Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Tor Books (2022), 304 pages
Description
"Sunyi Dean's The Book Eaters is a contemporary fantasy debut. It's a story of motherhood, sacrifice, and hope; of queer identity and learning to accept who you are; of gilded lies and the danger of believing the narratives others create for you. Out 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 fairytales 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"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member bell7
*Free e-book ARC received from the publisher through Edelweiss Plus - thank you!*
How far would you go for the people you love? That's what Devon has to decide when her son, Cai, is born not a book eater like she is, but a mind eater. Her people call them "dragons," and they feed leaving humans, if
The narrative stays with Devon's point of view, and we go back and forth between the present, with Devon and Cai on the run over the course of just a few days, and the backstory of exactly how we got here, starting with Devon's childhood of eating fairy tales and being raised to marry and produce more book eaters. I really enjoyed immersing myself in Devon's world and wrestling with her morals and choices. It's grim and Gothic and very good.
How far would you go for the people you love? That's what Devon has to decide when her son, Cai, is born not a book eater like she is, but a mind eater. Her people call them "dragons," and they feed leaving humans, if
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alive at all, a shell of themselves with no memories or real mind left at all when left to their own devices. On the run from her Family, Devon needs to get the drug Redemption for Cai, which will allow him to eat books like her, but the Family who makes it has disappeared and doesn't want to be found.The narrative stays with Devon's point of view, and we go back and forth between the present, with Devon and Cai on the run over the course of just a few days, and the backstory of exactly how we got here, starting with Devon's childhood of eating fairy tales and being raised to marry and produce more book eaters. I really enjoyed immersing myself in Devon's world and wrestling with her morals and choices. It's grim and Gothic and very good.
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LibraryThing member Gwendydd
The Book Eaters are a race of people who pass for human, but are not human. They survive by eating books. When they eat a book, they also memorize it. Despite the vast knowledge they have access to, they are not creative or imaginative, and they are incapable of writing. Some people born to book
This book follows Devon, a book eater who wants to escape from the strict book eater life and raise her children in peace.
I found this book to be pretty disappointing, perhaps because I read so much hype about it. The premise is interesting enough, but I wish the execution had been more creative. In particular, I was disappointed at how much this is not a book about books. Devon is trying to find a way to escape from a bad situation, and she's not good at original ideas, so wouldn't it make sense for her to eat a lot of books about escapes and try to re-enact those escapes? This could have been a love-letter to books, or a delightful mash-up of book genres, but the book doesn't really seem to have any knowledge of literature. In fact, it hardly references any books at all. Maybe that makes the book more accessible to people who aren't avid readers, but I think it would have been so much more fun if it had been a book about books.
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eater families are mind eaters - instead of eating books, they eat people's consciousness and memories. Some book eaters are raised to be dragons, who ride around on motorcycles and protect/oppress book eaters. Most book eaters are men, and few of the women are fertile, so a fertile woman is passed from husband to husband to ensure the continuation of the species.This book follows Devon, a book eater who wants to escape from the strict book eater life and raise her children in peace.
I found this book to be pretty disappointing, perhaps because I read so much hype about it. The premise is interesting enough, but I wish the execution had been more creative. In particular, I was disappointed at how much this is not a book about books. Devon is trying to find a way to escape from a bad situation, and she's not good at original ideas, so wouldn't it make sense for her to eat a lot of books about escapes and try to re-enact those escapes? This could have been a love-letter to books, or a delightful mash-up of book genres, but the book doesn't really seem to have any knowledge of literature. In fact, it hardly references any books at all. Maybe that makes the book more accessible to people who aren't avid readers, but I think it would have been so much more fun if it had been a book about books.
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LibraryThing member dono421846
In all the ways that really matter, this is a great book: well plotted, imaginative world, actions well motivated. Exploring what follows from being able to absorb book content by eating it (a good thing), but not being able to write or having much of your own creativity (bad things), was
The only thing that I didn't really like was the protagonist. Anyone with the attitude of let the world burn so long as *my* child survives is far too selfish to earn much sympathy from me. It's one thing to go after those who are genuine risks, but willingness to sacrifice innocents is a bit too much. Even if crocodile tears are shed, too often they're for the price paid by the child, and not for the people with their lives now stolen away. This dilemma was, at points, acknowledged, but then quickly set aside.
While I'm somewhat curious about the purported Creator, I'd prefer there not be sequel. As it stands, this book is a satisfying adventure, and I'd hate to see it suffer from being drawn out unnecessarily.
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intriguing. The only thing that I didn't really like was the protagonist. Anyone with the attitude of let the world burn so long as *my* child survives is far too selfish to earn much sympathy from me. It's one thing to go after those who are genuine risks, but willingness to sacrifice innocents is a bit too much. Even if crocodile tears are shed, too often they're for the price paid by the child, and not for the people with their lives now stolen away. This dilemma was, at points, acknowledged, but then quickly set aside.
While I'm somewhat curious about the purported Creator, I'd prefer there not be sequel. As it stands, this book is a satisfying adventure, and I'd hate to see it suffer from being drawn out unnecessarily.
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LibraryThing member soelo
Thanks to Netgalley for a preview copy of this audiobook. I had some trouble following the story at first due to all of the time jumps but once I got into the rhythm, I really enjoyed Devon's story. This story has a main character who is dealing with the pressures of tradition conflicting with her
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own emotions and life plans. She is a mother who wants to make her family something that her larger clan does not allow. She has to fight for that while caring for her son and meeting new people. Can she trust these new people? Show Less
LibraryThing member Hccpsk
Sunyi Dean’s The Book Eaters relates the story of just that — characters who subsist by eating books and other written material hidden away in remote communities with little interaction with humans. Born into this isolated world, Devon was raised on fairy tales and looked forward to marrying
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and providing children for the family, but soon realized nothing was as she thought, and fairy tales don’t exist anywhere but on paper. The Book Eaters is a dark fantasy filled with intrigue, mysteries, and a lot of action, but also deeper themes of feminism, LGBTQ+, motherhood, and family. With a fair share of violence and strangeness, this book is not for everyone, but for readers who enjoy this genre. The Book Eaters is an excellent read. Show Less
LibraryThing member sleahey
What a concept: people among us who must eat books for nourishment, and thereby retain all of the knowledge inside; juxtaposed with others who must eat human minds and internalize their victims' personhood. Devon, the main character, is a book eater with two children -- a daughter whom she has been
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forced to leave behind with the father, and a young son Cai who is a mind eater. As Cai grows and requires increasing numbers of human minds, his internalized intelligence makes his 5 year old self into an adult intellect. Devon will be required to "harvest" more and more humans for Cai unless she can obtain a secret miracle drug that is kept hidden by a rival family. The cultural norms of the book and mind eaters offer interesting comparisons to current times, and the struggles in behalf of and in spite of family raise universal issues. I found the world-building to be rather slow-starting, but once the pace picked up it was an enjoyable read, and I look forward to the likely sequel. Show Less
LibraryThing member AliceaP
Interesting story concept but it just wasn't for me. I just couldn't seem to get into it. I kept at it until page 101 where I finally had to accept defeat. I just couldn't connect with any of the characters and so when I'd set the book down I had no real interest in picking it back up again.
LibraryThing member thornton37814
We read this for the faculty book club this semester. I was the only one who didn't like it. I suspect it's more a "genre" issue than anything else. Everyone else seemed ready for a sequel. A group of book and mind eaters lives in England. There are only about 6 families in this group. Devon, the
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main character, is a book eater. She remembers everything she eats. She has a daughter who was taken from her at an early age and a son Kai who is a mind eater. Devon supports his hunger needs by attempting to find a "nice person" for him to eat. He internalizes all that person's experiences until he eats his next victim. Devon goes on the search for a cure called "Redemption" that is supposedly in the hands of the Ravenscars. From the beginning, our group thought this would be a big tragedy because of the five acts to the book. I'll let you read it for yourself to see whether our early predictions were correct. Show Less
LibraryThing member jmchshannon
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean is a weird story, but I loved it! A woman fighting against a patriarchal society, a secret society of supernatural beings who eat books instead of food, and a mother desperate to save her child are only the tip of the iceberg for this debut novel. The Book Eaters is a
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complex exploration of family dynamics alongside the ups and downs of motherhood and womanhood. In many ways, while the supernatural element is key to the entire story, as it drives the behaviors of several characters, this plot element takes a backseat to the central theme of family and everything Devon does to protect hers. It is also a powerful story, flitting between past and present, which allows readers to understand the Book Eater family dynamics while following along with Devon as she searches for solutions to an untenable situation. If you are like me, the idea of someone physically reading books will draw you into the book, but you continue reading because you will find yourself invested in Devon’s story. Highly recommend! Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
Devon is a book eater—looks human but survives on eating books and absorbing their contents. She’s hiding among humans, on the run from her patriarchal family with her son, Cai, who is a rarer mind eater who needs human brains when he can’t get the drug that enables him to survive on books.
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Devon is desperate and there are lots of different political factions, including her brother and his dragons (mind eaters who’ve been trained to obey book eaters through torture) and also a woman whose family makes the drug who Devon might actually like. It’s a grim story but Devon gets to be as angry as she needs to be. Show Less
LibraryThing member Desiree_Reads
So we learn in the very first chapter that Eating Minds implies a whole lot more. Strong scene of implied and alluded to violence. It was "fade to black" variety, so I overlooked it.
Struggled through Chapter 2 which was written at a lower level, like a fairy tale or children's fiction. Appropriate
Then, in Chapter 3, at 6%, we talk about scooping out brains. That's it. I'm out. (Minds are not necessarily Brains, so I feel mislead.)
Struggled through Chapter 2 which was written at a lower level, like a fairy tale or children's fiction. Appropriate
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as it may be, I found it tiresome.Then, in Chapter 3, at 6%, we talk about scooping out brains. That's it. I'm out. (Minds are not necessarily Brains, so I feel mislead.)
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LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
No puns, but I really, really loved this book! Like The Handmaid's Tale meets Let The Right One In, Sunyi Dean will see your vampire lore and your zombies and raise you - book eaters and mind eaters, a secret society comprised of six 'Families' who devour knowledge in rather different ways.
I wish I
Devon - I thought that the quirk of naming Family members after place names was cute - is the princess of Fairweather Manor and grows up on a diet of fairy tales about heroines being rescued and living happily ever after. A very different fate awaits her, however. The female book eaters exist only to intermarry with other Families and have children - but they cannot be mothers. They must move on and marry again. When Devon is taken away from her young daughter, she is heartbroken and a seed of rebellion is planted. She tries to hold onto the fantasy that she will be rewarded for following the rules, but then her son is born and must be protected from those who want to kill him. Her brother in law, the wonderful Jarrow, persuades Devon to break the cycle and save her son Cai.
The worldbuilding, though! Vampires are old hat and I have never understood the appeal of zombies but a hunger for knowledge? A taste for the written word? Makes sense to me! Book eaters, although superhumanly strong and able to see in the dark, cannot write for themselves Mind eaters, born with a proboscis like tongue, go straight to the source and drain intelligence, memories and personality from people by sucking parts of the brain out of their victims' ears. While the Families are in control, ruled by patriarchs, 'knights' are charged with controlling mind eaters, or 'dragons', with a drug called Redemption. The women are valued only for their reproductive role and are biologically 'retired' after having two children, to become 'aunts'. The patronising faux chivalry and old-fashioned attitudes of the Families drove me mad, which is entirely the point, I realise, but luckily Devon's narrative flips back and forth between the past and the present, so we can feed on her fire to save herself and her son. Cai, incidentally, is also an amazing character, a young boy with an old soul who takes on the lost lives of his victims.
I honestly haven't been so addicted to a book in ages! I was reading at home, late at night, on the bus, during my dinner hour, and couldn't get enough. The UK setting probably helped, even if a few Americanisms (and shootouts) from the author slipped in every now and again! Definitely recommended for book eaters everywhere, and I hope there's a sequel in the pipeline!
I wish I
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could absorb stories by eating the actual pages - book eaters are probably the people who bemoan the existence of Kindles - but I have to start small, with the characters and the plot, and I was fell right in with Devon and Cai. Their world is dark and dangerous, on the run from the men who control them and the monsters who can kill them. But Devon and Cai are monsters too.Devon - I thought that the quirk of naming Family members after place names was cute - is the princess of Fairweather Manor and grows up on a diet of fairy tales about heroines being rescued and living happily ever after. A very different fate awaits her, however. The female book eaters exist only to intermarry with other Families and have children - but they cannot be mothers. They must move on and marry again. When Devon is taken away from her young daughter, she is heartbroken and a seed of rebellion is planted. She tries to hold onto the fantasy that she will be rewarded for following the rules, but then her son is born and must be protected from those who want to kill him. Her brother in law, the wonderful Jarrow, persuades Devon to break the cycle and save her son Cai.
The worldbuilding, though! Vampires are old hat and I have never understood the appeal of zombies but a hunger for knowledge? A taste for the written word? Makes sense to me! Book eaters, although superhumanly strong and able to see in the dark, cannot write for themselves Mind eaters, born with a proboscis like tongue, go straight to the source and drain intelligence, memories and personality from people by sucking parts of the brain out of their victims' ears. While the Families are in control, ruled by patriarchs, 'knights' are charged with controlling mind eaters, or 'dragons', with a drug called Redemption. The women are valued only for their reproductive role and are biologically 'retired' after having two children, to become 'aunts'. The patronising faux chivalry and old-fashioned attitudes of the Families drove me mad, which is entirely the point, I realise, but luckily Devon's narrative flips back and forth between the past and the present, so we can feed on her fire to save herself and her son. Cai, incidentally, is also an amazing character, a young boy with an old soul who takes on the lost lives of his victims.
I honestly haven't been so addicted to a book in ages! I was reading at home, late at night, on the bus, during my dinner hour, and couldn't get enough. The UK setting probably helped, even if a few Americanisms (and shootouts) from the author slipped in every now and again! Definitely recommended for book eaters everywhere, and I hope there's a sequel in the pipeline!
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LibraryThing member mojomomma
An odd race of people live in remote estates in the UK. They are "book eaters," who subsist on print rather than food. Women are scarce and their fertility is short-lived, so a class of "knights" arranges marriages between the six surviving families. Women are "married" into other families as soon
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as they are 18 and they are expected to stay for four years. Once they give birth and the baby reaches toddler-hood, the child stays with the father's family to be raised and the mother goes to a second family and has a second child that she also leaves behind. Our heroine is unable to break the natural maternal bonds and wants to stay and raise her children. Her second child, a boy, is born a mind-eater. Mind-eaters are born with a long tongue that allows them to feast on the brains of their victims, so they are a danger to others. There is a medication that helps control the urge, but the family that made it has disappeared. Devon hides in human society with her son, Cai as she tracks down the medication that will allow him to live a more normal life as her own brother tries to track her down. Show Less
LibraryThing member Strider66
Pros: brilliant world-building, interesting characters, fast paced
Cons:
Raised as a princess in one of the 6 remaining book eater houses in England, Devon Fairweather learns at her first marriage, that being pampered is not the same as being free. Now, she’s trying to escape the families along
The book alternates between scenes in the present with Devon on the run and scenes from the past that explain how she got to this point. The pacing is great and there is a mix of highly tense moments an downtime where you really get to know the main characters.
The world-building here is great. The book eaters are unique, and the mind eaters terrifying. The author does a great job of blending their curious and often antiquated style of living, with the modern day world. I also loved how she worked in knights and dragons.
Devon is a complicated woman. She loves her son, enough to get him humans to feed on, while also being scared of that need to feed. In some ways she’s suffered greatly, in others she’s still weirdly naive. I didn’t quite agree with some of her principles, but despite her crimes she still comes off as sympathetic and you still want to see her succeed.
It’s a strange book, telling about a strange people, and is wildly entertaining if you like darker urban fantasy.
Cons:
Raised as a princess in one of the 6 remaining book eater houses in England, Devon Fairweather learns at her first marriage, that being pampered is not the same as being free. Now, she’s trying to escape the families along
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with her mind eater son.The book alternates between scenes in the present with Devon on the run and scenes from the past that explain how she got to this point. The pacing is great and there is a mix of highly tense moments an downtime where you really get to know the main characters.
The world-building here is great. The book eaters are unique, and the mind eaters terrifying. The author does a great job of blending their curious and often antiquated style of living, with the modern day world. I also loved how she worked in knights and dragons.
Devon is a complicated woman. She loves her son, enough to get him humans to feed on, while also being scared of that need to feed. In some ways she’s suffered greatly, in others she’s still weirdly naive. I didn’t quite agree with some of her principles, but despite her crimes she still comes off as sympathetic and you still want to see her succeed.
It’s a strange book, telling about a strange people, and is wildly entertaining if you like darker urban fantasy.
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LibraryThing member bookczuk
Interesting premise. I've devoured books with my mind, but often can't recall them so well later. Would a really terrible book give one a stomach ache? Anyhow, if there is a sequel, I would read it.
LibraryThing member macha
Book Eaters as a form of vampirism, that's a grand idea, and i like what the writer does with it too, wedding the horror to gothic fantasy and pursuing the patriarchal implications of that. she's not yet fully in charge of her material, and that shows in some sections. but the characters are
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interesting, and i'm pretty intrigued to see what this writer decides to come up with next. Show Less
LibraryThing member parasolofdoom
WHEW! This had me glued from chapter one! Absolutely loved it. It's funny, I'm always a little hesitant over present day Urban Fantasy (UF here being things that take place in our world, rather than a portal fantasy or completely fictional universe) but damn, so glad I gave into the hype, this
Another praise-- you know how when you read a thing alternating between flashbacks and present day, you're generally more invested or interested in one over the other? This story was a GREAT example of striking the perfect balance and juxtaposed those dual timelines *just right* to create a seamless portrait of Devon's life. I'm in awe. I cannot wait to see what Sunyi Dean does next, whether she revisits Book Eaters or crafts something new entirely.
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ended up being one of my favorite reads if the summer (and indeed year.) The worldbuilding aspect of Book Eater culture was fascinating and the plot was thrilling. Another praise-- you know how when you read a thing alternating between flashbacks and present day, you're generally more invested or interested in one over the other? This story was a GREAT example of striking the perfect balance and juxtaposed those dual timelines *just right* to create a seamless portrait of Devon's life. I'm in awe. I cannot wait to see what Sunyi Dean does next, whether she revisits Book Eaters or crafts something new entirely.
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LibraryThing member sammimag
I started this book and could put it down until I finished it. So I devored it just like the characters in this book eat books. I hope there is another book because I think the author created an interesting magical horror world that I’d love the learn more about these book eaters.
LibraryThing member xaverie
I really liked this one.
It read like a fairytale in their darkest, most macabre form, where the princess must become a true monster to keep herself and her son alive.
It read like a fairytale in their darkest, most macabre form, where the princess must become a true monster to keep herself and her son alive.
LibraryThing member soup_house
Slightly disappointed that eating books didn't really play a large role in the story. A more appropriate title would have been Mind Eaters since while the story is from a book eaters perspective the "eviler" version, mind eaters, are so much more relevant. In fact, Devon could have been human and
Fine book, but misleading title made me not be quite so thrilled about it in the end.
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not much would have changed in the story.Fine book, but misleading title made me not be quite so thrilled about it in the end.
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Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Finalist — 2023)
Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize (Longlist — Fiction — 2023)
NPR: Books We Love (2022)
Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 (Selection — 2023)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2022-08-09
Physical description
304 p.; 9.55 inches
ISBN
1250810183 / 9781250810182