A review by adamskiboy528491
The Monsters of Rookhaven by Pádraig Kenny

4.0

Sometimes the monsters take us. Sometimes we become the monsters.

[b:The Monsters of Rookhaven|52778475|The Monsters of Rookhaven (The Monsters of Rookhaven, #1)|Pádraig Kenny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585566294l/52778475._SY75_.jpg|78861316] by [a:Pádraig Kenny|17179521|Pádraig Kenny|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1559332791p2/17179521.jpg] was not the horror story I was expecting! I got a real sense of these characters through Kenny's writing and sets to work, in the subtlest of ways, weaving motifs and feelings seemingly drawn from classic and contemporary literature. The horror tropes are beautifully deconstructed, like in Shelley's Frankenstein, the 'monsters' are misunderstood, and there is more to them than meets the eye.

It has a pretty straightforward plot, which makes it all the more enjoyable. Mirabelle lives in a strange house with an even stranger family. Members of the family appear from time to time through portals. Nobody knows where they come from or what they will be, but they will forever be family. Their home and way of life are protected from the 'real' world by a glamour which shields them from being hunted by humans, except one day, the glamour wears thin, and humans enter. Things will never be the same again. They are about to find out just what kind of monsters exist…

This book also has beautifully crafted illustrations by Edward Bettison! The designs bring an extra flare of the gothic atmosphere from the different types of spooky animals, the beauty, yet creepiness of the deadly blooming flowers and even the appearance of the "Big Bad" was truly terrifying (also, if you've arachnophobic, you're probably not going to like a few pages)! While most monsters are not so monstrous when shown in the illustration, the darkness is captured, particularly by the black pages with white font and drawing.

One of the enjoyable aspects of this book is that it is a brilliantly told adventure with just enough magic to be believable and precisely the right amount of elaboration to keep a reader guessing whilst feeling like they get it. The way some characters were unable to look the villain in the eye really added to the tension, and the way he so quickly bent others to his will, and there was nothing that could immediately be done to stop this genuinely terrified me. Events escalate from here, snowballing towards a tense and dramatic climax that is shocking and touching. It could easily be compared to Miss Peregrine's Home of Peculiar Children vs The Addams Family. Please give it a read!