Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - A Cosmology of Monsters

What if monsters were not just our imagination but living alongside us, watching us? A creepy story of Lovecraftian horror that follows a family for three generations.

The sexual turn it took about three-quarters of the way in was kind of gross and off-putting. I would've enjoyed it much more without that aspect.

The world-building was a little weak, but it was mostly cohesive throughout.

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malloryfitz's review against another edition

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dark mysterious

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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hauntedtesty's review against another edition

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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.

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charleyroxy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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keen's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

For the Hamill's first novel, this was great. I read this book without fully reading the summary, so that was a big ride to go through. I had no idea where things would go. Throughout the book I felt tense, literally shaken, happy, and like I was going to cry. I enjoyed the smooth transitions from section to section, chapter to chapter, and year to year. Eunice is also a character I related to so much it made finishing the book painful at times. I'm not happy with how some characters ended up, but I'm fine with it. It's a book that feels very realistic with how not everything can be wrapped up in a neat and tidy bow, which makes me more sad than disappointed.

Usually I don't reread books, but I can see myself rereading/skimming through to see what I missed.

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