Reviews

The Monstrous Misses Mai by Van Hoang

Only show reviews with written explanations

ravenlily's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

heidipolkissa82's review

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

paigeashley2's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The Monstrous Misses Mai (my brain keeps wanting to say The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) is a cautionary tale of the "be careful what you wish for" variety. Four women, who all share the last name Mai, find themselves sharing an apartment together after a charming stranger sways the landlord into accepting their patronage. The girls befriend one another and eventually allow the stranger to perform a "lurast" spell that will give them all they desire. As the reader can assume, everything goes to hell.

TMMM uses female connection, generational trauma, classism, racism, and human error to string along the characters as they move through the plot of this story. The premise itself was intriguing, but this book didn't exactly hit the mark.

While there were moments of hopelessness and horror that created tension and intrigue, these scenes were few and far between, bookended by scenes that felt longwinded and boring.

Though her upbringing may attest to her bland personality, I found the main character, Cordi, intolerable. She was meek and naive, and I just wanted to grab her shoulders and shake some strength into her. Of the supporting cast, only her grumpy roomate Audrey was of any interest to me. The rest of the characters are one-dimensional until it is convenient to the plot for them to be complex - the main character included.

Likewise, the second half of the book is underwhelming. I thought the first half did a good job of letting us know the score, but it took too long after that to do anything about it.