Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

75 reviews

cowboylikestoread43's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

ekfaltesek's review against another edition

too icky

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

dark unexpected use of religious/biblical themes content

meggles801's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

The story was very unique and I enjoyed it a lot. There were some overly sensitive parts I could have gone without however. Just a bit too heavy at times for me, and I don't think the story really needed those topics. 
*Check your TW*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence

lahars_little_library's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-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

4.0

This book is disturbing but really makes you think. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death of parent, and Murder

hollyd19's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to like this more than I did. It’s more of a horror than I anticipated, and the premise of “book eaters” isn’t nearly as robustly explored as I’d hoped. I was intrigued by the setup, but found the delivery weak. There is far more emphasis on the variant of “mind eaters,” leaving the core world-building concept underdeveloped. I also found the ending abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Cannibalism

dia_arca_mina's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, and Classism

arialien's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

blacksphinx's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infertility, Slavery, and Trafficking

Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

batesbarb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

saracat's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I listened to the audiobook, so before I get into the book review itself, I want to say it was a delightful surprise to learn that both the author and narrator are neurodivergent and hearing them chat together at the end was really nice. This is the first book I’ve listened to that had a chat between narrator and author and now wish more of the books I listened to had this. 

Now to the review. I became so invested in the main characters. And the world Dean created felt so fresh and unique to me. While I never quite got my head around understanding the knights and dragons completely, it doesn’t really bother me. 

I love characters and books that are riddled with morally grey - which this book is full of. Though, the farther I got into the book, the more I hesitated to keep picking it up because after everything the characters had been through I wanted them to at least have ‘better’ and I just couldn’t get a sense if Dean had written a book that would have an ultimately happy ending, tragic ending, something in between, etc. And I didn’t want to reach the end. But I finally did, and I think the ending fits everything that proceeds it in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Rape, Kidnapping, and Acephobia/Arophobia