Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Bérubé

1 review

tacochelle's review

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

2.5

I liked the concept, the setting is well-developed, the handcrafted monsters were a nice touch. And after thinking on it, I kinda like the twist reveal at the end. But the pacing at the start was really slow. It starts with the little sister disappearing, and a frantic search over the next couple of days for her, but this is cut up between flashbacks to their old home, the relationship between the sisters. The info is necessary, but the way is was fed to the reader was not great. Naming the chapters between both sisters, but only having the older sister's perspective was weird, I was expecting a dual narrative. I also didn't like any of the characters. The main girl was very cold towards her family, and while some of it can be explained with teenage angst, it felt too mean when they're in the middle of a crisis. The friends were flat, especially when the mc starts driving them away, they just become stereotypical mean kids. The little sister doesn't get much sympathy from me, either. As a weird outcast teen, I struggled to relate to this lonely girl when she comes off as selfish and manipulative from page one.
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