A review by cluckingbell
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
4.0
I didn't realize/notice this was YA until I actually opened it to read and noticed the publisher. On that point: The story is ostensibly lifted directly from the journals of a man born in the 1870s, so the language and sentence structure lean toward formal and sometimes convoluted while still remaining modern and accessible. It seems like it would make a really good bridge read for younger readers trying to make the leap to classics—kind of like using Deadwood to ease people into Shakespeare. If a kid can understand The Monstrumologist, it's not much of a leap to understanding Dickens and Brontë!
For my own experience, while this wasn't a book that I couldn't wait to pick up again, I enjoyed it a great deal anytime I had it in my hands. I liked the writing style and the characters, honorable and otherwise. I liked the first-person narrator, which seems to be a rarity with me. Many authors fall into the trap of trying to make their narrator the most "interesting" character in the book rather than a character who has led an interesting life, and the character inevitably gets on my nerves. So when I say I found Will Henry innocuous, understand that's a high compliment for a first-person POV. If he isn't the most fascinating character in the book, he is certainly a plucky and likable guide to this world.
Definitely expect to be reading the rest of this series.
For my own experience, while this wasn't a book that I couldn't wait to pick up again, I enjoyed it a great deal anytime I had it in my hands. I liked the writing style and the characters, honorable and otherwise. I liked the first-person narrator, which seems to be a rarity with me. Many authors fall into the trap of trying to make their narrator the most "interesting" character in the book rather than a character who has led an interesting life, and the character inevitably gets on my nerves. So when I say I found Will Henry innocuous, understand that's a high compliment for a first-person POV. If he isn't the most fascinating character in the book, he is certainly a plucky and likable guide to this world.
Definitely expect to be reading the rest of this series.