I DNF'd this at about 43%. I suddenly realised that I was completely wasting my time as I could not care less about anyone in the book. I just can't fathom why it took me so long to realise that I didn't actually have to finish the book!?

This was really disappointing. Like upsettingly so. I made the mistake of having expectations so it's my own fault really, but this interesting and unique concept just didn't have the author it deserved. Yikes that feels so harsh. The idea of humanoid entities literally eating physical books for sustenance AND to absorb the knowledge has SO much potential. But there was hardly any explanation as to the how and why (other reviewers have confirmed there is no more info in the second half of the book), the world building was mediocre, and I just didn't believe any of the truly harrowing and out right horrible moments. There was no sense of urgency in the apparent danger in some parts and there just wasn't any depth to anything or anyone. It also read like YA which threw me off. Not only did it just sound juvenile, there was no tone or emotion to any of the characters. And to round it all off - and the thing which wound me up the most - was the bizarre and uncomfortable choice of adjectives and turns of phrase for metaphors or descriptive sentences which fell flat and made me continuously go, huh?! I'm giving 1 star for the concept alone. And the book cover.