it might be a me-problem.

At the end I also felt like the flashbacks slowed down the pace a bit, but none of these things kept me from thoroughly enjoying this book!

Content Warnings