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A review by netslummer
Monstersona by Chloe Spencer
5.0
Riley is not happy to have relocated to Little Brook, Maine. Her parent's got divorced, she left all of her friends, and she's miserable at school. Her mom got a new job with Titan Technologies and, in Riley's opinion, uprooted their whole lives for no good reason.
She's lonely and has no friends in Little Brook so, on the night of the homecoming game, Riley spends the evening alone with her dog Tigger watching, and promptly falling asleep during, Stranger Things on Netflix. When she awakens during the evening, she is surprised to see how bright it is outside; an unnatural orangish light. She steps outside to find the entire town on fire, with the fire moving closer and closer to her house. She grabs her dog, some clothes, and jump into her beat-up old truck to flee the town. As she is leaving, she happens across Aspen Montehugh, a popular (and, in Riley's opinion, beautiful) girl who is walking slowly in a dazed, zombieish state.
The pair, after a discussion with Riley's dad, decide to meet him in Minneapolis to fly to Seattle as air travel on the eastern US is grounded.
As they travel the girls are accosted by strange men in non descript SUVs; something is up with Aspen and Riley is determined to find out what.
This book was so much fun! There's fun body horror and monster vibes. Clandestine scientific experiments. Crazy governmental cover-ups. Its got it all. I really enjoyed this, especially with the first chapter being a scene of Day 10 of the journey first. It really gets you into the story and helps set the pace right away. Importantly the book is an exploration of grief and trauma covered in a lovely queer monster horror. There was a bit of a romance between the girls that felt a little rushed, but they only had like 10 days to fit it in...and shared trauma does tend to bond people pretty easily. If you enjoy queer horror or science fiction or massive monsters, I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to Tiny Ghost Press who provided me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
She's lonely and has no friends in Little Brook so, on the night of the homecoming game, Riley spends the evening alone with her dog Tigger watching, and promptly falling asleep during, Stranger Things on Netflix. When she awakens during the evening, she is surprised to see how bright it is outside; an unnatural orangish light. She steps outside to find the entire town on fire, with the fire moving closer and closer to her house. She grabs her dog, some clothes, and jump into her beat-up old truck to flee the town. As she is leaving, she happens across Aspen Montehugh, a popular (and, in Riley's opinion, beautiful) girl who is walking slowly in a dazed, zombieish state.
The pair, after a discussion with Riley's dad, decide to meet him in Minneapolis to fly to Seattle as air travel on the eastern US is grounded.
As they travel the girls are accosted by strange men in non descript SUVs; something is up with Aspen and Riley is determined to find out what.
This book was so much fun! There's fun body horror and monster vibes. Clandestine scientific experiments. Crazy governmental cover-ups. Its got it all. I really enjoyed this, especially with the first chapter being a scene of Day 10 of the journey first. It really gets you into the story and helps set the pace right away. Importantly the book is an exploration of grief and trauma covered in a lovely queer monster horror. There was a bit of a romance between the girls that felt a little rushed, but they only had like 10 days to fit it in...and shared trauma does tend to bond people pretty easily. If you enjoy queer horror or science fiction or massive monsters, I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to Tiny Ghost Press who provided me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.