A review by gardensnail
The Devourers by Indra Das

dark sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

This book made me mad. It is a beautiful piece of prose that tells a horrid story. There are glimpses of what this book could have been in that prose: a romance, a thriller, a story told entirely in letter. But none of these it accomplishes well. By Part 6, I was exhausted; already having known who the mysterious man was. The other narrator, Alok, waswas as similarly uninteresting. Neither Alok nor the mysterious man felt like real characters of their own. They were superceded by the other bits of the story. 

This, to me, was the most egregious. There were moments in the book where I felt I understood what the author was trying to say. Both Alok and the Half-man are outsiders for some innate quality, born out of and into a violent world that is against them, to parents they have complex and distant relationships with. Their coupling felt detached and distant. I wanted so badly in those moments to wish there was romance in it. But there wasn't, and there won't be. It filled me with incredible sadness. The very last pages are the worst, sealing it as a tragedy. I would be hesitant to describe this book in terms of its flirtation with
transgenderism; but Alok's inability to not only come to terms with his sexuality, but also gender identity and/or expression is crippling when we only learn about them in the last few pages.
I wish it were not so. But again, it is the finality of this book. There are no good conclusions, and no happy endings. It goes in and out. 

I can't say its a bad book. Or that I would never recommend it. Again, the prose is unlike anything I've read before. However, it is a book that I will likely never want to read again. 
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