The Book Eaters is a bit of a vampire story that follows a mother and son as they attempt to leave their trapped lives behind. It’s a story about love, and it’s very enjoyable. That being said, it took about the first third of the book to completely hook me, but when I was into it, I was into it.

The story follows Devon Fairweather and her son, Cai. Devon comes from one of the old families of book eaters. There is a mythology introduced about where they came from, but the long and the short of it is, they eat books, taking in fiction and information like food.

Sometimes though, instead of book-eaters, there are mind-eaters – who feed on the minds of humans. Unless their hunger is controlled, they are dangerous and can succumb to madness. There’s a drug, Redemption, to keep them in check, and those that are become known as dragons. Dragons are useful weapons used by knights, who ride around on motorcycles policing the book-eater families.

Over the course of decades Devon’s story is told, flashing back and forth through time. There are forced marriages between families, strict control over children, and forced diets for women book-eaters (fairy tales to keep them in check).

Now, Devon is on the run with Cai, with a desperate plan in action, and a lack of trust of everyone and everything around them.

It’s a story of mother and son, and the lengths to which one will go for the love of the other. It’s all couched in familiar territory, delightfully twisted to feed on books instead of blood, and Dean makes it a fun adventure.

We get glimpses of the book-eaters history and mythology. Dean builds an interesting reality and Devon, as she grows through the course of the story, is an engaging heroine. I like how the story edges up against our own reality, as Devon races across England in a final gambit to save her son, and if she’s lucky herself.

She wants to get enough Redemption to stave off Cai’s hunger, and perhaps find a hidden family secret, a formula to make more.

There are allies, and enemies, and the family we’re born with and the family we choose. And it’s all going to come to a life-changing conclusion as Devon and Cai seek their escape.

I quite enjoyed this one. I like how Dean tells her story, and I love the idea of book-eating and what you glean from them. I also enjoyed the fact that the mythology of these beings are illustrated in broad strokes, enough to spark the imagination and wonder what these beings really are.

A unique take on vampirism, Book Eaters is a very enjoyable fantasy novel.