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b00kw0rm4l1f3's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
1.0
1/5
Have to admit I was excited to read this book based on the summary but the book itself was a let down. There were times where it was confusing and times where things made sense but it was hard to read or even enjoy when I couldn’t really understand the plot.
Have to admit I was excited to read this book based on the summary but the book itself was a let down. There were times where it was confusing and times where things made sense but it was hard to read or even enjoy when I couldn’t really understand the plot.
victoriaisbooked's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Supernatural in the desert almost always turns out to be some Native American archetype. Not so here! 'No Beauties or Monsters' by Tara Goedjen is unique and suspenseful with just the right touch of everything I want in a YA read. Rye returns to the desert near Joshua Tree (hold on adding to my To-Be-Traveled list) after an accident four year prior. This time, from the time they arrive she can feel something wrong. Then she learns that an old friend has gone missing...her recently deceased grandfather may have been involved...and somehow it has something to do with the wrongness she feels.
Looking for something for your tween/ teen? NBOM has just the right touch of creepiness. There is killing but it is not graphic. There is a small romance but nothing sexy.
Looking for something for your tween/ teen? NBOM has just the right touch of creepiness. There is killing but it is not graphic. There is a small romance but nothing sexy.
staystitchy's review against another edition
4.0
This whole book felt like an episode of The X-Files. I went into this knowing it would be strange and it definitely was. This book was fast paced and it kept me on my toes with the sci-fi elements. The writing was so atmospheric and creepy, Tara Goedjen did a really great job with this one. I can definitely see it being a movie or tv series.
Rylie is returning to her hometown for the first time since her dad died. She is returning to memories and old friends and secrets left behind by her grandfather’s death. Her mom’s new work assignment means they have to move back and now Rylie has to face everything she left behind. Her friends are happy to see her, all except for Lily who is missing. Her old town seems stranger than she remembers. There are whispers of a serial killer on the loose but that’s not the only thing creeping out Rylie. Can she uncover the truth or are these monsters all in her head?
Rylie is returning to her hometown for the first time since her dad died. She is returning to memories and old friends and secrets left behind by her grandfather’s death. Her mom’s new work assignment means they have to move back and now Rylie has to face everything she left behind. Her friends are happy to see her, all except for Lily who is missing. Her old town seems stranger than she remembers. There are whispers of a serial killer on the loose but that’s not the only thing creeping out Rylie. Can she uncover the truth or are these monsters all in her head?
nerdywerewolf's review against another edition
3.0
"Let me guess, you're having trouble remembering? That's because it's a shock to the system at first. It gets easier. Pretty soon you can never forget."
This one's a little rough for me. On one hand, I adored the writing. It was not clunky and it really pulled me in and the pace was great. Not overly flowery or descriptive. The Goldilocks of writing for me, I think.
The ending was disappointing, though. I...didn't really know what was happening until it was all clearly laid out at the end. And it was. And...I could not have guessed that that was what had been happening the whole book, so there was....no shock factor?
Instead, there's all this delicious mystery and chemistry and you don't know who to trust and then BOOM. Here's why that happened. THESE are the good guys. THESE are the bad guys. THIS is what we need to do to win the day. And then it's over.
I just...don't know how to feel. I'd love to read something else by this author as her words very easily captivated me, which I very much enjoyed. I did not enjoy the late info-dump that neatly tied everything into a bow. I would have loved, maybe, to try to figure it out for myself? Plus, I've seen this ending before and if you've watched, you have, too.
So, I'm upset that the mystery aspect was non-existent, except as a way to build suspense, as I enjoyed everything else about it.
This one's a little rough for me. On one hand, I adored the writing. It was not clunky and it really pulled me in and the pace was great. Not overly flowery or descriptive. The Goldilocks of writing for me, I think.
The ending was disappointing, though. I...didn't really know what was happening until it was all clearly laid out at the end. And it was. And...I could not have guessed that that was what had been happening the whole book, so there was....no shock factor?
Instead, there's all this delicious mystery and chemistry and you don't know who to trust and then BOOM. Here's why that happened. THESE are the good guys. THESE are the bad guys. THIS is what we need to do to win the day. And then it's over.
I just...don't know how to feel. I'd love to read something else by this author as her words very easily captivated me, which I very much enjoyed. I did not enjoy the late info-dump that neatly tied everything into a bow. I would have loved, maybe, to try to figure it out for myself? Plus, I've seen this ending before and if you've watched
Spoiler
Stranger ThingsSo, I'm upset that the mystery aspect was non-existent, except as a way to build suspense, as I enjoyed everything else about it.
lookingforamandaa's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I have to say, this book was freaking weird, but in a good way, I think. The story follows Rylie just after her family has moved back to Twentynine Palms (a military base in California). Weird things are happening here and Rylie can’t be sure if she’s remembering things from the summers she spent staying with her grandfather, or if she’s just losing her mind.
I want to say that the mystery of this story was a good one, but I don’t know that it was. I was incredibly confused for most of this story and not in a fun, slowly putting the pieces together kind of way. I just genuinely had no clue what was going on. Rylie is having weird gaps in her memory, trying to remember with hypnosis, but remembering even weirder things that just don’t make any sense. I will say that when we find out what the big twist is, all of the confusion and weird puzzle pieces absolutely make sense. So it’s a well constructed mystery, I was just incredibly confused until the absolute last piece was revealed to the reader.
I think the setting of the desert was an interesting one. I feel like I don’t see much outside of the fantasy genre with a desert setting. But I think it worked really well for this story.
Overall, this story was absolutely bizarre. But I found myself unable to put it down until I learned what the heck was actually happening to these characters. Despite my confusion for most of the book I was compelled to continue. The pace of the story felt quick even though things happened pretty slowly. The characters were interesting, but I didn’t feel any special attachment to them. I do think they were well developed with interesting personalities. I believe this is labeled at a horror story, but I don’t think it totally fits there. I think if anything this would be more science fiction than horror. But, I want to know if anyone else has read this. If you have, leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it.
I have to say, this book was freaking weird, but in a good way, I think. The story follows Rylie just after her family has moved back to Twentynine Palms (a military base in California). Weird things are happening here and Rylie can’t be sure if she’s remembering things from the summers she spent staying with her grandfather, or if she’s just losing her mind.
I want to say that the mystery of this story was a good one, but I don’t know that it was. I was incredibly confused for most of this story and not in a fun, slowly putting the pieces together kind of way. I just genuinely had no clue what was going on. Rylie is having weird gaps in her memory, trying to remember with hypnosis, but remembering even weirder things that just don’t make any sense. I will say that when we find out what the big twist is, all of the confusion and weird puzzle pieces absolutely make sense. So it’s a well constructed mystery, I was just incredibly confused until the absolute last piece was revealed to the reader.
I think the setting of the desert was an interesting one. I feel like I don’t see much outside of the fantasy genre with a desert setting. But I think it worked really well for this story.
Overall, this story was absolutely bizarre. But I found myself unable to put it down until I learned what the heck was actually happening to these characters. Despite my confusion for most of the book I was compelled to continue. The pace of the story felt quick even though things happened pretty slowly. The characters were interesting, but I didn’t feel any special attachment to them. I do think they were well developed with interesting personalities. I believe this is labeled at a horror story, but I don’t think it totally fits there. I think if anything this would be more science fiction than horror. But, I want to know if anyone else has read this. If you have, leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it.
wdianasheppard's review against another edition
3.0
"No Beauties or Monsters" is a YA science fiction thriller that hinges on missing memories and an unreliable narrator. Rylie moves back to a military base in the desert with her family, and is disheartened to learn that an old friend of hers has been missing, and a serial killer is out on the loose. Rylie's determination to find out what happened to her friend drives the narrative, which owes a lot to spooky desert vistas and shows like "Stranger Things" as she starts to hallucinate and lose chunks of time.
I was really excited to read this one, but I found it very difficult to follow because of the sheer number of characters. There were so many! While I appreciate that Rylie had multiple friends, I had to frequently turn back to their introductions to reference who was who and who knew who. Add in all the dangling threads (because of course Rylie's investigation turns up even more characters) and Rylie's own hallucinations as to what's real and what's not, and I was struggling through this one. I think if I read this one a second time I'd do much better with it, but for a first pass it wasn't easy.
Other reviewers have mentioned this book's killer twists, and I do agree - the ending is a lot of fun - but by the time I got there, I was exhausted from trying to keep up with the breakneck pace and all the plot threads. I think a tighter edit on this one might have saved it for me - in particular the love story is underbaked and unnecessary - but as it is, I'd recommend this to people interested in conspiracies and a protagonist slowly losing her mind.
I was really excited to read this one, but I found it very difficult to follow because of the sheer number of characters. There were so many! While I appreciate that Rylie had multiple friends, I had to frequently turn back to their introductions to reference who was who and who knew who. Add in all the dangling threads (because of course Rylie's investigation turns up even more characters) and Rylie's own hallucinations as to what's real and what's not, and I was struggling through this one. I think if I read this one a second time I'd do much better with it, but for a first pass it wasn't easy.
Other reviewers have mentioned this book's killer twists, and I do agree - the ending is a lot of fun - but by the time I got there, I was exhausted from trying to keep up with the breakneck pace and all the plot threads. I think a tighter edit on this one might have saved it for me - in particular the love story is underbaked and unnecessary - but as it is, I'd recommend this to people interested in conspiracies and a protagonist slowly losing her mind.
aclopez6's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read an arc version of this book!
“The bees had left, vanished completely, and it scared him enough to send him inside.” -- this line startled me from the first chapter, and I had to reread the first section, trying to figure out who or what Ethan was (one of many mysteries the reader will encounter). One chapter later, we start hearing about the “commune killer”, and people going missing in the desert (another mystery to unravel). Things are definitely what they seem at first glance, and I was not prepared for the twist.
No Beauties or Monsters focuses on Rylie, a high school senior, who moves back to Twentynine Palms, although she has not been there in four years. It is revealed early on that Rylie and her friend Lily saw an accident take place that involved Rylie’s brother, Owen, Rylie’s dad, and her granddad. Since then, her brother has lost his sight, and her mom continues to work on secretive government projects. Once Rylie arrives at her home, odd things begin to happen in the desert, and one of her old friends has gone missing. With the help of memory regression/hypnosis and her friends, Rylie begins to uncover more and more information about her granddad’s role in the missing people.
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot, and I would recommend it to students and have it in my classroom library (I think this is very accessible for high schoolers and more mature middle-grade students as well). This book would be great for reluctant readers who prefer a plot-driven book, with some character development, but are more focused on a mystery or conflict being resolved. I also loved that the set-up was more gradual, and the reader was given snippets of information about each character but was not told upfront (ex. You can begin inferring Rylie’s age based on the fact that she is driving, but do not find out until a chapter later that she is in her second half of senior year, etc).
“The bees had left, vanished completely, and it scared him enough to send him inside.” -- this line startled me from the first chapter, and I had to reread the first section, trying to figure out who or what Ethan was (one of many mysteries the reader will encounter). One chapter later, we start hearing about the “commune killer”, and people going missing in the desert (another mystery to unravel). Things are definitely what they seem at first glance, and I was not prepared for the twist.
No Beauties or Monsters focuses on Rylie, a high school senior, who moves back to Twentynine Palms, although she has not been there in four years. It is revealed early on that Rylie and her friend Lily saw an accident take place that involved Rylie’s brother, Owen, Rylie’s dad, and her granddad. Since then, her brother has lost his sight, and her mom continues to work on secretive government projects. Once Rylie arrives at her home, odd things begin to happen in the desert, and one of her old friends has gone missing. With the help of memory regression/hypnosis and her friends, Rylie begins to uncover more and more information about her granddad’s role in the missing people.
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot, and I would recommend it to students and have it in my classroom library (I think this is very accessible for high schoolers and more mature middle-grade students as well). This book would be great for reluctant readers who prefer a plot-driven book, with some character development, but are more focused on a mystery or conflict being resolved. I also loved that the set-up was more gradual, and the reader was given snippets of information about each character but was not told upfront (ex. You can begin inferring Rylie’s age based on the fact that she is driving, but do not find out until a chapter later that she is in her second half of senior year, etc).
uranium_92's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75