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purrfectpages's review
Ugh. My first book of August was a bust. I got 22% in before I decided to throw in the towel. I didn't like the main character, the plot didn't seem to be going anywhere, and all they did was drink their way through each chapter. No thanks.
hijinx_abound's review against another edition
2.0
The start of this book was so promising. About 1/2 way in the "relationship" drama started to ruin the story for me. If this had been YA or New Adult, I would not have been so irritated by all the miscommunication or lack of communication and the immaturity. The main characters are in their 39's and have children. That makes me less tolerant of all the drama.
maggiemaggio's review
5.0
Originally read in September 2016 and re-read in November 2017 and loved just as much. These characters and this writing just blow me away. They are such monsters, but I love them and I think their emotions and feelings are just so, so real.
hannahelaine's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I have mixed feelings on this. It is objectively, well written, compelling, and interesting. Did I enjoy it? Not really. I’m so used to reading romances (which this is not—it’s a love story but it’s not a romance) that this kind of book where everyone is terrible and everyone makes terrible decisions and thinks and does terrible things, is a shock to my system. Glad I read it though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Violence
Moderate: Death
charliena's review
2.0
It's a good feeling type of book. A bit unrealistic story but if you're just reading it for "summer fun" it's ok. It will pass the time if nothing else.
Edit: I have sleept on it and changed my rating to 2/5. The main character is a alcoholic anorectic vegan who ignores her kids emotions and then has a meltdown when she has a on/off relationship with an actor. It's not a good story at all.
Edit: I have sleept on it and changed my rating to 2/5. The main character is a alcoholic anorectic vegan who ignores her kids emotions and then has a meltdown when she has a on/off relationship with an actor. It's not a good story at all.
monamd's review against another edition
5.0
“Isn’t that what drives us? Getting away?”
Stacet a poet and a mother of two boys. She lost her husband recently the she met Tommy the Hollywood star. They work together to turn her book in to a movie then they fall in love.
Really nice story I loved it so much. Also the writing style was so good and smooth.
The characters I liked them even though they were so selfish and mean.
Stacet a poet and a mother of two boys. She lost her husband recently the she met Tommy the Hollywood star. They work together to turn her book in to a movie then they fall in love.
Really nice story I loved it so much. Also the writing style was so good and smooth.
The characters I liked them even though they were so selfish and mean.
sandlynn's review against another edition
5.0
Liz Kay’s Monsters: A Love Story, published in 2016, is a romantically inclined novel with a bit of an edge. This is Kay's first novel. She has previously published poetry.
Like the author, our lead character, Stacey Lane, is a poet. She’s also thirty-something, newly widowed, and a mother of two young boys. Living in Nebraska, where her deceased husband was raised, Stacey has always felt a bit out of place. She grew up on the west coast and went to graduate school in the east, but having her sister and brother-in-law close by has been a help. Stacey has been more of a stay-at-home mom during her married life than a writer. She’s only published two books of poetry, but the latter one, Monsters in the Afterlife, a feminist take on the Frankenstein story, has gotten some traction. In fact, a Hollywood star has optioned it for adaptation, wants to produce, and invites Stacey to come out to his Caribbean vacation home to discuss the project. This invitation propels Stacey into Tommy DeMarco’s incredibly crazy life. DeMarco, in his latter 30’s, one assumes, is a charming, handsome womanizer. But he’s also smart, talented, and determined to make this book into a movie with the involvement of Stacey. Through the course of two years, not only do they work together off and on, but they carry on an affair at the same pace, falling in and out of each other’s lives, debating artistic visions, whether to have a relationship, how to deal with their children -- Tommy has a young, troubled teenage daughter from a previous relationship – as well as trust and honesty. In a sense, the poetry Stacey has written about Frankenstein almost becomes a metaphor for Stacey's life, a woman shaped by the men in her life at the time, i.e., either one that fits her traditional, steady, Midwest deceased husband or one that fits into Tommy’s glamorous, bohemian, ego-driven, alcohol and Xanax-fueled existence.
For a first novel, I found this story to be a popcorn popping, fast read. I honestly didn’t know how it would end nor how I wanted it to end. Did I want Stacey and Tommy to eventually make things permanent – if Tommy could ever *be* with one woman? Did I want Stacey to remain in Nebraska in the stable but less exciting arms of a doctor she begins to date at her sister’s urging? Or would it be best if they were both alone, with Stacey facing her grief and her artistic stagnation and Tommy finally growing up and getting control of his daughter. The romantic in me wanted things to work out, but it seemed an unreachable goal, since they were both damaged and not always good for each other. Be that as it may, I *can* recommend this story to romance readers, as long as you are not expecting absolute fidelity through the couple’s struggles, are not offended by profanity, and can look past all the heavy drinking without developing cirrhosis by osmosis. (In fact, I thought it amusing that Stacey was such a health-nut in terms of the food she feeds her children and eats herself, but has no problem sucking back the wine and vodka!) Anyway, if you enjoy books about artists, the artistic process, imperfect people attracted to each other and yet maybe not good for each other, you’ve found your story here! Luckily, it was right up my alley. I’d give it an A/A-.
Like the author, our lead character, Stacey Lane, is a poet. She’s also thirty-something, newly widowed, and a mother of two young boys. Living in Nebraska, where her deceased husband was raised, Stacey has always felt a bit out of place. She grew up on the west coast and went to graduate school in the east, but having her sister and brother-in-law close by has been a help. Stacey has been more of a stay-at-home mom during her married life than a writer. She’s only published two books of poetry, but the latter one, Monsters in the Afterlife, a feminist take on the Frankenstein story, has gotten some traction. In fact, a Hollywood star has optioned it for adaptation, wants to produce, and invites Stacey to come out to his Caribbean vacation home to discuss the project. This invitation propels Stacey into Tommy DeMarco’s incredibly crazy life. DeMarco, in his latter 30’s, one assumes, is a charming, handsome womanizer. But he’s also smart, talented, and determined to make this book into a movie with the involvement of Stacey. Through the course of two years, not only do they work together off and on, but they carry on an affair at the same pace, falling in and out of each other’s lives, debating artistic visions, whether to have a relationship, how to deal with their children -- Tommy has a young, troubled teenage daughter from a previous relationship – as well as trust and honesty. In a sense, the poetry Stacey has written about Frankenstein almost becomes a metaphor for Stacey's life, a woman shaped by the men in her life at the time, i.e., either one that fits her traditional, steady, Midwest deceased husband or one that fits into Tommy’s glamorous, bohemian, ego-driven, alcohol and Xanax-fueled existence.
For a first novel, I found this story to be a popcorn popping, fast read. I honestly didn’t know how it would end nor how I wanted it to end. Did I want Stacey and Tommy to eventually make things permanent – if Tommy could ever *be* with one woman? Did I want Stacey to remain in Nebraska in the stable but less exciting arms of a doctor she begins to date at her sister’s urging? Or would it be best if they were both alone, with Stacey facing her grief and her artistic stagnation and Tommy finally growing up and getting control of his daughter. The romantic in me wanted things to work out, but it seemed an unreachable goal, since they were both damaged and not always good for each other. Be that as it may, I *can* recommend this story to romance readers, as long as you are not expecting absolute fidelity through the couple’s struggles, are not offended by profanity, and can look past all the heavy drinking without developing cirrhosis by osmosis. (In fact, I thought it amusing that Stacey was such a health-nut in terms of the food she feeds her children and eats herself, but has no problem sucking back the wine and vodka!) Anyway, if you enjoy books about artists, the artistic process, imperfect people attracted to each other and yet maybe not good for each other, you’ve found your story here! Luckily, it was right up my alley. I’d give it an A/A-.
hijinx_abound's review against another edition
2.0
The start of this book was so promising. About 1/2 way in the "relationship" drama started to ruin the story for me. If this had been YA or New Adult, I would not have been so irritated by all the miscommunication or lack of communication and the immaturity. The main characters are in their 39's and have children. That makes me less tolerant of all the drama.