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A review by coco_lolo
Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly
4.0
It's recently come to my attention that I don't read many Middle-Grade books - not because I don't like them, but because I simply don't find myself looking for them often. Monstrous very well may be the book that changes that.
The premise is pretty simple: Monstrous follows Kym as she embraces her humanity while balancing it with her hybrid status, and this story was one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Kym was lovable both for her innocence and her willingness to learn from her mistakes and make up for them; her struggle to reclaim her humanity while fearing and admiring her animal parts was captured in heartrending detail, and Connolly's writing from Kym's perspective felt at times both naive and profound, which fit the character perfectly.
Unfortunately, the side characters were a hit-or-miss for me because I felt like the author didn't do well at fleshing them out; Kym was just so well done, and this makes the secondary characters' lack of depth all the more evident. I never did care for Ren, something that was a shame since I thought Connolly could have done so much more with crafting his personality and quirks - he just came across as bland. Although she didn't receive as much attention, I liked Greta and am pleased to see that she is the protagonist of the companion book, Ravenous, so now I have even more incentive to read it!
Admittedly, the twist is obvious; as in, I had it figured out about 20 pages into the book, and while I wasn't sure of how all the details were going to play out, I wasn't surprised by anything that happened. This did not bother me, however, because when you consider the fact that the target age group for Monstrous is listed as ages 8-12, I can forgive the predictable turn the plot took. What I can't entirely fathom is why a book aimed at children younger than 13 would have such an advanced vocabulary. The sentence structure is fairly simple, comprised of both shorter and longer sentences with a splash of fairy tale-esque phrasing, but Connolly used many words that I know for sure I wasn't familiar with until I was at least a young teenager. Words such as "iridescent," "filigree," "topiary," and "machinations" are ones I would have skimmed over if I'd read this as a child.
Another facet that I absolutely adored was the art - not merely the cover that was done by Skottie Young, but the four different chapter images that are used throughout. I fell in love with the style the characters were drawn in, and it was easy to imagine the events of the book being in stop-motion, or even 2D, animation; these images had such life in them, and I only wish there had been more.
The first half of the book was more on the slow side, and I wish the big reveal could have come sooner so that there was a little more substance during the second half. And speaking of second half...I was not expecting that ending. It was surprisingly bittersweet in the way that many fairy tales are, and while I appreciate Connolly not giving readers the patent "happily ever after," I'm still torn on how I feel about the way this booked closed.
I had a lot of fun with this one, and although it was nothing like I imagined it would be back when I came across it in 2013, I was not disappointed by Monstrous in the least.
The premise is pretty simple: Monstrous follows Kym as she embraces her humanity while balancing it with her hybrid status, and this story was one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Kym was lovable both for her innocence and her willingness to learn from her mistakes and make up for them; her struggle to reclaim her humanity while fearing and admiring her animal parts was captured in heartrending detail, and Connolly's writing from Kym's perspective felt at times both naive and profound, which fit the character perfectly.
Unfortunately, the side characters were a hit-or-miss for me because I felt like the author didn't do well at fleshing them out; Kym was just so well done, and this makes the secondary characters' lack of depth all the more evident. I never did care for Ren, something that was a shame since I thought Connolly could have done so much more with crafting his personality and quirks - he just came across as bland. Although she didn't receive as much attention, I liked Greta and am pleased to see that she is the protagonist of the companion book, Ravenous, so now I have even more incentive to read it!
Spoiler
I also enjoyed the dual sides of the wizard Barnabas, but I think Connolly did better with his characterization when he was pretending to be the kind and caring father. His betrayal broke my heart for the reason that it devastated Kym, and one thing that I imagine to be most painful is for a child to realize that the adult he or she trusted implicitly can no longer be trusted. Once the big revelation about him occurred, though, I no longer found him interesting due to weak motives and him being reduced to the stereotypical villain out for power.Admittedly, the twist is obvious; as in, I had it figured out about 20 pages into the book, and while I wasn't sure of how all the details were going to play out, I wasn't surprised by anything that happened. This did not bother me, however, because when you consider the fact that the target age group for Monstrous is listed as ages 8-12, I can forgive the predictable turn the plot took. What I can't entirely fathom is why a book aimed at children younger than 13 would have such an advanced vocabulary. The sentence structure is fairly simple, comprised of both shorter and longer sentences with a splash of fairy tale-esque phrasing, but Connolly used many words that I know for sure I wasn't familiar with until I was at least a young teenager. Words such as "iridescent," "filigree," "topiary," and "machinations" are ones I would have skimmed over if I'd read this as a child.
Another facet that I absolutely adored was the art - not merely the cover that was done by Skottie Young, but the four different chapter images that are used throughout. I fell in love with the style the characters were drawn in, and it was easy to imagine the events of the book being in stop-motion, or even 2D, animation; these images had such life in them, and I only wish there had been more.
The first half of the book was more on the slow side, and I wish the big reveal could have come sooner so that there was a little more substance during the second half. And speaking of second half...I was not expecting that ending. It was surprisingly bittersweet in the way that many fairy tales are, and while I appreciate Connolly not giving readers the patent "happily ever after," I'm still torn on how I feel about the way this booked closed.
I had a lot of fun with this one, and although it was nothing like I imagined it would be back when I came across it in 2013, I was not disappointed by Monstrous in the least.