Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

12 reviews

schausjk's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This was mesmerizing. I really appreciated the worldbuilding, and even though I doubt a sequel would be likely, I'm really interested in seeing where these characters would go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Gore, Trafficking, Death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Lesbophobia

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

 The Details:
 Narrated by Katie Erich
Unabridged

This was just okay for me. It had a really cool snd unique concept but I just lacked any emotional connection for the story and ended up more or less having it on as background noise, unfortunately. 
I wish I had had a stronger feeling for this title.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Misogyny, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Physical abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Body horror, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Blood, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Addiction, Abandonment, Violence, Torture, Outing, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Sexual violence

lemerrier's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, Grief, Violence, Pregnancy, Gore, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Blood

Minor: Trafficking and Infertility

mo345's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Grief, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infertility, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia and Trafficking

sammirosewater's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Abortion

remaininlullaby's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

i got into this expecting to read a story about a mother who moved mountains for her child. i kinda got that, but i also got way too many pages of men trying to oppress women/mothers by using their children against them & ugh. i wish i'd read some cws first bc while it wasn't actually triggering for me i found all these sect-/cult-like tendencies to be vERY uncomfortable and unsettling.
the whole "love doesn't have rules or a cost & also isn't necessarily good all the time" was a cool touch tho.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Murder, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Infertility, Rape, Homophobia, and Medical trauma

kimmag92's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

The Book Eaters was much better than the internet led me to believe. The quickest way I can think of to describe this book is The Handmaids Tale but with aliens. Book eaters were created by an alien being they call The Collector and live in an insular closed off society where women only consume fairy tales, are taught nothing of the real world, and who’s only value is to have children. It’s a duel timeline story where we follow a book eater named Devon who is trying to find the Ravenscar book eater family who have something that can save her son Cai who is a mind eater.  

I do agree with others that issues Devon faces resolve somewhat easily but I think that is purposefully. Devon will never have a fairy tale ending so the only aspect of those stories she can have is things work out for her though what happens to her is far from happy. 

I think the negative feelings towards this book are a product of a few prominent “book-fluencers” saying they didn’t like it and then everyone enmass deciding not to read it. If you like Handmaids Tale type stories then you’ll like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Abandonment, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Violence

innastholiel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Rape, Death, Infertility, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Torture

cadence99's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

1.25

Where to begin? This was not my favorite, to say the least. I almost DNFed this many times, but what kept me going was the potential of the main plot. I think the setup could have made a great story, unfortunately, this is not it.

To begin with, there is an undercurrent of ableism throughout in the portrayal of the main characters child being born a “mind eater”, and being portrayed primarily as a “burden” throughout the book.

Beyond this, the writing style frustrated me in many ways. It felt as if the author did not trust her audience to interpret even the slightest drop of material, as troupes were painstakingly spelled out, removing any chance for readers to explore this world themselves. The book is very guilty of telling readers what is happening instead of showing us. 

In addition, many characters relationships and growth felt VERY unbelievable to me. Characters met and within days (with minimal interaction) were supposed to have developed deep feelings for one another. Other characters are portrayed as incredibly young children one moment, and the next are being expected to make life altering choices. 

Overall, I would not recommend this book

1.25⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Pregnancy, Rape, and Gore

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Medical trauma, Infertility, and Fire/Fire injury

sunnydale's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

This book succeeds as a gothic allegory exploring the ways both targeted abuse and impersonal violence are used to maintain an oppressive culture. If it were marketed primarily as an introspective novel about a woman's journey to free herself and her children from abuse, people might not be so disappointed that the SFF elements aren't at the forefront. I don't think the physiology and culture of the otherworldly race are underdeveloped, but they aren't emphasized. 

I wasn't disappointed by the focus on Devon's personal arc. I was, however, disappointed that the crucial parts of that arc happened almost entirely in the past. The present-day chapters feel like they're only there to build tension as you wait to figure out what led up to them—they don't carry the narrative weight of half the book, despite getting half the book's "screen time." Characters like Hester, Cai, and Killock are intriguing, and I wish they'd been given more depth. 

Overall, I found the worldbuilding compelling, and I'd be interested in revisiting the world to learn more about mind eaters in particular. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Sexism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Vomit, Alcohol, Abandonment, Slavery, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug use, Acephobia/Arophobia, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Body shaming

Physical abuse specifics:

Spoiler

Matley chokes Devon until she passes out, and it takes her a long time to recover. This happens immediately after she gives birth to Cai. She is also pinned down when Matley and his guards arrive to take Cai away.

There is no explicit sexual content or description of sexual assault, although Devon's relations with her husbands are nonconsensual. A lot of discussion of Devon's children being taken away from her. Her children are also threatened with violence.