Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

76 reviews

tinyjude's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Very intriguing concept and development. I liked how it perfectly encapsulated the patriarchal, oppressive and cruel world created by the Families and the damage they create to all those poor little girls by just feeding them fairy tales and not preparing them for what's to come. I liked Devon's fierce personality and the characters' grey morality portrayed through the things she is forced to do for Cai and what Cai has to suffer too. I liked that it was sapphic and we also got a tiny bit of asexual representation and some decent men amongst monsters. It is true that the ending and love plot felt rushed but I liked the approach and the points the author wanted to criticize and how they were addressed in the book unequivocally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infertility, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

cakrolik's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Trafficking

seagullsaga's review against another edition

dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

aliclare's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

tctimlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I’m not much of a fantasy reader, so that may have colored my perception of the book.  The premise (that there is a race of people living in England who look similar to humans, but instead of eating food, eat books) is weird - but gets weirder when you learn that occasionally instead of giving birth to book eaters, they give birth to mind eaters, who can only survive by sucking out all the knowledge in a person’s brain.  The plot bounces back in time, and the present time events are propulsive, and the battle at the end is fun and exciting.  The author also attempts to raise big issues, like motherhood, family, what we do for love, gender roles … maybe too many issues.  At the end, the author kind of leaves the door open for a sequel, but I don’t know that I have the appetite to eat any more pages.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexism, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

sydresnik's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Toxic friendship

henneyce's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The burn it all down mentality ruined a fasecinating premise in my opinion 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, and Cannibalism

ledichose's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was the mother–son relationship or, rather, the development of Devon’s role as a mother. While there were moments where the book seemed transparent as an allegory, I felt it was an original concept, and, as a sci-fi book, it didn’t have a lot of techie bleep bloops—an approach to the genre that I prefer. What I would have liked was more development of other characters and their relationships to Devon, especially Hester and Ramsay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Violence, and Cannibalism

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

imds's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

caprivoyant's review against another edition

Really liked the world and magic system Sunyi Dean created here. I'd definitely be interested in reading more by this same author. 🥰


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For CWs, I want to also specifically say that forced child abandonment is an integral part of Book Eater culture; so it's mentioned a lot in these pages. Really, a lot of what happens to the women in this culture is really not great. So, just, read with care if those topics might hurt your heart. Ok?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Cannibalism