Reviews

Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Bérubé

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 against another edition

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.

ambeesbookishpages's review against another edition

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.

kordidarling's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

micahmoos's review

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

anxietee9's review against another edition

Not in the mood

jane_kelsey's review

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....

linmeih's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

phantomphan28's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

4.5

gingerbread_void's review against another edition

4.0

This book was very good for a YA horror. Normally YA horror comes off very cheesy or isn’t scary since the author is to busy focusing on the YA part and not the horror part. This book lucky only mildly falls for that. This book has a lot to like but also some things to hate. Unfortunately I can not dive to deep into this book without spoiling it.

A good portion of this book is very spooky and makes you feel like you have stepped into a monster movie. The monsters are scary and the fear the main character feels is relatable even if she isn’t. Honestly the only thing that really bothered me was the useless romance.

I go on this tangent all the time but I wish authors would just learn to write in their chosen genre and stop adding in useless romances to appeal to more people. It is ridiculous and so very unrealistic! If your sister is missing/ stolen from forest monster you do not have time for a damn romance! I do not care who this romantic interest is they do not matter more than your dang sister! She knew him for a year! So many authors do this and it drives me crazy! For gods sake STOP DOING IT!