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madamryno's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Awesome introduction to a spooky series! I'm hooked! The protag sometimes gets a little lost in his monologuing, but it snaps back in good time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
I'm surprised that this is listed as YA given how graphic the violence gets. Boy howdyjean_atlas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Abortion, and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit
milesjmoran's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
kyy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury
corvusastrum's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I’ve read this book as a teen about 10 years ago and back then, I absolutely loved it. Re-reading it again, I clearly noticed some flaws that dragged the experience down a bit, but it wasn’t a game breaker for me. Maybe it’s the nostalgia I feel for this series, or maybe the good just overshadows the bad, I couldn’t tell you, but I still quite like it.
You probably need a strong stomach for this book, because it can get absolutely gruesome and it doesn’t hold back with the nasty details just to then throw your morals into a fiery pit. Those are also the scenes where things actually speed up a little bit, as the book can be a little slow in between – maybe the “Victorian” writing style isn’t exactly helping that, even though I quite enjoyed it, but it surely isn’t for everyone. You could actually start a drinking game with this book though: every time the word “flesh” appears, take a shot. Once you notice it, you won’t be able to unsee it again, that word is ALL OVER the book.
Sadly the author tends to spoil big events that are about to happen in the story – three or four times in total, two of them are the deaths of characters with dialogue and meaning, which was pretty irritating. I’d rather get surprised with twists like that. Shocking, I know. But maybe Yancey was just doing that to underline that this book is actually the diary written by an old man? Said man obviously wouldn’t care much for shocking twists and would rather ponder about what he experienced in his youth. I’d get that, and I’m actually a big fan of these kinds of books where the author acts as a sort of chronicler or translator and the “actual” author is someone else. That being said it’s still pretty annoying to get spoiled multiple times within the book itself.
Now let’s get to the characters as a final note. Most of them are fairly interesting, not many of them are loveable though and therefore compliment the grimness of the entire setting. I really love Will Henry as a point of view character, and he’s the toughest and bravest little scrub I have ever read about while at the same time being fairly relatable. As a child character he sort of eases the reader into his dark world, because he understand just as little of what’s going on as us and we have to discover it together.
The titular person, the Monstrumologist, is a bit difficult to fully grasp and I feel like that is a mistake made by the author, it just doesn't make sense to me. Warthrop is way too fickle and you never really know where you’re at with him. At some points he’s irascible and downright inhumane, patronizing and crude. Then the next chapter he’s suddenly eaten up by self-pity and a weirdly childlike demeanour, even to a point of being downright pathetic. Then again he can be heroic, or caring, or submissive, or righteous - you literally can never tell what it’s gonna be next. Sometimes I despise him, sometimes I love him, sometimes I am completely indifferent about him. I think that’s a shame, I want to read books to fall in love with their stories, their worlds and their characters, not to leave them confused as of what to think about them.
Anyway, maybe it all steadies itself in the following books of the series, sadly (or luckily) I barely remember what’s to come.
You probably need a strong stomach for this book, because it can get absolutely gruesome and it doesn’t hold back with the nasty details just to then throw your morals into a fiery pit. Those are also the scenes where things actually speed up a little bit, as the book can be a little slow in between – maybe the “Victorian” writing style isn’t exactly helping that, even though I quite enjoyed it, but it surely isn’t for everyone. You could actually start a drinking game with this book though: every time the word “flesh” appears, take a shot. Once you notice it, you won’t be able to unsee it again, that word is ALL OVER the book.
Sadly the author tends to spoil big events that are about to happen in the story – three or four times in total, two of them are the deaths of characters with dialogue and meaning, which was pretty irritating. I’d rather get surprised with twists like that. Shocking, I know. But maybe Yancey was just doing that to underline that this book is actually the diary written by an old man? Said man obviously wouldn’t care much for shocking twists and would rather ponder about what he experienced in his youth. I’d get that, and I’m actually a big fan of these kinds of books where the author acts as a sort of chronicler or translator and the “actual” author is someone else. That being said it’s still pretty annoying to get spoiled multiple times within the book itself.
Now let’s get to the characters as a final note. Most of them are fairly interesting, not many of them are loveable though and therefore compliment the grimness of the entire setting. I really love Will Henry as a point of view character, and he’s the toughest and bravest little scrub I have ever read about while at the same time being fairly relatable. As a child character he sort of eases the reader into his dark world, because he understand just as little of what’s going on as us and we have to discover it together.
The titular person, the Monstrumologist, is a bit difficult to fully grasp and I feel like that is a mistake made by the author, it just doesn't make sense to me. Warthrop is way too fickle and you never really know where you’re at with him. At some points he’s irascible and downright inhumane, patronizing and crude. Then the next chapter he’s suddenly eaten up by self-pity and a weirdly childlike demeanour, even to a point of being downright pathetic. Then again he can be heroic, or caring, or submissive, or righteous - you literally can never tell what it’s gonna be next. Sometimes I despise him, sometimes I love him, sometimes I am completely indifferent about him. I think that’s a shame, I want to read books to fall in love with their stories, their worlds and their characters, not to leave them confused as of what to think about them.
Anyway, maybe it all steadies itself in the following books of the series, sadly (or luckily) I barely remember what’s to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
the_one_krissy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
What I got from this novel was not at all what I was expecting when I picked it up.
In a nutshell, this is the tale of Dr Warthrop, a monstrumologist, and Will Henry, his assistant/apprentice/ward, who discover their home town is plagued by monsters and have to do something about it. Sounds simple enough, and it kind of is, except the book starts with the very gruesome discovery of one of these Anthropophagi and its victim, quickly followed by the autopsy of said monster.
And let me tell you I was shaking in my boots and fighting to keep my dinner down before I was fifty pages into this book. Rick Yancey does not skimp on the grisly details, and the monsters infesting the town are aggressive ravenous beasts and absolutely terrifying. At times I had to put this book away for a while because it was making me physically ill.
Not that it isn't a good book, because it is. Just... a bit heavy with blood and gore.
Both main characters are likable, poor Will Henry in particular. The monstrumologist is the archetypal manic-depressive mad scientist, whose work is his life and who seems able to function without food and sleep indefinitely. He's fond of raspberry scones, though, which instantly endeared him to me.
Plot-wise this was a rather straightforward monster tale - not too complicated, although it did have a bit of depth as far as the main characters were concerned. A strong three stars, I think, but I'm frankly undecided if I'll continue with this series. Maybe, once my stomach has stopped churning.
In a nutshell, this is the tale of Dr Warthrop, a monstrumologist, and Will Henry, his assistant/apprentice/ward, who discover their home town is plagued by monsters and have to do something about it. Sounds simple enough, and it kind of is, except the book starts with the very gruesome discovery of one of these Anthropophagi and its victim, quickly followed by the autopsy of said monster.
And let me tell you I was shaking in my boots and fighting to keep my dinner down before I was fifty pages into this book. Rick Yancey does not skimp on the grisly details, and the monsters infesting the town are aggressive ravenous beasts and absolutely terrifying. At times I had to put this book away for a while because it was making me physically ill.
Not that it isn't a good book, because it is. Just... a bit heavy with blood and gore.
Both main characters are likable, poor Will Henry in particular. The monstrumologist is the archetypal manic-depressive mad scientist, whose work is his life and who seems able to function without food and sleep indefinitely. He's fond of raspberry scones, though, which instantly endeared him to me.
Plot-wise this was a rather straightforward monster tale - not too complicated, although it did have a bit of depth as far as the main characters were concerned. A strong three stars, I think, but I'm frankly undecided if I'll continue with this series. Maybe, once my stomach has stopped churning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
bumblebeefarts's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
velvetvoid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Blood
its_madi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child abuse