You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

A review by adamisdoingabookread
Ghosts and Monsters by Gareth J. Southwell

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I received book free from The StoryGraph's prize draw (thank you!), but I'm writing this as an honest and personal review, wasn't asked to give it 5* etc. :)

I just wanted say how much I enjoyed this book! It has a good balance of introducing characters through actions so the plot is moving while you are learning about them. The split between the two main characters was interesting, I'm interested by both characters and their threads. I think I enjoyed
Eve's more, as it was a bit more philosophical and mysterious - I loved the game idea that she's a participant in. It almost felt to me like Squirrel's thread was more young-adult, and Eve's a bit more science-fiction if that makes sense. It made the pacing quite nice as it was almost like short sprints for Squirrel's part.


The writing style felt unique to me, and I did like some of the descriptions of the city. I think at times I forgot the dystopian elements of the environment being a threat, but honestly...life does go on no matter what, and I think it almost appealed to the character's nature that it wasn't mentioned or grieved at all. The main thread for me was human nature, and how no matter the strangeness of the world, humans do the same things - crime, gangs, etc - some plot points wouldn't have been amiss in a Dickens novel, and that's not a knock in the slightest.

I'll answer if I liked it by saying I hope to get the next volume this week! :) It was a fun read, and I genuinely don't know where the plot is headed but I'm interested and the story has stuck in my head after reading.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings