I have been frustrated reading this book, but NOT because of the book; life (work, chores, etc.) got in the way of my reading time. Seriously, I need a job just reading. I (maybe) should have taken another path in life . . . but I digress! Seriously though, if time would have allowed, I think I would have read this one in one sitting - I just wanted to know . . . what happens next!?

On page one, I had the creepy crawly, heebie-jeebies regarding needles and the eyes and the brain. Having a BA in Psychology, I am not unfamiliar with the psychological practices of yore, but this was gripping nonetheless, and I physically shuddered. From page one of We Are Monsters, I was riveted. I became even more riveted when I realized that the needle scene outlined above was an up and coming treatment developed by Dr. Alex - it's modern, not of the past! YIKES!

This book was filled with turmoil: Dr. Alex's treatment methods vs. the preferred methods / styles of Dr. Eli, right vs. wrong, good vs. evil. I also think this book touched on something I have often wondered myself . . . what if someone ISN'T "crazy," and God does talk to them, but as a society, we dismiss them, labeling them as mentally defective?

My relationship with the characters was interesting. I typically know right off the bat which of the cast I like and which ones I do not, but in We Are Monsters, I found myself waffling - I like him; wait, I don't trust him; I loathe him; oh, he's just misunderstood; I like him again, but do I really?

Overall, We Are Monsters is worth the read, and I will seek out more of Kirk's works.

ETA (edited to add): I found a small number of errors, but they are nothing that interrupts the flow of reading or the plot.

Mental illness is something that scares most people. Being afflicted with schizophrenia is like being imprisoned by your own mind. Many mental patients complain that being schizophrenic is being forced sometimes to do and say things that you do not want to do or say. However, the compulsion is too strong to resist.

But what frightens us the most is that mental illness can strike anybody at any time. Nobody is immune to it. In We Are Monsters, Brian Kirk used that fear to masterfully create a story full of horrors. I was literally taken for a ride in the brain of a schizophrenic in this book. Dr. Alex Drexler is a psychiatrist working in Sugar Hill, a mental asylum with an extremely high rate of success. He is next in line to become the Chief Medical Director, when Dr. Eli Alpert, who currently holds the position, retires. He has created what he believes is the cure for schizophrenia. However, he has lost his funding to perform clinical trials. He begins treating it on the asylum’s patients instead. He tests it on the asylum’s most notorious criminal. This results in the patient’s mind being opened and this releases a flood of demons while creating a new, altered reality. They need to regain control of the hospital from the patient before it is too late.

I loved how well done the characters of this book were fleshed out. The author skillfully slipped in little backstories for them all and was able to fit each torture to them perfectly as a result. Dr. Alpert was my favorite character. He was the only one able to see that modern medicine is nothing without a touch of humanity. Two of the ghouls in the altered reality also added a nice touch of humor.

The plot moved at a good pace. From the beginning, I was pulled into the story. It was a unique way to look at mental illness and its treatment. What was scary for me was the fact that the medicine he used was opening minds that were already not doing well in the first place. It literally dragged everyone into one person’s insanity. The dialog between characters was well thought out and did not seem contrived at all.

This book was an old school horror complete with ghosts, blood, and mayhem. It was quite nice to read a book which transported me back to the older days of horror stories.

Because of very disturbing themes throughout the book, as well as some very gory scenes, this book would be better suited to adults. It was quite creepy so if you are easily scared and cannot sleep well after watching or reading a horror, I suggest you avoid this story. Mental illness was the focus of this book as you may have already guessed so if you have any issues with that, you probably should not this book to your TBR (to be read) list. I enjoyed this book a lot.

Really enjoyed this book!! Suspenseful, thrilling, frightening. Kept me reading late into the night; with the lights on. Great story!
Will recommend to others.

This book was so, sosososo, so good. Dr. Alex, who works at a mental institution, has come up with a cure-all for mental ailments, specifically schizophrenia in this story. He just injects it through the corner of the eye, right up into the pineal gland, and people that have been lost to episodes for years make seemingly miraculous recoveries. However, they're short lived and are having some kind of time-physics warp on the world around them, affecting people that don't even have diagnoses. The drug is so powerful, it's causing hallucinations (folie e duex type problems) in people that haven't even taken the drug. This book is richly written, vividly imagined, and honestly scary as hell. I loved every minute of it, and while I didn't fully understand the ending as it's written somewhat vaguely I still loved this story. There were moments that I didn't want to read it in the house by myself, times where I cried over the restorative episodes some of the characters had, and just all out thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Fantastic read.

Thank you Netgalley, Flame Tree Press and Brian Kirk for allowing me to read this advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Honestly, I didn't know what the heck to expect. I saw the words asylum and horror and stopped reading the synopsis from there. Well, first let me say I'm not a big fan of dystopian or any zombie kind of books/movies. Second let me say, this book just may have changed my mind!

The author took his time and developed the characters in a way that made you care about them. The patients are not always the one that have "issues" in an asylum. The very ones taking care of them my have much more serious things that are hidden away in their subconscious.

This book to me was more than just a horror or dystopian theme. It makes you think that not all monsters are make believe. We all have a little monster in us, it's just how we choose to live our lives and deal with those monsters that make us who we are.

Well done Mr. Kirk, you converted me :)

I really enjoyed this book! Thank you Netgalley! The cover and description is what drew me to this book, and I am so glad my request was granted to review it. This book is engrossing and complex with excellent character development. It will literally draw you in from the very first page. For me personally the in-depth characters, the story line itself, and the way it just draws you into world the author has created, is why I loved this book.
For some however it could be to much. This is definitely one of those books you will either hate or love. For me personally, this is one of the best books I have read this year. I will definitely be recommending it, and looking forward to more from this author in the future.

Finished this book in around 3-sittings - fast paced, well written and enjoyable. However, found the ending a little convoluted but this did not bring down the rest of the book - good times.

This is the second novel by Brian Kirk from Flame Tree Press I have struggled to finish, so I will not be reading him again. The story concerns experiments on patients on a mental hospital which take a seriously nasty turn for the worse after a doctor tries an experimental medicine upon his schizophrenic brother who is an out-patient in the hospital with horrific consequences. I found it clunky, uninspiring and full of characters I cared little about.

For the most part I enjoyed We Are Monsters. However, I felt like it was different than I expected. That's a me problem though so I suggest people read the blurb and other peoples reviews to determine if this is their type of book.

Psychological horror based with schizophrenia. I really liked how the author blended things in toward the end. I would have liked an explanation in how the treatment worked and to know what went on with face lift lady in schizophrenia land. Pretty good book though

Thank you netgalley for the ARC

I'm on the fence with this one. The premise sounded so good but it just wasn't executed very well. The first half felt very strong and I was glued to the pages, but it's like it plummeted off a cliff. I was definitely disappointed in this one.

God this was a really good horror novel, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was scary because we really didn't have a good way of dealing with mental health for a while. I overall enjoyed reading this.

This book was judged by the cover. I admit it, the superficial appeal has it’s…well, appeal. I liked the cover and the title, Flame Tree Press might be new, but they’ve so far been pretty consistent quality wise, so I figured I’ll check it out. Turned out, it didn’t quite work for me, much like the last Flame Tree book I’ve read. The thing is, the quality was still there, it was more along the lines of reader/writer incompatibility. The story is interesting enough, actually, and you can’t beat an insane asylum as a fictional setting, but somehow this story just didn’t grab me. I waited and waited, but eventually decided to just settle for being reasonably entertained without any sort of emotional engagement. That worked actually, the book even went by faster. Not every story makes a personal connection, sometimes a reasonably fun diversion will do. The plot has to do with an experimental treatment that supposedly quiets the most disquiet of minds, but in fact unleashes a world of nightmares from the darkest nooks and crannies of one’s psyche. It’s essentially an original take on the inmates taking over the asylum scenario. And it is indeed original, the plot (and the asylum) descends into madness quite thoroughly and terrifyingly in a disturbingly singular manner. I appreciated the story on an intellectual level about as much as I failed to connect with it emotionally. The characters and their respective redemption stories were supposed to be what established the emotional connection, but they just didn’t do it for me, well developed, dimensional to an extent, but not very interesting or likeable or compelling. So that just left the plot, which carried the weight perfectly fine on its own, even as it pivoted from a (let’s say) normal time act to the hallucinatory violent second act. Genre fans should find a lot to enjoy here, it’s dark and brutal and demented. It’s an all around very competently done and strikingly imagined book I ended up respecting more than liking. That’s terrible for a date, but completely ok (though far from optimal) for a reading experience. Your mileage may vary. Thanks Netgalley.