Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Star Eater

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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theaubby's review

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I had a hard time getting into the story. I don't know if I was missing it or if it just wasn't there yet, but it felt like there wasn't a lot of context for the world. I'm sure it would've been explained but I hadn't developed any kind of attachment to the main character and eventually just got bored.

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madeline_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was a bit complicated for me. While I thought the world and plot were fun enough the cannibalism plot was a lot to handle. It was certainly interesting and a different take on how magic travels through out the wold.

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macmannwood's review

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5.0

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musebeliever's review

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dark slow-paced

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

0.5

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twoclaws's review

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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softieghost's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Star Eater was quite enjoyable. The world is something new (not your typical vaguely historical fantasy) and the magical concepts were engaging. I was continually surprised by the author's creativity in world building.

On the downside, the book was a bit dense and there is a huge cast of characters. Now, the author helpfully gives you a list on the first page of everyone you need to know, but it still felt a bit jumbled.

There were times a character would say "X person fights for OUR side" and I 1) couldn't remember who that person was and 2) couldn't remember what "that side" wanted.

Main character seems a bit lost even up to the end as well. I never got the sense that she truly knew what she was fighting for.

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sambutwithbooks's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This was a cool twist on the genre but tbh I wanted more horror from a book casually described on Twitter as "cannibal nuns". I loved when the book actually leaned into the body horror aspects of the plot but when it came to the actual uh, cannibalism....it fell short.

Especially when El learns that she's a rare type of nun whose body, when consumed to excess, would make the person eating her super powerful- I never really felt the urgency of her being basically hunted for nearly half the book.

Another issue I fought with was how binary the plot was. The characters- especially the women- are incredibly queer but there's practically no room made for trans or non-binary characters in this world.

The ending was a little too neatly tied up but at the end of the day I did mostly enjoy this book, I just wanted a little more from it.

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