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maryellen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault
mxbluet18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
☆
☆
I wasn't necessarily sure how I was going to fair with this one, but I have really enjoyed it. I've read reviews describing it as 'a fairytale stapled to a thriller', and I wouldn't argue with that assessment.
~
I don't read much in the way of fairytale retellings, nor do I read many thrillers, partly because I don't like being scared. But this was struck a pleasing balance between suspenseful and uncertainty for the reader, with the calm of childhood.
~
I liked the way it went back to Devon's childhood and the experiences she had then, to show how her personality and resentment for the Families develop. And with the fairytale aspect of it, I liked that there was inclusion of dragons and knights, and Camelot.
~
Something I found interesting was the whole thing with the Ravenscar family, and how they had monopoly over an important element, and therefore to some degree had complete control over the other Families. Though I didn't like the arranged and forced marriages and pregnancies, however I'm aware that's the part of the plot that's intended to make people uncomfortable.
Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Gore, Violence, Body horror, Death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Torture, and Physical abuse
starrysteph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Gaslighting, Infertility, and Pregnancy
hailstorm3812's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny and Confinement
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Drug abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Pregnancy, Trafficking, and Acephobia/Arophobia
leonormsousa's review against another edition
- 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
QUOTE
Certainly, it could inspire goodness. She didn’t argue that. Poets would tell you that love was electricity in your veins that could light a room. That it was a river in your soul to lift you up and carry you away, or a fire inside the heart to keep you warm. Yet electricity could also fry, rivers could drown, and fires could burn; love could be destructive. Punishingly, fatally destructive.
And the other thing, the real bloody clincher of it all, was that the good and the bad didn’t get served up equally. If love were a balance of electric lights and electric jolts, two sides of an equally weighted coin, then fair enough. She could deal.
That wasn’t how it worked, though. Some love was just the bad, all the time: an endless parade of electrified bones and drowned lungs and hearts that burned to a cinder inside the cage of your chest.
And so she looked down at her son and loved him with the kind of twisted, complex feeling that came from having never wanted him in the first place; she loved him with bitterness, and she loved him with resignation. She loved him though she knew no good could ever come from such a bond."
- Sunyi Dean's writing is stunning (something I've confirmed in her two recent short stories), and I think I might read everything she puts out there
- So many great and strong passages! (I'm not one to annotate but this book made me want to)
- We love a book that doesn't shy away from talking about misogyny and oppressive societies
- How the author explored the topic of love, especially maternal love and how it can twist your moral boundaries (see the quote I included)
- The queer rep <3
- The concept of book and mind eaters was so interesting and original, and the chapter introductions with the lore really made the experience better
- It really stuck with me (it has been 4 months since I read and I not only think about it but almost feel like rereading it)
- The dual-timeline storytelling works so well
THINGS I DIDN'T ENJOY
- The ending was a bit too rushed and even almost “too easy”.
- Some details were given a lot of emphasis in the book but then ended up not playing any part at all, which felt a bit misleading and incoherent.
THINGS THAT I'VE SEEN CRITICISM ABOUT AND WHY I ACTUALLY LIKED THEM
- The world-building is limited - I think that the vagueness and unresolvedness of this book fitted it quite well. It's very rooted in Devon, so for me, it made sense that we didn't knew much about the book/mind eaters origin or lore (or other topics of the book in general) because she didn't knew it as well, either because she wasn't given that information as a woman or because it was not knowledge the book eater society had at the time.
- The abrupt ending - I actually like open endings and thought this one fitted the book well
READ IF YOU ENJOY
- creepy books with grey/dark characters
- stories about unhinged women trying to break free
- topics like misogynist societies and motherhood
- urban fantasy/sci-fi elements as a means to uncover and discuss real-life situations
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Gaslighting, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Blood, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Vomit
Minor: Trafficking, Acephobia/Arophobia, Homophobia, and Slavery
iloivar's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Alcoholism, Infertility, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Abandonment, Trafficking, Homophobia, Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy
djreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Minor: Rape and Homophobia
wearyreader's review against another edition
- 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 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.
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Death, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Stalking, Sexism, Misogyny, and Confinement
Moderate: Homophobia, Cultural appropriation, Xenophobia, and Racism
Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use
jswense's review against another edition
- 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
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.
what we will do for love. It asks the question; how do you survive when your
fairytale life turns out to be a nightmare?
Graphic: Sexism, Gore, Cannibalism, Violence, Gaslighting, Murder, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Homophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Infertility
wanderonwards's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Death, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Pregnancy, Grief, and Trafficking
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Vomit