This was sadly a disappointing read for me. I had massively high hopes and loved the concept for the book, however for me personally it just completely missed the mark!

I struggled to find myself invested in the success or failures of any character in the book, none of them came across as particularly likeable or even love to hateable! I was particularly unimpressed by the characterisation of Cai. I understand what the author was going for with him but I just felt it really didn't work. He just came across as annoying and having him communicate like an adult detracted from the relationship between mother and son. The relationship between Cai and Devon ended up feeling really flat and I couldn't warm to them, even with the horrible predicament they found themselves in.

I also didn't find the dialogue in the story particularly engaging, it felt quite wooden and formulaic and felt like a bit of a chore to read at times.

I was hugely excited for this book and I still feel the concept is brilliant and something that could and should have produced an outstanding book. I do feel these high expectations definitely contributed to my negative feelings towards the book due to the disappointment aspect though.

Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Devon grew up in an isolated old mansion on the Yorkshire Moors belonging to the Fairweather family. They are book eaters— supernatural beings that eat books for sustenance and retain the knowledge they contain. Raised on a diet of fairytales, Devon is not ready for her arranged marriage and the pain of separation from her daughter Salem. When her second child Cai is born with a rare and terrifying disease that makes him crave human minds, she flees to protect him at all costs...⁠

This was a surprising and imaginative read. The idea of a secretive supernatural being that is fast and strong like a vampire but is satisfied with eating books instead of drinking blood is unique and fascinating. I wish we could devour books in a literal sense to learn their contents. Wouldn’t that be great? Especially when we have to study for exams.
⁠⁠
The Book Eaters is a rather dark fantasy novel with elements of gothic horror. Cai’s illness is a source of some horrifying scenes and disturbing moral dilemmas. How far can you go to protect those you love? Devon’s situation seems to have no easy way out. As we progress through the book and learn more about her past, we start to understand her choices and the motivation behind them. We also learn more about the secretive society of book eaters and especially the role women are forced to endure.They are raised in a comfortable, sheltered, strictly controlled environment without knowledge of the outside world. They are called Princesses and fed old fairytales to remain innocent and meek. Little do they know that the book eater race is on the edge of extinction, and women are now a commodity. Given away in arranged marriage contracts, their only purpose is to bear children, whom they must abandon before moving to another family. Separation from Salem profoundly influences Devon, her thoughts and decisions. Her constant longing for her child is heartbreaking. Through this original novel, Sunyi Dean found a fascinating way to criticise patriarchy and discuss women’s rights.

The Book Eaters is one of those books that is hard to describe and talk about without spending hours and hours dissecting and analysing it. This was such a fascinating, gruesome, introspective read. Really gives another meaning to the phrase “food for thought”.

I enjoyed the writing and pacing of this novel. At some points I wished it would speed up a bit because I was impatient and wanted answers, but I enjoyed how Dean decided to tell this story in a non-linear form. The mixture of present scenes mixed with flashbacks worked to flesh (not a pun) out the story carefully and cleverly. No scene felt unnecessary, they all fed (also not a pun) in to exploring the characters and their backstories.

I found the world building super interesting, as well as all the different families and all the politics that went with them, and how they changed from place to place and person to person.

My only complaint about this would be that the ending felt a little too open for me! And that’s more so a personal preference than a reflection on the story itself. I think it ended well for the story, and made sense for the character — but I need that sequel! I can’t get on board with that ending without imagining all the possibilities for what comes next.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Book Eaters. It was a book that made me feel all the emotions vividly. It was gruesome, shocking, frightful. It was thought-provoking, emotional, angering. The relationships between the characters were all so interesting. Familiar relationships, those between parent and child, sibling relationships, marriage, romantic and platonic relationships…

I liked the exploration of a woman’s place in society and and motherhood. It was often brutal, and while some of the things aren’t what exists in the non-fictional word (aka eating books…although some people might do that) the themes of trauma, love, sexism are all relatable to the real world social and political climate.

Thank you to Harper Voyager/Harper Collins for this e-Arc in exchange for an honest review

It's a story of Devon, one of the last woman book eaters, who's been raised to obey and serve her family. She's contracted out to men book eaters to bear them a child that will be taken from her when it turns 3. But Devon will be tested even more when her son is born with a taste for human minds instead of books.

I dislike stories with misogyny, where women are used as tools, expected to serve their purpose for the sake of a 'greater good'. Despite this book having an interesting and original fantasy setting, underneath it was another book showing how women are mistreated, even if eventually they rebel. I liked Devon as a character, she was headstrong, daring, smart and devoted to her son. I liked the book eaters as na idea, but using their society to depict yet another patriarchal family structure was rather unoriginal and quite frankly, annoying.

The Book Eaters - a magical species who live in plain sight alongside humans. As the title suggests, they live on books, learning all their content as they eat. Their numbers are growing ever smaller, and main character Devon, is one of few women. Women are severely restricted in their freedoms, and are contracted to different families to produce children, which they are removed from in toddlerhood, as happens with Devon’s first child, Salem. As she’s married out to a different family and falls pregnant with her second child, she vows to keep him no matter what. However, he’s born with a hunger which could only spell danger for himself, his family, perhaps the entire species. Devon would do anything to protect her son from being stopped by those who should love him most.

Reminiscent of The Handmaids Tale and Dr Who, this is a dark tale indeed! I liked Devon as a person and as a mother, oddly (considering she would go out and find victims for Cai to feed on!). I loved that excerpts from fairytales were used throughout, and that children were brought up feeding on them. I also loved that the book was set around the area I live in. As an aside, on the authors post on Goodreads, there’s a link to her own trip to Traquair and Innerleithen with photos of the places that the last parts of the story are set in - brilliant!

The Book Eaters is a distinctive new urban fantasy story.

I love the imagination of this story. It's unique, unusual, and instantly sucks you in. It's also hard to pigeonhole into a single genre. Of course, it is a fantasy by nature, but there are also elements of horror, mystery, sci-fi, detective, and even romance. This wide-reaching appeal means it should suit readers of every taste!

I went into this book expecting it to be a lot tamer than it actually was. Be warned, it does get very dark at times! That being said, the horror aspect is handled expertly and it balances the plot versus the shock factor very well.

Devon is a wonderful main character and a devoted mother. She is flawed yet uncertain, left facing a real moral dilemma on her own. She's also got great dry humour which adds an acerbic spark to the page.

The other characters are also great - the characterisation is definitely a strong point of this book. The author vividly paints a picture of each character and each location, without the need to go overboard on the description. It's very well done and makes it easy to effortlessly picture the events unfolding.

Despite all this, though, I was left feeling like I wanted more from this book. I did enjoy it, but upon finishing the last page, I still felt as though something was missing. It actually ended up being a bit of an anticlimax, but it's hard to pinpoint why exactly. Maybe I hyped it up too much in my head after reading the premise?

It's not all bad, however. I really hope there is a sequel because I'm invested in the characters and I want to find out how the story ends!

This is a gothic low fantasy horror. Hidden around England are six families of book eaters, who literally live off of eating stories. But occasionally one of their children will instead be a mind eater.

When our female main character's son is born a mind eater, she is determined that he is not going to have the kind of life that he would otherwise be destined for.

This was not quite what I expected! Although the alternative species of the book/mind eater is what drives the action in this story it's not really what the story is about. It's much more about our main character and her position as a woman and a mother in this society where females are rare so she is treated like a princess growing up, but that slowly comes with some severe restrictions in all aspects of her life.

The story flips between present day when she is on the run with her son and then going back to ger childhood and working forwards as she slowly comes to the realisation that it doesn't matter if she follows all of the rules and does what she's told, she's never going to be allowed the life she wants. And having lost one child because of this, she will go to any extreme to protect her son, whatever the cost.

It feels really odd to say that I expected this to be more horror fantasy when it's essentially about a type of vampire, but it just now what the story made me feel. I instead was stressed about the lack of control she had.

As a side note, the treatment of one character for beig asexual seemed slightly odd given they live in closed family units are not permitted contact with humans. Asexuality seems ideal in that situation!

Devon is part of a Family of Book Eaters, a race that survives by eating books, retaining all the book's contents after they've been digested. When her son is born, not as a Book Eater, but as a Mind Eater, Devon is forced to leave behind everything and try to keep him alive, and she'll do anything, even sacrifice her own morals and wellbeing, to keep him safe...

Wow, this was such a unique premise! The story shifts between the present, where Devon is living in secret with her son, and the past, where she grows from a child to a woman who is passed around the other Families as little more than a brood mare.

Devon was such an intriguing character. The things she goes through as a young woman were harrowing and as a mother myself some of the stuff that happens was awful. Definitely look up trigger warnings before reading this one!

One of my favourite aspects was how morally grey everything was. Even Devon herself with the decisions she makes, just trying to survive in the misogynistic world of the Book Eaters.

If you're looking for a fresh, interesting Urban Fantasy, The Book Eaters is a perfect choice, especially going into the darker, spooky season 👻

Many thanks to HarperVoyager and Netgalley for an ARC.

I did enjoy this book, the premise was very interesting but there are some very uncomfortable issues raised throughout the book. It was set in a strange universe which was possibly the best part of the story.

i had a fun time with book. it was really fast paced and very easy to get through. the writing flowed well and there were no stagnant boring parts. and the alternating past-present POVs were so engaging and not tedious like they usually are.

i can't really find anything especially exciting about this book. it was just a quick enjoyable read. i wouldn't exactly recommend it as a horror fantasy like it marketed as. it was more about the mother-son bond between the two main characters. some parts were very wholesome.

okay so i have very mixed thoughts on this one and i really don’t know how i feel. ⠀
⠀
i liked: ⠀
• the LGBTQ+ representation and exploration of sexuality. ⠀
• the ability to be able to eat books and then experience the world in your mind.⠀
• bad bitch defiant main character ⠀
• author is autistic - #queen ⠀
• the twists and plot changes. ⠀
⠀
i disliked/didn’t enjoy:⠀
• the weird incestual relationships between members of the six families. the brother kept calling his sister ‘good girl’ which i found made me really uncomfortable.⠀
• the plot got really confusing at times.⠀
⠀
so i don’t know how i feel 😂 you may enjoy this you may not, i feel like this will be a very hit or miss book. let me know if you’ve read this/ gonna read it <3

It’s hard to review this, because I can’t say I loved this, it’s not a book to love, I appreciate this, I am in awe of the authors skill, the writing, thought-provoking, brilliant and emotionally raw story, it’s about love and the power it holds over us, the things, the horrible things we would do and lengths we will go to for love, even with cruelty and suffering, the powers of love are not always good, that’s why it’s difficult to say I loved or enjoyed this, it’s a brilliant book, thought provoking and insightful, but so unique, such a dark fantasy, its worth 5 stars, if I could give it more I would, the writing, the world building, this book is exceptional

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the advance reader copy.

Loved the premise and the execution. Would really love to read to more in this universe.

I did not love this book. The Book Eaters is not a book to love. It is a book to examine and ruminate upon, to internalise and to dwell on. The Book Eaters is a brilliant, thought-provoking, and emotionally raw story about love and the terrible, horrific things one would do for it—the lengths we will go for loved ones; the compromises we can make in the face of cruelty.

In some ways, it reminded me of Justin Cronin’s The Passage. The Book Eaters is one of the most unique urban fantasy novels out there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

Drawn in from the first page, The Book Eaters is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. With a completely unique premise that that grabs you from the very first sentence, this book doesn’t let go until the last page. Be ready to be chewed up and spit out. Won’t forget this one for a long time!

This was a brilliant book. It was so unique and rather thrilling. That I just had to finish it in one day and that ment a very late night. It was rather scary and gruesome at times. But this made it all the interesting to read. The story line was definitely unique and I loved it. I loved the female protagonist Devon she was stubborn and questioned everything which was bery relatable. The story was set in England and had a family saga feel to it. There was plenty of twists and turns and was a real roller coaster ride. I couldn't put this book down. I also loved how Devon would do anything to protect her child this made for an exciting tale. I though the uncle was funny who had eat that many different genres of books that his head was full. I can definitely relate to that trait. This book definitely needs a lot of concentration to read as it has a intricate story. It moved at a great medium to fast pace that kept me on the edge of my seat. I definitely recommend this book to all who love horror fantasy books especially those who love to be kept on your toes.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating this very unique and interesting storyline. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this amazing author. 
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-book-eaters-by-sunyi-dean-harpercollins-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365. The review links for retail sites are on my blog

“We can only live by the light we're given, and some of us are given no light at all. What else can we do except learn to see in the dark?”

✨Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Review:
What a book! Sunyi has not only created the most unique dark urban fantasy cross science fiction I think I have read in a long time, but has done it with some incredible writing skill too. Without a doubt this is going to become one of those books that everyone is talking about and sharing on social media. I started the book expecting fantasy with an edge of darkness, what I didn’t expect (as someone who rarely reads Sci-Fi) was to become enthralled by a world in which a humanoid alien type species consumes books (and in some cases flesh), and to actually become attached to these creatures like they are familiar friends.

The story is more than just a carefully worded science fiction come fantasy, it’s a unique exploration of what family and motherhood means and what being a woman means,

I loved how you grew to love characters that would, in any other story, be seen as monsters and the enemy or villain. The scene setting was brilliant and helped bring the story to life through real places and snippets of knowledge.
The history of the world was woven perfectly into the current day story and I felt that despite being terrifying and ludicrous at times… the world where these creatures live was totally believable. That’s a good sign of some amazing writing talent.

I would recommend this read for anyone who enjoys dark fantasy, and has a love of consuming books…. It won’t be for everyone, but it’s worth at least a nibble to see if it takes your fancy!

✨TW:
Body horror, gore, explicit violence, domestic abuse, violence against children

✨Bonus:
For a full atmospheric delight take a look at Sunyi’s link to photos featuring areas in the book https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMaey7eGZkcKaVJ_GsjPImyjfRHUuKOz-u4ksS9peCZqMCxXK5bqRPePwQukx5OmQ?pli=1&key=Nl9hNjNYMjBOQzlhcnl6WWhIcUtIRkt0eGd0UXZn

Thank you to #NetGalley, Harper Collins and Sunyi Dean for providing a copy of this book in return for an honest review. All views given are my own.

The Book Eaters is centred around an urban fantasy/horror world, where ‘Eaters exist. The main character, Devon, is one such ‘Eater and one of the titular Book Eaters in fact. Book Eaters are slowly essentially becoming extinct though, largely due to how they live separate and in secret from humans, without any way of getting identification to pass through borders to where other ‘Eaters are.

This leaves the six remaining Book Eater families slightly out of options, and they end up forcing daughters into arranged marriages in the hopes that a girl will be born. Sons are seen as a disappointment, but even worse is when the baby isn’t even a Book Eater, but a Mind Eater instead (identified by a very long tongue).

The Book Eaters starts with Devon on the run with her son Cai, born a Mind Eater, in the present day, carrying out some… extremely morally grey acts. We’re slowly drip fed more of the past throughout, in interchanging past and present chapters, and it definitely helps you to keep your attention and result in you absolutely needing to read more.

To elaborate on the morally grey, one of the biggest factors in this story is that Devon will do whatever it takes to look after Cai. She’s seen as “wrong” for how much she cares about him, when Book Eater women are really supposed to just have the child, look after them for a couple of years and then never see them again. Devon isn’t supposed to have any kind of bond at all.

Likewise, this is a story that delves into the main character discovering her own sexuality. She’s been told she has to be with men, and she has been to keep the families happy, but she realises she actually likes other women. I found it really bittersweet when she meets a man from one of the families… he tells her he’s asexual and the stark contrast seeing how that is just a part of him and doesn’t interfere with his life because he isn’t “required” to make baby ‘Eaters, to Devon having no choice in the matter, is fairly hard-hitting to read.

The world building is fantastic, the book ends up being a kind of hybrid fantasy horror but set in the real world, and there were a couple of endearing characters also. Devon herself starts off as very standoffish from the start, but as we learn more about her story it becomes clearer that really she’s just trying to do the best she can to protect those she cares about.

Quick note about the ending: I’m very glad I bought the Waterstones edition because the epilogue (bonus content) was exactly what I needed after finishing the main book!

A dark fantasy with a very unique execution. Was very curious about this book since it was Illumicrate’s pick of the month and I can see why it has been selected. The intriguing premise and the great storytelling, made for a page flipping read