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melissafelicia 's review for:
The Book Eaters
by Sunyi Dean
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The premise of this book really intrigued me: a group of people eat books and absorb their knowledge, but one woman gives birth to a boy who eats minds instead? That sounded very interesting. And the worldbuilding around this concept was very well done! (Breastmilk is ink instead, the book eaters bleed black and to learn Polish, you just have to eat a Polish dictionary!) It was fun to learn more about the world and the way the main character navigated it.
However, I wish the character development and the pacing were better. We only know a few character traits of the main character and the whole story is about her doing everything for her son or rebelling against a sexist institution, but I didn't feel like I got to know her as a person very well, which made it harder for me to stay invested in the story. Pacing-wise, there is a lot of dialogue without much happening, causing me to zone out occasionally, so I wished the pacing would have been a bit faster and the characters a bit more developed, so that the story would have been more engaging.
However, I wish the character development and the pacing were better. We only know a few character traits of the main character and the whole story is about her doing everything for her son or rebelling against a sexist institution, but I didn't feel like I got to know her as a person very well, which made it harder for me to stay invested in the story. Pacing-wise, there is a lot of dialogue without much happening, causing me to zone out occasionally, so I wished the pacing would have been a bit faster and the characters a bit more developed, so that the story would have been more engaging.