Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
Product details
Web ID: 15420988Amazing!
I read this book very very fast as i could not be bothered to put this down! no words aside from i will never forget this book!!
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Deliciously wonderful
Delicious Monsters is a beautiful jam-packed book with high intensity and intrigue. Liselle Sambury did a fantastic job describing trauma and showing how her characters lived through it. I loved the two POVs and timelines. They both brought their unique voice to the book, and I was gasping all the way through until the end. There was a lot of ground to cover throughout the story, and Liselle does it gracefully, tying everything together so perfectly that I'm still applauding days after finishing the book. It was quite wonderful, and I truly hope Liselle Samubry continues to write horror because she has found her genre.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Sambury is such a great storyteller!
I was so excited for this because I loved the author’s first two books. And I was hooked right from the start with this one too! Although I have to say there were a few parts with a white worm or maggot that kept popping up when I was trying to read this on a lunch break or at dinner, and that was not helpful to my eating. The story kind of alternated between the character Daisy and her story, and another character named Brittney about 10 years later, who had a connection to the house that Daisy moves to in her part of the story. It wasn’t a split up evenly back and forth, just the part with Brittney was split in kind of at times when we needed to be left with a little suspense and wondering how it might have affected the future. There were so many layers to this story. Sure, it was a ghost/horror story, but also so much about the human story and the horrible things people do to each other, even those they say they love. The ghost/horror aspect of the story was so good. I could see this coming to life on a movie screen, or a tv show. And there would be a lot of the atmospheric and visual scares, but a few jumps in there as well. The family and drama was emotional and horrific in its own way as well. There were several bits that just rang out so true as I read. With what had happened to the girls early on in the house’s story, that got me. Even with Daisy’s experiences with her ex boyfriend that she started the story having been broken up with him, that got me. One section, and I know of course it may change before final publication, but this line: “When she said that she had let it happen before, so how could she say no later?” I feel that with my own experience. In fact I probably took the not saying no to an extreme later, and I get that this feeling right here is part of why I let myself go that way. Another thing that was so true in my opinion was about having different groups of friends because they are for different reasons or parts of your life. I remember having friends in lots of different groups in high school, but not necessarily a “group of friends”, and they were all from different aspects of my school years. Some remained close friends, most grew apart, and others that weren’t that close of friends, more acquaintances, I talk to more on Facebook now than we ever did back then. Even in my life today, I have friends that I see around my family, friends at work, friends from college, etc. I think everyone probably does this. All the characters were so well fleshed out and added to the story in so many ways. While I had a feeling the first surprise we learn about Ivy was going to be what it was, I was not prepared for more of what we learned about her later in the story. I really liked King as well. And it was so true what he said about how knowing things and that people never did what he suggested, or took his advice. I mean how often do people try to give me advice and I know that I am going to end up doing what I want no matter what. It was hard to like Daisy’s mom, but knowing what she went through was helpful and gave me sympathy for her. Now we didn’t really get a chance to know Brittney’s mom, and that’s okay because I don’t know that she would have been likable. Meeting Daisy’s aunt finally and wow, that was something that I’d been wondering all throughout the story, and it was added into the plot perfectly. I could gush and go on and on about how much I liked this story. Now, it is long, 500 pages, but I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time. Another winning story from Liselle Sambury, who is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
An Exciting Read
Confession time. This book took me a hot minute to get into. I wasn't entirely sure what was happening, and was confused when Daisy kept thinking of a man named Noah. But the more I read, the more I realized how thoughtfully planned that not knowing was. Because the more I read, the more I wanted to keep reading. There were a few moments I wanted to chuck the book. The conversation about scabs or the ear picking comes to mind. I could have lived my entire life not having to read that. But, in the grand scheme of things, it's central to the storyline and makes Daisy more real, not just a girl on a page you're reading about. She's prickly and doesn't make friends, and there's a big reason for that. She can't relate to others, so she ends up pushing them away, which is convenient for her mother. But then we have Brittany, who's great at her job. She, too, has had a rough childhood, and she's still at the end of the strings her mother has so carefully crafted. She wants to break free and hopes having more control over her show will allow her to do that. Both of them will come together through the mansion, a place filled with so much pain and where untold secrets will come to light. I liked the alternating POVs and timelines with this. The story unfolds leisurely, but once secrets start coming to light, they keep coming. I appreciate the weighty topics and generational trauma, which were introduced in a way that isn't stressful to the readers. With a bit of magic, and a lot more, this book is an exciting read.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Amazing!
I’m worried my review won’t do this book the justice it deserves. But alas, here goes… There are so many layers to this story. It’s woven together beautifully, everything bleeds together in a perfect sort of sync. This story can’t just be put into one box. It’s got so many working parts, so many important things happening that it’s such a combination of so many *things*. It’s lyrical and haunting, also while tackling tough conversations. (Which, the author mentions in her letter at the beginning of the book. I may have cried.) I had all these thoughts and theories in my head. Waiting to explode, or implode, one or the other. It’s like I couldn’t get this story out of my head. It *stuck* with me, like grains of sand on your skin. I couldn’t read fast enough, even though my heart was pounding. My mind was spinning, I just, loved the heck out of this book. - As someone who has survived SA trauma, I appreciated the delicate, yet strong way Sambury exposed this topic. It was gentle, but necessary for the story, and I’ve never felt more seen. A tremendous thank you to Simon & Schuster in partnership with for the advanced copy of Delicious Monsters. All opinions are my own, this review is being posted voluntarily.
Recommends this product
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
enthralling YA horror/mystery
DELICIOUS MONSTERS is an enthralling YA horror/mystery. The story takes place in two timelines, 10 years apart. In the first, Daisy, a 17-year-old who can see the dead, lives in Toronto with her mother, Grace. She has just been dumped by her older boyfriend, Noah, and she is having a tough time coming to terms with their relationship. Her mother had always talked about what would happen when she inherits a large house from her former brother-in-law, who had been a kind of father figure for her. When the notice comes, she and Daisy leave to go to the small town of Timmins, but though her mother inherited a mansion, they live in the bunkie out back and rent out the rooms of the fancier house through airbnb. When she forbids Daisy to enter the house, her curiosity is peaked. As the psychic neighbors and her absentee father also warn her away from the house, Daisy cannot help but wonder about its story and its dangerous and deadly past. Ten years in the future, Brittney and her partner Jayden are working on their show about hauntings. They are young and were naïve when they received an offer to buy the rights to their show, working for a company that creates content - and won't allow them to do their proposed season theme of forgotten Black girls. Instead, they have a new idea that will allow them to focus on the same key story through a different topic, getting to the heart of what happened in Timmins with Grace and Daisy. To add to the interest, Brittney's mother came back supposedly changed from her visit to the "Miracle Mansion," making money and a career off the book that she wrote about this transformation. The abuse Brittney suffered was tempered following, but she hates that everyone knows about her childhood and the way her mother holds everything over her head. By doing this story, she might be able to debunk the miracle place her mother treasures so much. Told in alternating perspectives, this story builds from two directions to something dark, compelling, and pensively potent. What I loved: This is quite the consuming story. The book slowly pulls the reader into both timelines and builds them over time in their own compelling ways. Both Daisy and Brittney have important stories to tell, and they complement each other while also presenting different characters fully. The themes of the story certainly merit discussion, and this would be a great pick for a book club or discussion group as a result. Themes include family issues particularly mother-daughter relationship complexities, child abuse/neglect/sexual assault and ripples of these in a life, the importance of creating and defining boundaries, control and power, prejudice and disparate treatment by race, gaslighting and emotional abuse, friendship, sacrifice, revenge, and healing. Brittney and Daisy (as well as Grace) have been shaped by the challenges of their childhoods, and their relationships with their mothers are difficult and strained. They are coming to terms with the abuse they have faced and beginning to realize and create their own boundaries, albeit under different circumstances. While their mothers and situations are different, there are parallels that speak deeply to the important themes of the story. Daisy and Brittney are both really compelling and complex characters that readers get to know deeply through their sections. While Daisy's sections compose the majority of the story, both characters really complete the story and make it something special. While Brittney's sections do focus on her work investigating Daisy's story, the reader also peeks inside her life, understanding her challenges and the ways she has developed into who she is. Other characters were also really intriguing, particularly King, Daisy's neighbor in Timmins, and Ivy, another neighbor that she meets. This book has some really big twists that felt shocking, but they also made sense upon reflection. I was absolutely gripped by the stories, the mysteries, and the ways things change along the way. This was a really devastating, surprising, and ultimately satisfying story. The horror elements were just as strong as the mystery elements, and this was quite the fantastic read with supernatural elements and a gripping mystery that made it all the stronger for it. Final verdict: Consuming, devastating, and dangerous, DELICIOUS MONSTERS is a masterful and gripping YA horror/mystery that will keep readers on their toes from start to finish. Highly recommend picking this up for fans of SADIE, THE BLACK QUEEN, and/or SMALL FAVORS - readers will not regret getting into this thought-provoking and compelling story! Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com