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theoutdoorlibrarian's review
4.0
When I started this book I was unsure about it. However, as the story progresses I found myself desperate to find out what was going to happen. I think for a YA horror story this book has exactly what you're looking for. There are many nuances to The Blair Witch Project, which I really appreciated. And yet the book still has a feeling of newness and follows a story that I don't think I've actually read. Here There Are Monsters kept me guessing until the very end, and left me reeling from what had actually happened. I will absolutely recommend this book to friends and family, and patrons that come into my library.
silencia167's review
3.0
Actual rating 2.5 stars.
https://therealityofbooks.wordpress.com/2019/07/23/here-there-are-monsters-by-amelinda-berube/
https://therealityofbooks.wordpress.com/2019/07/23/here-there-are-monsters-by-amelinda-berube/
bookbrowsingblog's review
4.0
3.5 stars - definitely an interesting read but I didn't get overly invested for some reason (not as much as I'd like for a thriller certainly!) Really loved all the spooky aspects and thought it was quite original! Overall an enjoyable read!
read_withtay's review
4.0
You can find this review and more at frayedbooks.wordpress.com!
Holy crap this book was a hell of a ride from start to finish. It reminded me of so many different books, tv shows and movies I've read/seen in the past and loved. Think Blair Witch (as advertised), but also Haunting of Hill House and Pet Semetary. It gave me the chills and it was just the right amount of 'weird' and 'off' to make me question what was real and what wasn't. Skye's character proved to be curious, inquisitive, but also just a normal teenager who was annoyed with her younger sister. But, when your younger sister goes missing, you're going to have a lot of questions and want to find out where in the heck she went off to. Especially if you have some creepy woods right behind your house. No way would I be venturing into those woods under any circumstances and you felt that fear while reading the book. Things get even creepier when you throw in some mysterious beings and there is a supernatural element to it. This book, in a word, was raw. I feel like that's the accurate way to describe it. It was all around a book that makes you want to sleep with the light on and keeps you hooked from the first page. I was trying to figure out what happened to Deirdre and what lengths Skye was going to go to in order to get her sister back safe and sound. My dislikes for this book just herein lie with the fact that I didn't absolutely want to be buried with this book. I'm pretty hesitant to give a book a 4 star rating if I didn't really really like it, so this passed that test. I think it would be a perfect book for end of summer and early fall reading, gearing up for Halloween.
Holy crap this book was a hell of a ride from start to finish. It reminded me of so many different books, tv shows and movies I've read/seen in the past and loved. Think Blair Witch (as advertised), but also Haunting of Hill House and Pet Semetary. It gave me the chills and it was just the right amount of 'weird' and 'off' to make me question what was real and what wasn't. Skye's character proved to be curious, inquisitive, but also just a normal teenager who was annoyed with her younger sister. But, when your younger sister goes missing, you're going to have a lot of questions and want to find out where in the heck she went off to. Especially if you have some creepy woods right behind your house. No way would I be venturing into those woods under any circumstances and you felt that fear while reading the book. Things get even creepier when you throw in some mysterious beings and there is a supernatural element to it. This book, in a word, was raw. I feel like that's the accurate way to describe it. It was all around a book that makes you want to sleep with the light on and keeps you hooked from the first page. I was trying to figure out what happened to Deirdre and what lengths Skye was going to go to in order to get her sister back safe and sound. My dislikes for this book just herein lie with the fact that I didn't absolutely want to be buried with this book. I'm pretty hesitant to give a book a 4 star rating if I didn't really really like it, so this passed that test. I think it would be a perfect book for end of summer and early fall reading, gearing up for Halloween.
coffee_on_the_bookshelf's review
2.0
I’m not averse to books where I don’t like the characters.
I can normally find a character to like or something to appreciate in the book. This one, however. I guess I appreciate the author’s commitment to her characters to stay as they were conceived.
I understand that not every sister relationship is loving and pleasant. But I had major difficulty with this sister relationship... and being that it was told from a first person perspective from the older sister, Skye, I found it difficult to relate to her. I didn’t understand the animosity. I also didn’t feel there was any urgency on Skye’s part to find her sister in spite of the tag line on the cover.
Speaking of covers, isn’t that cover fabulous? I love it. Horror covers are some of coolest ones!
Sadly, for a horror/dark fantasy, it just didn’t have the dread or creep factor I was hoping for.
I can normally find a character to like or something to appreciate in the book. This one, however. I guess I appreciate the author’s commitment to her characters to stay as they were conceived.
I understand that not every sister relationship is loving and pleasant. But I had major difficulty with this sister relationship... and being that it was told from a first person perspective from the older sister, Skye, I found it difficult to relate to her. I didn’t understand the animosity. I also didn’t feel there was any urgency on Skye’s part to find her sister in spite of the tag line on the cover.
Speaking of covers, isn’t that cover fabulous? I love it. Horror covers are some of coolest ones!
Sadly, for a horror/dark fantasy, it just didn’t have the dread or creep factor I was hoping for.
trisha_thomas's review
4.0
“You can't just walk away when someone needs a hero."
A very dark but interesting read. This is original horror - about the dark hearts of man and about things that lurk in the night. I like that the story instantly pulled me in. It's well written and easy to read. Skye, the older and not missing sister, is the narrator and you learn of her life through small tidbits of past as well as her current. Skye is instantly relate-able and unlikable. She's easy to get angry or frustrated with but also, Queen of Swords, its hard to not pull up a sword next to her and fight her battles.
I didn't anticipate the end, I liked the messiness of it all. Great conclusion to a well done horror story. Don't think I didn't take an extra long pause out my dark window walking to bed at 2 am tonight (because I couldn't put the book down) and just make sure those branches were nothing more than trees.
A very dark but interesting read. This is original horror - about the dark hearts of man and about things that lurk in the night. I like that the story instantly pulled me in. It's well written and easy to read. Skye, the older and not missing sister, is the narrator and you learn of her life through small tidbits of past as well as her current. Skye is instantly relate-able and unlikable. She's easy to get angry or frustrated with but also, Queen of Swords, its hard to not pull up a sword next to her and fight her battles.
I didn't anticipate the end, I liked the messiness of it all. Great conclusion to a well done horror story. Don't think I didn't take an extra long pause out my dark window walking to bed at 2 am tonight (because I couldn't put the book down) and just make sure those branches were nothing more than trees.
tacochelle's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, and Car accident
Minor: Homophobia
erinarkin20's review against another edition
3.0
I can’t lie – I was immediately drawn to Here There are Monsters by Amelinda Berube because of the cover. When I read the summary, I was even more intrigued. In the end, there were things I liked about this book and some things I didn’t love which ultimately made this one a middle of the road read for me.
The story focuses on Skye, a sixteen-year-old girl who has a younger sister Deirdre. Their family recently moved and now that Skye is a bit older and in a new school, she doesn’t want to be the one to get Deirdre out of scrapes at school or even the person Deirdre relies on to save her. As Skye shifts away from her, Deirdre becomes withdrawn and spends all her time in the swamp behind their house. Because of this and some of the things she does when she is around other people, they think Deirdre is weird and this only causes Deirdre to withdraw even more.
One night, the unthinkable happens and Deirdre disappears. Since Skye was technically supposed to be watching her, she feels guilty and starts to dig into what Deirdre was up to. This is where it gets a little odd because this is when Skye is approached by creatures from Deirdre’s fantasy world and told she is the only person who can save Deirdre. As the story progresses, we find out more about Skye’s history and how that impacts her friendships now.
I thought the relationship between Skye and Deirdre was interesting. It was clear that Skye wanted to change things which I attribute to their past as well as the fact that she was growing up, but Deirdre definitely did not, and she was completely lost and frustrated. I also think that Deirdre created some of her problems…similar to what Skye was reflecting on and using as a reason to distance herself. Despite all of that, when it came down to it, Skye still chose Deirdre…even though it may not have done her any good.
This was a fast-paced story and the characters felt real to me. The parents seemed like your typical, overworked, stressed out parents and Skye’s friends came across as normal teens to me. With that said, I have to connect with the characters and I don’t think there was a single person in this book that I aligned with…maybe Skye’s dad because it felt like he just kept getting beat up (emotionally) by her mom and I felt bad for him about it. Otherwise no one really stood out to me as likeable.
I also think the structure of the book threw me off a bit as I was expecting deeper dives into the specific characters or their POVs with the section headers and that isn’t really what came across in each section. Tie that with the pacing of the story and it just didn’t grab me like I had hoped it would. Some of it dragged while at times there were parts that was thinking I could have just skimmed through. I also thought the ending just sort of came up and the book was done…it didn’t feel finished to me.
Overall, this was an interesting read. Fans of YA horror or creepy, otherworldly books might enjoy this one. While I didn’t love this book, I will definitely be checking out any future stories by Berube as I like the creepy vibe that this one had.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story focuses on Skye, a sixteen-year-old girl who has a younger sister Deirdre. Their family recently moved and now that Skye is a bit older and in a new school, she doesn’t want to be the one to get Deirdre out of scrapes at school or even the person Deirdre relies on to save her. As Skye shifts away from her, Deirdre becomes withdrawn and spends all her time in the swamp behind their house. Because of this and some of the things she does when she is around other people, they think Deirdre is weird and this only causes Deirdre to withdraw even more.
One night, the unthinkable happens and Deirdre disappears. Since Skye was technically supposed to be watching her, she feels guilty and starts to dig into what Deirdre was up to. This is where it gets a little odd because this is when Skye is approached by creatures from Deirdre’s fantasy world and told she is the only person who can save Deirdre. As the story progresses, we find out more about Skye’s history and how that impacts her friendships now.
I thought the relationship between Skye and Deirdre was interesting. It was clear that Skye wanted to change things which I attribute to their past as well as the fact that she was growing up, but Deirdre definitely did not, and she was completely lost and frustrated. I also think that Deirdre created some of her problems…similar to what Skye was reflecting on and using as a reason to distance herself. Despite all of that, when it came down to it, Skye still chose Deirdre…even though it may not have done her any good.
This was a fast-paced story and the characters felt real to me. The parents seemed like your typical, overworked, stressed out parents and Skye’s friends came across as normal teens to me. With that said, I have to connect with the characters and I don’t think there was a single person in this book that I aligned with…maybe Skye’s dad because it felt like he just kept getting beat up (emotionally) by her mom and I felt bad for him about it. Otherwise no one really stood out to me as likeable.
I also think the structure of the book threw me off a bit as I was expecting deeper dives into the specific characters or their POVs with the section headers and that isn’t really what came across in each section. Tie that with the pacing of the story and it just didn’t grab me like I had hoped it would. Some of it dragged while at times there were parts that was thinking I could have just skimmed through. I also thought the ending just sort of came up and the book was done…it didn’t feel finished to me.
Overall, this was an interesting read. Fans of YA horror or creepy, otherworldly books might enjoy this one. While I didn’t love this book, I will definitely be checking out any future stories by Berube as I like the creepy vibe that this one had.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.
matthew_zorich's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful tale filled with questions, flashbacks, and excitement as you race to the end to find where the monsters are and who they may be. Great to read in the Autumn.
confessionsofabibliophile's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I give this book a 3 to 3.5. When I first picked this up and read the synopsis it looked very promising. Like it was going to be a very thrilling and exciting read. It started slow. Bouncing back and fourth between past and present. Slowly the story delved into mental health codependency issues. Between the main character and her little sister. Her sister obviously had mental health issues or so it seemed. Dierdre, the younger one, of the two, has an amazing imagination, and she ends up vanishing. The book revolves around Skye, the eldest trying to find her, to get her back. Here There Are Monsters, hints at supernatural elements; though I feel perhaps it is more Psychological based with glimpses of supernatural. The book touches loss and regret. The plot is vague and convoluted, without a true answer as to what is going on, or what happened. It leads to many questions, and upon ending some are not answered. Leaves you thinking what the point of some actions or choices made by characters were all about. Lastly, the ending...... The ending when finding out the truth, it left me thinking what the heck did I just read. It was a twist that wasn't excepted and on the darker side. It made me slightly mad at one of the characters, for selfishness and then I just kind of sat stumped. Although I liked it as it was a decent read for what it was, the wavering plotline and that end definitely killed it. Had such potential yet it just fell flat.