The Book Eaters

By: Sunyi Dean

Narrated by: Katie Erich

Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

"Katie Erich’s riveting and emotionally rich realization of Dean’s strange and vivid world makes this an entrancing listen from start to finish; we hope to hear much more from author and narrator alike." - The Seattle Times

"Katie Erich narrates Devon with the voice of a true storyteller, providing a mesmerizing performance that communicates the devastating harshness and rich emotionality of Devon’s journey....Beautiful and intense, it is a must-listen." - Library Journal

This program includes a bonus conversation between the author and narrator about the novel, family, and neurodivergency.

Sunyi Dean's The Book Eaters is “a darkly sweet pastry of a book about family, betrayal, and the lengths we go to for the ones we love. A delicious modern fairy tale.”— Christopher Buehlman, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author

"Katie Erich's Northern English accent transports listeners to the windswept Yorkshire moors in this atmospheric fantasy about a woman on the run." - AudioFile on The Book Eaters

Truth is found between the stories we're fed and the stories we hunger for.

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 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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2022 Sunyi Dean (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

An interesting book hindered by monotonous narration

I had a hard time listening to this book, because while the story was very engaging, the narrator failed to differentiate any characters’ voices, or even emphasize the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. So things flowed together in a monotonous way sometime that made the book drag, except the content itself was actually exciting. The weird thing was, the narrator had so much more expression in her voice during the interview with the author at the end of the book! So I know she has it in her to be expressive, but just struggled doing so, and I’m turn I struggled to listen.

Amazing

This book is so amazing that I feel like anyone would love it! The author was so creative I love everything about this book.

I loved her accent

It was easy to listen to and follow. I would listen to more narrated by her for sure!

Best book of my year? It's December 12th...

100% worth the time. I eagerly await more from the author, and also hope we revisit this world in the future.

This was a wonderful journey.

Definitely different than any other novel I’ve listened to (yet very familiar as well). In a way, aren’t we all digesting as we read? Thank you for the journey

Started off great

I was super excited to read this based on the summary & that fact that it was listed on Amazon’s best of the month. It started off great but soon got boring. Way more interested in the journalist storyline that lasted about 30 seconds. Maybe it comes back. On the fence about finishing it. I have 9 hours left.

Great take on the vampire genre

Love the idea of the “eating” of knowledge. Also the them of neuro-divergence in an unaccepting society is beautifully explored.

Couldn’t stop listening!

The world is so fascinating and wonderfully dark! The whole book could have just been worldbuilding and I would have been thoroughly entertained. My only qualm is that the stakes are so consistently high through the whole story that I don’t feel much rising action and the climax lacks the contrast for intensity.

Very much enjoyed

So nice to hear a different narrator and a different take on fantasy and fairytales. Would listen to again! Wish the epilogue was included in the audiobook though.

Incredible Story & Narration

I absolutely loved this book. Sunyi Dean is an incredible storyteller, and Katie Erich did a fantastic job narrating. I’m glad I got the audiobook, but I am also definitely getting physical copy to have in my personal library. Definitely in my top 5 books now!

In the bonus interview, I loved learning that both author and narrator are neurodivergent and advocate against ableism. Also, for anyone who complained about the pronunciation, just keep in mind that they purposefully chose a Northerner in the UK to pronounce things in a way that was intended.