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kell_xavi's review against another edition
3.5
There is much about the body here, a visceral beastliness and texture to embodiment in many forms—though it is characterized by releasing of waste, blood, semen more often than is my preference. There is also a violence towards bodies, in their ripping apart and consumption, or the devouring of the title. Sexual encounters are carnal and animal as well, filled with pungency, passion.
This is not a book for everybody, but I appreciated the ways in which Das made his shapeshifters seem more animal than supernatural, with an intensity to their worldliness. There is heat and bulk to them, rage and suffering. There is also a culture told by ritual, language, and customs that I could follow in their repercussions while not fully understanding their meanings. Where romance and human-creature relationship are prevalent in many supernatural novels, The Devourers is a welcome subversion. This book at once denies those plot lines, and works them back in, with more messiness and devastation that creates small, earned moments of tenderness.
My last point, and another delightful subversion, is that this book is very queer. When we first meet him, the narrator (Alok) is quietly and somewhat shamefully bisexual; however, though I emohasize it here, in the text this queerness and gender is shown as a part of having a body—of embodying, using and changing flesh. The shapeshifters can choose the appearance of their first (humanoid) selves and their second (beastly) selves, altering gender or appearing with multiple genitalia. They are also sexual in a way not precluded by gender. Though women are treated with a misogyny that fits the historical context, the author (and the narrative) focus/es on agency and inner life of Cyrah with empathy and admiration.
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Cannibalism, Body horror, Gore, and Colonisation
Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Biphobia, Animal death, and Classism
mle11's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Violence, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Animal death, Rape, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Biphobia, Excrement, Homophobia, Vomit, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Kidnapping, and Self harm
Minor: Colonisation and Drug use
lanid's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Excrement, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gore, Death, Blood, and Cannibalism
Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts