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skmcwood's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
I was really excited for this and I just did not enjoy it. There was little detail and it felt more like a Google search of each state written in the style of a book.
sarah_fodots's review against another edition
fast-paced
2.0
This book was just not for me. It felt like a 200 page BuzzFeed article and the audio book narration felt very much like an Entertainment Tonight sting. Very disappointing overall.
nattycran's review
3.0
While interesting and certainly entertaining, Chasing American Monsters is more of a reference book than anything else. Organized by state, some passages are as little as one paragraph while others are closer to two pages. Some states have many legends, some only a handful. And some monsters like Big Foot, Wendigo, and Thunderbird and referenced under multiple states.
I appreciated that everything was cited and that Native American cultures were given credit for their origin stories. What I really wanted was more analysis and connection with immigrant stories and influences. What happens when Scottish Loch dwellers move into an area populated with Native Americans who have lake legends? What about an Italian immigrant in Alaska where there are less terrain similarities--how does that change and shape these oral traditions and reports?
TLDR: Great for reference, not enough details to be more.
I appreciated that everything was cited and that Native American cultures were given credit for their origin stories. What I really wanted was more analysis and connection with immigrant stories and influences. What happens when Scottish Loch dwellers move into an area populated with Native Americans who have lake legends? What about an Italian immigrant in Alaska where there are less terrain similarities--how does that change and shape these oral traditions and reports?
TLDR: Great for reference, not enough details to be more.
bookdeviant's review
4.0
I don't know if I hide it well or not, but for a while I've been really interested in cryptids and monsters like Bigfoot, the Jersey Devil, Chupacabra, and even a few in my state of Wisconsin. When I saw a book basically dedicated to these monsters, I was ecstatic. I was slightly concerned that the voice might make the book dry and hard to get through, but I was proven wrong nearly immediately.
Check out the rest of my review on The Book Deviant!
Check out the rest of my review on The Book Deviant!
howlinglibraries's review
2.0
I'm so disappointed in this book, and I'm not even sure if it's fair for me to be this disappointed, but here we are. I love cryptid stories and literally spent countless late nights as a kid/teen (okay, who am I kidding, I'm 26 and it still happens frequently) digging through cryptid forums and sites and blog posts, devouring any stories I could find. Even if the stories took place thousands of miles away from me, it didn't stop me from loving them (though my favorites, of course, are the ones that took place in my home state of Georgia or surrounding states).
All of that said, as you can imagine, I was super excited to read this, but it wasn't what I expected at all. It's broken up by states, which was a cool formatting, but each state only has an illustration of one of its cryptids, and... honestly, I'm not convinced some of those illustrations weren't traced over old Neopets designs. Sorry.
Artwork aside, instead of giving history on established cryptids that a lot of people actually believe in, most of these were nonsense (one of the Georgia cryptids' sections claims that it's a widely held belief in this particular area, and having lived very near that region as a kid and knowing a ton of people from the town? No, it's not). Half of the stories given were basically just like, "This ONE PERSON in *insert year* claimed they saw this and now everyone believes it!" and, frankly, that's not how cryptid stories work from my experience. Maybe Offutt's circles run a little differently, but ask anyone in mine, and we'll all agree that a cryptid story isn't fun until there are enough corroborating stories to make it plausible.
Sigh. I didn't mean for this review to become a rant. I'm sure the author is a great person who thought they'd write something really fun and kooky, but the delivery wasn't there for me at all.
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
All of that said, as you can imagine, I was super excited to read this, but it wasn't what I expected at all. It's broken up by states, which was a cool formatting, but each state only has an illustration of one of its cryptids, and... honestly, I'm not convinced some of those illustrations weren't traced over old Neopets designs. Sorry.
Artwork aside, instead of giving history on established cryptids that a lot of people actually believe in, most of these were nonsense (one of the Georgia cryptids' sections claims that it's a widely held belief in this particular area, and having lived very near that region as a kid and knowing a ton of people from the town? No, it's not). Half of the stories given were basically just like, "This ONE PERSON in *insert year* claimed they saw this and now everyone believes it!" and, frankly, that's not how cryptid stories work from my experience. Maybe Offutt's circles run a little differently, but ask anyone in mine, and we'll all agree that a cryptid story isn't fun until there are enough corroborating stories to make it plausible.
Sigh. I didn't mean for this review to become a rant. I'm sure the author is a great person who thought they'd write something really fun and kooky, but the delivery wasn't there for me at all.
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
bindingthepages's review
4.0
Cataloging the monster sightings across America, Jason Offutt provides a comprehensive list of monsters organized by state. In this book, you will find anything from the many Bigfoot sightings to mysterious lake monsters and human sized talking cockroaches. Not one to skip over hoaxes, Offutt also includes monster sightings that are known hoaxes and notes which monsters are confirmed hoaxes. This book is sure to make a fascinating read whether or not you are a believer.
I picked up this book because I’ve always been fascinated by the different monsters and creatures that have been sighted over the years. When I started reading, I didn’t realize how many different monsters that are allegedly all over the states! While some creatures, such as Bigfoot, are well known, there are others that I have never heard of. I know I have never heard of the human sized talking cockroaches. Are those real? Who knows, but I certainly hope not!
I loved reading about all the various beings, like the Menehune in Hawaii and the Batsquatch in Washington. It was interesting to learn about the different sightings reported all over the states that include vampires and mysterious lake monsters. I also liked that Offutt noted when a monster sighting was a confirmed hoax while the others are up in the air, so people can choose to decide how real or fake the sightings are.
The book is organized very well. The states are listed alphabetically, and the monsters are listed on a state by state basis. The Bigfoot sightings did get a bit redundant after a while since they’ve been reported in most states. I was more surprised when a Bigfoot wasn’t listed among a state’s monsters. While the layout of the book worked very well, its only downfall was the sheer amount of Bigfoot sections.
Otherwise, I think it was a great book that gives a little information on each monster. I don’t think this was meant to be an extremely detailed list of monsters, but more of a monster encyclopedia, so don’t expect lengthy descriptions on each creature mentioned.
I picked up this book because I’ve always been fascinated by the different monsters and creatures that have been sighted over the years. When I started reading, I didn’t realize how many different monsters that are allegedly all over the states! While some creatures, such as Bigfoot, are well known, there are others that I have never heard of. I know I have never heard of the human sized talking cockroaches. Are those real? Who knows, but I certainly hope not!
I loved reading about all the various beings, like the Menehune in Hawaii and the Batsquatch in Washington. It was interesting to learn about the different sightings reported all over the states that include vampires and mysterious lake monsters. I also liked that Offutt noted when a monster sighting was a confirmed hoax while the others are up in the air, so people can choose to decide how real or fake the sightings are.
The book is organized very well. The states are listed alphabetically, and the monsters are listed on a state by state basis. The Bigfoot sightings did get a bit redundant after a while since they’ve been reported in most states. I was more surprised when a Bigfoot wasn’t listed among a state’s monsters. While the layout of the book worked very well, its only downfall was the sheer amount of Bigfoot sections.
Otherwise, I think it was a great book that gives a little information on each monster. I don’t think this was meant to be an extremely detailed list of monsters, but more of a monster encyclopedia, so don’t expect lengthy descriptions on each creature mentioned.
kamisha's review against another edition
2.0
When I read the description for this book, I was originally really excited to read this. Chasing American Monsters is a cross-country journey through each American state covering said state‰ŰŞs particular monsters, mysterious animals and strange creatures. I have a weak spot for cryptozoology, no matter how silly, I love reading cryptid encounters and learning the local folklore about different mysterious creatures. Chasing American Monsters seemed right up my alley at first, but I quickly realized this book wasn‰ŰŞt quite what I was expecting.
I think the biggest issue I had while reading this book was the lack of detail. Even though each American state is covered, the different creatures within each state are barely touched upon, sometimes even with only one brief paragraph. While I understand that American is vast and we certainly have no shortage of crazy cryptids and local legends, some of these topics could have been delved into way more. There is an absolute wealth of information about this kind of stuff out there but for some topics that are genuinely really popular, the author would only give one eyewitness account and then move on. Or he would sometimes make a blanket statement about there being ‰ŰĎnumerous‰Űť accounts over the years since then.
I also occasionally had a bit of trouble with the author‰ŰŞs way of phrasing things. There would be sentences that I assume were meant to be humorous, but really just came off in a flippant manner.
If you are looking for something that will just give you a very brief rundown of some of the ‰ŰĎmonsters‰Űť said to live in American states, then this book might be for you. The idea was certainly a good one and I think would‰ŰŞve worked well if it had just been executed a bit differently, with WAY more detail.
I think the biggest issue I had while reading this book was the lack of detail. Even though each American state is covered, the different creatures within each state are barely touched upon, sometimes even with only one brief paragraph. While I understand that American is vast and we certainly have no shortage of crazy cryptids and local legends, some of these topics could have been delved into way more. There is an absolute wealth of information about this kind of stuff out there but for some topics that are genuinely really popular, the author would only give one eyewitness account and then move on. Or he would sometimes make a blanket statement about there being ‰ŰĎnumerous‰Űť accounts over the years since then.
I also occasionally had a bit of trouble with the author‰ŰŞs way of phrasing things. There would be sentences that I assume were meant to be humorous, but really just came off in a flippant manner.
If you are looking for something that will just give you a very brief rundown of some of the ‰ŰĎmonsters‰Űť said to live in American states, then this book might be for you. The idea was certainly a good one and I think would‰ŰŞve worked well if it had just been executed a bit differently, with WAY more detail.
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