Vi, a 13 year old girl, lives a wonderful life with her brother, Eric, 9 years old, and her grandmother, Gram. Vi loves to explore and Eric loves to spend time with animals. Together they are the Monster Club. A union that they created to track and hunt monsters. They work on their monster hunting book in which Vi writes and Eric draws. Gram, spends her days at The Inn, a treatment center for the mentally ill. She is a famous psychiatrist who is known for her methods for treating her patients. When she is at home, she is a gin drinking grandmother who dotes on her grandchildren and also home-schools them.
One day, Gram brings home a young patient named Iris. She leaves Vi in charge of befriending her and keeping tabs to let grandmother know how she is doing. Iris starts of as mute but slowly starts to regain her voice. She also cannot remember anything from her past. As the girls hang out together they start to form a bond. This leaves Vi to feel the need to find out more information on Iris to help her understand who she is and where she is from. Turns out that some things are best hidden.
This book flips from 1978 when we get Vi's story to 2019 when we get the story of Lizzie, a real life monster hunter who is headed to find out why girls are going missing. Together the story collides and craziness creeps in. Quite an interesting and different story. Loved the characters and really related to their childhoods. The ending wasn't what I expected. While it was good, I was expecting more.
One day, Gram brings home a young patient named Iris. She leaves Vi in charge of befriending her and keeping tabs to let grandmother know how she is doing. Iris starts of as mute but slowly starts to regain her voice. She also cannot remember anything from her past. As the girls hang out together they start to form a bond. This leaves Vi to feel the need to find out more information on Iris to help her understand who she is and where she is from. Turns out that some things are best hidden.
This book flips from 1978 when we get Vi's story to 2019 when we get the story of Lizzie, a real life monster hunter who is headed to find out why girls are going missing. Together the story collides and craziness creeps in. Quite an interesting and different story. Loved the characters and really related to their childhoods. The ending wasn't what I expected. While it was good, I was expecting more.
Vermont 1978: Dr. Helen Hildreth, psychiatrist, is acclaimed for her work with the mentally ill at her renowned treatment center. At home, she is just Gran when taking care of Vi and Eric, her grandchildren. One day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family but Iris does not behave like a normal girl. Vi and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club. They catalogue all kinds of monsters and makeup ways to defeat them. Iris begins to come out of her shell.
2019: Lizzy Shelley is the host of the popular podcast, Monsters Among Us. A young girl has been abducted. A monster has been sighted in the town. Lizzy is determined to hunt the monster down. Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real because one of them is her very own sister.
This is a story about monsters. I enjoyed the references to Mary Shelly's Frankenstein novel. The characters were unique and the plot has a very surprising twist in the end. The story is told in two timelines (1978 Vi and 2019 Lizzie). I have read all of Jennifer McMahon's books and have enjoyed each one. I look forward to reading her next book as I do enjoy her writing. If you like monster stories then you will enjoy this one. I would like to thank Gallery/Scott Press and NetGalley for a ebook for an honest review.
2019: Lizzy Shelley is the host of the popular podcast, Monsters Among Us. A young girl has been abducted. A monster has been sighted in the town. Lizzy is determined to hunt the monster down. Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real because one of them is her very own sister.
This is a story about monsters. I enjoyed the references to Mary Shelly's Frankenstein novel. The characters were unique and the plot has a very surprising twist in the end. The story is told in two timelines (1978 Vi and 2019 Lizzie). I have read all of Jennifer McMahon's books and have enjoyed each one. I look forward to reading her next book as I do enjoy her writing. If you like monster stories then you will enjoy this one. I would like to thank Gallery/Scott Press and NetGalley for a ebook for an honest review.
WOW! Page turner all the way and the ending was such a shocking surprise.
