Reviews with content warning for Blood - Star Eater

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Star Eater by Kerstin Hall

11 reviews

ticktock's review

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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jantzi02's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed it, but I was honestly a bit confused by the history and magic. I think that this book would benefit from a prequel about how Aytrium came to be in the sky. It was also never really explained why men turn into Haunts after having sex with a sister, and I wish that was explored more.

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macmannwood's review

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5.0

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anxiousnachos's review

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

It has been MONTHS since I last had a book I enjoyed so much it made me stay up late, needing to read on. This is such a dark horror fantasy: every single detail you find out about this world just makes it more and more fucked up and I loved it. And whilst we’re on it, I thought the worldbuilding was excellent. I loved the slow build of detail and information about the world, like slowly creating a more and more fucked up impression of the world as the plot got more and more intense.

Star Eater is a pacy, gruesome and gory horror fantasy about a murder mystery with cannibalistic government nuns and cats the size of horses and sexually transmitted zombieism. There are definitely problems! The ending is very rushed, the epilogue comes out of nowhere and it could of have had an extra 20-30 pages to end the book properly. And as other reviewers have pointed out, it’s weird how there’s no mention of trans/nonbinary people in such a queer-norm world?

But the vibes were so perfect for me and I can’t remember the last time I flew through a book like I did this.

Content warnings: Graphic blood and gore, graphic cannibalism, rape, forced impregnation, hallucinations, eating disorder, violence, murder, attempted murder, abortion, child death, child abuse, death

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urs's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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nofriendofmine's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.0

This "adult" book is actually YA and I will not be told otherwise. Ugh.

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bentgaidin's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

'Star Eater' is a story that pleasantly surprised me. I picked it up without knowing really anything about it beyond that it was about women who get magic by eating their mothers; I might have guessed that it would be about family trauma, but I was also amused to discover how much office politics was involved too. A lot of the story revolved around intra-group feuds among the magic wielders who control the city; despite the bloody, revolting source of their power, it's all very civilized - which is to say, full of subtle slights and fake smiles and social pressure to conform 'for your own good.' There's also a metaphorical layer about generational trauma; mothers who fear their lives being consumed by their daughters, who will be raised to fear their daughters in turn; men turned into hungry monsters, exiled but inescapable; and the constant fear of not being able to give enough to be worthy, of being bleed dry by other people's demands. The story is a little wobbly at the end, but I'd still recommend this to fans of dark fantasy (by which I mean, watch out for blood, bodily trauma, abuse and rape) - it's a really compelling and original fantasy and it's worth taking a look at.

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