Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

128 reviews

looseleafellie's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

This contemporary fantasy novel introduces a secret society of creatures called Book Eaters, who eat books instead of food to gain knowledge. As a Book Eater woman, Devon grows up only allowed to eat fairy tales, doomed to a life of forced marriages and being torn from her children for the furtherance of Book Eater society. But when she gives birth to a Mind Eater — a boy who craves minds instead of books — she must break free of the system to save both her son and herself.

This is a relatively short read that packs a wildly imaginative premise into its pages. The Book Eater concept is so WEIRD, but I happily ate it up.

The point isn’t the biology or abilities of the Book Eaters, but rather how their society is set up. Just like real oppressive systems, there are any number of “logical” reasons for Book Eater society to function the way it does, but no amount of logic can justify the way the system strips its marginalized members (in this case, women and mind-eaters) of their agency.

Devon is a sharp and savvy character hardened by her circumstances. I guess she’s a classically “unlikeable” protagonist, but even before I learned about her past that made her that way, I couldn’t help sympathizing with her motivations for doing questionable things.

The story is told in both the present day and flashbacks, which propelled the plot along while revealing more about Devon’s backstory and the Book Eater world. Toward the end, when the flashbacks got close to the present day, I felt like they slowed things down, but I generally liked the dual timelines.

Overall, I would recommend this book to those who want a dark, imaginative, compelling fantasy read. Also if you like books. But if you’re reading this, that’s probably a given.

Spice level: None.

CWs: Violence (inc. toward children), gore, murder, domestic abuse, misogyny, forced marriage, forced parent/child separation, childbirth, and mentions of human trafficking, SA, and acephobia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

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

midnightgremlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Misogyny

Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

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

seagullsaga's review against another edition

dark hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Confinement, Violence, Slavery, Infertility, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Rape, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Sexism

fatimaelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I also got through this one slower than I’d have liked. The chapters alternated between past and present for most of the book, which was necessary for world-building reasons, but I’m not totally sure was wholly necessary for narrative reasons. I enjoyed learning about the book-eaters, but I sort of wish I’d gotten more insight into them. They did feel like a modern day cult: women subservient, men dominant, and I think that changing up even a few things could have made that dynamic feel fresher. That said, what I was given was good for the story and for the character development. Though I liked the book, I do wish I’d gotten more from it. The ending felt open — perhaps for a sequel — but I think if this book had even a hundred pages more it could’ve done something really special. I thought the relationship between mother and child was atypical in a refreshing way, especially given what Devon sacrificed for Cai, and the relationship between brother and sister was the most intriguing one of the book (though I wish Dean had focused on it more). Overall a solid read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Misogyny

Moderate: Domestic abuse

ssjd411's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Grief, Death, Sexism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child death, Blood, Murder, and Physical abuse

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

cassiecollins's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Man, I really wish the whole concept of book-eating was better incorporated. As it is, there are a few moments where it's used in interesting ways—like Devon eating maps and train schedules—but overall it feels like you could replace it with any other alien physiology and the narrative wouldn't be affected at all. The story itself was pretty good, though toward the end the flashbacks just became redundant and were in the way of the present story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Rape and Gun violence

Minor: Pregnancy