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A review by rupesaltai
A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
**Content warning: grooming**
I really wanted to like A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill. Parts of it I really did like, and the overall story is engaging and keeps you hooked until the very end. However, I felt that there are so many topics this book aimed to cover (family trauma, emotional neglect, the looming presence of the unknown, some aspects of horror, teen drama, even some aspects of erotica), that the main focus of the story got muddled along the way.
To me it felt like a wave of very deeply moving sections intermingled within a binge-worthy low energy Netflix teen show. Definitely worth a look but not what I had expected it to be. I also kept changing my expectations along the way because the intensity and depth of the story kept oscillating so much for my own personal taste. The ending, which was the most engaging part of it all, felt too short and rushed, and I'm left with the feeling that the whole book and its narrative could have been so much more.
I don't want to discourage anyone from reading it by any means. It's an enjoyable book. But that's pretty much it. There isn't much horror to it (although the author has mentioned how he drew a lot of inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft, which is mostly apparent in the naming of the book sections), and its darkness was often subdued and not really brought forward to its full capacity in my own personal view. I still enjoyed reading it and never once felt that it got boring or slow.
However, I should add that the story involves the grooming of a young boy, and this disturbing aspect is never really confronted (it's mentioned once by an accessory character who is promptly discarded), but rather is turned into a love story. This left me feeling icky from the very moment it starts around halfway in the book, and it never really went away.
All in all, a good read that could have been a lot more.
I really wanted to like A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill. Parts of it I really did like, and the overall story is engaging and keeps you hooked until the very end. However, I felt that there are so many topics this book aimed to cover (family trauma, emotional neglect, the looming presence of the unknown, some aspects of horror, teen drama, even some aspects of erotica), that the main focus of the story got muddled along the way.
To me it felt like a wave of very deeply moving sections intermingled within a binge-worthy low energy Netflix teen show. Definitely worth a look but not what I had expected it to be. I also kept changing my expectations along the way because the intensity and depth of the story kept oscillating so much for my own personal taste. The ending, which was the most engaging part of it all, felt too short and rushed, and I'm left with the feeling that the whole book and its narrative could have been so much more.
I don't want to discourage anyone from reading it by any means. It's an enjoyable book. But that's pretty much it. There isn't much horror to it (although the author has mentioned how he drew a lot of inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft, which is mostly apparent in the naming of the book sections), and its darkness was often subdued and not really brought forward to its full capacity in my own personal view. I still enjoyed reading it and never once felt that it got boring or slow.
All in all, a good read that could have been a lot more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse