Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

105 reviews

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

astralfeline's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

This book has really captured my attention from the first time I heard a synopsis of it. I love how unique this concept is (at least to me) and the sort of "dystopian" feel to it. There are so many layers to this book, different themes or metaphors that stand out to me. I also listened to the audiobook version while following along in the ebook and loved the narrator's accent. I can tell there was just so much time, effort, and intention behind this story and it really delivered. I feel like I'll be thinking about this book for the rest of my life. I also have to add that I enjoyed the casual inclusion of LGBT characters, where their identity wasn't their whole characterization and the plot very much had it's own leg to stand on. Not that I dislike books where the whole plot is about the characters being LGBT, but I feel like the characters and their place in the story were very well done and not overly "shown off," but also wasn't just mentioned once and not really mentioned ever again. You know? 

Anyway, definitely recommend this book to literally anyone. Very intriguing concept, great characters, and the plot is very well written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Gaslighting

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

tctimlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Cannibalism, Sexism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Murder

sydresnik's review against another edition

adventurous 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Acephobia/Arophobia, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Infertility, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Alcoholism

isaaah's review against another edition

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! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Child abuse, Murder, Violence, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual content, Trafficking, Alcohol, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Rape

hazelsnoot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

I cant stop thinking about this book. A unique, dark, and haunting story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Stalking, Trafficking, Abandonment, Drug use, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Violence, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia

ledichose's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was the mother–son relationship or, rather, the development of Devon’s role as a mother. While there were moments where the book seemed transparent as an allegory, I felt it was an original concept, and, as a sci-fi book, it didn’t have a lot of techie bleep bloops—an approach to the genre that I prefer. What I would have liked was more development of other characters and their relationships to Devon, especially Hester and Ramsay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Cannibalism, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Cannibalism, Violence, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

imds's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Acephobia/Arophobia, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Body horror, Grief, Body shaming, Confinement, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, and Trafficking