This was a bizarre little book that I’m still figuring out my feelings on. Shesheshen was a really interesting character to be in the perspective of, I liked their observations on the things that people would do that they found more monstrous than them. I was expecting this to be a little more cozy and sweet from the description than it actually was. There was quite a bit of discussion on familial abuse. The story was also kind of gross and gory but not in a gratuitous way.

4,75-5⭐️

"Any gods, above or below, they were surely laughing at how badly love undone her."

As I'm searching for words appropriate to catch all my feeling that are flowing through me, I am also trying to imagine a way to talk about this story. Peculiar doesn't do it justice. John Wiswell liberated flesh from limitation of a physical body, freed monsters and defined them as new. They wrote about love in words that slips like hands under the skin, to go deeper and deeper. It redefines what it means to be a mother, a lover, a family. It unties bows that connect those things and shape them into new, strange, sometimes terrifying forms.

And gods above and below, I adored every second of it. Please read this book when it's officially published, I beg you

Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC copy of this title!

Gross and weird, but in the best way possible. This book slaps. Shesheshen is a great protagonist, and her species of flesh monster is extremely fascinating. Even more interesting was her wonderful personality. If you have the stomach for strange body horror mixed with shockingly heartfelt romance, this is a must.

It's one of those stories where all the puzzle pieces fit together. I did guess a lot of the plot twists early on, but it wasn't in a way where the reveal was weakened as a result. It just felt natural to the story that was being told. There were a couple times that I was a bit shocked it took Shesheshen as long to figure something out as it did, but it never dragged on long enough to spoil the experience. Overall, she was just a delight.

More disturbing to me than any of the body horror was the familial abuse going on in Homily, the love interest's family. There are some extremely hateable antagonists in this book, and the resolutions on them are all satisfying. Laurent's character was a little weird, but I'll accept it.

I highly recommend this, if an amorphous flesh monster sounds like a good protagonist to you. Personally, I loved hearing about her detailed biological processes. If you have a weak stomach for biological horror, I would proceed with caution.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Is there such a thing as Cozy Horror? This is a cozy fantasy book at its core, and also romantasy, but the monster element is very new and intriguing to me in combination. This book made me think deeply and really delves into trauma and acceptance.

Was this book basically therapy? Kind of?

Anyway, 10/10 loved it

I did not finish this book as I wasn't really able to get into it. I found the main character to be very creatively portrayed but hard to connect with. The book has an interesting premise and is probably better suited to readers more into the fantasy romance genre.

YIPPEE! Thank you NetGalley for an ARC!! ✨✨

This book is cozy fantasy to me. No I will not explain.
I first saw this book on the NetGalley page, and the title immediately caught my eye. I clicked in to read the synopsis, and I knew I had to get this ARC. The concept of a shapeshifting monster creature, with a chain for her spine and a bear trap of a mouth? Who must pretend to be human to find love?? Bitch, say no more. I sent my request and got to work, spending the next few weeks reading and reviewing the books on my shelf to get my ratio up in hopes of receiving it. Now that I have read it, I can safely say that this book has definitely met my expectations.

First of all, I loved Shesheshen so much. She makes a really engaging narrator, with her dry observations of human behaviour and her dark sense of humour. She brings the majority of the humour, from unintentionally saying something that comes off as funny, and her internal narrative.

I also found her super relatable, in the way she struggles to know the right thing to say, especially when she's trying to comfort Homily, and the sense of powerlessness that comes from knowing that there are no words that are enough.

I'm obsessed with how her shapeshifting ability works. By herself, she's a glob of meat slime, and she has to create body parts and limbs from other objects(including the bones and organs of the people she eats). I loved reading the parts where she assembles her body out of the different things, as well as the different ways she uses her ability to get out of situations.

I also loved Shesheshen and Homily's relationship so much!! The way they treat each other with such tenderness and care, and the way they accept and love each other as they are, the way each of their first experiences of kindness and acceptance comes from each other, the way they want the best for each other!!!

Something that I didn't see coming was how much of the book would be spent dealing with Homily's abusive family. I wasn't expecting that to be such a significant part of the plot, but as the story progressed, it became clear how family, and learning to break out of familial traditions and is an important theme.

Overall, I loved this story a lot, it was very funny and fun to read, and some parts were angsty and sad, and also poignant and touching <333

Someone You Can Build a Nest In is, at its base, a love story, and yet, there are hardly two less likely people to begin a relationship. Shesheshen is an amorphous lifeform, with the ability to create any shape she wants - which makes she based on her ability to procreate via eggs rather than any organs within her body, as she creates those, or ingests them from others, at will. Homily is the second-youngest daughter of Baroness Wulfyre, a family that has devoted itself to killing the wyrm - for such is how they refer to Shesheshen, whose species is never given another name.

Shesheshen is truly of a species unrelated to humanity; able to change shape into anyone she chooses, she uses bones of her prey and random items found around her as supports when she wants to appear human (or at least humanoid). She does not sleep at night, but hibernates for several months in the winter, a process that requires hot water, and therefore occurs in a hot spring. She spends her life alone, and rarely speaks. Homily, away from her family, is an independent, outspoken, clear-minded young woman, in control of herself and her circumstances, who reverts to the submissive child her family abused her into becoming when her family appears. But together, somehow, the two of them work as a pair. This novel is the story of how they learned each others' needs, and decided to spend their lives together. Recommended for teens and adults.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a genuinely fantastic book that I've been interested in since Wiswell mentioned it on social media, and I'm happy to confirm he manages to walk the line between eldritch monstrosity, monster fuckers, and the real villain, trauma and your abusive family! I was not expecting how deep this goes into how family can shape and confine you, and how what our parents teach us ends up shaping a lot of who we are. The book does swing a bit too towards CHILDREN ARE THE SOLUTION TO ALL YOUR PROBLEMS for my personal taste towards the back half of the book, but that's more my personal beliefs than a failure on Wiswell's part. There's lots of body horror, confusing feelings, and families being fucking awful, but it still comes together well as a story, and will definitely be on my books to recommend a preorder for this spring.

Holy moly! This is one unique story!

This is a story of monster-hunting, told from the POV of the monster and including a sapphic romance. It is GRISLY, full of body horror, but also rather charming and sweet. It tackles so much, including issues in regards to healthy relationships. It touches on autonomy, consent, and working through trauma; love, sexuality (and asexuality), and diverse feelings toward begetting and raising offspring. These things are masterfully woven into a story that is complete with a(n) (anti)hero, truly awful villains, romance, harrowing fights, and many things besides. This book may churn your stomach at times, but it is also guaranteed to warm the cockles of any fantasy-reader’s heart and/or egg sac (that’s a little monster humor there, you’ll have to read the book to be in on the joke.)

I can honestly say I’ve never read anything else quite like this before, and am truly impressed!

Thank you for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I will post my review to Goodreads shortly, then to my blog and Bookstagram account on the book’s publication date.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for the arc!
3.5 I struggled with this one. Had a great premise, but I found it sloggy. Love the rep, but was often confused about concepts and it might've been the POV, as Shesheshen didn't know literally anything ever but I would've like a teensy bit more insight.

Well.

What was that.

I mean.

What.

I had a hard time not thinking about this book every second I wasn’t reading it. It hit me with that classic deadly case of “just one more chapter”-itis.

It’s got everything you could ask for: memorable characters, a sense of humor, fun plot twists, and a satisfying conclusion. But it has a depth to it that I wasn’t expecting. The important of self-care, acceptance, and growth are major themes in this book, and it also had some really poignant quotes that hit me hard.

Uh—but the book was also super gross and disgusting and probably gave me wrinkles from the constant grimacing. The monster’s… anatomy… ? … was very cleverly designed and unique. The author was never afraid to go there, and be weird and nasty, but it always came with a warm slice of wholesomeness.

“Nasty” and “warm slice” should not be in the same sentence yet that’s the kind of writing you’ll find in this book. It’s awesome! It’s awful! You’ll love it!

A wonderful horror/fantasy/queer romance, about a wyrm who, through a series of grisly events, somehow ends up with a human companion, who happens to have ties to the family that most wants to destroy it. It's a character study of a monster who isn't as monstrous as they think they are, and a kind of a mystery, as to why the family is so obsessed with killing the wyrm (although, to be fair, the town is terrified of it). There are twists, and a unique take on shapeshifters. Pay attention to the content warnings, but I can't see anyone not having a great time with this one.

I can’t stop reading this book. It draws me in from page one, like the main character herself, Shesheshen, throughly absorbing my heart and imagination. Our heroine happens to also be a monster and not just any monster but an clever, creative, and elusive shapeshifter that absorbs her victims and uses their bits and pieces to form disguises to walk among those she hunts, who also hunt her. For the most part she would be quite happy to be left alone in her dark lair, but this becomes no longer an option once monster hunters interrupt her hibernation to slaughter her in her sleep. Having lost her mother to hunters, she is grimly aware of how persistent Humans can be and has little respect for them until she meets kindly , gentle Homily who worms a way into her borrowed heart. Unfortunately, Homily has her own secrets that threaten Shesheshen’s existence and her family is the stuff of nightmares that makes a monster seem positively humane by comparison, even one that eats people. I was enthralled with original , often funny, and decidedly unique fairy tale. The enchanting and adorable parts are evenly countered by a fair amount of violence, gore, and squeamish inducing horror not for those with a weak stomach and yet one can not help but cheer on our star crossed lovers as they attempt to find happiness together with all forces trying to tear them apart. This is indeed a warm, cozy, often bloody nest to sink into and enjoy and I loved it.

Shesheshen is a monster who eats people. When monster hunters nearly kill her, she falls into the lap of a woman that she first wants to lay eggs in, then wants to keep alive (though she’s still fine with eating other people). Lots of squishy body parts are involved; the monster’s eye view of human society is funny (as the object of Shesheshen’s affections keeps saying). But they both have to survive the legacy of past abuses. Good if you are ok with body horror and unrepentant murder, at least of the deserving.

You all. This was flipping fantastic. 5 stars. I loved the absurdity of the premise and the book definitely delivers. It is hard being a hated monster who eats a murderous home invader one day just to meet and fall in love with his sister the next. Shesheshen needs to fool everyone into thinking she is a normal human so she can stay with Homily, the woman she loves. Meanwhile all the people around her are actively hunting the monster, aka Shesheshen, including herself. The plot is full of twists and turns that keep amping up the beautifully orchestrated chaos.

What I didn't expect from this horror/fantasy/rom-com was to feel seen and represented. Shesheshen's battle with her body's natural inclinations and her lack of enough social knowledge to fit in with humans reads as Autistic. Acting human is a literal performance for her in the way that neurodivergent folks mask their differences to fit in. The asexual representation took me by surprise. Rarely do I read about book couples fall in love without explicit or implied allosexuality. The request "Can we not kiss for a while?" as a way to spend time together as a couple really hit me in the feels. I really enjoyed that the author took the time after the chaos calmed down to show Shesheshen and Homily establishing their queer romantic happily ever after.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think the main draw--and the main reason I liked it--was Shesheshen. She's just such a fun and empathetic character. Her observations on humanity (and their hypocrisies and weirdnesses) were some of the highlights for me. While I do think the romance could've been a little smoother, it was, overall, very sweet and I loved the asexual representation. I also liked the varying discussions on grief and abuse and family. There's a conversation that Shesheshen has with Homily that really punched me in the gut.

There were a few things, though, that I think could've been done a little better. The first is that the pacing needed a little bit of work, especially towards the end. This also ties into another critique I have which is that Shesheshen goes from not being able to identify certain human emotions to being able to identify the finer details of some of the things Homily is going through. While I don't mind monster characters taking on a more human perspective to offer empathy and compassion, I do wish that that transition had been explored a bit more. Because, as it is, it sort of came out of left field a bit. I wish Shesheshen had either: a) not been so much of a recluse and, instead, done a bit more snooping on humans or b) spent a bit more time among humans before the main plot kicked in to get a bit more insight on their behaviors. There was an attempt, but I don't think it quite matched up to the level of empathy and compassion Shesheshen reaches in later parts of the book. Which, don't get me wrong, I really loved those moments from her, but I wanted it to be a bit more earned than it felt like it was.

Again, though, this was highly enjoyable and I'd recommend it if you like kind of gory monster stories with a sweet sapphic center.

Easily one of my favorite books this year! Shesheshen is a delightfully funny and surprisingly romantic monster. Homily is so lovely and warm and I want to be her best friend. Not only did this book entertain me, but it also sparked some questions about parenthood, desire, and grief that I'll be ruminating on for a while.

An unexpectedly cozy-like fantasy horror. This was such a fresh take on the monster hunt trope with Shesheshen, the monster, as the main POV. Her views on humans and civilization are funny while she is also, eventually, very supportive and understanding of someone who had experienced trauma.

I had initially thought that the book was dragging on towards the end, but the ending was very much worth it.

Different in many ways from the norm, but in all the best ways! A must-read for any fan of queer fantasy. Thank you for the ARC!

Judging by the blurb, I was expecting Someone You Can Build a Nest In to be a weird, creepy-cute, original bit of literary fun. The concept sounded great, and the story sounded like it might offer something truly different than from what we normally see coming out of mainstream SFF publishers. It was most definitely weird and original, more creepy than cute, but I’m afraid fun is a word I can’t use to describe it.

Critically, I’m sure John Wiswell’s debut will receive all sorts of accolades for its originality and its messaging. It is indeed like nothing I’ve ever read before, and I’m pleased that DAW took a chance on such a book. Shesheshen is a well-developed monster, a truly ‘other’ creature whose biology is like nothing we’re familiar with. Initially, she even seems to think differently, which I admire, but it made it hard to connect with her as a narrator. Eventually, Wiswell does fall into the trap of simply putting familiar thoughts into unfamiliar bodies, making the story more accessible, but there are still shadows of that otherness.

Personally, I regret to say I didn’t enjoy it. The narration didn’t engage me, the pacing made it difficult to get invested in the story, and I never really connected with any of the characters. As for the romance, I never bought into it, never felt anything between the characters, and that’s a huge disconnect for me. There was so much potential, so many other ways Wiswell could have approached it, but I freely admit those choices would have taken away from the otherness of the book. It didn’t work for me, didn’t engage me as the fun read I expected, but I can see how others (especially sci-fi fans who are used to alien otherness) might have a far different reaction.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In didn’t work for me. I struggled to keep reading, and found myself reluctantly returning to the story. That’s just me, though. It’s admirable in what it does, and other readers have given it rave reviews, so give it a chance – if it works for you, it’ll likely work very well.