The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

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Book: The Book Eaters

Author: Sunyi Dean

Publication Date: 2nd August 2022

Book 2 Of The Year

I will be honest straight off the bat, this book wasn't my cup of tea so please don't let my review put you off reading this book as it is all my own opinion. This is also a spoiler-less review.

Now that's out the way lets get on, to me this book was almost like a vampire novel but with a twist (they eat books/minds instead of blood). The main theme throughout this book is the love and devotion a mother has for her child which I always love. It was interesting to see how book eating women were treated in society as objects, which made me think of the Victorians. Women were there to get married and have children and then they're done and considered fulfilled their duty and could go on living their lives just without their children which did make my heartbreak a little bit especially with Devon fighting so hard for her little one.

Something I would have loved is to see how the Book Eaters came to be and how they are different to humans but we don't really get a backstory for them so it leaves me a bit blank and unsatisfied but that might just be me. I did like how Sunyi explored the LGBTQ+ community with some of her characters and how they are treated/ what they go through and their own little stories. I do feel like this book centres itself more around a religious/cult theme rather than a fantastical theme which for me isn't my favourite theme. In the same way as The Night Circus and The Winter Garden we jump back to the past and then the present which I think is quite nice as we do get to see a little bit of what Devon has gone through growing up but we still don't see the full picture. For me it is like looking through a smeared window instead of a clean one, you see some things clearly but others a bit muffled and some not at all.

Again please don't let my review put you off reading this book, we are all entitled to our opinions and this book just wasn't the one for me but I am very glad that I have read it.

Trigger Warnings: Body Horror, Confinement, Domestic Abuse, Forced Marriage, Gore, Graphic Violence, Misogyny, Murder, Gen Violence, Bomb Threat, Forced Pregnancy/Childbirth, and Violence Against Children.

Happy Reading!