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A review by jcnfia
Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama
3.0
SEXUAL ASSAULT CONTENT WARNING FOR THIS BOOK! (I hadn’t seen this mentioned anywhere and probably would’ve faired a lot better had I known).
There’s no question that this was written with a lot of thought and attention to detail. There were some weird plot and character inconsistencies, but overall I could enjoy the writing and immersive world of the book. I loved the author’s take on mermaids and the dark elements, but I really couldn’t bring myself to care about the present day plot or it’s main character. Hester was mildly infuriating, as was the completely random love interest that was not explored, like, at all. Not to mention the “plot twists” were set up so obviously that it was boring when the characters FINALLY caught up. And even though I think switching between time periods was a smart tool to keep things interesting, I feel the author should’ve stuck to the more mermaid-y elements that were treated more as an after thought. I expected this to be a book ABOUT mermaids, but it was more of a book WITH mermaids. All in all, it was pretty good. Even the less engaging parts kept me reading.
There’s no question that this was written with a lot of thought and attention to detail. There were some weird plot and character inconsistencies, but overall I could enjoy the writing and immersive world of the book. I loved the author’s take on mermaids and the dark elements, but I really couldn’t bring myself to care about the present day plot or it’s main character. Hester was mildly infuriating, as was the completely random love interest that was not explored, like, at all. Not to mention the “plot twists” were set up so obviously that it was boring when the characters FINALLY caught up. And even though I think switching between time periods was a smart tool to keep things interesting, I feel the author should’ve stuck to the more mermaid-y elements that were treated more as an after thought. I expected this to be a book ABOUT mermaids, but it was more of a book WITH mermaids. All in all, it was pretty good. Even the less engaging parts kept me reading.