Book Eaters

How far would you go for love? That is the fundamental question at the heart of ‘The Book Eaters’ by Sunyi Dean and something I found myself questioning while reading this book and long after I finished the last page. Whilst I am not sure if everyone would appreciate the dark, suspenseful and downright atmospheric world that Ms Dean has created, I found myself drawn to the narrative and staying up late into the night to finish the book. The main character, Devon Fairweather, is an odd dichotomy of being sympathetic but reprehensible, given some of her decisions. Still, in a way, she can justify her choices as they are caused due to love, selfish as that love may be.Set in an alternative but modern-day earth, the reader is introduced to the Book Eaters. A human-like race that consumes literature to survive rather than food. The Book Eaters live apart from humans and consider themselves a superior race; they depend on humans for the books they eat as they lack creativity. They can gain knowledge from any book they consume, although they cannot write themselves. To protect themselves, the Book Eaters live in Families, carefully isolated from the outside world and heavily bound to tradition. The Families suffer from fertility issues, with only a few girls born every generation. The girls are treated as princesses, but due to the early onset of menopause, they rarely give birth to more than two children. The Families carefully negotiate wedding contracts to avoid interbreeding, with the ‘wives’ only staying with their ‘husband’ until the child is three years old. They are then moved on to their next ‘husband’ or returned to their own family. They have no claim to their children, nor do they see them once their contract is fulfilled.Although the Book Eaters do not intermix with humans, their offspring do have the possibility of being a Mind Eater. As you may have guessed, the Mind Eaters do not eat books; instead, they consume the minds of their victims, leaving them either dead or mindless. Previously, any Mind Eater was killed at birth, but one of the Book Eater families developed a drug called ‘Redemption’. By taking the medication daily, the Mind Eaters can gain sustenance from books, although it doesn’t take away their hunger for minds. All Mind Eaters are given over to the Knights; an organisation made up of the cast-off sons from the Families tasked with enforcing the peace and escorting brides between houses. The Knights also act as keepers of any Mind Eater, dubbing them dragons and wielding them for their benefit and gain.Whilst Book Eaters live across the globe, our story takes place in the UK and focuses on the six Families that reside therein. Our main character is Devon Fairweather, a daughter of the Fairweather clan and one of only six females who can have children in Britain. There are a couple of chapters from her brother Ramsay’s point of view, but primarily the story follows Devon. The story jumps from the present day, when Devon is 30 years old, all the way back to significant life events from when she was eight years old and onwards. By interspersing the chapters with important past episodes, the reader understands her psyche and why she makes certain choices.Devon is a character that I felt truly conflicted over. On the one hand, she is the product of her upbringing and culture, expected to obey her family and abide by their rules blindly. As a child, she is coddled and treated like a precious princess, but as she grows older, it becomes evident that the freedom of her childhood is simply an illusion. She is married off to men she doesn’t know, regardless of her feelings, obliged to have children only to be ripped away from those children after a few precious years. Yet, once she does experience a taste of freedom, the choices she makes are driven by her own admittedly selfish form of love for her son as she rationalises the lives of others against his life. Devon has no limit on what she will do to protect her son, and even if she is conflicted by those decisions, she sees no option but to sacrifice any and everything for him.The world surrounding Devon is rich and detailed, intensifying the story as she moves from being an innocent but indulged child to a woman trapped by circumstances beyond her control. She is slowly suffocating under the expectations of her family. She desperately tries to work within the restrictions she is given, only to be discarded by those meant to love and protect her. Several secondary characters are in the book, and all are well-written and distinct. Although we don’t get the same level of history as we do with Devon, there weren’t any of the background characters that weren’t thought out or superfluous. The only element I found odd was the talk of ‘The Collector’, the mythical creature that gave the Book Eaters their powers and purpose. I discovered his origins somewhat anomalous to the rest of the story and think he could have been left as a mysterious entity rather than the background that was proffered.Overall, I loved ‘The Book Eaters’ by Sunyi Dean, and whilst the ending is left open to potential sequels, I almost hope this won’t become a series and potentially ruin the magic of this book. I found myself talking to family and friends about this book long after I finished reading it, still enraptured and intrigued by the skilful story crafting of Ms Dean. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes exceptional dark gothic fantasy books. I know I am eagerly awaiting any more books by the author.4.5 out of 5 stars! Rounded up to 5 stars.

Dark, Heavy, Emotional4.5/5"𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣?" 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙢. "𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙?"I've been thoroughly anticipating reading this book, and honestly, I didn't expect the direction it took. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I definitely didn't expect a book-eating version of vampirism.The premise is so unique, and The Family and their dynamics were highly intriguing. The princesses, the marriages, knights, and dragons- I love how these traditional fairy tale elements were elevated to a more horrifying governing power structure. The overwhelming feeling of suppression and dehumanization came across very well.Devon is on the hunt for Retribution, not the religious kind, but the drug that will suppress her son's baser mind-eating/murdering instincts. Struggling back and forth with the moral dilemma of gathering the victims for her son while also struggling in choosing the best humans for him... It's a delicate balance of love and destruction. Devon can't starve her son, but the fleshy shells and devastation she leaves behind have her hesitating. Cai is a bony child, symbolizing the hunger that remains ever-present and Devon knows she's failing miserably.Devon and Cai have an easily relatable dynamic, but for reasons, Cai never addresses Devon as his biological mother and likely never will again.What would a mother be willing to do for her child? How far would she go to save her child's life?My heart broke again and again over the moral questions that each situation brought about. I would say that the story was reminiscent of The Handmaidens Tale. The religious element towards the end was uncomfortable to read for me as a Sabbath worshiper. However, it was all the punchier because of how sacrilegious the whole affair was, it's not meant to come across positively. At least for me, it most certainly didn't. The Biblical allusions that were thrown in here and there were both respectful and yet, in other instances, horrifying.Light touches of feminist sentiment are present here and there, and I can just say... well done. It was done well, it wasn't preachy or feel at any moment that an agenda was being shoved down my throat. The author presented it in such a compelling and natural way. The first book I've read where the LGBTQ representation didn't feel forced and gimmicky. Very authentic representation, that went deeper than just sex or angst. Overall, I found the book to be thought-provoking and enjoyable.How nice it is to read a story that has depth and a plot that does not involve gratuitous sex or political agendas.

Ok, I confess that I enjoyed the start of the book more for its premise than the writing. I think because it’s out of the ordinary, it wasn’t an easy read. However - please give it time, because the story both accelerates and gets deeper and murkier. I thought it was truly phenomenal - the layers of moral complexity Sunyi puts Devon, the principal character, through had me enthralled. This is undoubtedly one of the best damn books I’ve read in a long time.

Enjoyable style and some really cool ideas

The Book Eaters is a really interesting story and such an intriguingly fun concept. Part bookish-vampire novel, part chase thriller, part gothic family drama, and all perfect for booklovers.The Book Eaters absorb knowledge by eating books. Children grow up eating fairy tales, the book eaters drink ink tea, and every book eater family has an ancestral family library.Then you have the Mind Eaters, taken away at birth and raised as enforcers (or “dragons”) by the knights who handle them, they have a slightly more sinister appetite.I really enjoyed the character development throughout this story. Chapters alternate the current day with historic chapters thrown in at exactly the right times to drip-feed you the backstory of whoever is involved. This type of exposition chapter can be done in a really clunky way but Sunyi Dean has done a great job of finessing this.I love the idea of secluded families gathering knowledge and living off books and I think this will appeal to anyone whose secret desire is to have their own private library.

Sunyi herself is a delight to interact with online and her work is always interesting, certainly left of centre, a great step away from mainstream.

Sunyi Dean is an exciting new voice in the realm of dark fiction. This book lingered in my mind days, weeks, after finishing it.This is perfect for fans of Laura Purcell’s work, particularly if you would love to read her level of dark fiction rooted in a fantasy premise.The alternating timelines of our main character, Devon, growing up from childhood to her present circumstances as an adult and mother… Truly flawless. It served excellent suspense for the building tension and allows the reader to ruminate on all the plot’s threads. I genuinely cannot put it into words how exceptional it was. I give Dean a standing ovation. My stomach was in knots. The Book Eaters is toes an exceptional balance of tenderness, nuance and menacing…The ending is a mostly concluded ending, but there is a thread that could be pulled on for a sequel, which I desperately hope Dean plans to write. I would camp outside Harper Voyager’s HQ to get my hands on it.I’ll read whatever Dean writes next: she’s cemented herself as one of my favourite writers of late, certainly and most deservedly affirmed herself as one of the best debuts of 2022-23.