So I fully realize this is a horror novel but when the main character, who’s a doctor, runs over his wife’s dog and as he’s bagging the dogs remains into a garbage bag he says his sex life is over? That is not the book for me!

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

What an edgy and entertaining read! Loved the author’s style and I’d definitely read them again. More books, please!

We Are Monsters has an intriguing premise. Unfortunately, it fell a bit short in the execution. Kirk clearly has interesting ideas, so I'd be willing to read him again. Hopefully, future books will go a bit further.

This book had the chance to be very good, but to me it fell flat. Some parts of the book was good but not enough to make it an enjoyable book for me. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

Hell is about to be unleashed in Sugar Hill State Hospital. While Dr. Eli Alpert clings to his role as the asylum’s Chief Medical Director, his protégé Dr. Alex Drexler thrusts himself forward to take control with promises of a new pharmaceutical drug to cure schizophrenia. Patient Crosby Nelson, aka The Apocalypse Killer, seems to be the perfect test subject for Drexler’s chemical cocktail, but instead of quieting a diseased mind the inner demons of everyone at Sugar Hill are set free.
Beyond the plot, We Are Monsters examines subjects such as the use of pharmaceuticals over other forms of treatment for mental health, how people become servants to their own internal demons, and even the very nature of perception versus reality. Quite a lot for one book! And for me, this combination of storyline and philosophizing was both a strength and a weakness in the novel.
Author Brian Kirk takes his time solidly building the main characters for the first two-thirds of the book, delving into their deepest fears and their stances on the core issues. Although each character is unique and fascinating, this slow approach weighed the story down. The reading experience felt a little like watching a spider spinning a web in real time, with each chapter representing a different thread which isn’t immediately recognizable as being related. It’s not until the final third of the story where the reader sees how each strand connects and the trap is fully set. This was a bit frustrating since all along I was waiting for the carnage to begin based on the synopsis and first chapter, but the mayhem doesn’t start until very late in the story – once it does get going though, wow, what a trip!
While I did enjoy this novel, spending so much time with character backstories then an abrupt turn into pandemonium and a rather quick conclusion left me feeling unsatisfied. I think if the last third of the plot had been drawn out, submerging into hellish chaos longer, I would have been sated.

*Review first appeared on Kendall Reviews*

We Are Monsters is an ambitious debut novel from author Brian Kirk. With issues of mental health, psychiatric treatments, and pharmaceutical trials, it is clear the author did extensive research to create this novel.

The ideas presented in this novel are terrifying. As someone who is a bit fascinated with psychology, this book is right up my alley. Admittedly, there are parts that are hard to read and sometimes it was a lot to digest…but it’s a horror novel, and I’m not complaining that it made me uncomfortable.

There are a lot of characters, but Brian Kirk does really well giving them all backstories and making them real.

Overall, I enjoyed We Are Monsters. It’s clearly a horror story, and Brian Kirk isn’t afraid to go places other people would be too afraid to go. Recommended for horror fans!

We Are Monsters
by Brian Kirk

The book is about mental illness, it's treatment and those who work in the field. There were some good parts, some of the characters were interesting enough, some were horrible. The writing was not bad at all however, as a whole it just wasn't the book for me.

Absolutely enjoyed from start to finish, u didn't want the book to end. Highly recommended, if you like books that keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat.

This one wasn't for me unfortunately. These sorts of books are a let down recently. I need to be more selective in what I request going forward.

This book is divided into three parts and I really enjoyed the first two parts. The author portrays mental illness and the treatment of mental health in a compassionate way while also creating some interesting, even despicable characters. We get multiple POVs from the characters suffering from mental illness and from the healthcare professionals at the institution. In the third part though, the story ventures into metaphysical paths that I didn't really enjoy. I thought the story is interesting enough and terrifying enough set within the mental health discussion that the supernatural aspect came across as flat and unconvincing. That said, there are some really visceral and horrifying scenes and I thought the writing is effective. I would definitely be checking more of the author's work.

‘We Are Monsters’ is the latest book by Brian Kirk.

Some doctors are sicker than their patients. When a troubled psychiatrist loses funding to perform clinical trials on an experimental cure for schizophrenia, he begins testing it on his asylum s criminally insane, triggering a series of side effects that opens the mind of his hospital s most dangerous patient, setting his inner demons free.

Reminiscent of an episode of an ‘American Horror Story’, this book set in a mental asylum is certainly not for the faint hearted. Vividly written with complex characters, this book battles with morals, mental illness and what happens when things go tragically bad.

Alex has always wanted his older brother Jerry to be better, to be the same brother that he grew up with and no longer trapped inside his head. So he creates a drug that hasn’t been approved and uses his brother as a guinea pig with sad results. Alex finds himself becoming the head of Sugar Hill Asylum and trying to prove worthy of his role as well as convince others that he has created the magical cure.

The story is seen through multiple narratives, staff from Sugar Hill as well as patients and between them all, it’s hard to find a reliable narrative within the story and seems that we are joining them all as they descend into chaos.

Unsettling and vivid from the first page, this book delves into the darkness of mental illness and conjures up imagery that literally took my breath away, from cannibalistic children to the demonic nuns, this book has a fear for everyone!

Nominated for a Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a First Novel, ‘We Are Monsters’ is a dark and grisly story that shows the many sides of mental illness, the paranoia and the fear. Deeply disturbing and well written as well as thoroughly researched. This horror story makes the reader feel unease as well as on their toes as they try to figure out who the bad guy in the story really is.

You can buy ‘We Are Monsters’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

I enjoyed the first half of this book to a certain extent. Medical/body horror is one of my favorite horror subgenres. But, the last half went off the mark for me a little bit, and I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first half. I still very much appreciate being given a copy of this book in exchange for my review; I always love getting to read new authors!

Surreal, Atmospheric Horror!

Brian Kirk is definitely gifted in how he weaves a world or should I say asylum that has elements of Lovecraft throughout while taking the time to build his characters to enhance the story he is telling.
Everyone at the asylum has problems whether they are patients or the ones treating them.
A psychiatrist tries experimental cures for his patients and in the process, releases his most dangerous patient's darker side.
The descriptive horror of the unleashed nightmare was imaginative to the point where I felt like I was living the nightmare with the characters in the novel. Definitely an entralling and unsettling read.

So, I start by saying asylums are on my list of fears. The "caging" of people who have lost the ability to control their own minds, which inevitably drives them deeper and deeper into an alternate world beyond themselves, just doesn't sit right with me...never has. For some reason, some of my deepest fears are also some of the things I end up loving most in horror books and movies. So, to say I was excited about this book would have been an understatement, but sadly it just didn't deliver as I wished it would have.

As some other reviewers have said, the beginning started off strong. I was totally digging all the treatment descriptions, but I just never found myself connecting to or caring about any of the characters. Then, the story seemed to shift in the middle, and it didn't really hold my attention. It seemed like the story just took a turn, and there was just too much going on that confused me. There were times when I was reading pages over again to try to take it all in, and when I have to do that with a book and the reading becomes more laborious, I tend to just tune out.

I did like that the book tackled issues surrounding the treatment of mental health and the mentally ill, as well as making readers questions who the true monsters are...is it the mentally ill patients, or is it the people who are forcing treatments (sometimes inhumane) on these patients? However, some of this book was just bizarre and too convoluted for my liking.

I think I would probably read another book by Kirk, as he is a well respected author in the horror arena, but this one just wasn't for me. That being said, I can see why some readers would really dig this writing style and this story, but again, I just couldn't get into it without my mind wandering in every direction except on the pages. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it.

*Thank you so much to Flame Tree Press for providing me with this book to read and review.**

I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

We Are the Monsters is a book that is complicated for me to review. Even as I was in the middle of reading it, I was like sheesh, how am I going to explain my thoughts on this one. I liked to cover. I thought the premise sounded cool. Ultimately, by the end of the book it just reminded me of a B level thriller/horror movie.

When I first began reading it several months ago, I was intrigued and then abruptly became incredibly bored and stopped reading it until the pandemic started at which point I decided to give it another go.

I can't say whether I'm glad I read it or not. The writing wasn't the problem, as far as the ability to write descriptive sentences that allow the reader to really visualize Sugar Hill Hospital/Asylum in all it's "glory." The symbolism throughout the book and one-liner quotes were pretty great.

There were parts of the book that were very interesting, mostly involving character development and laying the scene out for the reader.

However, that's where it ends for me as far as positive comments about the book. The wheels just fell off, it was all over the place. I mean, I like weird stuff, I'm cool with books about asylums, ghost, murder, mystery, time jumps, lucid dreams, alternate realities, medical advancements, crazy people etc etc but man, the wheels really came off early on in this book. It was just all over the place and too many different STRONG themes tossed into a literary blender which just didn't do it for me. I can understand how some people would enjoy it, but I just didn't.

I would absolutely try to read another book by this author but maybe next time, I'll check out the reviews first.

Dr Alex Drexler is developing an experimental treatment and has gone into debt in an attempt to prove the worth of his compound. He hopes his drug will cure schizophrenia by resetting the patient's mind to function properly. He attempts to heal his own brother with frightening repercussions.
There are several interesting characters eg a serial killer on the loose, the head of hospital afraid of fear, a social worker who wants to save others even if she cant save herself. Everyone will have to let go of their past to have a chance of staying alive and sane.
Even though this was only a novel it did make me question the importance of money over a cure. I also considered how good intentions can go the wrong way.
I'm not sure why but my interest wandered a little in the beginning. The author managed to draw me back in with various interesting and/or unexpected twists. I still shiver at the thought of the section where an electric bone saw was used.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Kirk expertly demonstrates the empathetic power of horror fiction in this novel that will thrill readers while simultaneously encouraging them to take a closer look at the way society views mental illness. Rich characters and atmospheric settings build a story that will stick with you long after you close the book.

Do you like weird, creepy and gory books? Then you’ll enjoy this one. The most fascinating parts I found were when the story explores holistic treatments vs standard medicine.

This is a quick thriller bread, treading a fine line between paranormal and horror. Set in a Mental Institute while a corrupt doctor unlocks something otherworldly whilst conducting immoral experiments on patients.
The first half of the book is relatively slow, but it does perfectly set up the action-packed second half, and that is where the action really begins.
Although not my usual cup of tea (I prefer my horror free from paranormal aspects) I did still enjoy the read.