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BITE DOWN
380 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 16, 2026
Better than the 1st book, but still not good in my eyes. This review will have spoilers.
The narration is oddly misogynistic in places, moreso than you'd expect after the main character has her shift in mentality to become more sure of herself and "deprogrammed" as the blurb at the end says. She calls herself hysterical 3/4 of the way into the book, and continues to call herself powerless and weak after the fact. Much more grace is given to Blythe's father than her mother, and while I get that this is because of the fact she's physically abusive to Blythe, I feel that there was a missed opportunity to delve into the "how" and "why" of a person acting like that, especially in a society like the one in Bite Down. Could Blythe's mother have been fed upon for showing the traits she discouraged in Blythe? Did her own mother treat her this way? Did her father treat her this way? We don't get to know, and a woman is reduced to a flat caricature of an abuser because of it. This is even more ironic considering the fact Blythe considers her father (a man who is at the head of the system oppressing her) abandoning his post that he's built his family's entire life upon before she ever thinks of her mother (a woman quite obviously confined under that same oppressive system) changing.
The dialogue in this book is often stunted and quote-farm-ey. Men's dialogue is reduced to purely misogynistic reddit quotes, and women are always spouting girlboss feminism inspo, talking about feeding in the same negative ways, or having arguments over unclear relationship boundaries. Unless, of course, you're Carlos, and you're absolved of all sin because of your queerness, ignoring the fact that being gay does little to dissuade a man against misogyny. I did enjoy Carlos though. He and the one good straight man in the entire BiteBackverse were breaths of fresh air. Was sad to see Mr.Goodguy die 2 pages later.
There are a couple of grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes in this book. They aren't too jarring, but noticable enough to bring me out of the moments they appear in. Also, some of my critiques from the first book still stand, the General gift is unecessary and just clutters the 1st page and religion is underutilized. The pacing is also a bit off, leaving moments I would've loved to read to happen off page instead of getting into the gorey details in the actual story. Also, there is an ableist slur in chapter 40. I definitely think this book could've gone through one more sensitivity reader/editing pass.
Two of the stars I'm giving this book are here solely because of the multiple chapters at the end that some actual meaningful, non quote-farm-ey dialogue shows up in. I liked being able to hear the evil doctors talk through the actions they take instead of hearing "I like abusing women. I want to eat them to death!!!" for the bajillionth time. The gorey nature of those scenes were beautifully contrasted by the casual nature of the dialogue, driving home just how normalized the abuse of women is for them. Aside from reading series title drops and annotating them with "SHE SAID THE THING!!", that was my favorite and most enjoyed part of the book.
I really do think this concept could make a good book. I just also think that this book was written for quote farming more than quality.
The narration is oddly misogynistic in places, moreso than you'd expect after the main character has her shift in mentality to become more sure of herself and "deprogrammed" as the blurb at the end says. She calls herself hysterical 3/4 of the way into the book, and continues to call herself powerless and weak after the fact. Much more grace is given to Blythe's father than her mother, and while I get that this is because of the fact she's physically abusive to Blythe, I feel that there was a missed opportunity to delve into the "how" and "why" of a person acting like that, especially in a society like the one in Bite Down. Could Blythe's mother have been fed upon for showing the traits she discouraged in Blythe? Did her own mother treat her this way? Did her father treat her this way? We don't get to know, and a woman is reduced to a flat caricature of an abuser because of it. This is even more ironic considering the fact Blythe considers her father (a man who is at the head of the system oppressing her) abandoning his post that he's built his family's entire life upon before she ever thinks of her mother (a woman quite obviously confined under that same oppressive system) changing.
The dialogue in this book is often stunted and quote-farm-ey. Men's dialogue is reduced to purely misogynistic reddit quotes, and women are always spouting girlboss feminism inspo, talking about feeding in the same negative ways, or having arguments over unclear relationship boundaries. Unless, of course, you're Carlos, and you're absolved of all sin because of your queerness, ignoring the fact that being gay does little to dissuade a man against misogyny. I did enjoy Carlos though. He and the one good straight man in the entire BiteBackverse were breaths of fresh air. Was sad to see Mr.Goodguy die 2 pages later.
There are a couple of grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes in this book. They aren't too jarring, but noticable enough to bring me out of the moments they appear in. Also, some of my critiques from the first book still stand, the General gift is unecessary and just clutters the 1st page and religion is underutilized. The pacing is also a bit off, leaving moments I would've loved to read to happen off page instead of getting into the gorey details in the actual story. Also, there is an ableist slur in chapter 40. I definitely think this book could've gone through one more sensitivity reader/editing pass.
Two of the stars I'm giving this book are here solely because of the multiple chapters at the end that some actual meaningful, non quote-farm-ey dialogue shows up in. I liked being able to hear the evil doctors talk through the actions they take instead of hearing "I like abusing women. I want to eat them to death!!!" for the bajillionth time. The gorey nature of those scenes were beautifully contrasted by the casual nature of the dialogue, driving home just how normalized the abuse of women is for them. Aside from reading series title drops and annotating them with "SHE SAID THE THING!!", that was my favorite and most enjoyed part of the book.
I really do think this concept could make a good book. I just also think that this book was written for quote farming more than quality.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2026
Oh. My. God. I read the first book when it came out and was obsessed, this just lit the flame even more. I absolutely love the way you write and how you articulated our societies misogyny into a cannibalistic dystopian world.
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