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A review by leahjanespeare
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
I dunno, I have very mixed feelings about this one. I think the idea of book eaters who have children who are brain eaters (zombies) is fucking awesome and original.
The rest of it...it did not click with me. It's very Handmaid's Tale-esque with this sorta Mafia family/Patriarchy ruling the book eaters, and who control all the book eater women. Women whose entire existence revolves around being breeders for their dying race.
The main character is a queer woman (hinted at being a lesbian for she doesn't have the words to describe herself) who (due to mafia patriarchy) is married to a man. She is regularly raped by him, and has produced two children. While this is not detailed, her internal horror and emotional turmoil from the marital rape is very present in the narrative so tread carefully if that is a trigger for you. The fairy-tale aspect of the narration almost romanticized her situation which put me off, personally.
I think the pacing needed work since nothing much happened, and she was very slow to realize what a horrible world she was a part of. I didn't have a whole lot of patience for that but I will admit she was extremely sheltered in that respect (despite having eaten thousands of books and kinda absorbing their knowledge...??) And I wish some side characters were fleshed out more. There was a guy who was asexual (who taught her the possibility and existence of queer identities) and I think he's her cousin but that sorta fell away and I think he may have been killed off. Also there was someone named Hester who was maybe a love interest for the mc but honestly where she came from, I couldn't say.
THAT BEING SAID. If you want to read a dark exploration about motherhood and love and fucked up no-win situations and trying to escape abuse - you'll probably enjoy it. IF you are looking for a cool book vampire fantasy adventure, you will not find it here. I think part of the problem with my reading experience is the wrong marketing and therefore different expectations going in.
The rest of it...it did not click with me. It's very Handmaid's Tale-esque with this sorta Mafia family/Patriarchy ruling the book eaters, and who control all the book eater women. Women whose entire existence revolves around being breeders for their dying race.
The main character is a queer woman (hinted at being a lesbian for she doesn't have the words to describe herself) who (due to mafia patriarchy) is married to a man. She is regularly raped by him, and has produced two children. While this is not detailed, her internal horror and emotional turmoil from the marital rape is very present in the narrative so tread carefully if that is a trigger for you. The fairy-tale aspect of the narration almost romanticized her situation which put me off, personally.
I think the pacing needed work since nothing much happened, and she was very slow to realize what a horrible world she was a part of. I didn't have a whole lot of patience for that but I will admit she was extremely sheltered in that respect (despite having eaten thousands of books and kinda absorbing their knowledge...??) And I wish some side characters were fleshed out more. There was a guy who was asexual (who taught her the possibility and existence of queer identities) and I think he's her cousin but that sorta fell away and I think he may have been killed off. Also there was someone named Hester who was maybe a love interest for the mc but honestly where she came from, I couldn't say.
THAT BEING SAID. If you want to read a dark exploration about motherhood and love and fucked up no-win situations and trying to escape abuse - you'll probably enjoy it. IF you are looking for a cool book vampire fantasy adventure, you will not find it here. I think part of the problem with my reading experience is the wrong marketing and therefore different expectations going in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Rape