What is it, in summary?: "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."
The novel follows Devon as she works to escape from the confines of her culture, protect what matters most to her and hold her head up against adversity.
What do you love about it?: The underlying themes of fairy tales, motherhood and failing to fit in. Devon is valuable because Book Eater women are rare, but 'value' translates into an image and set of behaviours that don't suit her. Book Eaters are also not humans but Devon deals with some very human experiences and emotions; this is something I love to see books explore.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I loved Devon's story, and don't need any more of it. I'm very interested in worldbuilding for this novel—I want more Book Eaters and Mind Eaters from other cultures, more people who don't fit into where they come from, more people who subsist on words they can't write. The novel's full of fun ideas to extrapolate.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Marital rape (note: the victim of said marital rape is homosexual, however within the context of the rape that fact is incidental), murder, body horror (brains are sometimes consumed via the ear with a long proboscis-like tongue), some gore.
The Book Eaters - Sunyi Dean
Media: Novel
Approx length: 298 pages
Where to find it: Your local library or retail bookstore.
What is it, in summary?: "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."
The novel follows Devon as she works to escape from the confines of her culture, protect what matters most to her and hold her head up against adversity.
What do you love about it?: The underlying themes of fairy tales, motherhood and failing to fit in. Devon is valuable because Book Eater women are rare, but 'value' translates into an image and set of behaviours that don't suit her. Book Eaters are also not humans but Devon deals with some very human experiences and emotions; this is something I love to see books explore.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I loved Devon's story, and don't need any more of it. I'm very interested in worldbuilding for this novel—I want more Book Eaters and Mind Eaters from other cultures, more people who don't fit into where they come from, more people who subsist on words they can't write. The novel's full of fun ideas to extrapolate.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Marital rape (note: the victim of said marital rape is homosexual, however within the context of the rape that fact is incidental), murder, body horror (brains are sometimes consumed via the ear with a long proboscis-like tongue), some gore.