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A review by secre
Monstrous Souls by Rebecca Kelly
4.0
Monstrous Souls is a debut that reads as though it were written by an established author; it's dark and gritty, covering uncomfortable and often taboo topics, yet is written with sensitivity and flair. Fifteen years ago, Heidi was one of the victims of a brutal attack that left her best friend Nina dead and her sister Anna missing. She has been unable to remember anything about that day, or indeed the months preceding it, since. But now that is changing as little by little, fragments of memory are coming back. But some secrets are dangerous and there are people involved who will do anything to keep these particular secrets from coming to light.
Split between two timelines, you have the timeline leading up to the attack in 2001 and the current timeline in 2016 as Heidi comes to terms with the memories she is finally regaining. The dual perspective worked well, as whilst you as the reader often knew slightly more than Heidi actively remembered, it gave the same sense of events being slowly recollected. The narrative was often framed in a way that Heidi's memories were often interwoven with the events narrated to you, so everything tied together well and didn't feel jarring.
This is a dark tale, and the murder of a child is only the beginning of the tangled web of horrors as the memories from her childhood return and she realises that what the police know is only the tip of the iceburg. Except that isn't quite true either, as Nina was certain even at a young age that someone in the police force was actively involved in the atrocities committed against children. As an adult, the more memories Heidi gets back, the more danger she is in, but for her own sake and that of her missing sister, Heidi is determined to get to the truth. The truth isn't as simple as it might appear though.
My main complaint with the novel is that for someone with a history of severe trauma - trauma that left her with long term memory loss and physical injuries - Heidi really can be seriously stupid. There were so many moments where she heads out alone - again - and as a reader I'm just thinking, why oh why!? To begin with, it's understandable. There's no immediate threat. But once she realises that she is being followed and someone is very keen to keep her quiet through any means, her behaviour becomes idiotic rather than naive. It's a pet peeve of mine in books. Any logical, sane adult fearing for their life is not going to run out on a whim to find the next piece of evidence; they would call someone to accompany them at the very least.
It's a minor quibble in the long run, although it did slightly mar my enjoyment of the novel. I found the characterisations of the children in the 'flashback' sections of the novel far more believable in that sense, as children make mistakes because they don't know any better. Adults making the same mistakes again and again is far less forgivable.
All in all though, I enjoyed this. It's a dark and tense thriller that builds up the atmosphere well. The characterisations are strong, particularly those of the children and of the Detective working the case in the present day. I particularly liked how the focus shifted from Heidi to Detective Gizeen, as it means you get to see events from both perspectives. The ramifications of such a horrific act on the children concerned even many years later was portrayed well, and I felt the author did an excellent job at portraying Heidi and Nina's family as fully fleshed out characters, rather than solely as victims.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this novel.
Split between two timelines, you have the timeline leading up to the attack in 2001 and the current timeline in 2016 as Heidi comes to terms with the memories she is finally regaining. The dual perspective worked well, as whilst you as the reader often knew slightly more than Heidi actively remembered, it gave the same sense of events being slowly recollected. The narrative was often framed in a way that Heidi's memories were often interwoven with the events narrated to you, so everything tied together well and didn't feel jarring.
This is a dark tale, and the murder of a child is only the beginning of the tangled web of horrors as the memories from her childhood return and she realises that what the police know is only the tip of the iceburg. Except that isn't quite true either, as Nina was certain even at a young age that someone in the police force was actively involved in the atrocities committed against children. As an adult, the more memories Heidi gets back, the more danger she is in, but for her own sake and that of her missing sister, Heidi is determined to get to the truth. The truth isn't as simple as it might appear though.
My main complaint with the novel is that for someone with a history of severe trauma - trauma that left her with long term memory loss and physical injuries - Heidi really can be seriously stupid. There were so many moments where she heads out alone - again - and as a reader I'm just thinking, why oh why!? To begin with, it's understandable. There's no immediate threat. But once she realises that she is being followed and someone is very keen to keep her quiet through any means, her behaviour becomes idiotic rather than naive. It's a pet peeve of mine in books. Any logical, sane adult fearing for their life is not going to run out on a whim to find the next piece of evidence; they would call someone to accompany them at the very least.
It's a minor quibble in the long run, although it did slightly mar my enjoyment of the novel. I found the characterisations of the children in the 'flashback' sections of the novel far more believable in that sense, as children make mistakes because they don't know any better. Adults making the same mistakes again and again is far less forgivable.
All in all though, I enjoyed this. It's a dark and tense thriller that builds up the atmosphere well. The characterisations are strong, particularly those of the children and of the Detective working the case in the present day. I particularly liked how the focus shifted from Heidi to Detective Gizeen, as it means you get to see events from both perspectives. The ramifications of such a horrific act on the children concerned even many years later was portrayed well, and I felt the author did an excellent job at portraying Heidi and Nina's family as fully fleshed out characters, rather than solely as victims.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this novel.