Favourite stories: Man Made Monsters, Lens, Happily Ever After, Deer Women, I Come From The Water

There were a few issues with formatting in this. It didn't work on my Kindle at all, and it mostly looked good on the Netgalley App, apart from a few places where there were characters missing.

This collection was really great. It talks about some real and important issues, while flawlessly adding elements of the supernatural. The way that all the stories had links to each other in form of the family tree (which is illustrated in the beginning) was really impressive. It was also a way to show generational trauma, and how the things that happened long ago are not disconnected from how things are today.
The stories each had a beautiful illustration and a title page featuring the name of a person from the family tree who will star in the coming story. There was also a Cherokee glossary in the end which was really helpful and interesting

𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭: There are many shapes of evil - some can be found in vampires and werewolves, while others can find it in the worst of human nature. Author Andrea Rogers follows an extended Cherokee family throughout 200 years as they encounter, and sometimes become, a variety of the things that go bump in the night.
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Andrea L. Rogers
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: 341
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Horror, Folk horror, Anthology, Historical Fiction, YA?
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: Yes!
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭: Yes
𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝: Early 1800s to near future
𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:👻👻👻👻
𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
I love when I find a book that is completely unique. This anthology has all manner of monsters, but what separates it from others is the through-line that connects it all. Each story, beginning with the most terrifying, in my opinion, is connected through an extended Cherokee family. Not only are the characters fighting against the things that go bump in the night, but the trials of their time period.

I thought this book was absolutely terrific. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I didn't care for 2 or 3 of the stories, but loved all the rest. My only question is that it is marketed as YA, but some of the stories are pretty brutal, so it would be for an already avid horror reader.

Lastly, I would also recommend buying this book in print when it comes out so you can easily flip back to the family tree and beautiful artwork that accompanies each story.

Publish date - October 18th

Thank you @netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all I love the cover, it gave me some good Edgar Allen Poe vibes! Overall I liked the way this was done!

First, I want to say a thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eArc of this book.

I have to say, I think I was at a slight disadvantage reading this book - a big feature (in my opinion) are the gorgeous illustrations, which I am sure are even better in color! But alas, with my migraines I can't read books on my phone/computer, so I had to read this on my Nook.

I was instantly drawn to this book because it is from a perspective I haven't really been able to read about before - that of a Cherokee family tree, and throughout the generations the monsters that haunt them. And even better, written by a Cherokee author! I do have to say it gets a little tiring, especially in the YA space, to read book after book with little to no representation beyond a white girl in a love triangle - and this is coming from someone who's white. I am sure it is even more disappointing to those who are *not* white.

And that was really the shining feature of this book - each chapter really hones in on each character's unique struggle or life in a world that is being slowly (or quickly, depending on how you look at it) overrun with white Christians. I would argue that the biggest monster in this book is colonialism/saviorism, even if it isn't ever addressed directly - it's a constant thrum at the back of each plot in each chapter.

With that being said, the physical, "actual" monsters in this book (such as vampires, werewolves, and zombies), didn't really feel all that special or unique. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't a stand-out, either. I would say the most compelling story from the horror front happened very early on in the collection, and while there were moments here and there through the rest, nothing really caught my attention after it. Especially the last two chapters were a bit of a drag, and felt more like the author was either compelled by a publisher to add more words or felt obligated to thrust us into a potential future (as the book ends well after 2022), but it just felt.... wasted to me?

As a personal complaint, while this book did have horror elements (like the aforementioned monsters), there was never a time where the writing really had me on edge, waiting with bated breath for what comes next. Maybe for some people, all their definition of horror includes would be the creatures that can haunt humans, but for me I want that sense of urgency, the edge, to be both afraid and obligated to turn the next page - but this might be from my own desire to FEEL something, to FEEL afraid.

For a debut novel, especially one that can carve its own unique space in the market, I think this is a winner. I would love to see where Rogers can go from here - I think this is a good starting point, but unfortunately for me this fell into the "average" range as far as the writing, plot, and character development goes.

An anthology featuring monsters, aliens, zombies and worst of all people.

“Man Made Monsters” is a collection of stories that center around the Cherokee culture and traditions while leaning into bits of horror, sci fi and mythology giving us fun tales surrounding creatures of the night and deeper understanding as to what it means to be human.

With anthologies comes stories that work well and lave you wanting full length features and others that maybe aren’t as great and this is no different. Despite being marketed as a “horror” type genre there’s nothing really in here that fully taps into that kind of scare which was disappointing.

There’s a few stories here that I enjoyed and it seemed almost as if the ones that worked best were the ones that featured a villain that was more human and the cruelty of man than monster. The stories that shared themes of grief and domestic violence were the strongest and maybe that’s because my life has seen more of that than a vampire but I would reread those again in a heartbeat.

An okay read but if you’re looking for scares you may be disappointed.

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

A book full of rich Indian culture weaves into the horrifying stories told by the author. This unique touch makes these short stories stand out and connects readers with truths and realities of the Indian culture. A great book!

This is a stunning short story anthology that follows a family of Cherokee teens from 1839 to 2039. The stories range from creepy and truly terrifying to funny and tongue in cheek with a little something for everyone and each story is accompanied by a beautiful illustration.

The end of the book contains back matter that contains a dictionary of Cherokee terms which I really appreciated and found myself flipping back and forth to.

This book of short stories was Depressing and slow paced. I read two stories and then stopped. Sorry.

3/5 stars

<i>I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher</i>

This book consists on short horror/supernatural stories all related to one family, all the way from the 1830s to a distant future. The tales are very diverse, both in style and lenght, and can be quite hit or miss. I think the strength of the stories laid on the characters, and the tales that took the time to develop them were the ones I liked best.

I did feel a bit disappointed in the family line connecting the stories, I didn't think it was there or at least I was expecting it to be more important than it was. I also felt like the family tree wasn't really explained. Mostly this felt like it fell short, there was a lot more that the author coudl have done with her ideas. Generally this was just fine.

4/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: short stories, horror, horror fantasy, magic, fantasy, Indigenous authors

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 8/15 and has been posted to Instagram and my book review blog as of 8/16.

I wasn't sure initially whether I wanted to treat this as a collection of unrelated short stories or as a collection in full. Technically you could read each story on its own, few of them impact one another in a way that requires a strict reading order, but at the same time the stories are related.

I really liked this collection and seeing how the family changed over time and the depth of the magic and monsters in this world. Each story centers around a different family member, mostly in a different year (though not always), and I was a little wary when I realized the short stories would extend beyond 'current time,' but I actually think Rogers did well projecting into the future. It's grim, but this is a fantasy-horror collection, lol.

Rogers covers a number of different monsters in this story, from those that are classics for Western readers, to those that are classics for Indigenous readers. I enjoyed the different stories and horror aspects, and how some of the stories focus more on the family aspect than the magic/horror one. Each of the stories are well done, though some leave a bit more to the imagination than others. The first few and last few were definitely my favorites, but the whole bunch was pretty interesting and entertaining (and there was one in the middle, set in the '50s, I think, that definitely makes the 'favorites' list).

This is fantasy-horror, as I keep saying, but as someone who's pretty averse to regular horror, this book doesn't trend too far in that direction. There was never a moment when I was truly freaked out by one of the monsters in the stories, which I liked since I was interested in the collection.

A big thank you to Netgalley and Levine Querido for sending me an e-ARC of "Man Made Monsters" by Andrea Rogers and Jeff Edwards! All opinions are my own.

With October 31st creeping closer and closer, the time for spooky stories grows nigh. If you are aching to read stories that move away from a colonized, ethnocentric mindset, then you must read Andrea Rogers's "Man Made Monsters". This collection of reimagined Cherokee folklore-turned horror stories is unapologetically Indigenous and real, combining both the everyday horrors of reality and the imagined horrors of the night in a perfect blend.

The illustrations in this book are what really got me. I wished there's more of those. I appreciate what the author is trying to do with the story and our characters, however, the writing style isn't just for me. It was fine at the first half of the book, but the second half truly lost me.

It sounded interesting but found it wasn’t everything I wanted it to be. It was slow moving at parts that I couldn’t quite get over.

"Man Made Monsters" is a wonderful collection of horror stories both familiar to me and completely new; I requested this ARC due to Stephen Graham Jones's praise and I wasn't sorry I had. As is the nature of many short story collections, some I preferred more than others, but the ones that hit hard will stay with me for a long while. I was particularly pleased to see The Deer Woman here (learned about that one from Jones's The Only Good Indians) as well as zombies! I really enjoyed how characters from one story might be referenced in another. Because this is a YA collection, nothing really scared me, but there were several unsettling moments for sure! My only complaint is that a few of the stories felt a little short. That's probably a compliment to Andrea Rogers, because I could have spent more time enjoying her tales.

Also, I read this on the Kindle, so my formatting was funky, but what I could see of the art was absolutely lovely.

Man Made Monsters is a compilation of short stories that all have to do with some kind of monster/creature. All kinds of monsters are represented here (most often vampires but also zombies, werewolves, aliens, and normal people). The stories vary widely in content and length over the course of the book. Some are only a couple pages long and some are lengthy. Some are fantastical and whimsical while others are bloody and gritty.

As to the overall content of the book I hate to admit that I’m severely underwhelmed. Some of the stories are quite good but many of them are either just okay or downright really bad. Many of the stories are too short for their subject material. Your left wanting for more and not in a good way. Many of them have things written in Cherokee. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing but it would have been nice if either 1) a translation to English was placed in some form next to this or 2) the glossary of Cherokee words was put at the start of the book instead of at the end (or put something at the start of the book saying that it is there). I didn’t even know that it was included til I finished the book and at that point it wasn’t much use.

As for the individual stories my favorites are: I Came From the Water (extremely well written and paced, emotional without getting overly sappy, and each POV was well fleshed out. I would love to see more of this and I think it would make an amazing movie), The Zombies Attack the Drive In (once again I would watch this as a movie. Well written characters, well paced, a heart breaking narrative. TW for domestic violence), Me and My Monster (reads like fan fiction, but in a good way. Would make a good horror parody/horror comedy short video). My least favorite are Homecoming (much too short, too many plot lines for such a short story, confusing, and disjointed), Hell Hound in No Mans Land (reads like a badly written urban legend), and Deer Women (it genuinely feels like part of the story is missing).

Overall I’m not going to say this was a bad book, but it’s a little underwhelming if you’ve been reading horror for a while. A lot of the stories are played out and have been seen dozens of times before. I think I recommend this for short story fans and people that are very new to the horror genre. If you’re more experienced you aren’t going to get much out of this in my opinion.

This collection of short stories written by Andrea L. Rogers is the definition of teaching an old dog new tricks. A variety of classic horror tropes and monsters can be found throughout this collection but told in new and refreshing ways. The main takeaway from this book isn't what the stories are about, it's about the voices in which they're told. We follow a Cherokee family starting in 1839 and ending in 2039. It was really fun to see how characters from one story crept into another story and the connections between them. There's a big family tree at the beginning, showing how everyone is connected. Since I was reading a digital copy, it was a bit hard to go back and refer to throughout reading but in a physical copy I would have been looking at it multiple times throughout each story. This is perfect for younger readers wanting to dip their toes into the horror genre. I wouldn't say any story particularly scared me and none of them are explicitly in your face horror. This is more about the slow burn/dread inducing horror. While there are stories about vampires and werewolves, there are also stories about colonialism and the horrors of what humans are capable of doing to others.

Also, the cover??? Gorgeous. The illustrations by Jeff Edwards?? GORGEOUS!!!!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Levine Querido for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was such a gem to find and an even greater treat to read. I couldn't put it down and am anxiously awaiting the day I can get my hands on a physical copy. I loved the fresh take on colonialism from an Indigenous perspective, as told through interwoven stories in a family tree. While some monsters may be supernatural, it's the man made aspect that is truly horrifying. This was incredibly well written and captivating, with intricate characters and a dynamic history.

Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers.
Nothing compares to being as a best horror book, these are a collection of interconnected stories that tackle both terror and a variety of other topics.

Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers was a great treat.
An interconnected collection of stories that deal with multiple issues and horror as well and is one of the best horror books I've read this year.
As the blurb says, "Horror fans will get their thrills in this collection – from werewolves to vampires to zombies – all the time-worn horror baddies are there. But so are predators of a distinctly American variety – the horrors of empire, of intimate partner violence, of dispossession. And so too the monsters of Rogers’ imagination, that draw upon long-told Cherokee stories – of Deer Woman, fantastical sea creatures, and more." All true. Highly recommend.
I only saw a few illustrations by Jeff Edwards in my ARC copy so I'm not sure about all of them but the ones I did see fit well with the story and showed a real talent.
Thanks to #NetGalley, #LevineQuerido, and Andrea Rogers for the ARC of #ManMadeMonsters.