Little Monsters

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I am by no means a psychic but I can tell you right now how Kacey’s future is going to go: SERIOUS trust issue and probably will be a loner for the rest of her life. And who could blame her? Ken and Abby Gardner lost their mother when they were small and they have been haunted by her absence ever since. Their father, Adam, a brilliant oceanographer, raised them mostly on his own in his remote home on Cape Cod, where the attachment between Ken and Abby deepened into something complicated—and as adults their relationship is strained. Now, years later, the siblings' lives are still deeply entwined. Ken is a successful businessman with political ambitions and a picture-perfect family and Abby is a talented visual artist who depends on her brother's goodwill, in part because he owns the studio where she lives and works.

The culturally specific language in Little Monsters is lively, au courant, and at times delightfully salty, giving insight to the times and nuance to all personalities in a tightly crafted story of a family that would like to connect, but is in denial of its individual and collective wounds. This will be a brief review, as I don’t have much to say. In fact, I kept waiting and waiting for something major to happen, but it never did. We have the story of Abby and Ken, who are brother and sister. Abby and Ken were raised by their single father, Adam. Adam is bipolar, and he likes to quit taking his medications from time to time. Therefore, Abby and Ken are pretty much trained to know when he is having a manic episode. Abby and Ken’s mother died while giving birth to Abby, so there seems to always have been some resentment and competition between the two of them. Their once very close relationship has since pushed them apart. I’m smitten with books that keep me guessing. The more complicated the mystery, the more invested I am in the plot, the characters and especially the ending. I always try to guess the twist. It’s part of why I love murder-mystery books so much. It’s like I’m transported into the story, alongside the main character, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Bonus points if the story has an unreliable narrator. Taking this into account, it was a given that I would have so much fun reading this book. There was a constant air of mystery surrounding everything, which helped me immerse in the book world. Bipolar Adam is spinning from “I have one more discovery left” to depression leading up to his 70th birthday bash.

The display of friendship between teenage girls feels so accurate in how complicated it all can be. Obsession, jealousy, manipulation, and secrets all coming into play. I liked the different dynamics that emerge regarding the relationships Kacey had with each of her family members. The characters are believable. I just wish there had been more development there. It really would have made a world of difference. Kacey keeps hinting at this dark, mysterious past. This never gets fully explained. I, for one, was curious and thought it added to the mystery if we in fact got any answers. It just felt like her past was danced around at a certain point. The more I ponder on it, the more I wonder if I missed something? It is also worth noting that there is zero romance. Little Monsters is a tender, engaging tale that sweeps you away to the idyllic Cape Cod during 2016 and into the lives of the Gardner family, especially siblings Ken and Abby, as the preparations for their father’s upcoming seventieth birthday party will have them finally confronting all the jealousy, resentment, pain, scars, long-buried secrets, and despicable behaviours that have tied them together since childhood. Adam tried to decipher the clues his mind was depositing. He had one big discovery left in him, he felt sure of that. This thing, whatever it was—an idea? a theory?—was taking its own sweet time to make itself known. He knew he needed to trust the process. If he could practice patience and maintain equilibrium, Adam felt certain that every book he’d ever read, every piece of art that had ever moved him, every conversation, creature, curiosity, and concept he’d encountered in his lifetime would align like cherries in the slot machine of his mind. It was bizarre how Kacey kept thinking she’s evil and there’s something wrong with her. Why? Because the fight with her mom got physical? Because she didn’t get along with her mom? Because she broke things (aka throwing tantrums) since she was little?? She was emphatic about it too. So much so that I thought for the whole book that we would find out about her past and what she really did that make her so ‘evil’ in the end. Spoiler alert - nothing. It’s really weird. Also preparing for their fathers birthday are his two children, Ken and Abby. Ken a successful but ruthless businessman, providing financial support to not only his family, but his sister alike. Abby a passionate visual artist who depends on her brother’s goodwill, in part because he owns the studio where she lives and works.

But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers.” Beautiful, lyrical and unvarnished, Adrienne Brodeur's Little Monsters delivers its powerful emotional punches so subtly that they sneak up on you and leave you floored Miranda Cowley Heller, New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace

Little Monsters

Almost 70yo brilliant oceanographer Adam is struggling to feel relevant in his job and life. He has (mostly) raised his two children Ken and Abby as a single parent after his wife died young. His “little monsters” (his words) are now adults — Ken is a successful businessman / wannabe politician and Abby is an artist. I love these messed up characters who are easy to either love or love to hate. Their issues, their journeys, their goals are what spark a thread of connection in this reader. It's the reason I love Family Fiction and why I highly recommend Little Monsters to others who love it, too! Howl with laughter with Little Monsters, the monstrously funny picture book from David Walliams and Adam Stower! Maybe we were meant to find each other today. Maybe we’re the Not Okay Girls, and we’re supposed to save each other.” I adore books that encroach on the dark, secret lives of teenage girls and this book did so in an exciting yet unpredictable way. From sneaking out at midnight to parties, to holding seances in haunted and remote buildings - this book was a series of exhilarating scenes tied together with the dark undertone of both the reader and the characters second-guessing everyone's motives. No emotion was spared and I spent much of my time reading this breathless with either suspense or terror.

What is great about this book is for one THE ATMOSPHERE. Not all YA gets that right. The wintry feeling and coldness of the small Wisconsin town plays a huge role in the story and is itself as much a character as any of the humans. I adored the atmosphere. What are the difficulties and benefits of writing a novel versus writing a memoir★ What was your writing process like★ From the author of the bestselling memoir Wild Game comes a riveting novel about Cape Cod, complicated families, and long-buried secrets.Howler is a little werewolf with a big problem...he is just not scary! And that makes him the odd one out at Monster School. But when Howler finds some new friends, he discovers that being the odd one out might just make him the coolest one of all… When they’re interesting, nuanced, have some shred of likability. Some sort of character arc, like at all. Abby was fine. Everyone else? Insufferable. While reading this book, I kept thinking that it reminded me of something - and then it hit me: Sarah Pinborough's 13 MINUTES. That suffocating small-town paranoia of everyone being in everyone else's business; the mean girls with a sinister (maybe?) agenda, and the twists upon twists upon twists? Yeah, both books have you covered. I feel like if you enjoy Gillian Flynn's work, you will enjoy both of these, but 13 MINUTES is more like GONE GIRL where the easy answer isn't the right one, whereas this book is more like SHARP OBJECTS - there's a twist, and there's a twist about the twist that will make you question everything. As the mystery of Bailey's disappearance intensifies, the towns people begin to turn on Kacey. There are rumors swirling around that indeed..she may have had a role in what happened to Bailey. Lastly, I'm left wondering... who else had Steph's medical issue, myotonic dystrophy, aka the reason she began her search?