Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Book Eaters

Adventurous and refreshingly original. I loved the concept of book eaters/mind eaters and the tropes of fairy tales that were re-worked to challenge what fairytales teach us to be true. The protagonist of this story must learn to see beyond a certain way of living and to dream beyond the narrow walls of the life she has been given. An imaginative story that will leave you wondering what the characters are up to now.

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saracat's review against another edition

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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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musicalpopcorn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Devon will do anything to save her son, even if it means facing both of their monstrous personas.

This book was quite gripping and action packed. The characters were gritty and unapologetically imperfect. I appreciated it as a stark metaphor for patriarchy and what breaking a patriarchal society would entail.

Quite enjoyable!

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