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A review by abbier_14
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I decided to sleep before writing this review to collect my thoughts because when i finished the book my mind was blank for what I wanted to say.
I guess that just describes the book then. It was average, nothing too harmful or outragous but it isnt going to stick with me for the rest of my life. However i still think it is a three star because it is alright for a debut, and I can imagine this being a light digestible read (haha get it) if you are like lying on a beach or something.
- The characters were alright. I loved Cai and Jarred (i cant even remember if that was his name and i finished it 12 hours ago), and the others were fine. I wish we got to learn more about the aunts but whatever.
I think that is the biggest thing with this book is it feels as though we just skimmed the surface of information about the world. We are given just enough facts for things to make sense but not enough to full dive deep about the things that really matter and would be interesting.
- This world had soooo much potential however we barely explored anything. Book eating was not very central to the book, there were times where Devon would eat a book of information to learn it and im like 'thats so cool i wish i could learn more' but we never did. Like it could have been so cool to see how this ability affected their lives but they just were normal? They just felt like humans who occasionally ate books which was so frustrating because the start was giving me twilight vampire vibes and i was like yesss I cant wait.
I think this is due to the book eaters being separate from humans that it actually makes them seem more human. We have no real points of comparasion because they are so cut off. Imagine how cool it would be if we learnt that so many people we thought were humans like inventors and stuff were actually book eaters because they basically could learn anything in the time it takes to eat a meal which is how they are so smart.
Devon did kinda touch upon this when she said she didn't feel smart even though she has eaten so many books and im like how??? She would literally be amazing at standardised tests which are used to measure intelligence so i dont understand. See things just werent explored, blank throwaway lines that are just left in the air.
- Also the plot left a lot to be desired. I was drawn in from the start but Im guessing that was from wanting to learn more information after being just thrown in to the book. This plot is basically like a run away heist thingy which is the opposite of what I thought it was going to be. When I pictured it i imagined a kind of dystopian world where they were trapped kinda like Piranesi .
However I will give it merit I was scared at the end I didnt want to keep reading due to tension and I didnt want something bad to happen lol. The plot does try to be interesting by having Devon working for both teams so we dont know what side is going to win in the end.
However im conflicted over the ending. So on one hand Im glad it isnt so happy due to Cai basically being gone due to consuming a book eater (and something else which I have already forgotten). However I feel like it ends too abruptly.
What is going to happen to the families now? we have basically forgotten about them as they havent been mentioned for ages. They have no access to redemption which means mind eaters are going to either roam free of be killed. Unless Devon is going to start to become the supplier of redeption but it sounded as though she just wants it for her son. And because the knights are disbanded it means no one can keep the dragons in check or can boss around the families anymore. Does that mean the families are going to go back to their old ways of killing the mind eaters? but surely Devon is sympathetic to them as she wouldnt want anyone to kill her son? Are the families now free to marry who they want? Yes that was Devon's goal for her daughter but how are they going to prevent inbreeding which was already caused harm to the women's reproductive system.
Basically the ending was confusing more than anything and I would rather have had a cryptic prologue than nothing at all. There are way more consequences to Devons actions that are not acknowleged.
I think all in all it would have been better if things were explored a bit more in depth as I think that would have solved my main problems of not understanding the ending and the world being superficial.
I guess that just describes the book then. It was average, nothing too harmful or outragous but it isnt going to stick with me for the rest of my life. However i still think it is a three star because it is alright for a debut, and I can imagine this being a light digestible read (haha get it) if you are like lying on a beach or something.
- The characters were alright. I loved Cai and Jarred (i cant even remember if that was his name and i finished it 12 hours ago), and the others were fine. I wish we got to learn more about the aunts but whatever.
I think that is the biggest thing with this book is it feels as though we just skimmed the surface of information about the world. We are given just enough facts for things to make sense but not enough to full dive deep about the things that really matter and would be interesting.
- This world had soooo much potential however we barely explored anything. Book eating was not very central to the book, there were times where Devon would eat a book of information to learn it and im like 'thats so cool i wish i could learn more' but we never did. Like it could have been so cool to see how this ability affected their lives but they just were normal? They just felt like humans who occasionally ate books which was so frustrating because the start was giving me twilight vampire vibes and i was like yesss I cant wait.
I think this is due to the book eaters being separate from humans that it actually makes them seem more human. We have no real points of comparasion because they are so cut off. Imagine how cool it would be if we learnt that so many people we thought were humans like inventors and stuff were actually book eaters because they basically could learn anything in the time it takes to eat a meal which is how they are so smart.
Devon did kinda touch upon this when she said she didn't feel smart even though she has eaten so many books and im like how??? She would literally be amazing at standardised tests which are used to measure intelligence so i dont understand. See things just werent explored, blank throwaway lines that are just left in the air.
- Also the plot left a lot to be desired. I was drawn in from the start but Im guessing that was from wanting to learn more information after being just thrown in to the book. This plot is basically like a run away heist thingy which is the opposite of what I thought it was going to be. When I pictured it i imagined a kind of dystopian world where they were trapped kinda like Piranesi .
However I will give it merit I was scared at the end I didnt want to keep reading due to tension and I didnt want something bad to happen lol. The plot does try to be interesting by having Devon working for both teams so we dont know what side is going to win in the end.
However im conflicted over the ending. So on one hand Im glad it isnt so happy due to Cai basically being gone due to consuming a book eater (and something else which I have already forgotten). However I feel like it ends too abruptly.
What is going to happen to the families now? we have basically forgotten about them as they havent been mentioned for ages. They have no access to redemption which means mind eaters are going to either roam free of be killed. Unless Devon is going to start to become the supplier of redeption but it sounded as though she just wants it for her son. And because the knights are disbanded it means no one can keep the dragons in check or can boss around the families anymore. Does that mean the families are going to go back to their old ways of killing the mind eaters? but surely Devon is sympathetic to them as she wouldnt want anyone to kill her son? Are the families now free to marry who they want? Yes that was Devon's goal for her daughter but how are they going to prevent inbreeding which was already caused harm to the women's reproductive system.
Basically the ending was confusing more than anything and I would rather have had a cryptic prologue than nothing at all. There are way more consequences to Devons actions that are not acknowleged.
I think all in all it would have been better if things were explored a bit more in depth as I think that would have solved my main problems of not understanding the ending and the world being superficial.