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quirkycatsfatstacks · 1 year

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Review: The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Author: Sunyi DeanPublisher: Tor BooksReleased: August 2, 2022Received: ARCWarnings: Controlling behavior, stalking Almost every reader has used the phrase “I devoured this book.” For most, this term means that we loved the book so much that we read it in one (or two) sittings. But The Book Eaters is about to put a whole new spin on that notion. The Family has always been good at staying out of…

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#Book #Book Review #Books #Fantasy #Fantasy Novel #Fantasy review #Fiction #Literary #Literature #Review #Sunyi Dean #The Book Eaters #The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean #Tor #Tor Books #Tor Publishing #Tor.com #Urban Fantasy #urban fantasy review

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solarishashernoseinabook · 2 years

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Solaris reviews The Book Eaters, by Sunyi Dean (2022)

Oh hey, my first topical book review!

Summary: Devon is a book eater: a being human in appearance but monstrous beneath the skin. She and her race live off of books, and by eating them they absorb their knowledge and stories. Her son Cai, in contrast, is a mind eater: he feeds off people, absorbing their knowledge, memories, personalities and lived experiences. There's a drug that can save him, suppress his disastrous appetite and allow him to live a relatively normal book eater life, but the people who make it are gone, apparently disappeared into the English countryside. Devon is determined to find them for her son's sake.

Content: This book was dark, but imaginative. We get musings on the nature of love, morality, and how to move on when life seems bleak. It's heavily character-driven to contrast a very straight-forward plot, but it never feels either stretched to fill up space or rushed to get things over with. The book jumps back and forth in time quite a bit, covering Devon in the current day in her quest to save Cai, and her early life and young adulthood. Through the present-day narrative, we get action, suspense, and interesting character interaction; through the flashbacks, we get worldbuilding, insight into book eater lives, and an understanding of how Devon came to be who she is when the book begins.

Who I think would like it: I think this would appeal to anyone who really likes character-driven stories, because as I said, that's the main focus of the book. You won't get any fake-sounding science about the biology of book eaters (thank fucking goodness, as that can all too easily backfire), so people who aren't normally sci-fi fans don't have to worry about being put off by technical descriptions or scientific jargon.

Things it does well: I really like Cai and Devon as characters and their interactions with each other. Cai especially would have taken a lot of work for the author to write, and I think she did it well. I also liked the flashback chapters, because it was nice seeing Devon's character development.

Things that could be improved: Honestly, not much. There's one little hiccup in the timeline, but that's little more than a typo. This isn't something that should be improved, per se, because it's a stylistic choice, but Dean's writing style uses a lot of sentence fragments, and while they're not exactly to my taste, they do fit the tone of the novel fairly well.

My review: My elderly neighbour heard about this book first and was excited to read it, and she told me about it. I picked it up not long ago and I'm glad I did. The plot itself is very simple and direct, but with enough character development and world-building that this never feels like a bad thing - actually, having too much of a complicated plot would have caused the story to get lost in itself. The grim tone makes it a nice October read (I say, in September), and taking place in a modern-day setting with some mild sci-fi elements give it a broad range of appeal.

Does this book have…: ✅= yes ❓= not sure ⭕= possibly/mixed ❌= no

Romance? ✅ Not a huge amount, as the relationship Devon forms is very much in its infancy by the end of the book (and we're not even sure if it'll be a relationship after the story ends, as it comes very late in the story). Just enough romance for me to say it's there, but it's not a main focus of the book.

Sex? ⭕ No on-page sex, but sex does happen, and it's more something Devon endures than enthusiastically consents to. It's given little-enough mention that I don't think it'll be triggering to people who have issues around sexual violence, but do be aware that Devon doesn't enjoy sex.

Racism? ❌ Nothing that I could detect. Some unsympathetic characters are mentioned to be ethnically Mediterranean, but so are sympathetic characters, and Cai is ethnically mixed. Note that I am white. A person of colour reading this book might have a different opinion on this than I, so do not take this as authoritative. Dean herself is of Asian descent and was raised in Hong Kong, and her experiences with race and racism may well have been represented in the novel in a way that went over my head.

Sexism? ✅ Book eater society is heavily sexist, which is something Devon has had to struggle against. Be prepared for sexist comments made by male book eater characters, and be prepared for poor treatment of women by them.

LGBTQIA-phobia? ❌ One comment from a character in an early chapter saying that girls don't marry girls, but this character is heavily sheltered. There's a semi-prominant asexual character and some characters who experience same-sex attraction, all of which is portrayed positively.

Ableism? ❌

Swearing? ✅ Like, so much swearing. Lots of swearing.

Drug/Alcohol references? ✅ Devon is an alcoholic, though once the main thrust of the story starts she doesn't have much time to touch alcohol much. Nevertheless, early chapters contain plenty of references to alcohol, and so do the flashback chapters. There's technically drug use as well if you count the medical drug Cai needs.

References to or actual violence or suicide? ✅ A lot of violence, and in some places it can get rather gory.

References to or actual animal death or cruelty? ❌

Recommended: Yes

#solaris reviews books sometimes #the book eaters by sunyi dean #book reviews #book recommendations

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kunoichi96 · 2 years

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Autumn Reading List 2022

Only around 20 days to go until it’s autumn! The cosy vibes, spooky season and pumpkin everything! I may or may not have already started decorating with pumpkins all over my room and crocheting new comfy scarfs for my growing collection. That would be silly! … Moving on. It goes without saying but this time of year is when I thrive. I also tend to read a lot more in the colder months.…

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due4amiracle · 2 years

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Day 439

Listo:

Laundry/cleaning, Reading, Dailies, #TTRPGThings, Watching.

Laundry/cleaning - Shower! Bed change! Laundry! Cleaning so much cleaning! Head shaved! So Much Cleaning and we’re not even done yet! ahhhh! ✔

Reading things - - 0 Ebooks for me, 1 Audiobook for Sir! ...Yea. 165 for the year, 3 for the month! New month new releases! - Brute of All Evil (Ordinary Magic, #9) by Devon Monk 45%! YAY it’s finally at a library FUCK YES! - Legends (Kaliya Sahni #5) by K.N. Banet 79%! - The King of Koraha (Archives of the Invisible Sword #3) by Maria V. Snyder 100%! 3🌟Nice finale. Good good. - The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean 100%! 4🌟This book was so good omg but at the same time did she get her daughter at the end wtf the book just ended and there’s not gonna be a sequel does she get her daughter and her HEA?! Ugh. But damn this was good. UwU♡ ✔✔✔✔✔

Dailies - - Waifu Did mah dailies! Also, level 30/50 BP now~! AND! Tree lvl 30/50! Also! 27/43 max friendship namecards acquired! New MONTH! new weeklies! Gem thingy now level 9/10! ♡ω♡✔

#TTRPGThings - Ok so. First session happened? And... we’re now RP-locked in the middle of the boss fight. x_x One of the players was running late and so i couldn’t get us pushed through fast enough. Oh well! ✔

Watching things - - SAO Alicization. Bloop bloop haven’t started on this yet fml. - Vancouver by Night: Season 1 - Episode 8/19! - New York by Night: Season 1 - Episode 5/??! SCREAMING ABOUT THIS EPISODE HOLY SHIT?! - 100 Club: Episode 2/??! Whew this was fantastic. Omg. And ahhh i did my review and got greeted with a “My favorite Reviewer is back“ and i melted into a puddle of goo. So happy!

Other things - Daily Diarrhea Diary - Good. CPAP timer - 4.3 hours with .2 disturbances. Panic time panic time panic time. As of the appointment and last download (which did not have the 3 days of like 8 hours or w/e) it... uh. i’m sitting at like 3.7 hours average. Which... is not enough. Too little. We’re approaching the deadline. So. Panic. Gonna have to just start... forcing it from now on. Blehhhhh. That sucks. But, it is what it is, i don’t want to lose this damn thing. On top of that we have someone coming in on Tuesday to ??? idfk for an hour it’s about the waiver and holy shit we’re deep cleaning the house omg. Omg so much work. It’s fine. This is fine. i’m so tired.

Food: A Liquid: A Pain: C Brain: C

Tomorrow: Laundry/cleaning, Reading, Dailies, #TTRPGThings, Watching.

Ever Onwards and Upwards!

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shxpeshifterr · 4 months

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#booklover #booklr #books #booksbooksbooks #books and reading #book lover #current read #the book eaters #sunyi dean #Frankenstein #mary shelley

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torpublishinggroup · 2 years

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Looking for a deliciously ominous read to sink ur teeth (or fangs) into this Halloween? Consider Sunyi Dean’s The Book Eaters, a book about a reclusive family who literally eat books, except for their youngest scion, who has an appetite for brains 😋

#the book eaters #sunyi dean #halloween reads #yummy yummy books and brains

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semdere · 1 year

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Dev + Hes from The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean 💛

They are lesbians your honour and deserve to live happy lives!!

Twitter | Instagram

#the book eaters #sunyi dean #lgbt fiction #lgbt art #digital art #procreate #lgbt books #lgbt representation #fanart

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somuchthatisnothere · 1 year

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•currently reading•

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

#the book eaters #sunyi dean #emerging adult #fantasy fiction #bookblr #lgbt lit #coffee #dark acadamia aesthetic #currently reading

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transporttoanotherplace · 2 years

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"It was always the same story, she thought tiredly. Just small, angry men, clinging to fading power. They feared living without privilege because they'd abused it against others, and were now terrified of suffering the same cruelty they'd routinely dealt out."

-Sunyi Dean, The Book Eaters

#sunyi dean #the book eaters #down with the patriarchy #quotes #book quotes #patriarchy quotes #books

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readtilyoudie · 1 year

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For here was the thing that no fairy tale would ever admit, but that she understood in that moment: love was not inherently good. Certainly, it could inspire goodness. She didn’t argue that. Poets would tell you that love was electricity in your veins that could light a room. That it was a river in your soul to lift you up and carry you away, or a fire inside the heart to keep you warm. Yet electricity could also fry, rivers could drown, and fires could burn; love could be destructive. Punishingly, fatally destructive.

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

#book quote #the book eaters #sunyi dean #fantasy #horror #quote #quotes #booklr #bookblr

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spiritofjustice · 10 months

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this is a completely random reading pet peeve but i hate when books have a scene where a character explains like. their sexuality or something like that. like i literally cannot explain what about it i hate but something about the way the convos are always written give me such major ick. i understand that characters don’t always know things and in context it makes sense but i’m like if you make me read something like that i’ll kill you

#Psy's no punctuation posts #just thought abt it cause they did that in The Booke Eaters #one of the charactrers had to explain that he was asexual to the mc (who is extremely sheltered) and i was like kms KRFH #maybe it's bad in this book in particular as well bcs i already strongly dislike sunyi dean's approach to dialogue #but in general i dislike stuff like this.

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belle-keys · 2 years

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“They were princesses, of a kind, and this was how princesses lived: safe in towers, married to men who competed for them, one way or another. Even in the happiest fairy tales, princesses did not usually have much choice.”

- The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean (2022)

#the book eaters #sunyi dean #books and literature #books #book quotes #bookish #feminism #patriarchy #new books

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fafalcon · 2 years

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they do eat books (and brains)

#the book eaters #sunyi dean #books #devon fairweather #jarrow easterbrook #cai devonson #hester ravenscar #my art

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fiction-quotes · 9 months

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Devon didn't stick around. Melodrama was for heroes, and people who had too much spare time.

— The Book Eaters (Sunyi Dean)

#book quotes #fantasy fiction #lgbt fiction #sunyi dean #the book eaters #melodrama #dramatics #fleeing #danger

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sapphicbookoftheday · 1 year

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The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Today's sapphic book of the day is The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean!

Summary: "Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries.

Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories.

But real life doesn't always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds."

#lesbian #sapphic #wlw #queer #lgbtqia #lgbtq #lgbt #books #book recs #booklr #book recommendations #fantasy #horror #speculative fiction #the book eaters #sunyi dean

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creator-of-calm-queer-chaos · 1 year

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The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean Book Review

Overall: 10/10

Representation: 10/10

Writing style: 7/10

Plot: 8/10

Realistic: Fantasy but well made

Genre: dark fantasy

How it left me: Thrilled and satisfied

Who I would recommend it to: People who like dark slightly gory fantasy and people who want simple queer representation

Review:

I loved this book. It’s a story about people who literally eat books instead of food. They also consume the knowledge written in them. As the opposite, every once in a while, they give birth to a mind eater, who eats, instead of books, human brains. Devon is a book eater, but her son is a mind eater. The story has many twists and turns, and it goes back and forth between present and past so you can learn her story while also building suspense for reveals. I really enjoyed it: I loved the casual queer representation and the masterful storytelling. I loved the flashbacks and the character development. I loved the twists and turns. It will remain on my favourites shelf for the foreseeable future!

#the book eaters #book eaters #sunyi dean #book review #book recommendations #book recs #dark fantasy #gothic fantasy #queer representation #fantasy books #gothic books #dark fantasy books

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