The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

 

When Devon is born and as a small girl, she is told she is a princess.  Her family are part of a network of families who are book eaters; they get their nourishment from eating books and everything they eat they know forever.  But Devon learns the true story of being a princess when she is old enough to marry off.  Marriages are only meant to last for three or four years.  Every night she is forced to have her husband in her bed forcing himself on her until she is pregnant.  After the child is born, she is given three years to wean them and then her baby will be taken away and she will be given in marriage to another man to repeat the cycle.

Devon's first child is a girl and she thinks she will die when her daughter is taken away.  Her second son is Kai and he is what the book eaters dread; a mind eater.  Instead of eating books, he eats the minds of living people after which they are dead.  There is a group of soldiers called the knights to keep the mind eaters in control and make sure marriages happen as they are planned.  Mind eaters are also called dragons and Devon is determined to make sure that Kai is not taken from her and given to the knights to be raised as a monster with the other dragons.

As Devon goes on the run with her son, she meets another woman who is there to help her.  This woman knows how to get the only medicine that can calm Kai's hunger for humans.  She takes Devon and Kai to her family home where others like Kai live and indulge their birth gifts.  Is this the answer for Devon?

This fantasy novel has elaborate world building and characters that are relatable.  Devon's brother is the head of the knights and he is in charge of hunting her and Kai down.  It turns out that Devon is gay making her marriages even more of a horror and she is determined to break free of her family and to save Kai no matter what it takes.  The novel was chosen as a Best Book of 2022 by such organizations as NPR, Goodreads and Book Riot.  Readers will be transported to a world they could never imagine by themselves and firmly on Devon's side as she tries to save her son.  I listened to this novel and the Scottish narrator added intrigue and mystery to the narration.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.