Star Eater was a wild ride and I think I mostly enjoyed it, but I have questions. Yes, this is indeed a book about witchy cannibal nuns and even though I knew that going in, the author still managed to do it in a way that was very unsettling. This book is largely an exploration of power.

Elfreda has magic and is in some ways powerful, but she was also born into a life that constrains her choices about love, reproduction, death, and the use of her body. It's disturbing and it's supposed to be. This is a world where many people are bisexual (including most of the main characters), and Sisters might find love and marriage with women, but reproduction involves what amounts to the required ceremonial r*pe of a man, usually a criminal. Because sex with a Sister infects men and turns them into creatures that are like a mashup of zombie, vampire, and werewolf. The Sister is left without a choice and the man is magically compelled.

It's messed up. A lot of things are messed up. And that's the point. It's a dystopian view of a matriarchial society with backstabbing and aims for personal gain. I was certainly captivated, but the ending felt a little too neat and I was left with questions. Some about the world and magic, but also about the choice to have a book published in 2021 that is entirely founded on a system of gender essentialist magic where trans and non-binary people don't exist. I think this could have been done in a more nuanced way that explored the constructs of gender as they relate to power and magic. But instead we get a very traditional, binary approach. Which feels especially odd in a book with so many bisexual characters, which is another identity that is often erased or ignored. I appreciate the bi representation, but I'm not sure why the choice here was to instead ignore the existence of genderqueer individuals. We can and should do better.

The audiobook is well-done and the nonchalance of the narrator in some of these horrific scenes adds something. The horror of things becoming normalized. I'm left with very mixed feelings on this one. It's definitely something new, and there were a lot of things I liked about the story, but it also wasn't a perfect book. I received an audio copy of this book for review from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

ESP:
<i>Star Eater</i> cuenta la historia de Elfreda Raughn, una Acólita de la hermandad que dirige el gobierno en esta sociedad, <i>The Martyrdom</i>. Esta hermandad está formada por mujeres que tienen la capacidad de utilizar el <i>lace</i>, una especie de encaje, como un poder mágico que se hereda de madres a hijas, pero este linaje tiene un truco: para conservar los poderes, las hijas tienen que comerse el cuerpo de sus madres.

Entonces, en este libro puedes esperar encontrar:

- Una hermandad caníbal
- Hombres que se convierten en criaturas parecidas a zombies (Haunts) cuando tienen sexo con mujeres de la hermandad.
- Pero aún así, la hermandad necesita hijas, por lo que se ven obligadas a procrear con convictos varones.
- Su poder es, literalmente, usar encajes, como telarañas.
- Todas las personas en este libro son lesbianas o bisexuales.

Si voy a empezar con lo positivo, todos estos elementos son increíblemente atractivos. El concepto de este libro es tan único que dudo que alguna vez lea algo como esto. La construcción del mundo también fue interesante.

Pero, desafortunadamente, este libro no fue para mí.

Luchaba para continuarlo, y lo encontré un poco lento para mi preferencia. Ni siquiera supe cuál era la trama del libro hasta que llegué a la mitad, lo cual no me gustó.

En cuanto a los personajes, Elfreda me pareció una protagonista decepcionante. Era muy inconsistente con sus pensamientos y acciones; por ejemplo, tenía el pensamiento de no traicionar a una amiga pero luego reveló sus secretos al minuto siguiente. Los personajes secundarios son muy poco memorables, tanto que luché por mantenerme al día con quién era quién y recordar todos sus nombres (había demasiados nombres).

Por último, y estoy muy triste por esto, el audiolibro, narrado por Samara Naeymi, tampoco fue mi favorito. Me parecía que todos los personajes femeninos sonaban igual, lo cual era muy confuso, y los personajes masculinos también sonaban muy similares entre ellos.

Si los elementos mencionados arriba parecen ser algo que a ti te gustaría leer no dudes en darle una oportunidad La historia es muy original y todo lo acá expuesto es meramente una opinión.

<i>Gracias a NetGalley y a los editores por el arc del audiolibro a cambio de una reseña honesta. </i>

Creepy, unsettling, gory, glamorous, deceitful, magical, and full of intrigue

Star Eater was an unsettling horror that was surprisingly easy for me to stomach. I thought it was more gory than scary, which is apparently much easier for me to stomach. I'm working on growing into being confident in reading horror, and this one was definitely a good step. I loved the way the mood shifted back and forth to make you uneasy rather than using too many jump tactics. It was so impressive and something I've never seen before!

Quick Summary: Elfreda is determined to get out of her gruesome life as an acolyte of the Sisterhood of Aytrium at whatever the cost. One day as she is out in the town she is unwittingly swept up into a secret meeting with the head of a secret organization who seems to be undermining the Sisterhood. Suddenly Elfreda is swept into a world of societal politics, glamorous parties and what seems to be a world much more complicated than she knew.

The number one thing that I couldn't stop thinking about in this book was the way that the author seamlessly flips between creepy gore to normal teenager life. I was uneasy half the time while reading this book because of it. I absolutely love the way it was done. It made for an atmosphere that we could almost graze over the gore without it needing to be too gross but still feel the same amount of unease. It really allowed to gently guide you into the gore and horror. It was honestly so impressive and it is a strategy that I don't think I've seen in a book before. Stunning.

The descriptions of this book really stood out as well. Though it didn't feel like it was written use the gore as a tactic to scare you, the descriptions were still very vivid and immersive. The way that Hall was able to change the tone between more "normal" gruesome things to more "horrifying" gruesome things was unbelievable. What I mean is there were descriptions of gore that felt like they were just a normal part of life, and there were also descriptions of gore (sometimes even less gross) that were absolutely chilling. Depending on what was happening in the book. I'm very impressed by the way the author managed to convey such different tones while describing such gruesome things.

As for the story, I loved the intrigue. It was so creepy, but had a dash of glamorous royalty vibes. The book is full of such interesting and unique dichotomies that it's hard to look away. It is so well balanced and so interesting. I loved that we could feel the emotion from both the bottom of the ranks as well as from the top because Elfreda was put in a situation to see both. I loved the way that the world was so secretive, it added so much mystery and interest to the world. Overall honestly this book was wonderful - a little too scary for me, but Hall really eased me into it well, so I still really liked it!

Summing it all up

Star Eater is all at once gruesome, horrifying, fun and glamorous. Kerstin Hall bounces between such different tones, moods and topics in such a unique and impressive way, it had me in awe the whole time. It was a little too scary for me, but Hall guided me into the growing scare level very well!

CW rape/noncon

DNF. What worries me about this book is that it's about cannibal nuns and the author still thought, "you know what this fantasy dystopian needs? More rape." Nobody needs that, actually, and I personally think it's irresponsible and potentially dangerous to include. The more I think about this book, the less I like it. Yikes all around.

Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars

Star Eater is standalone adult fantasy and it is one of my most anticipated reads this year. I kinda enjoyed listening to the audiobook.

Star Eater is about cannibal nuns running a floating city called Aytrium. They worship the Star Eater - a woman who ate a star, swallowed its power then used it to raise a city in the sky. Their magic comes from eating their mothers, and they turn men into zombies after sex. Sounds intriguing, huh? Also rideable cats the size of a horse!! If that doesn't make you want to read it, I don't know what would 😂.

The audiobook is amazing! The narrator, Samara Naeymi, is brilliant! Her performance is remarkable. She creates different voices for the characters and breathes life into them.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's well-written, one of the most intriguing premise and magic system that I encountered this year. It focuses on political intrigue, religion, and rebellion which are some favorites of mine.
Star Eater is set in an adult world but with a too YA protagonist and love interest. The protagonist was annoying and whiny that I needed to take deep breaths to force down my irritation and the love interest, no sparks.

During the 15-hour long audiobook, I almost have no idea what was going on especially in the setting. Only halfway through it that I learned it's a floating island. This could've been an immersive read if the world was fleshed out. There were plot holes and questions that were left unanswered particularly on the magic system's how-to.

While I gave Star Eater a 2.5/5 star rating, I would still recommend it. It's a decent debut novel, unique, and original concepts. Do consider picking the audiobook; the narrator did an amazing job.

Thank you Tor and Netgalley for prividing an audibook. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

I’ll be honest- the cover is what pulled me in most on this one. Phrases like all martyrdoms are difficult & a phantasmagorical indictment of hereditary power certainly helped as well. Cannibalism and nuns? Umm, how could I not want to read this?

Safe to say, I think my expectations may have been a little high for Star Eater. While the synopsis is accurate, it certainly had me thinking the story would be a bit darker, more violent, and well- adult.

I was right on the cusp of feeling invested for pretty much the entire 14-hour listen. The premise for this one was fascinating, however, the story never really managed to fully engage me. I wanted the religion/order part of the story explored in further depth and well- the story could have used more violence and action, for the world it was in.

I think my biggest issue with it was that it felt like a YA novel that just so happened to be set in a very adult world. The main character... actually almost all of the characters, felt super whiny and overly dramatic. An apt comparison to this novel would certainly be The Year of the Witching. I wanted more from both novels in much the same way and they both very much felt YA despite their settings.

In terms of the narrator, I found her pleasant to listen to and I think she did a decent job. That being said, I found the intonation on some parts a bit strange and she was sometimes too neutral.

Overall, Star Eater is well-written and is filled with plenty of interesting concepts; it was just not a match for me. I would recommend it to readers of darker YA fantasy. Also, if you loved The Year of the Witching, I think you’d be doing yourself a favor by picking this one up too.

I received a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Honestly, the description of this book has me a bit concerned if I would like it or not. I mean, cannibalistic nuns on a floating island? Eh, that could go either way.
Luckily for me, I went with it - and boy am I glad I did!

We follow the young woman Elfreda. She is in the sisterhood, and her purpose is to protect the island with the sisterhood, and of course, become pregnant and end her days in martyrdom. But something is changing, sisters are murdered, and Elfreda might be able to help to figure out what is going on and maybe even change the way of things for good.

It took me a bit to really get into the story. I was a bit confused about what was happening at first, but it picked up pretty soon. After that, I started to really enjoy listening. The characters were great, the storyline was great, and the whole plot idea was just outstanding.
The idea behind the book is one of the better I have read lately. It was unique and interesting.
The story is definitely something else. The society they live in is twisted and, frankly, horrific, but that all makes the story so much more enjoyable.

Listening to it as an audiobook is, of course, different than reading it. A lot comes down to the narrator. This one was narrated by Samara Naeymi, and she did an excellent job. Her voice worked very well for that character and was very easy and soothing to listen to.

I've seen quite a few bad reviews for this book - which I really don't understand. I enjoyed it a lot and listened to the whole book within a few days. It stayed in my mind, and I kept thinking about it while doing other things. Isn't that what makes a good book?
It might not be a literary masterpiece, but it was an excellent fantasy book, and it deserves to be read!
Yeah, it might not be for everyone. But if you like twisted and original fantasies - then this book is worth a shot! I, for one, am super happy I decided to read it! I also think that this book needs to have a spot on my bookshelf - and not only be listened to as an audiobook!

Wow. Listened to this arc as an audiobook, and not only was the narration excellent, the story honestly blew me away. Utterly gripping, unique, nothing like what I expected (though given the content warnings I wasn’t sure quite what to expect) and I know it’s going to keep me thinking for awhile. I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle the gore (the cannibalism, in particular), but the story justified it and the violence only lent gravity to the ideas being explored here.

As far as narration goes, I wanted to point out that Samara Naeymi does a particularly good job at differentiating between characters, especially between male and female voices - I read almost exclusively via audiobooks these days, and I know through experience it can really impact the flow of the reading if the dialogue is not done well. I found myself reflecting on the narration several times throughout the book, wanting to commend the actress for her work.

I'm not going to round all the way down to 4 stars for this, because so much about the book was amazing and the average rating currently seems unfairly low IMO, but I completely agree with other reviewers that the worldbuilding called for some kind of acknowledgment of trans or nonbinary characters, and that for a Tor.com book released in 2021, this seems like a huge blind spot. Especially as so much of the violence of the Order is characterized as biological essentialism and objectification (martyrdom defines/reifies a sister's biological destiny as an object literally to be consumed) it would only seem natural for the book to consider the Order's definitions of "woman" and "man" and the violence inherent to these very categories. I'd love to see a sequel that works with this more as our main character unlearns the doctrines she's been raised to uphold.

I tried really really hard to get into this book. It's got such a unique premise: cannibal nuns right? But it really came off as like Handmaid's Tale on steroids in a far worse way. This book was way too political for a book that I had thought would be sci-fi. I was incredibly bored and a bit disappointed in Star Eater.

DNF. Unfortunately I found the forced pregnancy and rape plots triggering. The writing was fantastic though and I'll look forward to the author's future work. I expect many will enjoy this book, but it wasn't for me.

[3.5 Stars]

My feelings towards this book are complicated. My main gripe is with the worldbuilding. This world and the concept of a cannibalistic matriarchial sisterhood was sooooo intriguing, but I really really needed more explanation. Everything from the founding + purpose of the sisterhood to what exactly lace is was so underdeveloped that I was more frustrated than engaged. Also, I swear the fact that the city was floating never came up until the end when the plot needed it. These things really needed to be fleshed out more for the book to actually hold some weight.
Perhaps instead of everything being in a standalone, this plot could have been stretched out over a duology so we really had time to explore the world and all the character's relationships (because those were also underdeveloped).
I liked the plot, the pacing was ok, and as I said before I think the premise is cool........this just needed a lot more refining to be a 4 or 5 star read.

I feel so split about Star Eater. I'm not sure if my concerns stem from the audiobook or the copy itself. I had difficulty following the narrator's differentiation between characters as well as keeping up with character names and nicknames which made it difficult at times to follow the story overall. Sometimes it felt like Star Eater was more of collection of vignettes or short stories than a fleshed out novel. The prose is gorgeous, grotesque in a delightful way, but where it has metal and grit in spades I found it lacking in depth, heart and story. I'm surprised to see so many author blurbs setting Star Eater apart as an incisive investigation of power when all I see is dated, tired gender essentialism that makes this "queer normative" world seem frail and false. Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Tordotcom and Recorded Books for the ARC.

Where to begin with this book. My thoughts are so conflicting about this read that I don't know where to start.

The premise of the book and concepts are so unique and mind blowing that I had to take a step back to just admire and bow my head to the writer for coming up with something so unique. A piece of the land suspended above the planet by a matriarchal society lead by sisters/nuns who weave magic to keep it afloat. The source of the magic is passed on generation after generation by the sisters eating the flesh of their comatose martyred mothers. But there's a catch, if they have any sexual relations with men, they transmit some STD which transforms those men into zombies. MINDBLOW!

If I take these concepts our of the picture however, we are left with a very mediocre YA-feeling of who done it? plot where MC is just as naive as the story itself.

I don't have a problem with YA, I read quite a lot of it and enjoy it. This book was marked as adult and combined with the themes and concepts, it felt so out of place to write YA characters and narrative but call it adult because of the violence. One proof of a YA-eque nature of this novel is its trope of Friends To Lovers. I didn't buy the chemistry at all and the MC seemed to have more passion and a more engaging relationship with a side character she met 25% into the book.

The world building felt incomplete and some aspects seemed to be overemphasized in several parts of the novel whilst others brush though quickly. I also felt like a lot of telling and not showing going on in the book, which was bordering on boring.

The main character's inner turmoil didn't seem so genuine. Reading her conflicting thoughts felt strangely detached, like I was reading someone retelling of someone else's conflict. It was hard to believe and it her inner thoughts didn't match her actions.

Overall I kept reading and finishing the book for the amazing concepts and it is unlikely that I would reread it again.

Wow, what an incredible book. Normally, while I love fantasy novels? They usually take me a while to get into. So much world building and multiple characters to learn, but not this book. Not that it didn’t include all of those things but it did it in such a way that you jump right into the story and Start running. This original tale of a world which is run but a Cannibalistic magic sisterhood, the questions and resistance it causes, and the main character, El, who will see all of it through to the end, for better or worse, is a breath of fresh air. It is dark, but hopeful. The characters are diverse, relatable, representative, sexually fluid, and carry the story. I almost couldn’t put it down, until I got to the last hour of the audiobook…then I didn’t want it to end.

The Narrator did an amazing job of representing the wide range of characters. It was so easy to know who was speaking each time. She made you get to know the characters so well.

"Lace flowed out of me like water." From Star Eater

3 stars

Warnings: Cannibalism, rape, death of parent, gore/violence

This book is not for the faint of heart. The book starts out slow, except for casually dropping, "oh yea, we eat our mothers" in this kind of cult like nun order. As I'm still trying to come to terms with all that entails, you realize there is a group of guys they just casually rape (though they don't call it that). I was way more into the revolution against the protangonist, who doesn't really seem to question this bonkers stuff. I really didn't feel any chemistry between the MC and her love interest, it seemed forced, and confusing how that really would work out. If you hate info dumps- don't worry, this book assumes you know all about the world. You only get some stuff in awkward conversations that read as a how to tell the reader about the world guide. It is pretty well written, but I couldn't really jive with the content, it turned my stomach.

I received a temporary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Recorded Books for the audioARC of this in exchange for my honest review. I flipped back and forth between that and the ebook from my library.

I thought this was a really intriguing, different premise, with a lot of the familiar fantasy tropes. The fictional religion was really interesting, with cannibalism tied to magic and sex that results in zombies, but I think it could've been delved into further. It really held my attention, and I definitely recommend it, despite any of it's flaws.
I thought the audio was really well done, though the narrator spoke AMAZINGLY slowly - my previous audio had been comfortable at 1.75x and this one sounded like normal speech when I started at that speed, I did end up speeding up further to find a comfortable listening speed.

This book started slowly as the horror of Elfreda's situation unfolds. When you find out how horrible the situation is for everyone under the Sisterhood's rule, the more you want Elfreda to destroy it. Elfreda also has that same realization as the reader. Good thing there are many other characters behind the Sisterhood who agree and help Elfreda.

As well done as this story is crafted, some parts felt unfinished, like the world-building. I was surprised at the end to find out that this takes place in a floating city.

Even though the term is never used, men are raped. After they are used for procreation, they turn into monsters. We're told that these men are convicted criminals, but that feels more like a hand wave of why I shouldn't be horrified by their fate. The ending was an esoteric happy ending and left me with many questions.

Elfreda and her love interest are thinly written characters. The side characters are better written, and if there is another book (seriously, so many questions), I'd rather follow them.

The narrator was okay. I've heard better, but I've heard worse.

Review based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books for providing me with an advanced copy of the audiobook.

Star Eater had been on my anticipated 2021 releases list for a while now and while I can say I am very grateful I got to listen to an advanced copy, I was kinda disappointed in the story's execution. The book did have some great parts, namely the audiobook narrator who was fantastic. Even though it was a single narrator she covered a large cast of characters very well.

The other aspect I really enjoyed about SE was the concept of the Sisterhood (the magical religion that the story is based around). I mean, cannibalistic priestesses that eat their mothers for power is such a cool plot point. The matriarchal society in which the MC lives also throws men off the floating island that the story takes place on once they are exposed to what is essentially a magic-based STI.

While the author did include these aspects in the story, I honestly wish more of it has been shown. I went into the audiobook expecting a gore-filled story with gruesome scenes scattered throughout the book. Instead, the majority of the story devolves from a cannibalistic Sisterhood to a typical palace political drama. Political drama stories aren't even a plot point I typically dislike. But I thought more could have been done with the magic system the author created, something that was not the "rebels against the system" trope.

Although I gave this book three stars, I would still recommend this book to others. But instead of pitching this as "gore heavy with a splash of political intrigue", I would say it was "political spy with a background in cannibalism".

A book about cannibal priestesses and body horror? Say no more. From the marketing, this book should have been a perfect match for me. Unfortunately, I came out more than let down.

Frankly, I think the majority of my complaints stem from what felt like very weak worldbuilding. Star Eater takes place on a floating island in the sky, in a society governed by bureaucratic cannibal priestesses who worship ‘the Eater’. The priestesses are all women due to how their power, called Lace, is passed down matriarchally and also turns men into zombies post-coitus. Which sounds interesting, right? But beyond that one paragraph, we really don’t get much more. Hell, for the most part, these women may as well be running your standard republic , not a theocracy. For a group of characters centered around worshipping a cannibal, the religious aspect is basically nonexistant.

Through the religious bureaucracy and a vaguely explained food shortage, Hall makes an attempt to tackle systemic power. This society, living on the island in the sky, is held purely through these priestesses’ Lace, and thus, the priestesses maintain de facto power of government. Obviously, certain groups of people are unhappy. Perhaps it’s that I read CL Clark’s The Unbroken too recently, which beautifully tackles colonialism and the different mindset towards that system, but this attempt felt so extremely halfhearted to me. Our main character, Elfreda, occasionally makes reference to the fact that yeah, maybe she and her Sisters shouldn’t have all this power given the rampant corruption within their religion, but then almost immediately passes it off that the people need their power and thus the Sisters must stay in power.

And then we get to Elfreda herself. There’s a lot of reviews on Goodreads that compare this book to a YA novel in terms of shallow worldbuilding and character depth and frankly, they’re not wrong. Elfreda is your typical naïve YA protagonist with the personality of a wet rag, suddenly thrust into a world she’s unprepared for, with an added layer of Chosen One nonsense stacked on top. Really, the only difference is that she’s in her early 20s instead of her late teens. I can’t say I hated her character, but there was just so little to draw in the first place.

With all that being said, I can’t say this book was bad. The story is well-paced and the cannibalism aspect, which only gets fully explore in the latter half, was well done. Hall does an excellent job with the body horror, both in the gruesome depictions of the zombies and the feelings of certain disgust as the characters we follow are forced to consume raw human flesh.

Overall, I rate this book a 3/5. While the story itself wasn’t bad, I found the worldbuilding aspect extremely lacking, both in the religious aspect and the over societal structure. Our MC is fairly on par with the typical bland female YA protagonist, and I really wish the book had learned further into the horror aspect of the cannibalism.

I never thought I would say this but I wanted more cannibalism and religion from this cannibal nun zombie story. Yup, that’s a sentence I just typed.

This is a story about a world that follows a matriarchal society with a sisterhood that has a bizarre magic system with bizarre repercussions. In order to maintain their power, known as lace, they need to consume the flesh of other sisters (ie their moms, etc.) There’s also this whole thing where they have to continue the bloodline but infect any men they have sex with with a zombie creating STI. So there’s that. And then some political upheaval and revolution from the ranks, ya know, the works. Yeah, I have no clue how to describe this book.

So all that being said, most of the things that were intriguing to me as a reader (the horrific stuff) wasn’t on page very much and most of the story is just political drama amongst the sisters and from the rest of society. I had a hard time keeping track of who was who a majority of the time and I realized partway through the book that this was largely because there are almost zero physical descriptions of anyone. I believe this was done on purpose to dehumanize a lot of the characters but it made me hard to picture everyone and keep all the characters straight.

I like the concept of this world and how it plays on heredity power in all ways symbolically and literally; physical, magical, emotional, societal. The act of having to eat your mother to continue your line of power has a lot of impact and I would have liked to explore that whole system a bit more. I didn’t care much for the main character though, she felt very naive in a spoiled way. Which is true and accurate but it didn’t seem like she learned or grew much without things directly affecting her. As in, if something wouldn’t impact her personally, I don’t think she would have come to the realizations she did. And that feels very YA to me. In fact most of the characters felt very YA to me just set in an adult fantasy/dystopian/sci-fi world. I would be interested to see what I think about this retreading it in the future to see if I take more away now that I understand it. 3/5 stars.