Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Little Monsters

Adrienne Brodeur’s writing is some of my favorite modern style, and while Little Monsters is captivating and thoughtful, I found the end to be just a bit abrupt. I was hoping for more resolution with Adam’s mental health and with the rift between siblings, but ultimately I suppose that isn’t the point of the book. Adrienne Brodeur, in general, seems to write about how the nature of love is ugly and complicated, and this book absolutely captures that. I’d recommend this, but give a strong trigger warning for mental health disorders and abuse.

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ukponge's review

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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amgraves's review

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dark emotional medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Dysfunctional family. Multiple POVs, a couple of them very unlikable characters. Nothing too graphic, but definitely check warnings.

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jenheitland's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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lololovesthings's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.25

"Little Monsters" by Adrienne Brodeur is an uneven character-driven family drama full of secrets, lies, deception, patriarchy, oddities, and crimes, but is intriguing, nonetheless. Here, we have another book about rich people doing horrible things and not caring about the fallout around them. If that's your bag, you'll likely enjoy this book. I did not particularly enjoy the writing style. I think there are too many points of view going on here, but it could be that it's just too long in the end. Despite being full of drama, I found these characters to be relatively believable. It shows how money shields people from manners and tact and allows them to get away with acting and existing in ways that poor people can't. They are insistent, demanding, selfish, sick, intolerable, twisted, and privileged. All of the men in this book, from patriarch Adam to friend David to brother Ken, benefit from having the women in their lives stay silent and complicit, and subservient to their needs, wants, wishes, and dominance. I absolutely LOATHED Ken and hated his chapters the most. This is not a complaint because I think author Adrienne Brodeur does a spectacular job making her readers absolutely hate him so, so much. He's one of the most detestable characters I have read recently. In fact, most of these characters have flaws that are basically unforgivable. *SPOILER* There's infidelity, incest, drug/alcohol issues, child abuse, mental illness, parental abandonment... it's a veritable kitchen sink soup of trauma. Finally, I think the book is too long and too slow, but simultaneously still leaves too many unanswered questions for me to be content with its ending. A lot of the unnecessary length could have been used to tie up loose ends and make things clearer, but Adrienne Brodeur seems content to end her book hazily and gutlessly. I wanted more resolution and didn't get it, which caused a no less than 0.5-star drop in my rating. Despite this, I cannot deny that this book is wildly readable because I kept wanting to know what happened and how it was going to end. I only wish the ending had been more satisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley, Adrienne Brodeur, Avid Reader Press, and Simon & Schuster for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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

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