A review by tctimlin
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

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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