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A review by abrittlebee
Monsters Under My Bed by M.J. Marstens
2.0
When I initially came across this book I thought that the premise sounded really fun. I mean, a woman who falls in love with her childhood bogeymen? Unfortunately Monsters Under My Bed just didn’t follow through with its own set up, so it came off as disjointed.
The beginning shows Alexis as a woman haunted by memories of childhood monsters. To the point where she was so terrified of them that she was institutionalized as a teenager, and upon release moved from the USA to Australia in order to avoid said monsters finding her. However, with her father’s failing health she agrees to return home and confront her fears after a 15 year absence.
My issue with all of this is that the narrative does feature quite a few flashbacks, but in those flashbacks Alexis’ relationships with her bogeymen are pretty friendly. Like she would get home and tell them about her day. Despite this, she tells her best friend that she can’t sleep and these monsters are terrorizing her—girl, when? What Alexis claims is almost completely at odds with all the interactions actually shown. The discrepancy in her behavior to what the reader sees occurring between her and the monsters just made no sense and it was incredibly distracting. To the point where the beginning of the novel, with Alexis being afraid and avoiding going home, felt like a completely different book to when she actually returns and the reader is bombarded with flashbacks of her life before she left.
In the end I can’t see myself recommending this book, but if you’re looking for a reverse harem monster romance, I have two suggestions. For feel-good fun, A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Katheryn Moon; for dramatic, Broken Beasts of Beauty by Loxley Savage, but definitely check the TWs.
The beginning shows Alexis as a woman haunted by memories of childhood monsters. To the point where she was so terrified of them that she was institutionalized as a teenager, and upon release moved from the USA to Australia in order to avoid said monsters finding her. However, with her father’s failing health she agrees to return home and confront her fears after a 15 year absence.
My issue with all of this is that the narrative does feature quite a few flashbacks, but in those flashbacks Alexis’ relationships with her bogeymen are pretty friendly. Like she would get home and tell them about her day. Despite this, she tells her best friend that she can’t sleep and these monsters are terrorizing her—girl, when? What Alexis claims is almost completely at odds with all the interactions actually shown. The discrepancy in her behavior to what the reader sees occurring between her and the monsters just made no sense and it was incredibly distracting. To the point where the beginning of the novel, with Alexis being afraid and avoiding going home, felt like a completely different book to when she actually returns and the reader is bombarded with flashbacks of her life before she left.
In the end I can’t see myself recommending this book, but if you’re looking for a reverse harem monster romance, I have two suggestions. For feel-good fun, A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Katheryn Moon; for dramatic, Broken Beasts of Beauty by Loxley Savage, but definitely check the TWs.