I’m not sure what to say about Here There Are Monsters, if we’re being honest. It began strongly, and it kept me reading until a little less than halfway through, where I found myself struggling each time to pick it up. But I made it!!! And I’m not totally sorry I did; I’m just confused.
The story centers around Skye, a girl who has recently relocated with her family to a swamp parts unknown so they can all have a fresh start. Skye’s sister, Deirdre, isn’t exactly average–she’s what a lot of the other kids call weird. But Deirdre doesn’t want to change who she is to satisfy some norm; all she wants is to be friends with her sister forever. But then Deirdre disappears, and it becomes rapidly clear to Skye that she, via the fantasy games they played as children that Deirdre never grew out of, is the only one who can find and save her sister.
Here There Are Monsters starts out very strong. Skye is a fairly solid character in the beginning. She would do anything for her sister, at least until she realizes that Deirdre doesn’t actually WANT to grow up. The use of a back and forth in time narrative allows us to watch the relationship between Skye and Deirdre begin to age and dissolve amidst the present day search for the missing sister. Their relationship was classically well crafted, and anyone with a sibling will easily be able to identify with Skye and her struggle to separate her identity from the one created by their relationship. The parent characters are static but well written; it’s tough to lose a child, and that grief is well portrayed, albeit largely in the background.
Where the narrative all falls apart for me personally is when the magic heavily seeps in. I don’t understand the monsters because we lack origin for them. What we are slightly led to believe as the monsters begin to emerge turns out not to be the case at all, and the ending left me with more questions than answers–but not in a good way. God’s honest truth, I thought Skye was schizophrenic for most of the book and was actually the one who murdered her sister. And that would have been a great twist! Sorry for the spoiler, but that’s not the case. I won’t tell y’all how it does end, but suffice it to say, I’m less than satisfied. While the book itself was well written, we aren’t given a proper foundation to understand the magic that is the end of the tale. I appreciate that Skye’s need to protect Deirdre carries through nearly to the end of the book. But I don’t like the person she becomes and the ending didn’t sit right with me. The main rule of a good fantasy is that the reader is able to suspend their disbelief, and I was not. I’m not sure if this book was actually trying to be a fantasy or whether it wanted to be a contemporary in dark clothing, and I’m not sure the author knew either.
2.5 stars. Many points for mostly well written characters, with deductions for a confusing plot. If you like a contemporary with somewhat of a fantasy element, you might find this one at a higher rating, but be prepared to leave it with some level of confusion.
**I received Here There Are Monsters as an ARC from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Here There Are Monsters is scheduled for publication August 1st, 2019, by Sourcebooks Fire.
The Reality of Books 