This is not really the type of genre that I would usually read, however I really enjoyed it. The author really took time to build the background and the story and did not complicate the plot by having two many characters. This was a long novel but it kept me reading from the first page to the last and I would certainly read other novels by this author. Highly recommended, even for those who do not usually read this genre.

Sunyi Dean’s debut novel The Book Eaters is a strange but resonant piece of modern fantasy. It centres around a race of non-humans who live in secret and obtain their sustenance by eating the written word, literally absorbing the knowledge. Although not all of their race are able to live that way and some, less fortunate have to absorb human consciousnesses, vampire-style, to survive. So long as readers can accept this basic premise, Dean goes on to deliver a tense, twisty journey into the book eaters’ world.
When the book opens Devon is on the run with her five year old son Cai. Devon is a book eater, one of the increasingly rare females from one of the six English bookeater families. Her son, though, is a dragon, born with the need to feed on humans not books and retaining the memories of all those he has consumed. Devon is desperately searching for a source of the drug that can assuage her son’s growing hunger as the one family who produced it has gone through a schism and its members are in hiding. But this is only the surface of Devon’s plans which run much deeper and seek to see her break free of the book eater families for good.
The Book Eaters while satisfying on the surface leave plenty of questions unanswered, the biggest being what is the point of them, even as an idea. There is a hint that somehow they were created by an alien being to absorb human knowledge but this idea is never explored. They are superhuman in some way but have little interaction with the human world and most do not use their powers for anything other than survival. And they are dying out as fertility levels drop, forcing them into a Handmaid’s Tale style swapping of fertile women to broaden the gene pool and keep the families going. And then there are the dragons, more like your classic vampires but kept in service of the families in order to control their appetites. And while it is not always necessary to ask “why” when reading a fantasy book, this one begs a bunch of questions and never satisfactorily answers them.
What this book does do well is question the myths and tales on which we build our understanding of the world. Devon grew up literally devouring fairy tales, but only those approved by her family so always saw herself as a classic fairy tale princess. If this book is about anything it is about the mental prison that these tales can put women in, caught up in playing a role when they could be so much more. Devon herself becomes a self-rescuing princess, and one in touch with her non-standard sexuality as she takes on the toxic patriarchy of not only the traditional book eater families but the breakaway sect.
So that The Book Eaters becomes a modern fantasy that is in conversation with and in some way takes on classic fantasy. And it does so with a kick-arse, relatable heroine at it centre a well paced, twisty plot that slowly reveals itself through flashback scenes of Devon’s past and building to an explosive finale.

Hidden across England and Scotland live six old Book Eater families.
The last of their lines, they exist on the fringes of society and subsist on a diet of stories and legends.
Children are rare and their numbers have dwindled, so when Devon Fairweather’s second child is born a dreaded Mind Eater – a perversion of her own kind, who consumes not stories but the minds and souls of humans – she flees before he can be turned into a weapon for the family… or worse.
Living among humans and finding prey for her son, Devon seeks a cure for his hunger. But time is running out – for her family want her back, and with every soul her son consumes he loses a little more of himself…

This is a story of escape, a savage mother’s devotion and a queer love that will electrify readers looking for something beguiling, thrilling, strange and new.

This book completely blew me away. The first few pages were so evocative that I could not put this novel down. The premise was fresh, I can honestly say I have not read anything like it. There were so many twists and turns that I did not see coming, it had me completely riveted. The novel was well paced and flicked back between the past and the present so that we could learn why Devon was making certain choices and understand her reasoning and driving points.

The world that Dean has created was well developed and believable.

If you are looking for a fantastic summer read I would recommend this!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy!

I have highly anticipated the release of The book eaters and are so grateful to both the publishers and netgalley for this arc. This book was a real ride for me. The concept of this story intrigued me from the outset and it most definitely didn’t disappoint. The storytelling from Sunyi Dean is delightful I especially enjoyed the dual time line - this is something that can be confusing in some cases but was executed really well here. Would definitely recommend!

I really enjoyed escaping into the world of The Book Eaters. Sunyi Dean excells at storytelling and building mystery and suspense throughout, with great action scenes towards the end

If I’m being honest I struggled to get into this book at first but oh my goodness once I did I couldn’t put it down!

The switching between timelines made the story even more gripping and I found myself really rooting for Devon and her son.

I thought the premise was really original and I will definitely look out for more work by this author.

The Book Eaters is told from Devon's POV - a book eater, she lives on books as sustenance, retaining the information on the pages. Book eaters live in a patriarchal family, the women being married off multiple times to have children and carry on the line. In some cases, those children are mind eaters, those that minds and not books.

This story follows Dev in two timelines - the past, as a child and throughout her life, up to the present where Dev and her son are on the run from The Families, searching for a way to escape.

This was an interesting premise, an entire race of people who look like humans but live in their own society consuming books as food. Their family is archaic and Dev struggles against that, not wanting to live to their rules and be herself, a queer woman. It was great seeing her character development throughout as she learned more about herself outside of the society she grew up in.

It was engaging throughout, and Devon and her son Cai really drew me in. It was interesting having the split timeline as you are slowly learning everything that led up to the present storyline but it leaves enough questions to keep you reading.

Overall it was an entertaining book and I enjoyed it, but I think it didn't quite live up to the hype surrounding it.

If you love books about books then The Book Eaters is the novel for you, Plus it’s queer so even better!

This book follows, Devon a mum who is looking after her son, Cai. She’s a book eater who consumes books instead of food, and she absorbs the knowledge of any book she reads. Her son is a mind eater and needs to consume human minds or he will starve. There is a miracle drug called redemption that represses the need to feed on minds but the manufactures of the drugs have mysteriously disappeared

The women is this story have been severely repressed, they absorb knowledge from the books they read and are only given fairytale stories. The population is dying so the women are treated as breeding machines they are forced into marriage contracts by the patriarch of their family that span 3 years from when they give birth. When their child is 3 and no longer needs the sustenance a mother can give the mother is sent back to her family never to see the child again. Brutal.

I cried several times reading this book. It’s absolutely brutal but just so good! It’s told from a dual timeline so you are kept in the dark for most of the story. I would actually love to re-read to see how everything connects.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an arc to review. 4.5 stars

A fantasy book featuring vampire like creatures that live on books, yes please!!

While I find it hard to stomach the idea of destroying books, I do quite like the idea of getting all the information from a book just by eating it. I could finally catch up with my TBR!!!

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean follows Devon, a book eater princess as she tries to escape from her family’s expectations. While there are some aspects of this story that are reminiscent of other fantasy books I have read, it works well as a whole. The great thing about fantasy is that each universe has its own identity meaning that any similarities don’t really matter. The fantasy elements are cleverly woven together with the modern world as we know it, which I really enjoyed.

My favourite theme was that of trying to break away from your upbringing, literally and through expanding your horizons with books and the knowledge of other peoples lives.

I loved that this was a book set in Britain and didn’t feature London! It was also great to read a book with a tall female protagonist, it doesn’t sound like much, but they are always seem to be tiny!

If you like a bit of fantasy and reading books about books I would definitely recommend it.

As soon as I heard about The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean I knew I had to read it. I mean, come on, a book about people eating books?! As a library studies graduate and lifelong bookworm this book sounding amazing. It ended up being a lot darker than I expected which was not a bad thing. The Book Eaters delves into a lot of serious issues, and I was completely hooked from start to finish.

In The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean a race of creatures called the book eaters exist, feeding on the stories of humans. They live hidden away from humans, dependent on their creativity to survive because book eaters, eaters for short, can’t create, they can’t even write. In eater societies there is a large disparity between the amount of men versus women, making it a patriarchal society where women are treated like princesses as children until they become old enough to be married off to breed. Eater women can only have two children in their lifetime, and raised on a diet of fairytales they live in an extremely sheltered world until they go to their first marriage bed.

We see all this from the perspective of Devon, the protagonist of The Book Eaters, as she hides from her family with her second child. Through flashbacks, we learn of the dreadful trauma that she went through in her first and the second marriage. When Devon’s second son is born a mind eater Devon is determined to keep him safe, especially after her first daughter was taken from her. Instead of feeding on books, mind eaters feed on the minds and souls of humans. Mind eaters do not have a place in eater society, they are used as weapons by the Knights to police the Families. A drug produced by one of the other Families allows mind eaters to eat books like a normal book eater, however, when that Family spontaneously implodes due to a civil war the drug production vanishes.

These events unfolding elsewhere in the book eater world have terrifying consequences for Devon and her newborn child, and she ends up running to save them both. As the book goes on we find out that there is much more going on, and the horrors that Devon endured has never stopped. Without the drug to help her son eat books Devon has to make the difficult decision to feed humans to her son otherwise he won’t survive.

This is a very dark book, and I’m not going to lie, a five-year-old devouring people’s minds by eating their brains and then adopting their personalities is extremely disturbing. He has devoured over twenty people at one count, and as a result he acts like an adult rather than a normal five-year-old. There are other mind eaters in the book, and not to give too much away, but Dean asks some provocative questions about what about us and our minds defines us as a person.

I found it devastatingly sad and poignant that the female eaters were lured into believing that they were princesses, that they were special, and then the facade was violently ripped away by their first husband. Dean is clearly playing with fairytale tropes, subverting them and using them to comment on women’s trauma. I couldn’t help but think that while The Book Eaters is a work of fiction, there are some young women who are sheltered just as Devon was and are taught that the bad things only happen to women from certain backgrounds, and areas. That it’s their fault that things happen to them. The idea that young women live in a fairytale is actually a reality.

I enjoyed the fragments of scientific analysis and historical facts at the start of each chapter that offered information about what the eaters were, their origins and so forth. It prevented information dumping while also having the added effect of making the reader curious about the author and how a book about eaters ever got published in the first place. It was another element of mystery, a tantalising tease for the reader who would wonder whether it would link up with the main story or was just an added bonus.

While this is a dark book that highlights women’s trauma, it is important to point out that it is also a book about taking control of life and saying no to what is expected. Due to the low amount of female book eaters and the fact that they can only have two pregnancies in a lifetime, the book eater world is extremely heteronormative. Dean’s book is about several LBGT characters, their experiences in their society and their fight for a better world. The Book Eaters is about found family, fighting for what is important and blood definitely not being thicker than water.

This book has such an interesting premise and I was really excited to dive in. The story unfurls and then gives you flashbacks to help you connect the past and present. I loved the flashbacks more than the main story, but that is because I loved learning about the world and how the book eaters worked. The whole thing had a feeling of suspense, I was constantly waiting for the twists and when they came they blew me away. I really enjoyed this one. I will say that in parts it felt slow and I was desperate to get back to the past and continue that thread. I did, however, respect Devon and what she was trying to do, the present storyline was really intense and I couldn't wait to see how everything played out. The ending was quick and brutal which I expected, I would have loved a little more at the end where we could see the next steps...

I love interesting magic systems, and a world where you can literally eat books and absorb all the knowledge in them is a dream come true for me! The main character, Devon, is a book-eater from one of the 6 Book-Eater Families in Britain. Her son, Cai, is a mind-eater (also known as Dragons) and she is desperately trying to save him. There was a cure that allowed Mind-Eaters to feed on books instead, but that Family has disappeared, taking the cure with them,

The story follows Devon's journey as she tries to find the remaining members of the Ravenscar Family. As we follow her in the present day, we get flashbacks to her past to see how she ended up in her current situation. Most of the glimpses at the worldbuilding happen in these flashbacks and it is heart-breaking at times to see what a sad situation it is for the female book-eaters.

I really enjoyed Devon as a character, and absolutely loved the queer representation in this book - Devon is attracted to women, while her friend Jarrow is asexual (and explicit about that in the text).

This book was fantastic, and I hope to read more from this author in the future!

An unputdownable, gripping read!

I was initially unsure how believable the eating of books and the Book eaters as characters would be, if it would be such a weird premise as be distracting and affect how engaging the story was. Other reviews were very encouraging though so I decided this was a book I wanted to read!
I need not have worried- the eating of books was no bizarre elephant in the room separate to the plot, it is central to the story in a very similar way that drinking blood is to any good vampire novel. This is a race of beings who consume books not only as sustenance but to absorb words and knowledge in order to learn what they can of the world and the human race. I loved the way this was used in places to quickly solve pressing problems- the eating of train timetables and foreign language dictionaries for example. However the real intrigue was in the way the old families used books as a means to shape and control their women and children's world view. From a young age children’s minds could be perfectly moulded by what they were given to eat….well so they thought….

The story quickly drew me into the dark twisted world the Book Eater families inhabit. Devon our protagonist is brought up on a diet of princess’s and fairy tales to mould her into the perfect bride to be. What lies ahead for her is far from a fairytale ending though and she fiercely breaks the mould and family tradition in becoming the ultimate tiger mother. Her story had me hooked from start to finish and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi, Fantasy or dystopian fiction.

Thanks very much to Sunyi Dean and Netgalley for the ARC

The Book Eaters tells the interesting story of Devon, a woman and a book eater, she literally consumes books not just to survive but to gain the knowledge bound on the pages. Devon’s son Cai, however, is a mind eater, to survive he must consume the minds of people (with a freaky tongue in their ear) leaving them drained and/or dead, and leaves that person’s knowledge, even their memories and personality, imprinted on him until his next feed, that is until Devon gets closer to finding a solution that will set both her son, and herself, free.

This book has so much going for it, it’s actually quite hard to describe it! This isn’t just a book about book eaters and mind eaters, it’s about families and the rivalry both within and between these families, it’s about the patriarchy that forces the women in these families to marry regularly to provide heirs and be moved on never knowing their children, it’s gothic horror, it’s feminist, it’s LGBQT representation, it’s dark and gritty and so much fun, I honestly adored this book. I loved the concept of literally consuming a book and it enriching you, feeding on the words and them becoming a part of you, likewise the idea of a young boy with the minds of and memories of various people inside him. I enjoyed the strained relationship between Devon and Cai, and the complicated relationship of Devon and her brother, and the ties of love and Devon is such a fantastic character defying the archaic, oppressive mistreatment of women within the bounds of her family. The Book Eaters really has so much going for it and, to excuse the pun, I devoured it.

Thank you NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for my honest review.

“Are you good? Are you kind?”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
4.5 Stars!

Synopsis: On the Yorkshire Moors live a family of BookEaters, One of Six Families. Steeped in rigid tradition, set roles and rules, the Patriarchy of the BookEater Family dictates their way of life. But where girls are to be good ‘Princesses’, how far will Devon go to protect her son?

CW/TW: Violence/Gore/Violence against children/Cannibalistic behaviour/Sexism/Forced marriage/Implied Rape/Forced separation from children/Drugging/Mentions of Domestic Abuse/Cult-behaviour/Infertility/Emotional abuse/others may be present.

Rep: Lesbian/Sapphic Rep (MC and Secondary character)/Asexual Rep (Side Character – important character)/PoC Characters.

The BookEaters, by Sunyi Dean is a unique and compelling fantasy-horror. I picked this up out of curiosity for the concept and was thoroughly impressed, and surprised, by just how fantastic this book was.

The BookEaters, by Sunyi Dean is a captivating read. The prose is gorgeously descriptive and yet easy to read – perfectly capturing the true horror of the BookEater life, and the life of MindEaters. Sunyi’s prose is compelling because it is full of heart. As a reader, I could really feel the heart and emotions that went into this story, that combined with the rich descriptions and brutality of this world made this a truly fascinating read that you cant help but connect with.

The story is told from a single POV, that of the MC – Devon. However, alongside this single POV we get a dual timeline, Devon growing up in the Family (past), and Devon on the run with her son (present). The single POV worked perfectly for this particular story, and the dual timeline helped keep the book well paced from start to finish. Every event that occurs, occurs from Devon’s perspective which was incredibly interesting – her POV is intriguing because, right from the start, there are mysteries, half-truths and secret plots and plans that weave together, and Devon can only see and plan so much. I really enjoyed how this book was written, and thought the perspective perfectly complimented the plot and pace.

The plot of this book is unique and fascinating. I absolutely love fantasy mixed with horror or thriller elements and this book does it perfectly. The past timeline centres around Devon growing up and following the Family traditions of the BookEaters. The present timeline follows Devon on the run with her son, Cai. As Devon looks for a way to protect Cai and control his hunger, she seeks out those who can aide her in this. Simultaneously, we watch as Devon comes to see the true nature of the Family and ends up as a fugitive. This book is incredibly easy to spoil so I’ll keep this section brief but I really loved this story for a few reasons.

Firstly, I adored the concept of BookEaters, it was unique and incredibly fascinating to watch and learn about. Secondly, the inclusion of MindEaters added much more depth to this world and the story. The horror drawn from comparing the BookEaters and the MindEaters, but then the slow acknowledgement that both are monstrous but then, perhaps, not inherently is quite intriguing. Thirdly, there are no ‘good’ characters in this book – they are all monsters in their own way which makes the story all the more interesting because everyone has their own motives, plans and goals. Fourthly, I adored that this book focused on a single mother and her son and the love between them. Finally, something I really found interesting was the effects/consequences of Book and MindEating. This element really added depth to the world and story but expanding on the abilities of the ‘Eaters but also giving them restrictions and costs – it added realism and made it much more intriguing to learn about.

Overall, I really enjoyed the multiple elements of this plot and was intrigued by how they all came together. There is a subtlety to the plot, to how it handles the good and the bad of love, to how it handles what is good and what is not, and how it pieces together multiple plans and goals in a clever and intricate web to create a story with clever twists and turns. The ending is melancholic but hopeful, and while this appears to be a standalone I would love to return to this world and these characters!

The Characters are all very compelling and complex. All of the characters are, in their own way, monstrous – none of them are quite truly good. Devon is an excellent main character and one who is easy to feel deeply for, despite her flaws and monstrousness. Devon is a single mother, lesbian and BookEater – having lived under the Family’s rule for most of her life, watching Devon try everything and anything to ensure her son’s freedom was compelling and emotional. Devon is a strong and determined character who commits monstrous acts in the name of love, and yet she is also a character who has a softness to her. Cai, Devon’s son, is a MindEater and, despite being only a 5 year old child, is quite the character. As monstrous as his mother, but with the same softness, Cai is intriguing in many ways. Some other characters I really liked were Jarrow and Hester, both of who are interesting from their introduction and continue to be so the more we learn about them.

The dynamics between all of the characters were also well done and there is a hint of sapphic romance throughout the book. While the book deals with Patriarchy, Sexism and Oppression, it also shows Devon’s queer journey. The book also deals with the theme of True family, and what makes a True family. All of these themes are dealt with in clever and sensitive ways, and yet Dean doesn’t hide from the brutal and monstrous nature of this world and it’s people.

Overall, The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean is a fascinating and intriguing read. I loved the plot and the characters, and was fully immersed from start to finish!

*I received an eARC via Netgalley from HarperCollins UK in exchange for an honest review! Thank you!*

A brilliant, original debut. Dark fantasy that is both 'historical' in feel and contemporary in tone, 'The Book Eaters' is unsettling, packed full of compelling characters, and revolves around a truly brilliant concept. Fantastic

I loved this dark, urban fantasy with its deep topics about women’s place in patriarchal society, about motherhood and love. The setting, the characters are so enjoyable, and relationships between them are so complicated.
I liked Devon, and my heart broke for her so many times during the book. I like that she refuses to accept the passive role, that is usual for women of the Families.

Can’t wait to read more by this author.

This was a great story one I couldn't put down. It deals with some deep social issues like patriarchal families and women's places within them as only wives and mother's. It was sad In places and delightfully clever. I loved the way it used the fairytales and showed what we are taught as children follows us into adulthood. The theme of choices was fantastic and gave the reader a lot to think about. All of this wrapped up in a marvelous fantasy world of families and knights and princesses. Five stars from me

My review for this phenomenal novel is long overdue and I ask you to bear with me as I try and ultimately fail to communicate the masterpiece that is The Book Eaters.

The Book Eaters starts off with a fascinating premise, where Devon, a Book Eater on the run from her Family, decides to do anything to save her Mind Eater son, even if it means sacrificing unsuspecting, good humans for his sustenance, even if it means becoming a monster herself.

On thematic concerns, it is a zoom in on choices and those who were given choices that were no choice at all. What it meant to live without a choice bear children without a choice, to love them without a choice, to leave them regardless of your choice, and finally to choose them despite all the choices you made before. The Book Eaters chooses to see motherhood through nuance, neither reducing it to a sacred duty nor an effortless burden, instead focusing on the multifacetedness of the experience.

Dean builds a harrowing society existing in the fringes of ours in this contemporary fantasy/horror, a race of people who eats Books to survive and gain knowledge and a fringe of people with a need to consume brains instead of books. She uses it to explore the inherent misogyny of society as a whole and the brokennaturedness of toxic masculinity that breaks people who break others to hold this system up.

The characters are all complex and broken people who do the best to survive and to fight. They reject the dichotomy of good and evil and choose to be just people who are doing the best they can. For example, Devon and Cai both do terrible things that eat them alive but there is a grim understanding that for their loved ones, they will become monsters. For many of us, it is not a question of what is right but a question of what is necessary and Dean reflects that in her characters.

Frighteningly original and devastatingly emotional, The Book Eaters will ask you just how far will you break and mend and hurt for those who are yours on its way to a triumphant ending.

Highly recommended and one of the top books of 2022.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an arc via Netgalley.

Initial thoughts
Gothic, beautiful, and fantastic with all the rage of motherhood. FTC and thank you to the publisher for providing an arc via Netgalley

"Poets would tell you that love was electricity in your veins that could light a room. That it was a river in your soul to lift you up and carry you away, or a fire inside the heart to keep you warm. Yet electricity could also fry , rivers could drown, and fires could burn; love could be destructive. Punishingly, fatally destructive."

The Book Eaters has been one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, and after reading I can say that the hype around its release if definitely deserved. Blending horror and fantasy tropes together to create a dark and interesting world, I found myself invested almost immediately in the tale of a mother willing to do whatever it takes to save her son.

This book was honestly unlike anything I've read before, and I loved how unique the whole story was. In a world where groups of people known as book eaters exist secretly consuming books as sustenance, we follow Devon - a book eater woman whose life we watch unfold from a princess in her manor, to a grown woman whose only goal is to escape with her son. Without giving away plot points and spoilers, the book flows from past flashbacks to the present day, and manages to do so without causing confusion or unanswered questions. Plot twists and reveals are given at the perfect times, and I found myself always getting to the end of one chapter and immediately wanting to keep reading on. I really enjoyed Devon as a main character, even as she makes some truly terrible choices, you can always sympathise with her motivations behind them and you feel the pain that she does as she makes them. There's an eerie and creepy atmosphere that follows you throughout the whole book, and without being a scary, full on horror book, the whole world and atmosphere has this feeling to it that I can only describe as unsettling. I found myself cringing on more than one occasion at the events that unfold that's for sure. But at its core, The Book Eaters is a tale of unconditional love, whether between family or friends, it puts to the test exactly how far someone is willing to go to protect the ones they love.

As a side note, it was also great to see some LGBTQ+ representation in this book. The protagonist of the book is a lesbian, and there is also an asexual side character. It's always good to see representation in fantasy novels, so definite bonus points there.

Overall, this is definitely a read I will be recommending going forward, and the hype is well deserved!! If you're looking for a creepy new fantasy read, definitely do not hesitate to pick this one up.