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bookboxbabe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Murder, Gore, Animal cruelty, and Blood
keen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Body horror
Moderate: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Child death
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
blewballoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Abandonment
annaavian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The story is narrated from the perspective of Shesheshen, a monster who provides a fascinating viewpoint on human behavior and emotions. Wiswell excels in portraying the monster's observations with wit and insight, highlighting human peculiarities through an alien lens. This narrative approach is undoubtedly one of the novel's strongest aspects, offering a fresh and engaging take on the typical monster-human encounter trope.
However, while the concept and narrative voice are intriguing, the execution falls short in several areas. The characters, for the most part, come across as one-dimensional or downright unpleasant. The romance between Shesheshen and Homily lacks believability and depth, which undermines a significant part of the plot. Homily, in particular, feels underdeveloped and fails to evolve beyond her initial submissive portrayal, making it difficult to fully invest in her character arc.
As the novel progresses, the plot becomes increasingly disjointed and erratic. The introduction is captivating, setting up an intriguing premise with Shesheshen's discovery of humans and his interactions with Homily. However, the story loses its footing as it delves into the romantic subplot and Homily's family dynamics. The narrative logic begins to unravel, culminating in a disappointing plot twist regarding Homily's mother that feels forced and out of place.
Despite its flaws, "Someone You Can Build a Nest In" offers moments of dark humor and clever social commentary, particularly in its exploration of monster ethics and human relationships. Wiswell's ability to craft a unique perspective and inject humor into grim scenarios is commendable. However, the novel's inconsistent pacing, underdeveloped characters, and questionable plot choices ultimately detract from its overall impact.
Overall, "Someone You Can Build a Nest In" is an unconventional read that may appeal to those seeking a fresh take on the monster genre. While it has its strengths in narrative creativity and thematic exploration, it struggles with character depth, repetitiveness and narrative coherence. Readers should approach this book with an open mind, prepared for a strange and occasionally frustrating journey through the eyes of an unlikely narrator.
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Lesbophobia
bonriki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Violence, Blood, Bullying, and Gore
Moderate: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
faliiza's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Amazing. My jaw was on the floor on page one. The gore and monstrosity was unapologetic from the start. This story also had a heavy load of trauma and dark themes. But as it often is, the obvious monster isn’t always the worst.
Despite the ugliness, the writing was so fun and whimsical even. The book had some golden moments of situational comedy and hilarious conversations. The story moved swiftly and had that tense monster hunting vibe paired with the comedy of the monster being among the hunting party.
The sapphic/asexual romance was so tender and precious my heart was about to burst. It was pure and just right for the characters, honouring each others’ boundaries and understanding their baggage.
My only issue with this story was the ending. I felt that the last few chapters were unnecessary. The story would have been just about perfect without them.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Gore, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Murder, Blood, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child abuse and Physical abuse
laurareads87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Abandonment, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Cosy fantasy isn’t normally my cup of tea but the healthy dashes of good weirdness, horror, satire and humour have made this reading experience very enjoyable.
Someone You Can Build a Nest In follows Shesheshen, the resident shapeshifter monster of Underlook who falls in love with a kind human girl named Homily. However, despite Homily reciprocating Shesheshen’s feelings, their romance is not an easy one because:
a) Homily is part of the intense, complicated, toxic and extreme Wulfyre family who has made it their duty to slay wyrms like Shesheshen because her kind has somehow ‘cursed’ their family.
b) No matter how well Shesheshen mimics and learns, at the end of the day, she’s no human and a relationship built on lies is not something she can vibe with — and heavens, there are a lot of lies from all sides that need to be dealt with first.
So, what can a monster in love do but try her best anyway, am I right? Which, brings us this oddly lovable story that has humans VS monsters interwoven into everything, everywhere, all at once.
Wiswell has done a brilliant job telling this story through the perspective of a monster. It truly reads and feels alien, but as admirable as I find this (and as much as I enjoyed the other aspects of the story), I feel this has created a great emotional disconnect as well. I get that this is due to Shesheshen’s character and when she becomes more human in feeling and thinking, her narrative reflects that. However, the emotions in her narrative also stop coming to life after the climax and the story returns to this state of emotional disconnectivity. This could just be me, though, as I found the entire bit post-climax too neat. Nevertheless, I do appreciate the care Wiswell has in exploring different types of trauma, love, relationships and identity here.
If romance between a human and monster paired with a direct, unflinching narrative (remember, this is a horror fantasy too) doesn’t give you the ick, I think you’ll enjoy Someone You Can Build a Nest In too.
Thank you so much DAW and Wunderkind PR for providing me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review! Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell will be available at all good bookstores.
Moderate: Blood, Animal cruelty, Gore, Murder, Bullying, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, and Child death
Minor: Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
diken's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The safety of being disguised, and of not being wholly known, melted away as though by the heat of her blood. There was no reclaiming the safety of anonymity. What she yearned for was unity.
There was no deception to keep her safe from whatever Homily thought of her. If she wanted to be in love, then she had to grow used to it.
I read this book in one sitting, eating and petting my cat intermittently without being able to tear myself away. It's a very, very good book.
There's a lot I love here: queer romance, obviously, but also a completely unique and fascinating plot with just enough world-building and terribly lovable characters. The writing is straightforward and still poetic.
We know Shesheshen is a monster from the first page, and we never know too much about the kind of monster to make it boring or predictable. There is something to be said for fantasy books that have a deep, detailed taxonomy of monsters (and infodump that exposition right away in some compendium), but one of the highlights of this book for me was how organically the lore was introduced. We learn about Shesheshen as she learns about herself, and it feels really satisfying going on that journey with her.
There are a few heavy-handed moments discussing trauma and abuse, but they are accompanied by some really meaningful insights and beautiful prose. I highly recommend this book with the advance warning that there is a metric ton of body horror and horrible family dynamics; for me, it was absolutely worth it. If this turns out to be a series, I will definitely read the next one; regardless, I'll be waiting for the next John Wiswell release with bated breath.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, and Child death
maryellen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Gore, Confinement, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail