The Book Eaters
Books | Fiction / Fantasy / Contemporary
3.9
(442)
Sunyi Dean
"I devoured this."—V. E. Schwab, New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie La RueAn International BestsellerAn NPR Best Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022A Book Riot Best Book of 2022A Vulture Best Fantasy Novel of 2022A Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award NomineeA Library Journal Best Book of 2022Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries. Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairy tales and cautionary stories.But real life doesn't always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds.
Fantasy
Lgbtq+
Dark Fantasy
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Sunyi Dean
Pages
304
Publisher
Tor Publishing Group
Published Date
2022-08-02
ISBN
1250810183 9781250810182
Community ReviewsSee all
"Families of people who live by eating books. Other factions who live by devouring people’s minds. And the desire for one to rule above the other…what an excellent, odd, but oh so creative book! I am amazed that someone created this whole world and these individuals who eat books and absorb their words. Worth the read-finished it in a day!"
"This was pretty great. It was a fresh take/setting on some very old themes and some very well fleshed out characters. Pretty dark, pretty immersive, and not what you will expect going into it!"
C
CaitVD
"I really liked the idea of book eaters as creatures. I was so interested in how Sunyi played out their world and evolution. The main character was someone you don't like or dislike but can understandwhat theyre going through. It had a satisfying ending, that left me wanting to know more about the world of 'book eaters'."
M
Maya
"Hester is a Book Eater- a human-like species that eats books to gain knowledge. She is raised as a princess, given fairy-tales to eat. Her job is to marry and have a baby. Then she'll marry another and have another baby.
The Book Eaters is a story of how far someone will go for the people she loves the most. It is a story of family, both blood and found.
I will definitely be reading the sequel."
"Wow. This book was truly unlike anything I think I’ve ever read. It was so wonderfully written. Completely original. So much more gruesome and wholesome that I ever thought could coexist on the same pages. The world that was created was extremely intricate and well explained, which I feel can be tricky to do in a novel of this size. Absolutely wonderful. I want more 10/10"
"Wonderfully weird! A unique, well-written story with an interesting premise and intriguing characters. "
L
Leah
"An absolutely powerful and emboldening story. The Book Eaters is a modern take on vampirism. Secret colonies stuck in the past, oppressing their women out of fear for the future. Eating stories and withholding ones that could give them ideas of another life. Then steps in Devon.
One of the most complex characters I have read. Devon is neither good nor evil. She is a mother who would do anything for her child. That's what drew me in so completely. The author made this world and the decisions in it messy. There is no black and white. The characters became real for me and my conclusion on good and evil like mudded water.
In the beginning, I was not ready for this story and that made it all the more inspiring. You forget while reading normal books that everyone isn't perfect. That there is more than just right and wrong. There is a grey area in which you do what you have to, to save the ones you love. No this is not a normal book. It doesn't follow the bland guidelines of most stories. This author didn't remove the grit and blood to help you sleep better at night. She wrote it in bold letters bringing out the monster in all of us.
I related so well with these characters. I'm not sure what that says about me but it made for a hell of a read. I'm convinced that a person could never fully know what they would do in a situation until they are on the edge of it. I would like to say I wouldn't sacrifice others. I would like to say I'm the hero in my own story but I have never been challenged in that way. So why would you believe me?
The consumption of so many different books slows down the reaction time of these book eaters. It's scary how much I believe this to be true. I find my mind full of so many lives and happenings that I have begun to be dependent on others to help me finish my thoughts. Yet I can't stop the hunger for more words even though I know it's the cause. Something to think about I guess."
"It was okay. I thought the writing needed some work, but it is the author’s first book so I’ll cut them some slack. Things like plot holes/plot inconsistencies. Also odd word choices, almost seemed like some words and phrases were made up? Also what was the point of mentioning that Cai had eczema? It served no purpose and was only brought up twice. Why do the characters pause to have casual conversation in the middle of a fight or other fast paced scene? But I was still engaged in the story and felt invested to keep reading. "