This was an interesting story told from several different perspectives and over two time frames and I felt that it was well structured and built up to a strong ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it despite the heart breaking story line. Recommended.

The blurb really jumped out at me as dark and sinister is right up my street, and what was on the inside certainly did not disappoint. There are some tense moments and Rebecca writes in such a way that grips and sucks you into the thick of it all. Add to your TBR immediately!

Monstrous Souls grips from the very first page, an atmospheric and ultimately very emotional read that is both thought provoking and very timely.

A violent crime echoes down the years for Heidi who has little memory of that terrible day..as flashes of the truth start to return a journey of discovery begins but danger lurks in the most unexpected places.

I loved this because it really allows the characters to inform the plot, a twisty mystery that has many layers, exploring both memory and consequence with a central theme that is sometimes difficult to absorb, dark truths about human nature that haunts..

Overall a tense, atmospheric and hugely addictive novel where the overall feel of it will stay with you long after you get to the emotionally resonant resolution. 

Recommended.

Gritty thriller moving between past and present as a young girl tries to remember the events leading to get memory loss.

Loved the book not sure about the title.
When I first picked this book up to read I thought not for me. Not sure if it was the title or the opening but I put it back down. Came back to it a couple of days later and was glad I did
I liked the way it changed between 2001 and 2016 and between Heidi and Denise. The story once you got into it was quite gripping and the twist at the end was definitely unexpected.
Great read. Thank you Netgalley and Agora for the ARC copy.

I have to give this a 5 star rating as I did not want the book to end...I kept delaying reading the final section, wanting to know, yet not wanting to know.
Kelly''s prose works its way under the skin, under the fingernails and into that place we hold our fear.
I guess I would call it "pre-emptive". If the sunset is streaked with red, there is blood to come; the chill in the air warns us to beware. And it is done beautifully.
Heidi has lost her memory of a brutal attack 15 years before in which her best friend died and her little sister ,Anna, disappeared. But her memories start to return in glimpses and waves. The case is reopened and the ugliness of the past makes the present murky and dangerous.
What starts as an idyllic friendship, summer and a secret hide-out becomes more and more sinister as Kelly alterates 2001 and 2016 in crisp chapters.
She tells us enough but never too much.
What could be over wrought prose and a cliched story never threatens in this beautifully wrought and thrilling, but chilling, story.

A great debut novel! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing most of the way through and while I normally hate time jump books, the moving backwards and forwards between 2001 and 2016 really added to the story.

The story was realistic, disturbing and well told. You keep going back because you need to know what is going to happen.

I would say I wish we had known more about the characters outside of the story - for example, Heidi is the main character and we don't know if she had a job, any friends, anything else about her life - it made it all a little less real. I'd have liked an epilogue too but I love a solid ending, particularly if it's a happy one!

Monstrous Souls by Rebecca Kelly should come with a warning. First, once you start this book, you won’t be able to stop reading. And second, after you finish you will have a book hangover. This novel is dark, gritty, memorable, nerve-wracking. You might want to cry. You will be nervous and anxious for the main character, Heidi.

Fifteen years ago, a brutal crime was committed and Heidi was left for dead. She remembers only bits and pieces of that awful day when her best friend was killed and her sister was abducted. Its what leads up to that day which holds the clues and secrets. Monstrous Souls switches between 2016 as Heidi starts remembering everything and 2001, as it happens.

Synopsis:

Over a decade ago, Heidi was the victim of a brutal attack that left her hospitalised, her younger sister missing, and her best friend dead. But Heidi doesn’t remember any of that. She’s lived her life since then with little memory of her friends and family and no recollection of the crime.

But lately, it’s all starting to come back.

As Heidi begins retracing the events that lead to the assault, she is forced to confront the pain and guilt she’s long kept buried. But Heidi isn’t the only one digging up the past, and the closer she gets to remembering the truth, the more danger she’s in.

When the truth is worse than fiction, is the past worth reliving?

I began this novel late last night and finished it first thing in the morning; I was hooked. It’s hard to believe that this brilliantly written, pitch-perfect thriller is a debut novel. I rarely give five stars on Goodreads, but this one is definitely a five-star read. The writing, pacing, story, characters, plot are all done as if written by a seasoned pro.

This is available on NetGalley if you are a reviewer or librarian. If not, this will be out on June 25 and is available for pre-order now. Only 99 cents for the kindle version, how can you not get it?

Have just finished reading this great book which I loved from start to finish. Well-paced short chapters which I always like, which leave you wanting to keep on reading. Also liked reading from the different characters perspectives, while the flashbacks filled in the past events. Brilliant!

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book prior to publication.

This is a very good book. It is set in two time lines - in 2001 when the main character Heidi is a teenager, and then 15 years later.

When she was a teenager Heidi was attacked and left for dead. Her best friend, Nina, is lying dead beside her, and her little sister, Anna, has disappeared. As a result of the attack she has no recollection of what happened to her, her friend or her sister. However, as time passes her memory slowly returns, and after 15 years, she is forced to revisit what happened that day.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this book, and the subject matter is very disturbing. The author conveys the horror of it very well - it felt very realistic . As a result my overriding feeling after reading the book was of extreme sadness - both for Heidi’s and Nina’s lives before the attack, and also Heidi’s life as it is now, all as a consequence of what happened that day.

Well worth reading.

A great debut book by Rebecca Kelly! In 2001 Heidi was a victim of a brutal attack and recently she is starting to remember. The book jumps between the past and present day (2016).
I read it in one sitting, the book is captivating, thank you Netgalley!

Despite the dark theme in this book I did enjoy reading it, unfortunately it is something that happens far too much in real life. You just want to know what happened to Heidi, Nina and Anna, especially as Heidi is so damaged she can't remember. Once her memories begin to come back you then start getting a sense of what horrific things might have happened to these girls. Who is 'the chief ' and how far does this reach? What happened to Anna and will they find her?

Thank you Net galley for letting me read this book I will be looking for more from Rebecca Kelly. It would be nice to have a follow up maybe a novella to say what happened next to them all!

Monstrous souls had me from page one! What happened to Heidi, Nina and Anna all those years ago is a mystery until Heidi’s memories start to return and that’s when you can’t stop reading! As Heidi finds out the truth of why Nina died and why Anna was taken you cling to hope she’s out there somewhere. The mystery soon unravels to be far more terrifying than you realised and you just want to know who, how far this thing stretches and will Heidi get any answers!!

A must read!!!!!

Dark and gripping read. Took a while to get started but once it did I was hooked. Will look out for more books by this author

Loved this... kept me on my tenterhooks all the way through. I guessed who 'The Chief' was but his assistant could have been one of two... A couple of irritating bits when I wanted to scream at Heidi and/or Jason but on the whole a very gripping read.

Nicely written (a couple of typos) and definitely worth downloading...

I watched filthy rich on Netflix and then read this and noticed a lot of similarities. I enjoyed the book even though it was a bit of a slow burner. The writing was good and I will look for future books.

I could not put this down ! wonderful characterisation of the girls, Poor Heidi with half forgotten memories of her childhood friend and her sister, truly scary book. The plot was tight with little room to escape what was happening. Good characters in the police force who I hope we meet again.

A real all nighter and a must read for fans of this genre

I have found this book hard to rate. It is somewhere between 4 and 5 star but in the lower quartile - hence 4 stars.
The book theme is about sick men and serious young child abuse so it seems totally inappropriate to say that I enjoyed reading the book.
The chapters hop between a slow revealing of what happened 15 years ago, Denise, the police DI, investigating now, Heidi, the survivor, now and the man following Heidi looking for vital evidence she has but has not been able to remember.
The book is very well written and certainly kept me hooked and wanting to read more and more.
I am not the best at working out 'whodunnit' but with this book I did find it pretty obvious who the 'insider' was. Also the man following Heidi was a 50/50 choice. I also found the ending somewhat abrupt and was looking for the typical '3 months later' epilogue but sadly only the acknowledgements followed.
Nevertheless this book is well worth reading.

*** ARC provided by Netgalley via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ***

Great debut novel by Rebecca Kelly, easy to get into and quite a page-turner. Also, very apt at the moment with the Filthy Rich documentary highlighting paedophile rings with influential people pulling all the strings.

I like the way it was written, the flashbacks were done well and avoiding being jarring or confusing. I’ll definitely be looking out for this authors next novel.

I’m proudly announcing that we have a brilliant debut author on the board and I’m looking forward to read more works of her!

This is dark, intense, gripping, heart wrenching, impactful, emotional story includes sensitive and disturbing issues. Some parts of the book are truly moving but they were also hard to absorb but the pure realistic story telling mixed with the emotional depth of friendship bound serves so well. The well-crafted characterization helps you to root for the narrators’ stories.

Especially the sad, heartbreaking, poignant side of Heidi’s story who is a trauma survivor, brutally attacked and left to death fifteen years ago, her bottled up guilt feelings because of being the only survivor after her best friend Nina has been killed and her little sister Anna has been kidnapped and she loses the fragments of her memories to help the officers find the perpetrator. She still tries too hard but nothing comes out: just a big blank!

After the striking and earth shattering incident on 2001, detective Denise Gilzeen still remains in touch with Heidi and after 15 years later the case reopens because the parts Heidi blocked starts to resurface. Her memories keep coming back and she starts to assist to the officers to solve the case. Of course as the secrets come out, Heidi finds herself in a dilemma: what if remembering the details about night bring out something so dangerous that may ruin her life forever. What if her involvement escalated a violent situation? What if some doors opens to the realities may be remained closed for everyone’s sake?
Story is told by detective and Heidi’s narrations, going back and forth between 2001 and 2016. I mostly loved 2001 parts: Heidi and best friend Nina’s friendship. Both Heidi’s mud pie, adorable sister Anna and quirky and angsty Nina were likable and remarkable characters. It was so hard to read their parts and impossible not truly care for them.

Of course there was a twist waiting for us with open hands and I must say: it captured by my spidey spider senses. It was a little predictable. But when you find out how the story concluded you may realize: it was the best ending you may get. It was really challenging, intense, provocative and depressing story. But it was genuinely talks to your heart and the pacing, progression keep your interest intact. It was riveting, intriguing and well-written.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Agora Books for sharing this remarkably unputdownable ARC with me in exchange my honest review. I also have to congratulate Rebecca Kelly for her skillful, captivating writing.