Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

67 reviews

sav_22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

It’s so hard to sum up my feelings on this book, but man did I love it. If I can compare it to anything, I’d say listening to the song Labour by Paris Paloma would be the closest thing I can think of. That song IS Devon. 
The way Dean writes about motherhood, trauma, and dilemma fascinates me. The concept alone is unlike anything I’ve gotten the chance to read, and I really love how devastatingly bittersweet and complex it is. I’d say that a lot of elements of the world of the book eaters resembles Handmaid’s tale, ifykyk.

This isn’t a book that circles around the sapphic relationship, which some may have critiqued for being a bit of a minor subplot. It is hardly a focus, but I kind of enjoy the way Devon’s sexuality is explored in such a simple and gentle way, contrasting the violence in which her femininity and motherhood is explored. The dynamic between Dev and Cai is tragic and beautiful and horrifying; it really is a story that drives home the absolute carnage that is motherhood. This portrays womanhood by extension as what it can feel like: messy, violent, tragic, and ruthless. Dev loses so much of herself, and her identity was stripped from her so constantly, yet she rises like a merciless phoenix. She is one of the most morally complex characters I’ve read about, and I adored her deeply. <spoiler/> If you want to read a book that is the epitome of female rage, i feel like this is the one for you. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Sexual violence, Death, Child abuse, Body horror, Violence, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Mental illness, Grief, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

ladyknightkaci's review against another edition

Nothing about this book grabbed me. I kept reading because of the hype around it. I can get why people finish it, but I don’t understand anyone who loves it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Alcohol

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism

Minor: Cannibalism

charlie_reads101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

3.75

An awesome vampire reimagining that doesn’t shy away from the inner darkness of the people, even the ones we’re supposed to root for. Motherhood, monsters and more book quotes than you can imagine; I recommend for anyone who wants to read about fairy tales and how “real” life isn’t one.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Death

heartofhorrors's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Murder, Death, Infertility, Sexual content, Trafficking, Grief, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, and Violence

eggfartz'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Cursing, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Vomit

asolis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Medical content, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Pregnancy, and Rape

captainsillypants's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Rape

Moderate: Slavery, Grief, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Trafficking and Slavery

gen_wolfhailstorm's review

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

 The Details:
 Narrated by Katie Erich
Unabridged

This was just okay for me. It had a really cool snd unique concept but I just lacked any emotional connection for the story and ended up more or less having it on as background noise, unfortunately. 
I wish I had had a stronger feeling for this title.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Misogyny, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Physical abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Body horror, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Blood, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Addiction, Abandonment, Violence, Torture, Outing, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Sexual violence

snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 Also on Snow White Hates Apples.

As one of my most highly anticipated reads, I was a little disappointed by how average this book turned out.

The Book Eaters has an intriguing premise that I’m sure would attract every bibliophile out there — after all, what’s not to love about a book where books play a prominent role? To make it all the more interesting, this book features a species of human-like beings that subsist on either books or brains only. They’re hidden from the watchful, fearful eyes of many humans and they have long lifespans. However, their females can only give birth to two children all their life which means that if not enough females are born, there will come a time when they’ll become extinct. As such, knights and dragons play a crucial role in arranging marriages between the Families, which contributes to maintaining and enforcing the status quo.

This results in an insular and strongly patriarchal community where a female’s only worth is the offspring she has…and she’s not even allowed to care for the child past them turning 3 years old. All this gives a lot of room for social commentary on patriarchy, misogyny, misandry, toxic femininity, toxic masculinity and other gender issues. It also allows for explorations on trust and identity.

Sadly, both the execution and characters were lacking. Although there were some complexities and depth to the social commentary, the way the story was written wasn’t strong enough to uphold those notions. It also didn’t help that despite the clear system and context on book eaters and mind eaters, their presence was more secondary. So in overall, these two aspects made for an underwhelming story.

Moreover, I found it difficult to care for the characters. Sure, I could sympathise with them and their situations, but there remains a distance that somehow made them feel flat even though they were all distinct, compelling and memorable.

Everything considered, The Book Eaters has a lot of promise and potential, which makes it a shame that I didn’t find it as mind-blowing as I had hoped for. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a read where the focus is more on an underdog’s journey to gain freedom and independence away from all that confined them and their loved ones, this is a book to try. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Death, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gore, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, and Rape

nahimgood's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, Drug use, and Pregnancy

Minor: Slavery, Confinement, Infertility, and Fire/Fire injury