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dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
b00kish_lady's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Murder
moonchild_cos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
pvbobrien's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Trafficking, and Alcohol
sarah984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Even at the end I was totally unclear on how book eating was supposed to work. The characters' homes are full of intact books and they have fangs so I assumed they drained the book's "essence" or something, but later a character is putting ketchup on one, or soaking it in water to make it easier to eat. Book eating is always sort of elided, which is kind of funny because mind eating (a sort of mutation that some book eaters have that requires them to eat brains) is so vividly described on multiple occasions.
The characters all sound the same and half the book is characters describing events that have already happened to each other, so there isn't much suspense until right at the end. There is one problem that hangs over the characters for most of the runtime but then is IMMEDIATELY solved the second it actually comes up, which felt kind of pointless.
The romance is terrible; the characters barely talk and suddenly the kid is calling them girlfriends. This woman is the only one the main character really interacts with, which is sort of weird for a book billing itself as feminist. She looks at most other women with either pity or scorn. There is an extremely weird chapter where characters quote the dictionary definition of asexuality at each other that ends up being almost insulting, and the "I ruined a baby with my son's Autism Beam" bit was ridiculous.
I have no idea what the book was trying to say: parental love can be self destructive? Fairy tales destroy the imagination? The author really likes Tomb Raider and needs to make sure we know it?
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death and Car accident
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Sexism, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content and Pregnancy
purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Acephobia/Arophobia, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Slavery, Trafficking, and Fire/Fire injury
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
- THE BOOK EATERS is part adventure tale, part gothic mystery, part horror story and I loved it.
- I loved that it not only gave us the gothic manor tropes but also the claustrophobia of being a woman born into an impossibly patriarchal system. Watching Devon try to navigate her love for her children with her need to break free and be her own person was heart wrenching.
- It's not super obvious from the summary, but this book is also queer! There's some nice sapphic longing from Devon, as well as an asexual secondary character.
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Trafficking and Acephobia/Arophobia