Fair warning: this review is about a trilogy, and I’m only reviewing the first two books. The third book is not out yet, and the second book ended in a way that made me go, “No, I need book three now!” The copy of Volume 2 that I have indicates that Volume 3 is coming in fall 2024, but sadly, it is now set to be released in spring 2025.
The Night Eaters comes from the same creative team behind the comic series Monstress. I’ve read the first volume of Monstress and didn’t love it, but I will likely circle back to it, considering my five-star feelings about The Night Eaters. It might have just been a case of the wrong place and time for that book the first time around.
Set in the recent past (COVID-related masking is a thing, and mentions of restaurants being shut down are made) the story follows Chinese American Twins, Milly and Billy as they uncover their family history which is not as straightforward as they had thought it was, and adds some layers to their relationships with their parents (and in particular their mother).
The story is a blend of family drama, fantasy, and horror, with a side of humor. I believe that the best horror stories have at least an undercurrent of humour, and while very upsetting things are happening, there are also jokes to be found. The way the family interacts with each other is a huge part of the appeal; I love the relationship between Billy and Milly. Their relationship with their parents is much more complicated. While I think Ipo would be a truly terrifying mother, I also love her as a character.
Personally, I found the artwork in these books to be stunning, the art manages to capture the emotions the characters are going through and is beautiful to look at even when it goes into a more horror direction with blood, gore and … eyeballs. And fair warning the gore factor goes up, way up, in the second book. I still love the artwork but it does get more graphic.
The Night Eaters, Vol. 1: She Eats the Night
The first volume of the book is centred on Milly and Billy dealing with their parents visiting, dealing with their restaurant, and dealing with their generally… not exactly stellar personal lives (Milly in particular is dealing with some mess around who she sleeps with). Not so much the twin’s problem is the home across the street from theirs that is for sale and simply will not sell. That whole not-selling thing might have something to do with the creepy dolls that come with the house (all nicely posed on the couch) or the general mess and disarray of said house and its property.
However, the twins’ mother, Ipo, makes the house next door into the twins’ problem. First, she gets them to dig up the neighbor’s yard, revealing a giant skeleton of… something. Then she makes them clean the house next door, which, on top of its other issues, was the site of a murder. All hell breaks loose—in a sometimes graphic but also really beautiful way. (Again, I’m just in love with the artwork.)
Mixed in with the present-day action are flashbacks to Ipo in China, her life as a stuntwoman before meeting the twin’s father Keon. The family then moves to Hawaii, which is where the twins are born. Seeds of the big reveal about Ipo and Keon are sprinkled through these flashbacks, and it’s interesting seeing Ipo before she became a mother, and how she interacts with Keon, versus how we see her interacting with her children.
While the end of this section of the story leaves stones unturned and some dangling plot threads it felt like a pretty contained start to the story. In fact compared to the second book in the series this one feels pretty compact. The story moves along at a good pace and the main action is centred on the twins This whole volume sets the stage beautifully for ….
The Night Eaters, Vol. 2: Her Little Reapers
It’s the sequel and everything is just bigger. The cast expands, the settings expand (we go travelling to Canada, and the twin’s road trip to Boston), the page count goes up, and the stakes get raised considerably. There is also as mentioned at the start of this review a big old cliffhanger.
I think I might have liked the second book just a tad more than the first. So like five and a half stars out of five as opposed to the five stars. I liked that the world-building took more of a center stage in this one, it was a bit confusing at times (some terms are just tossed out there and you have to sort of pick out from context what they mean) but I am here for the expanded cast, and the twins exploring more about their history.
There are flashbacks in this volume as well, but instead of focusing on the parents they look back to the twins and times in their lives when there are in retrospect hints of the abilities they are trying to hone in this volume.
I am very very excited about volume three, I understand it will be the concluding one. I don’t want this story to end, but I am looking forward to seeing the conclusion of the cliffhanger. I also want to get some more backstory about Ipo and Keon (and their families), come on April 2025.