Reviews

There's A Monster In The Woods by Fae Quin

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pistolreadsthings's review against another edition

5.0

Ugh. This was such a sweet story! A Fae just writes the most beautifully descriptive prose ever.

Ellis is the town outcast. He keeps to himself with his little home and his vegetable garden at the edge of the woods, along with his best fur baby, Rotho. Of course he grew up with the stories of the “Monster In The Woods” and the town’s annual “sacrifice”. But as far as he’s concerned, it’s just that. A fairytale.

Until the day he decides to cut through the woods on his walk home from town and happens upon his “fairytale” in the flesh.

Omg. Styx is the cutest giant monster EVER

balyeska's review against another edition

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3.0

hmm

shinysue's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Cute story. I like the autism angle though it's never overtly mentioned. I'm glad he found someone who loves him for him. The story doesn't have much to it, so there's not much to rate.

n0s4a2's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

restless_pages's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

It's a sweet short story about Ellis, an outcast who lives with his dog on outskirts of a village, and Styx, a monster from the woods.

Before anything, the cover of the book is simply gorgeous and it's what drew me to pick up this book. I love it to bits.

Even though it's a short story, the romance is quite slow-paced, which is usually my preference. The writing is dreamy and poetic, which is also another plus for me.

I was really intrigued at first, with Ellis meeting this wild, mysterious, dangerous-looking creature from the legend in the middle of woods. But one thing that kinda ruined the experience for me was that we are mostly told, not shown.

I'd say the book mostly consists of Ellis' inner monologue. The interactions that we do get to <i>see</i> are really engaging, and the ones with Styx are especially beautiful. But a lot (most) of it is Ellis telling us about it, or rather, reminiscing about what happened. He tells us that Styx and him became more comfortable around each other as they spent more time together; that he was more talkative than he was with anyone else because Styx is mostly silent; he tells us about that time he discovered what Styx's favorite type of bread is.
And I just really wanted to see more of their interactions, because like this, it felt like so many stuff happened off-page.

But I liked both characters, especially Styx. The little details about them, their likes and dislikes, really added to their personalities. I liked how they bonded over loneliness and how soft and loving they were towards each other.

The spice at the very end didn't work for me, mostly because of situation in which it happened and location where it happend. I really don't understand why the author chose to have their first and only sex scene happen where it did and under such circumstances, and turn it into some sort of "revenge". It's really baffling and it made the scene so uncomfortable for me. As someone else also noted in their reviews, it would've made more sense if it happened in Ellis' garden, or even in the woods or in the cottage.

bluebeereads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is truly some of the most beautiful, lyrical writing I've ever read in an MM romance novel. Ellis was such a precious, beautiful soul, so misunderstood by everyone until he met Styx. Their romance is unique and magical and I could've easily read a hundred more pages of them. Also a shout-out to Rotho, Ellis' dog. Really adored this story and I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series.