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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*eyeroll*
Not a fan. It was a bit YA for me and not my cup of tea.
Not a fan. It was a bit YA for me and not my cup of tea.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a hard one for me to rate… if it was labeled as a YA it would be 4-5 stars easy… but this is labeled adult horror, and it felt very young to me, especially the ending. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun to read, I wanted to keep going to see what happened despite me being annoyed at parts with how situations were handled. And I was prepared to forgive the young annoying situations if the ending came through in an adult way, even if it didn’t have a twist… but it felt like a middle school spooky story kids would tell at slumber parties for a laugh.
First, thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review…
This is a book about monsters, the monsters we can’t see, the monsters that look like regular people. Frankenstein is referenced a lot in this book and you can tell this book has definitely taken inspiration from the classic tale which I absolutely loved. We have 2 children growing up with their grandma on their farm, their grandma is a doctor, she does her research in their basement and is the top boss at the inn that is a host to asylum patients, which is conveniently right on their land, just a quick 5 min walk away. 2 children quickly become 3 when their Gran brings a little girl home who doesn’t remember anything prior to that day. She has scars and won’t talk but Gran confides in Vi, one of the children, to bring her in like a sister, to help her get back to as much of a normalcy as possible. We have 3 different perspectives, Vi, one of the children, brings us through their childhood experiences. We have Lizzy’s point of view, which is them as adults but we don’t know which sibling Lizzy is since she changed her name when she was young, after some traumatic event happened when they were young. We just don’t know what that event is until much later. Then we have the Monster’s point of view, the one who is taking the kids. It really is a fun concept that I enjoyed for the majority of my reading.
The annoying… might be considered spoilers, but I tried to be as vague as I could. Don’t read if you hate spoilers of any kind!-
- a 40 year old woman who is convinced that telling the cops her estranged sibling might be involved in the disappearance of many children,who she believes are being murdered, won’t believe her, so she doesn’t. Maybe if she was 15 but as a grown woman?
- Her brother saying she is imagining things when there is obvious proof, especially after knowing what he knows in the end
First, thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review…
This is a book about monsters, the monsters we can’t see, the monsters that look like regular people. Frankenstein is referenced a lot in this book and you can tell this book has definitely taken inspiration from the classic tale which I absolutely loved. We have 2 children growing up with their grandma on their farm, their grandma is a doctor, she does her research in their basement and is the top boss at the inn that is a host to asylum patients, which is conveniently right on their land, just a quick 5 min walk away. 2 children quickly become 3 when their Gran brings a little girl home who doesn’t remember anything prior to that day. She has scars and won’t talk but Gran confides in Vi, one of the children, to bring her in like a sister, to help her get back to as much of a normalcy as possible. We have 3 different perspectives, Vi, one of the children, brings us through their childhood experiences. We have Lizzy’s point of view, which is them as adults but we don’t know which sibling Lizzy is since she changed her name when she was young, after some traumatic event happened when they were young. We just don’t know what that event is until much later. Then we have the Monster’s point of view, the one who is taking the kids. It really is a fun concept that I enjoyed for the majority of my reading.
The annoying… might be considered spoilers, but I tried to be as vague as I could. Don’t read if you hate spoilers of any kind!-
- a 40 year old woman who is convinced that telling the cops her estranged sibling might be involved in the disappearance of many children,who she believes are being murdered, won’t believe her, so she doesn’t. Maybe if she was 15 but as a grown woman?
- Her brother saying she is imagining things when there is obvious proof, especially after knowing what he knows in the end
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book was very good and the plot twists did genuinely shock me, even the ones that i guessed. i feel so sad for vi, eric, and iris.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Overall I enjoyed this book, especially listening to it as the narrator did a great job. Do I think it should be classified as horror? No, I do not. While the story itself was inspired by Frankenstein and monsters are a main focus, it's not a scary story. After reading Winter People by the same author I was expecting to at least feel spooked or the story to have an eerieness to it but that didn't happen. I'm not really complaining about it - I did enjoy the story after all - but don't come into this book thinking it'll be scary, that's all I'm saying.
As mentioned I did enjoy the book overall. I was intrigued by what was going to happen in both storylines and enjoyed gaining bits of information in between from other books or articles. I wanted to know what happened and had a generally good time finding out.
I did however figure out the "twist" sooner than I was supposed to. I don't think this was necessarily the author's fault. I questioned something early on that set the tone for me - and then I just sort of guessed the rest. So that isn't why my rating is a 3.5 rather than a 3.75 or a 4. That is because of the ending.
The execution of the ending was a disappointment to me, it just didn't land. This happened with Winter People as well so I'm starting to think this is an author thing: great buildup but the ending falls flat.
**I'm going to get into spoilers here so I can explain further and do a mini rant, you've been warned:
1. You're telling me that this kid finds out she is the one who was first experimented on by this crazy woman and IMMEDIATELY flips her whole personality to be "the monster"? She just flips immediately and goes nuts, burning everything down, and runs off?? Like come on now. 2. "The Monster" is actually saving the girls and giving them new lives in this network of unrealistic people? I don't know, it just feels like a let down to me personally. I mean, way to "flip the script" I guess but really anti-climatic don't you think? I know it ends with the girl about to kill her abuser and that's another "twist" but it's just not enough for me.
As mentioned I did enjoy the book overall. I was intrigued by what was going to happen in both storylines and enjoyed gaining bits of information in between from other books or articles. I wanted to know what happened and had a generally good time finding out.
I did however figure out the "twist" sooner than I was supposed to. I don't think this was necessarily the author's fault. I questioned something early on that set the tone for me - and then I just sort of guessed the rest. So that isn't why my rating is a 3.5 rather than a 3.75 or a 4. That is because of the ending.
The execution of the ending was a disappointment to me, it just didn't land. This happened with Winter People as well so I'm starting to think this is an author thing: great buildup but the ending falls flat.
**I'm going to get into spoilers here so I can explain further and do a mini rant, you've been warned: