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redbirdreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Excrement, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Death, Gore, Rape, and Violence
ultimatecryptid's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
I'd recommend this book especially to lovers of poetry. Das uses the spectacle of the werewolf myth expertly to lead the reader into the remarkability of choice. The symbolism and metaphor are an integral part of the story, and for much of the story-within-a-story, the symbolic meaning is the purpose of the story.
I'm definitely going to sit down for a second read, just to see what I couldn't recognize the first time.
I'm definitely going to sit down for a second read, just to see what I couldn't recognize the first time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
ronpayne's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A college professor is approached by a man on the streets of Kolkata, India who says he is half werewolf, and recruits the professor to transcribe a written account of lives of these shapeshifting monsters. These are not classic werewolves at all, but really just shapeshifters that tend to take on names of local monsters and demons—why this particular shapeshifter takes on the non-Indian title of werewolf is explained over the course of the transcribed manuscript. These beings prey on humans and devour not just their bodies but their memories as well. This book is very casually gory and includes a graphic rape as a main plot point, so be warned. In some ways this book reminds me of Interview With a Vampire, but far less romanticized, and far more subtly surreal. I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed it, but I'm glad I read this. It feels like the kind of book that sticks with me over time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Gore, and Cannibalism
soft_reads's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I am not totally sure what to say about this book... I struggled with the first 100ish pages and was taken aback but it's bluntness and viciousness but did get into the story before I was half way.
The ending took me a bit by surprise and I would be interested to have discussions about the possible interpretations of it albeit I wouldn't actively recommend it to anyone else as I did find the first 1/3 confronting.
The ending took me a bit by surprise and I would be interested to have discussions about the possible interpretations of it albeit I wouldn't actively recommend it to anyone else as I did find the first 1/3 confronting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism and Violence
Moderate: Rape
solovei's review against another edition
slow-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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Minor: Death of parent
whatellisreadnext's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
rorikae's review
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
‘The Devourers’ by Indra Das follows the story of shapeshifting creatures in India through two narratives translated by a college professor.
The frame story focuses on Alok, a college professor who encounters a stranger one night in Kolkata who starts to tell him a story. The stranger asks Alok to translate two scrolls, which tell the stories of a shapeshifting creature and the woman that he is obsessed with. These stories weave together with the frame narrative to create a fable that leaks into the present.
Das creates a fable that is wrapped in rich prose. His use of language is easy to understand but evocative. I listened to this book on audio and it leant itself to that format.
Though the characters in the story aren’t necessarily likable, I was still interested in what was going to happen to them. The story is very focused on the two narratives that are told through the scrolls so we don’t get as much characterization for the professor in the frame narrative as I would have liked. Das discusses a number of themes in this work including hunger, obsession, and the influence of others on our own personalities. This last theme is explored in a visceral way through the fact that the shape-shifting creatures, sometimes called werewolves, sometimes something more, gain the memories of the humans that they eat.
I would recommend this book, particularly if you are looking for stories steeped in folklore and with rich writing.
The frame story focuses on Alok, a college professor who encounters a stranger one night in Kolkata who starts to tell him a story. The stranger asks Alok to translate two scrolls, which tell the stories of a shapeshifting creature and the woman that he is obsessed with. These stories weave together with the frame narrative to create a fable that leaks into the present.
Das creates a fable that is wrapped in rich prose. His use of language is easy to understand but evocative. I listened to this book on audio and it leant itself to that format.
Though the characters in the story aren’t necessarily likable, I was still interested in what was going to happen to them. The story is very focused on the two narratives that are told through the scrolls so we don’t get as much characterization for the professor in the frame narrative as I would have liked. Das discusses a number of themes in this work including hunger, obsession, and the influence of others on our own personalities. This last theme is explored in a visceral way through the fact that the shape-shifting creatures, sometimes called werewolves, sometimes something more, gain the memories of the humans that they eat.
I would recommend this book, particularly if you are looking for stories steeped in folklore and with rich writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, and Violence
morganmaxwell's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Cannibalism
ergative's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a very sensual book. Earthy. Lots of sensory imagery of sweat and bodies and the scents of the fluids that go along with them. Das really knows how to convey the physicality of his stories.
The book is very thematically focused, and I appreciate that structural discipline. It's about the way that inhuman creatures who adopt both the best and worst parts of human existence---love and rape---destroy heir ability to exist as shifters, and requires that the people who come into contact with them to complete a certain degree of soul searching to figure out who and what they want to be. That said, it's also a whole book about how rape is bad, and I would have preferred a similar thematic focus that focused on anything except rape. The book says all the right things about it, but it also focuses on it entirely as the driving event that makes all other events happen.
I'm actually impressed by how successfully this book about inhuman shapeshifters who prey on people avoids any kind of moral judgment on the shapeshifters, and instead focuses any moral judgment on human failings. But still, the key human failing was rape. And I wish the book had been about anything except that.
Also, despite the lampshade hung upon it, when Asok criticizes the role of the woman in the first portion of the manuscript, the fact remains that in this entire book we have five important male characters (well, maybe not Asok, given the hints at the end) and one woman--a woman whose sole actions and agency revolve around her rape and subsequent motherhood.
The book is very thematically focused, and I appreciate that structural discipline. It's about the way that inhuman creatures who adopt both the best and worst parts of human existence---love and rape---destroy heir ability to exist as shifters, and requires that the people who come into contact with them to complete a certain degree of soul searching to figure out who and what they want to be. That said, it's also a whole book about how rape is bad, and I would have preferred a similar thematic focus that focused on anything except rape. The book says all the right things about it, but it also focuses on it entirely as the driving event that makes all other events happen.
I'm actually impressed by how successfully this book about inhuman shapeshifters who prey on people avoids any kind of moral judgment on the shapeshifters, and instead focuses any moral judgment on human failings. But still, the key human failing was rape. And I wish the book had been about anything except that.
Also, despite the lampshade hung upon it, when Asok criticizes the role of the woman in the first portion of the manuscript, the fact remains that in this entire book we have five important male characters (well, maybe not Asok, given the hints at the end) and one woman--a woman whose sole actions and agency revolve around her rape and subsequent motherhood.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Moderate: Body horror and Rape
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