Nelson Morales

"She Who Devours" by Bea Bustamante serves up fantasy, romance, and horror with Philippine folklore and history.

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ABS-CBN Lifestyle

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1777272367861She Who Devours 04272026.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="&quot;She Who Devours&quot; by Bea Bustamante serves up fantasy, romance, and horror with Philippine folklore and history."/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">&quot;She Who Devours&quot; by Bea Bustamante serves up fantasy, romance, and horror with Philippine folklore and history. </span></span></span></div><p>&quot;You&#x27;re being blessed by the gods; they ask for your compassion and your wisdom, but it&#x27;s up to you to choose.&quot;</p><p>The premise is fresh and promising. An aspiring professor is thrust into a Filipino folklore-inspired world with supernatural creatures and given a choice -- pursue the academic life of her dreams, or embrace her destiny as a shaman-protector of her world. </p><p>In &quot;She Who Devours&quot; (Penguin Random House SEA, 2026, 281 pages), BookTok creator-turned-fantasy author Bea Bustamante weaves together traditional myths and modern storytelling tropes so successfully, you&#x27;d want to give her the equivalent of the Golden Buzzer for sheer talent.</p><p>In an interview following the launch of &quot;She Who Devours&quot; last month, Bustamante -- whose day job is grade school teacher down south -- shares the backstory and who she wrote this novel for.</p><div><strong>You were a BookToker who decided to become an author. How did that happen?</strong></div><p>&quot;I love reading talaga. I started reviewing books in 2023. Then I said, I like reading so much, what if I just try writing something? Nagsulat lang ako and then I liked it. What if I kept going and just try writing a full book? I wrote it for one and a half years -- I finished January 2025.&quot;</p><div><strong>And it&#x27;s not a book to be neatly pigeonholed:  it has adventure, romance, folklore, horror, even Philippine history. How did it end up to be so many things?</strong></div><p>&quot;I just really wanted to write a book that reflected everything I like about books. I love fantasy, supernatural stuff, and horror -- I love scary things! I love romance, rivalry, dark academia, and Filipino folklore. I was like: what if I put it all into one book then let&#x27;s see where it goes? If I were a reader with a checklist of everything I wanted, this would have it. It&#x27;s what I would want to read also.&quot;</p><div><strong>Did you write this for yourself, or did you think of a particular reader while writing it?</strong></div><p>&quot;Both. I was thinking of those on the precipice of adulthood. In the story, Maya is a fresh grad trying to figure her life out -- like me. I sometimes feel na dinadala lang ako ng plot ng buhay ko. So it&#x27;s both for myself and anybody else who feels the same way.&quot;</p><div><strong>That&#x27;s where you started. When did the other elements come in?  </strong></div><p>&quot;The first thing I wanted was for it to be about Filipino folklore -- mythology was number one. Second would be that feeling of the reluctant Chosen One. You know, this person with all these expectations of her, responsibilities she&#x27;s being brought to… and she doesn&#x27;t really want to answer the call. It&#x27;s the rejection of the call. Then the romance followed: this annoying guy she was kind of into. That was my process of writing it.&quot;</p><div><strong>Philippine folklore came first -- why?</strong></div><p>&quot;I just love folklore and mythology in general. Filipino folklore has stories that I haven&#x27;t heard in other cultures. The relationships to the gods, the family dynamics, and even the animals in these stories are unique. You see what was important to our ancestors: what they valued the most, what traits they desired, what they feared, the animals that were part of their biosphere. You can learn so much without ever having met them.</p><p>&quot;I also have a personal connection to (Filipino folklore) kasi my lolo, who was one of the people who raised me, was very into it. I really grew up with those stories.&quot;</p><div><strong>You&#x27;re lucky to have a family member who actually told you stories from our folklore. You didn&#x27;t have to pick it up from a library. </strong></div><p>&quot;Yeah, he would tell it to me then I would see it on TV. That&#x27;s why I have a character in my book who&#x27;s like my lolo: the mother, who also happens to be a babaylan.&quot;</p><div><strong>I noticed that you have a babaylan who has non-binary pronouns. Is it because the babaylan were really supposed to be non-binary?</strong></div><p>&quot;When I was doing my research, I learned that a lot of the babaylan were transgender women and that it was a normal part of pre-colonial Filipino society. It&#x27;s something that&#x27;s part of our history and it&#x27;s important to me to have characters like that be represented in a world.  </p><p>&quot;Instead of being put on the side -- depowered, in a sense -- what if they were super powerful?  What would it be like if they were at the forefront as the mentors and protectors?&quot;</p><div><strong>At a certain point, &quot;She Who Devours&quot; becomes very cinematic, like &quot;Percy Jackson&quot; meets &quot;Shake, Rattle, and Roll.&quot; Was being action-driven a deliberate thing?</strong></div><p>&quot;Yes! I love action, that comes from the side of my lola. &#x27;Yung mga bakbakan at patayan. I kind of grew up with some violent movies… I didn&#x27;t understand anything but now I really enjoy seeing sunud-sunod na action, even in books!&quot;</p><div><strong>How did you end up with your publisher (Penguin Random House)?</strong></div><p>&quot;Oh, my publishing journey was very unconventional. Mid-2024, I hit a major writing slump. I started querying agents and publishers even if my manuscript was not finished because I just wanted to know if it was worth pursuing… I just needed somebody to believe in it and then maybe, it would give me the strength to continue.</p><p>&quot;I got rejected so many times but then Penguin reached out to me. I said okay, here&#x27;s my manuscript pitch. It&#x27;s not complete but here&#x27;s the general flow… They said okay, if you can finish it at this certain time, we can work on this together. </p><p>&quot;Yes! Somebody likes this… [Then] Oh no, I have to finish it now! (laughs). So yeah, very unconventional publishing journey.&quot;</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1777272159238Bea Bustamante-2.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Bea Bustamante during her book launch"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Bea Bustamante during her book launch </span></span></span></div><div><strong>What are the memorable reactions from your readers?</strong></div><p>&quot;The overwhelming response so far has been: &#x27;Grabe, binitin mo talaga kami!  We need Book 2!&#x27; [Being a cliffhanger] can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing. It is what it is.&quot;</p><div><strong>Who are your youngest fans, your youngest readers?</strong></div><p>&quot;My students! They’re only in Grade 2. Before the last day of school, they all came to class with a copy of the book. Naiyak ako! Then I said, teka lang, I don&#x27;t think you can read this book yet. Then two minutes later, someone said: &#x27;Teacher, how do you read this word?&#x27;&quot;</p><div><strong>They must have brought it to you to sign.</strong></div><p>&quot;Yeah, it was like that. &#x27;Teacher, you sign this, okay? Make it a special dedication.&#x27; They created a signing event in the classroom… very cute but so funny!&quot;</p><div><strong>They can read it eventually.</strong></div><p>&quot;It&#x27;s safe for kids because it&#x27;s not dystopian. And it&#x27;s romance but it&#x27;s not spicy!&quot;</p><div><strong>What&#x27;s your favorite part of having your first novel published? </strong></div><p>&quot;I&#x27;m so happy that people are reading it and enjoying it. My favorite part is having them tell me in person what they liked about it, their theories and stuff. </p><p>&quot;As a reader and as a reviewer, I&#x27;ve been on that side of consuming stories. Now that my story is being consumed by other people… I&#x27;m just letting everything happen and making sure I remember it. Because you&#x27;re only a debut author once.&quot;</p><div><em>&quot;She Who Devours&quot; is available at National Book Store, Fully Booked, Lazada, and Shopee.</em></div><div><strong>ABOUT THE AUTHOR</strong></div><p>Vanessa Bicomong is a marketing teacher and consultant who has been writing book reviews since 2021. She is the program director for customer centricity at Acumen Strategy Consultants, and general manager of The Learning Library, an online tutorial center offering reading comprehension and writing classes in English and Filipino.</p>

<p>In "She Who Devours," BookTok creator-turned-fantasy author Bea Bustamante weaves together traditional myths and modern storytelling tropes so successfully, you'd want to give her the equivalent of the Golden Buzzer for sheer talent. </p>

In "She Who Devours," BookTok creator-turned-fantasy author Bea Bustamante weaves together traditional myths and modern storytelling tropes so successfully, you'd want to give her the equivalent of the Golden Buzzer for sheer talent.

From BookToker to author: Bea Bustamante releases debut novel 'She Who Devours'

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From BookToker to author: Bea Bustamante releases debut novel 'She Who Devours'

ABS-CBN Lifestyle,

Vanessa Bicomong

Published April 27, 2026 02:47 PM PHT

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