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chaoticblade5's review
It has very frustrating formatting, chapters are often a page long. There's A LOT of content warnings for this book, and a fetishization of Lovecraft without too much in terms of actual Lovecraftian horror. I looked up to see if there were more content warnings for this book, and it has stuff that I'm just not willing to deal with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Child abuse, Stalking, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Physical abuse, Abortion, and Medical content
The book opens withredus_reuse_recycle's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual content
Minor: Abortion
hauntedtesty's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Can't recommend. This is possibly the first book that triggered my eczema from rage, which is somewhat impressive.
Avoid if you have CSA triggers, because the monster grooming a child to the point of a romantic relationship at the age of 16 onwards (shout out to the monster turning into a hot red head for this) was something I read warily, waiting for the endpoint. And then the endpoint is the character remaining in that relationship, with tacit approval from the author? Between this and another young girl being blamed for being in a relationship with her teacher (acting like she's stroppy and unreasonable etc), I saw a theme I hated.
As this was a lovecraftian inspired tale (taken from an interview), I could see the glimmer of a novel where the tragedy and horror is that characters are trapped by terrible decisions, with monsters siphoning the fear and a more clearer 'oh god, its literally groomed a child for sex'.
I will say that the haunted house aspect of the room shifts was good? As it is, avoid. avoid. avoid.
Avoid if you have CSA triggers, because the monster grooming a child to the point of a romantic relationship at the age of 16 onwards (shout out to the monster turning into a hot red head for this) was something I read warily, waiting for the endpoint. And then the endpoint is the character remaining in that relationship, with tacit approval from the author? Between this and another young girl being blamed for being in a relationship with her teacher (acting like she's stroppy and unreasonable etc), I saw a theme I hated.
As this was a lovecraftian inspired tale (taken from an interview), I could see the glimmer of a novel where the tragedy and horror is that characters are trapped by terrible decisions, with monsters siphoning the fear and a more clearer 'oh god, its literally groomed a child for sex'.
I will say that the haunted house aspect of the room shifts was good? As it is, avoid. avoid. avoid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Toxic relationship
rupesaltai's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
**Content warning: grooming**
I really wanted to like A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill. Parts of it I really did like, and the overall story is engaging and keeps you hooked until the very end. However, I felt that there are so many topics this book aimed to cover (family trauma, emotional neglect, the looming presence of the unknown, some aspects of horror, teen drama, even some aspects of erotica), that the main focus of the story got muddled along the way.
To me it felt like a wave of very deeply moving sections intermingled within a binge-worthy low energy Netflix teen show. Definitely worth a look but not what I had expected it to be. I also kept changing my expectations along the way because the intensity and depth of the story kept oscillating so much for my own personal taste. The ending, which was the most engaging part of it all, felt too short and rushed, and I'm left with the feeling that the whole book and its narrative could have been so much more.
I don't want to discourage anyone from reading it by any means. It's an enjoyable book. But that's pretty much it. There isn't much horror to it (although the author has mentioned how he drew a lot of inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft, which is mostly apparent in the naming of the book sections), and its darkness was often subdued and not really brought forward to its full capacity in my own personal view. I still enjoyed reading it and never once felt that it got boring or slow.
However, I should add that the story involves the grooming of a young boy, and this disturbing aspect is never really confronted (it's mentioned once by an accessory character who is promptly discarded), but rather is turned into a love story. This left me feeling icky from the very moment it starts around halfway in the book, and it never really went away.
All in all, a good read that could have been a lot more.
I really wanted to like A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill. Parts of it I really did like, and the overall story is engaging and keeps you hooked until the very end. However, I felt that there are so many topics this book aimed to cover (family trauma, emotional neglect, the looming presence of the unknown, some aspects of horror, teen drama, even some aspects of erotica), that the main focus of the story got muddled along the way.
To me it felt like a wave of very deeply moving sections intermingled within a binge-worthy low energy Netflix teen show. Definitely worth a look but not what I had expected it to be. I also kept changing my expectations along the way because the intensity and depth of the story kept oscillating so much for my own personal taste. The ending, which was the most engaging part of it all, felt too short and rushed, and I'm left with the feeling that the whole book and its narrative could have been so much more.
I don't want to discourage anyone from reading it by any means. It's an enjoyable book. But that's pretty much it. There isn't much horror to it (although the author has mentioned how he drew a lot of inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft, which is mostly apparent in the naming of the book sections), and its darkness was often subdued and not really brought forward to its full capacity in my own personal view. I still enjoyed reading it and never once felt that it got boring or slow.
All in all, a good read that could have been a lot more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse
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