Eartheater by Dolores Reyes definitely caught my attention with its premise. On paper it sounds super interesting: a girl who can see the brutal truth of crimes by eating dirt. It’s both strange and visceral with a lot of promise. However, for me, it never quite finds its footing.
The pacing drags, moving from one muted scene to another. The protagonist herself feels too aloof. Her choices confused me more than drew me in. I kept alternating between scratching my head and going “why are we here?”
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the book throws in graphic scenes that fail to land for me. There’s no groundwork, no narrative build-up, just sudden bursts of explicitness dropped into an otherwise middling story. I’m not opposed to spicy scenes on the page, but as an ace reader, I want it to serve the story in some way. And no, that doesn’t mean that it needs to add to the plot. They can also add texture, have consequences, or even just serve to release the tension of the characters. Even then, if you’re going to randomly insert spice, at least make it good. Here, it felt like noise more than meaning.
Eartheater is a novel that had all the right ingredients for something interesting and new. Instead, it lingers in half-formed ideas and jarring shifts, leaving me more frustrated than entertained.
If you’re looking for a book that offers a new and exciting premise or keep you hooked, maybe look elsewhere.
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