A review by xangemthelibrarian
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

"You're not scared of me because you're an even bigger, meaner monster than me. You'd eat the whole world to help me out and I think I'd do that for you, too. You're my monster and I'm yours [...] we must go together because we are a monster family." - Cai to Devon, pg. 252


That spoiler up above is my favorite quote from the book, but it does reveal a plot point, so don't read it if you want to keep the surprise!

I love Devon. She's not painted as a hero by any means. She's just a mom, doing literally whatever it takes and sacrificing her whole being to care for her son in a world that is dead set against her succeeding. A world that very obviously favors men and sets women up to be no more than child-bearing cattle. (I haven't read The Handmaid's Tale, but I wonder if these two books would pair well together.) ALSO the Book Eater lore! Very interesting! And the constant parallels between their world and the old-fashioned fairytales. It's both very distressing and so good.

I also love the message: Love is simply a choice you make. The idea of "cost" or "worth" doesn't apply. You choose to love like you choose to live every day. And the "huge" choices Devon makes all throughout the story just seem so natural for her as a character because she talks so frequently about the "little" choices she made to support Cai.

One final thing that puts this book at the top for me: Neurodiverse author who loves "rolling d20s!" I'm honestly a fan of anyone who enjoys the click-clack math rocks. Definitely following on Twitter because the ending here has one loose end that can either stay unresolved or maybe spin into another book?? Hopefully?? 👀
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