*I received a free a digital ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
*I'll be adding a link to my blog closer to publication date.*

I wasn’t sure what to expect with Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Bérubé but I’ll up front - I was a tad let down. Was it a horrible book? Of course not! Was it what I was expecting for a novel labeled “horror”? Not particularly.
Here There Are Monsters starts with Skye and her family grieving over the disappearance of her younger sister, Deirdre. From that point on, the book is focused on Skye’s obsession with finding her even though this leads to some creepy realizations with some magical realism thrown into the mix.
My friends always tell me that I have a twisted outlook and a weird sense for the macabre, but I wasn’t feeling any of these until the last quarter of the book. And these even felt a bit forced for the an immediate gross factor. I was a tad bit bored with the first three-quarters of the book as it mostly involved Skye wandering around and conjecturing about her sisters’ disappearance and their strained relationship. Little bits and pieces of oddness are thrown in but I didn’t feel them to be creepy or horror filled moments - they fell flat for me.
Even though the horror was lacking for me, I do think Bérubé did a fantastic job of creating complicated relationships and a protagonist with a lot of inner conflict to work through. Skye has a sordid past and internal struggle that she slowly embraces and accepts throughout the book and Bérubé let this unravel quite nicely. Not to mention the deep relationship with her sister, which also takes a toll on Skye throughout the entire novel.
Overall, I’m giving Here There Are Monsters 3 out of 5 Awesome Austin Points. I honestly struggled in deciding between a 2 and a 3, but I felt my own expectations for horror are incredibly biasing my opinion. I’d say this novel would be good for someone who is wanting a slow introduction to the horror genre but it may fall a bit short if you’re already a horror aficionado.

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire, Neutrally and Amelinda Berube for the ebook ARC in exchange for a honest review.
"The Queen of Shadows would not be ruled by fear".
Skye is tired of being her wild, little sister Deirdre's protector. Thus, when they move to their new house, she does her best to fit in. In typical teenager fashion, she makes friends and finds a guy she likes. Deirdre becomes more wild and retreats more into herself. With each passing day Deirdre becomes more obsessed with the woods and building creepy statues of wood and bone. One day, when Skye is supposed to be watching Deirdre goes missing. It's told in an alternating timeline between the present (after Deirdre went missing) and before (when they first moved into the new house).
I think the alternating timeline gave a lot of background to the sisters, their motivations and their relationship with each other. The complex relationships between the sisters is what really drives the story forward. Deirdre is a queen in the kingdom and Skye is the protector (Queen of Shadows). As Skye tries to find her sister she has to make difficult choices.
The first half of the novel explored their relationship and Skye trying to comprehend what is going on, and as a reader we want to know what's going on in the woods. The 2nd half has monsters that are Lovecraftian masters, difficult choices and a quest of sorts.
I got this novel because the cover was cool, and I loved it. It was very creepy, dark and a overhanging mystery of what happened. I liked the atmosphere of the cold forest and it did such a good job that I felt cold reading it. It's a perfect mystery/horror combination. Imagine a combination of The Blair Witch Project, with some American Horror Story thrown in and a family love.
5/5
Give this novel a shot, especially if you like horrors. This is a novel that is perfect for a crisp, fall evening and focuses on things that go bump in the night.

I really love the Mori Girl feel of this book, you can practically smell the forest. The sisters and their toxic relationship is particularly disturbing and creepy, the whole story crawls under you like a something lurking in the underbrush.

This feels like it’s going to be a crime thriller and turns it something fascinating and horrifying, but you can’t tear your eyes away from watching this girl quietly unravel while nobody is watching while they’re caught up in her sister’s disappearance.

It definitely feels like a modern day fable and the teens in it are so frustrating, as teenagers should be. A solid four stars for me since I’ll be thinking of this story while trying to sleep tonight and try my hardest not to listen for scratches at my windows.

Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Burube grabbed my attention from the first chapter but I got lost in the middle. I felt the book dragged and I couldn't follow the story.. The ending also had me confused and I felt it needed another chapter to sum the book up.

I hate Deirdre. From the moment I picked up the book, to the moment I put it down, I hate her. I felt as if most of the characters were unlikeable or not very in depth. I found the book to be confusing with the game that Skye and Deirdre played. A lot of things were hard to picture.

Atmospheric, disquieting, unsettling – are all terms I’d use to describe this book, but in the best way possible. For me this sits somewhere between K. Ancrum’s The Wicker King and Claire Legrand’s Sawkill Girls, with a dash of And The Trees Crept In. It’s not really a horror-fantasy offering but it’s drawn in a way very reminiscent of one. Skye is done with her younger sister, Deirdre’s, increasingly twisted games and fantasies. A move across country seems to offer a promising new start, but Deirdre’s imagining get worse until one day, she disappears. What follows is a gripping, suspenseful story that tests Skye’s boundaries and the limits of her own reality. Really enjoyed this one.

Here There Are Monsters is a very different kind of creepy fantasy YA book. At the beginning of the book, the reader is almost lulled into believing that Skye is delusional or imagining all of the skin-crawling, inexplicable events surrounding her sister's disappearance. About hallway through the book, when William stumbles across Skye confronting the monsters, it's revealed that they are not merely part of her imagination - they are tangible, dangerous beings, out for blood. This revelation was disappointing to me because I always think it's scarier when the "monsters" are internal - something inside the character that terrorizes them, but can't be seen by the outside world. I think for my students who are really into fantasy, they will enjoy this book, but for students looking for a predominately thriller-like read, they might want to steer clear. I was also kind of disappointed in the ending. It definitely made for a more realistic conclusion, but it sucked for Skye all around. However, as I said, I know I have quite a few readers who would really enjoy this book. I give this book a 3.5 (2 for me personally, but probably a 4 for future student readers.)

WHERE. DO. I. START.

Okay, the cover. LOVE IT! Title meh.

This book really grabbed me and I loved it! I feel like the synopsis is a little misleading, because I thought we would start at the move and see Deirdre's gradual withdrawal from everything, but it starts off right away with her missing and the rest is told in flashbacks. Sometimes flashbacks do take away a little bit because we aren't really experiencing these things for ourselves; we're only seeing through the lens of the past.

This book really shows the complicated relationship of siblings (sisters in this case). I really had 0 sympathy for Deirdre, probably because I'm an only child and it really really made me glad I don't have siblings. Deirdre was crazy though - sorry. She really didn't have any redeeming qualities and it seemed as thought it was only Skye's unconscious love for her that made Skye search. I especially felt this way toward the end.

I very much enjoyed the evil in the book - no spoilers - their descriptions/appearances and sounds. Very interesting. Would definitely like to see more, get some background? The ending is a little vague on the evil's history.

Sorta reminded me of Beware the Wild but I'm not saying it's similar necessarily.

Things I enjoyed about this book: take-charge female lead (definitely flawed, raw, and human), and her no-nonsense attitude toward William (love interest).

ALSO THAT KISS DAYUM. You'll just have to read it to know what I mean.

Anyway, Skye's attitude. Kicking ass and taking names. She doesn't want William to tell his friends about what they saw in the woods because no one would believe him. But he's stubborn, of course, and she fires back with: would YOU have believed me?

Naturally he had no response and I thought: FINALLYYYY! Point 1 to Skye. Would it kill anyone in a book to believe some weird stuff once in awhile? I digress; that isn't a comment on this book.

Then jerkwad friend is like, who would you choose, your sister or William? And Skye's like, since you know everything, why don't you tell me? And he can't answer that. POINT 2 TO SKYE with the comebacks!!

Spoiler alert: no one believes her until they see for themselves.

Also really really liked William standing up for Skye against Sophie. Oh, Sophie. "There are more things in heaven and earth" you get the quote.

The background characters did feel, well, background'y. Stereotypes, caricatures. They are revealed to have more to themselves than that, but we don't really get to know them enough for that stuff to flesh out. Even the parents and they do have a big role in the book.

Ending is wrapped up only a bit. There's definitely a resolution -I have no complaints - but not EVERYTHING is resolved. I don't think there could be a sequel, just that the author left too much in the air. For example, what exactly does William remember?

Would love to have read this from alternating POVs with Skye and Deirdre.

Definitely would recommend this and will read something else by this author.

Wow. Skye is an amazing character. Her journey to see the deepest darkest part of her soul and to come out and be able to live with her new idea of herself was sad and painful and heart breaking. Great book! Loved it!

This book was received as an ARC from Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Just by the cover, I knew this one was going to be very interesting for our young adult patrons. I remember the success of the Blair Witch Project but as I was reading this book and the so called "monsters" I could not help to think Goosebumps' The Haunted Mask which was one of their mos popular books in the series. I know this book if added to our YFantasy collection will have its followers and they will be begging for more info or having this book become a series. As far as the plot and storyline is concerned, there were parts that jumped off on tangents and it really was somewhat difficult to keep up so the not so avid readers will have some difficulty getting through this book but those that are hard core scary/thriller/mystery fans will find this book very exciting.

We will consider adding this book to our YFantasy collection at our library. That is why we give this book 4 stars.

First and foremost let me say that cover is awesome! I enjoyed this novel, not quite as much as I’d thought I would but still enjoyed. It goes to show the lengths that we go for a sister.

interesting read with unique and interesting writing. this book really made me think and question things but kept me into the story.

This was interesting. The sister relationship was the main aspect of this book. It's an interesting book.

I been working with Amelinda the past couple of weeks for an interview on Here There Are The Monsters so I was really excited when Soucebooks had approved me on NetGalley for an eGalley. Here There Are The Monsters was brilliant and memorizing. But as where Amelinda's writing was beautiful the story was also bone chilling and thrilling.

Skye has been Deirdre's protector for as long as she can remember, but now with a move across the country and a fresh start Skye has washed her hands of being the protector. Deirdre's is thirteen now, it is a fresh start for her to make friends and be normal. Only she isn't. Deirdre lives in these make believe worlds with make believe characters, but soon becomes obsessed with the woods behind their new home. Where Skye is thriving and making friends Deirdre is withdrawing. But one night, Deirdre doesn't come home.

The first half of the book was slow but incredibly interesting. It alternates between when they first moved to their new home and to the now when Deirdre's missing. But Amelinda uses this time to build her characters and show the complexities of their relationships. Deirdre's character is complex and in the alternating chapters you can see the codependency that Deirdre has for her older sister, but Deirdre also acts a lot younger then her actual age. In the first half of the novel we see the subtle but quick changes in Deirdre's personality. Her desperate need of protection from Skye, the with drawing, her disdain of William and the other "invaders." Deirdre wasn't normal to begin with but seeing her decline was haunting.


I loved Skye's character. The complexity of her relationship with her sister is a big focal point of the whole novel. Skye is done with Deirdre's childish games and she is over having to be the knight in shining armor all the time. Her sister is old enough. Skye is thriving in their new home: making friends, going out and even hanging out with her charming neighbor William, learning how to shoot a bow. We watch Skye make challenging decisions and sacrifice so much in the span of the second half of the book. At the end of the day Deirdre needs Skye's protection and Skye realizes that and will stop at nothing to find and bring her sister home.

I'm going to brush over the monsters and creatures that take up the second half of the novel so I don't spoil anything for anyone: but they were creepy as hell. I went back and reread the introduction of them a couple of times to make sure that I fully understand what I was reading because they were twisted as hell. They really gave this book the spooky horror feel that Amelinda was going for. The ending of the book really gave me a run for money, I had convinced myself that it wasn't going to end on a certain note and it didn't. At all.

Overall I really loved Here There Are Monsters and I can't wait for the world to get to experience the horrors that are waiting with in the pages of this novel.

Dierdre is missing. Gone into the woods without a trace.

This book had SO many good things in it that I loved. The first half of this book was a solid 5 stars for me. But then, it nose dived in a different direction that somewhat fell apart for me.

Skye is our main character. A high school girl that moved to a new town and just wants to be normal, maybe even date her cute neighbor? What stands in her way is her 13 year old sister Dierdre. Deirdre is weird, she’s creepy and she refuses to grow up. She’s the constant target for bullies. Dierdre created kingdoms for the two of them as children. She weaved stories and adventures for her and her sister. She casted herself as a queen and Skye as her protector, both in their fantasies and in real life. But after Skye was pushed too far in her role as the Queen of Swords, she decides to hang up her sword for good as they move across the country.

She stops playing games, she makes friends. Deirdre is no longer holding her back. But Skye soon realizes that nothing was holding Dierdre back either after she disappears.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part of this novel alternated between the night and days after her disappearance and events that happened that led up to this point. The chapters in the past reminded me of a darker Bridge to Terabithia. It also invoked the creepiness found in Alexandra Sirowy’s recent novels. It hinted at something more supernatural while still be rooted in the mundane.

That all changed midway during the second part. The subtleness was gone and we were thrown into the middle of a Blair Witch Project like story. The shift was just a little too jarring for me. In Sirowy’s novels, she keeps the creepiness and supernatural elements sprinkled throughout, leaving you guessing as to what is real and what’s not. This doesn’t happen here. I’m not sure if the author was going for the unreliable narrator approach, but if so, I had a difficult time finding the unreliableness. Skye quickly drags her new friends into her sister’s world and there is no question as to if this is really happening or not. Skye questions it a few times but, with others there to confirm it’s happening, it takes that thrill out of it. And in all honestly, some of the creepiness bordered on cheesy the farther we went along. I’m still not sure what to make of the ending. You expect it, but still I was left wanting more.

One of the many strength of this novel though are the two sisters and their relationship. Deirdre is a complex character. Through Skye we see how Deirdre went from an imaginative child to something much more twisted. Skye both resents and loves her sister and it’s not hard to see why. Skye herself was a very interesting character. As the book go on, it becomes apparent that maybe she’s not so different than the sister she’s been trying to distance herself from. There is a darkness in her that I feel a lot of authors never allow their characters to have. It’s refreshing to see, because it’s real. There’s a little bit of darkness in all of us. We make bad mistakes, we can think terrible thoughts. And that’s what this novel is about really. It’s about that darkness in all of us and whether you should unleash it or not. And if you do, then you’ll have to deal with the consequences that follows.

All in all, I thought this was a worthwhile and exciting read. While I was personally left a tad disappointed in the direction it took, I know there are a lot of others that will absolutely love it. And the strength of the first half and the themes it deals with, is enough for me to recommend it! 3.5 Stars

I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://kfuerholzer.wixsite.com/mysite/reviews/deirdre-is-missing

3 stars!

"What is it with you guys and the end of the world?" I asked. "Its just interesting," William said. "Like, everyone has to show their true colors. Everyone knows who they really are at the end of the world. No more bullshit."

Here there are monsters was gripping from the very start. This was a story about how easy it can be to get wrapped up in your own fantasy, and have trouble deciphering what's real and what's not. How nightmares can become reality if you allow yourself to go there.

Skye is the older sister to Deirdre who likes to make everything a fantasy land. As Skye gets older, she realizes she doesn't want to play the games Deirdre plays anymore. One day something happens to Deirdre and Skyes race to find her begins.

This story was creepy and dark. Throughout the story we follow Skye as she tests her limits of reality. The plot was a little confusing especially towards the end. The pacing was good, but the climax failed to deliver fully for me. It was still decent and I enjoyed the read, I guess for as engaged as I was- when the time came for a reveal - I was scratching my head a little. With that being said, I was still impressed by the authors ability to hold my attention and her writing was simple and smooth. Overall I think people will enjoy this if they are looking for something fast paced with a Creepy Atmosphere.

**Special thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

This book asks the question, what would happen if Ivy brought the monsters with her as she traveled outside of ‘The Village’?

“Here There Are Monsters” tells the story of consequences as one gets too caught up in their own fantasies and the nightmare you can create when trying to be someone you’re not. Skye was tired of her little sister constantly dragging her down and into her imaginary world but when she goes missing Skye finds that she might have to travel further than she thought possible to be the hero Deirdre always believed she was.

This has such a creepy atmosphere but plays it off in this kind of unreliable narrator way that for a good portion of it I wasn’t sure if some of the more scary elements were actually happening or rather something Skye had conjured up in her mind to cope with her sisters disappearance and her role in alienating Deidre leading up to that moment.

There’s so much here with our MC and how she presents herself as one thing but the more we read the more we peal away at her character to find that there’s something that’s both dark and twisted as well as pure and heroic as she’s willing to go the distance even if it leaves a bloody path in her wake as she tries to bring her sister home. Her friends were interesting too as we see their take on what’s happening and in my opinion some of the more realistic responses to this kind of behavior and the ending of their stories that leave you wanting more but also feeling satisfied if that makes sense?

This was such a strange read and as someone who was hesitant to start this because I didn’t care for the authors previous attempt at this kind of style I have to say I was really impressed.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**