A review by semeyers
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Oh man I am so sad by how disappointed in this book I was! This book was on my reading list forever and I was finally able to grab it. I was so excited for it.

A secret race if aliens(?) who live among humans, subsisting on eating books and absorbing the knowledge. They can learn a new language by eating a book in that language. Master skills by eating a trade manual. Catch up on history by eating a textbook.  Yet they stay to the fringes of society, forbidden from interacting with or living among humans, the Families ruled by powerful patriarchs. Women are rare in their species so the precious few that are born are kept oppressed, only allowed to eat fairytales to keep them from learning how to function in human society, and forced to birth children that they aren't allowed to raise past the age of three.  The structure of their society has remained unchanged for hundreds of years until one woman finds a way to escape.....

Sounds great, right? Too bad most of that took a backseat to the true crime thriller that the book became. So much of the book eaters lore was cast aside almost immediately, brushed over, or seemingly forgotten about
for example, in the beginning, Devon mentions that book eaters live much longer than humans and age slower - to the point where she has trouble discerning human ages. But, the book eaters throughout the novel seem to age completely normally and this is never mentioned again in that last 3/4 of the book
. The characters were one-sided and always reacted predictably. Devon somehow goes from bumbling around barely able to survive in human society to essentially a professional spy in 18 months. Devon's relationship with her son is so much more of a friendship than a parent-child relationship that the mentions from other characters of how motherly and amazing their bond is were confusing. The characters had so much plot armor that I found myself rolling my eyes more than once. The twist was fun, but the book just kind of dragged on from there until it ended abruptly. 

Unfortunately, one from my reading list that I just did not enjoy!
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