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jenhurst's review
4.0
Blog Post
Thank you Sourcebooks Fire, Neutrally and Amelinda Berube for the ebook ARC in exchange for a honest review.
"The Queen of Shadows would not be ruled by fear".
Skye is tired of being her wild, little sister Deirdre's protector. Thus, when they move to their new house, she does her best to fit in. In typical teenager fashion, she makes friends and finds a guy she likes. Deirdre becomes more wild and retreats more into herself. With each passing day Deirdre becomes more obsessed with the woods and building creepy statues of wood and bone. One day, when Skye is supposed to be watching Deirdre goes missing. It's told in an alternating timeline between the present (after Deirdre went missing) and before (when they first moved into the new house).
I think the alternating timeline gave a lot of background to the sisters, their motivations and their relationship with each other. The complex relationships between the sisters is what really drives the story forward. Deirdre is a queen in the kingdom and Skye is the protector (Queen of Shadows). As Skye tries to find her sister she has to make difficult choices.
The first half of the novel explored their relationship and Skye trying to comprehend what is going on, and as a reader we want to know what's going on in the woods. The 2nd half has monsters that are Lovecraftian masters, difficult choices and a quest of sorts.
I got this novel because the cover was cool, and I loved it. It was very creepy, dark and a overhanging mystery of what happened. I liked the atmosphere of the cold forest and it did such a good job that I felt cold reading it. It's a perfect mystery/horror combination. Imagine a combination of The Blair Witch Project, with some American Horror Story thrown in and a family love.
5/5
Give this novel a shot, especially if you like horrors. This is a novel that is perfect for a crisp, fall evening and focuses on things that go bump in the night and the complex relationships of sisters.
Thank you Sourcebooks Fire, Neutrally and Amelinda Berube for the ebook ARC in exchange for a honest review.
"The Queen of Shadows would not be ruled by fear".
Skye is tired of being her wild, little sister Deirdre's protector. Thus, when they move to their new house, she does her best to fit in. In typical teenager fashion, she makes friends and finds a guy she likes. Deirdre becomes more wild and retreats more into herself. With each passing day Deirdre becomes more obsessed with the woods and building creepy statues of wood and bone. One day, when Skye is supposed to be watching Deirdre goes missing. It's told in an alternating timeline between the present (after Deirdre went missing) and before (when they first moved into the new house).
I think the alternating timeline gave a lot of background to the sisters, their motivations and their relationship with each other. The complex relationships between the sisters is what really drives the story forward. Deirdre is a queen in the kingdom and Skye is the protector (Queen of Shadows). As Skye tries to find her sister she has to make difficult choices.
The first half of the novel explored their relationship and Skye trying to comprehend what is going on, and as a reader we want to know what's going on in the woods. The 2nd half has monsters that are Lovecraftian masters, difficult choices and a quest of sorts.
I got this novel because the cover was cool, and I loved it. It was very creepy, dark and a overhanging mystery of what happened. I liked the atmosphere of the cold forest and it did such a good job that I felt cold reading it. It's a perfect mystery/horror combination. Imagine a combination of The Blair Witch Project, with some American Horror Story thrown in and a family love.
5/5
Give this novel a shot, especially if you like horrors. This is a novel that is perfect for a crisp, fall evening and focuses on things that go bump in the night and the complex relationships of sisters.
linnaboobooks's review
4.0
Going into this I assumed it was a Young Adult horror novel then after a little ways into it I thought it was some sort of dark urban fantasy, which I'm not much of a fantasy reader unless it really has my interest. So, I kind of was iffy after the first 40 or so pages until I got farther into it. As I did, I got more drawn in to know what was going on. Even if I was frustrated with, mostly Deidre, a lot of the time in the past timeline.
In terms of characters, I was more partial to Skye in the beginning while I could completely see why she had issue with her younger sister. Deidre drove me kind of nuts while I'm usually patient with unlikable characters or younger characters, but with her I couldn't find it within myself since she gas-lit Skye and was kind of manipulative. Not that Skye was all that much better in her reactions both to Deidre and others mentioned in the novel. Both girls are unstable in one way or another and it can be disturbing to read.
If you're interested in a weird kind of horror-magic realism and intrigued by unhealthy relationships between siblings and how it can effect others around around them, I recommend this to you.
In terms of characters, I was more partial to Skye in the beginning while I could completely see why she had issue with her younger sister. Deidre drove me kind of nuts while I'm usually patient with unlikable characters or younger characters, but with her I couldn't find it within myself since she gas-lit Skye and was kind of manipulative. Not that Skye was all that much better in her reactions both to Deidre and others mentioned in the novel. Both girls are unstable in one way or another and it can be disturbing to read.
If you're interested in a weird kind of horror-magic realism and intrigued by unhealthy relationships between siblings and how it can effect others around around them, I recommend this to you.
cmitchell2781's review
5.0
I had the opportunity to read an ARC of this book from Netgalley
This book was amazing. At the same time, I kind of hated it. Rather, I hated Skye.
The writing was dark, imaginative, and magical. When I had to put the book down, I couldnt stop thinking about it, about where exactly this story was going to head.
The world created was creepy and kind of suspenseful, but I could see why Deirdre was so drawn to this world with no rules.
I felt like Skye was in incredible selfish character, one who couldnt take responsibility for her own actions and was always using her sister as an excuse. It made it really hard for me to like her as the main character, although I wasn't much fonder of Deirdre, in the end.
Regardless of how I felt for the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, it was a fresh story in a genre of books that was getting a little predictable. I highly recommend picking this up when it comes out this August!
This book was amazing. At the same time, I kind of hated it. Rather, I hated Skye.
The writing was dark, imaginative, and magical. When I had to put the book down, I couldnt stop thinking about it, about where exactly this story was going to head.
The world created was creepy and kind of suspenseful, but I could see why Deirdre was so drawn to this world with no rules.
I felt like Skye was in incredible selfish character, one who couldnt take responsibility for her own actions and was always using her sister as an excuse. It made it really hard for me to like her as the main character, although I wasn't much fonder of Deirdre, in the end.
Regardless of how I felt for the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, it was a fresh story in a genre of books that was getting a little predictable. I highly recommend picking this up when it comes out this August!
sampetsdogs's review against another edition
There's this ambient noise in the background while the narrator is speaking, but it abruptly cuts off when she finishes a sentence. It's making the audio sound really choppy and I can't handle it. I might be able to push through and get used to it if the story was drawing me in at all, but it isn't. I'm so bored.
marieintheraw's review
2.0
I was drawn to this story by the eerie cover and the creepy premise. Unfortunately, the story was disjointed and I really didn't love our protagonist or the atmosphere the author failed to create.
I received an ecopy of this through netgalley; however, all opinions are my own.
I received an ecopy of this through netgalley; however, all opinions are my own.
ambeesbookishpages's review
4.0
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire for approving me for an eGalley!
I been working with Amelinda the past couple of weeks for an interview on Here There Are The Monsters so I was really excited when Soucebooks had approved me on NetGalley for an eGalley. Here There Are The Monsters was brilliant and memorizing. But as where Amelinda's writing was beautiful the story was also bone chilling and thrilling.
Skye has been Deirdre's protector for as long as she can remember, but now with a move across the country and a fresh start Skye has washed her hands of being the protector. Deirdre's is thirteen now, it is a fresh start for her to make friends and be normal. Only she isn't. Deirdre lives in these make believe worlds with make believe characters, but soon becomes obsessed with the woods behind their new home. Where Skye is thriving and making friends Deirdre is withdrawing. But one night, Deirdre doesn't come home.
The first half of the book was slow but incredibly interesting. It alternates between when they first moved to their new home and to the now when Deirdre's missing. But Amelinda uses this time to build her characters and show the complexities of their relationships. Deirdre's character is complex and in the alternating chapters you can see the codependency that Deirdre has for her older sister, but Deirdre also acts a lot younger then her actual age. In the first half of the novel we see the subtle but quick changes in Deirdre's personality. Her desperate need of protection from Skye, the with drawing, her disdain of William and the other "invaders." Deirdre wasn't normal to begin with but seeing her decline was haunting.
I loved Skye's character. The complexity of her relationship with her sister is a big focal point of the whole novel. Skye is done with Deirdre's childish games and she is over having to be the knight in shining armor all the time. Her sister is old enough. Skye is thriving in their new home: making friends, going out and even hanging out with her charming neighbor William, learning how to shoot a bow. We watch Skye make challenging decisions and sacrifice so much in the span of the second half of the book. At the end of the day Deirdre needs Skye's protection and Skye realizes that and will stop at nothing to find and bring her sister home.
I'm going to brush over the monsters and creatures that take up the second half of the novel so I don't spoil anything for anyone: but they were creepy as hell. I went back and reread the introduction of them a couple of times to make sure that I fully understand what I was reading because they were twisted as hell. They really gave this book the spooky horror feel that Amelinda was going for. The ending of the book really gave me a run for money, I had convinced myself that it wasn't going to end on a certain note and it didn't. At all.
Overall I really loved Here There Are Monsters and I can't wait for the world to get to experience the horrors that are waiting with in the pages of this novel.
micahmoos's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
jane_kelsey's review against another edition
1.0
Yeah, no thanks. I love the cover and the premise, but the execution was soooo poorly done and I HATED the sisters - they're self-centered, mean creatures that I did not enjoy reading from their POVs....