Reviews

Monster in the Middle by Tiphanie Yanique

amywoolsey_93's review

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

howse's review

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

dekedescombes's review

4.0

I picked this up after reading a sample and not knowing much else. Stunning writing, Yanique clearly knows what she’s doing, but this wasn’t the novel for me. As soon as I fell in empathy with a character, their story would be over. I was able to move into the next character, but sometimes wondered how the previous characters were doing.

Also, part of this novel is set in our real world in 2020. This is the first work of fiction not explicitly about the pandemic that I’ve seen covid mentioned in. It’s not good or bad to include it, but I was surprised (and a little unprepared for my own reaction to it).

lilly_dav_reading's review

3.0

Loved the idea and the characters but I just expected it all to come together a little more.

rynicolereads's review

“Just wasn’t feeling it,” says the mood reader

realbooktingz's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

mjkienbaum's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

morahsharon1's review

3.0

Interesting way of being self-referential as being a book along with the concept of all love stories being a sum of the previous stories. The voices are all very distinct.
On the other hand I had a lot of problems with the relationships....

m22bennett's review

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

absolutely adored how well-written all of the backstories were. such a talented writer! didn’t understand the intent of the end so it fell a little flat for me in comparison to how much I loved the backstories but it may need a re-read to make sense of it. the structure of this book allows you to see across time and observe the conscious and unconscious impact that familial and romantic relationships have on who the main characters (and we) are as whole people  

erickaonpaper's review

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

if you are interested in deep dives of characters, this is the one for you! you are quite literally taken on a journey of both maristela/stela and fly's ancestry and the loves of those peoples' lives. the only thing that messed this up for me is the ending! it left me a little unclear and am unsure of the plot device (covid-related, so also still working through how that was applied for this story). otherwise, i surprisingly really enjoyed this slow and introspective exploration of the characters' lives!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment