All in all, this was good. I think a lot of people could really enjoy this cozy horror romantic fantasy vibe. I liked it, but I didn't love it. I will probably not think about this much beyond right now if I'm honest.

Going into this book, I was so intrigued and ready to eat up this story following a forbidden lovers kind of romance. And for the first half, I would say that his was giving me everything I wanted. But the second half started to fall apart for me, and I honestly had trouble paying attention at times.

- Shesheshen was a wonderfully created character - immensely complex and ever-changing
- Homily was a precious kind of love interest being introduced after nursing Shesheshen back to health. However, Homily felt like a very flat, doormat-type character for much of the book (no help from the in-laws treating her like garbage). I think I wanted more from Homily?
- Shesheshen constantly being in hiding, protecting her secret identity as a shapeshifter while navigating the fact that the woman she was falling in love with (despite not understanding what love is) was actually trying to hunt her? Iconic.
- I did really love the relationship here, and the constant inner battle for Shesheshen on what to do about this woman she loves, but knowing what nesting will do to her. It is endearing to read about he inner turmoil and how it all comes together.
- The twist with Homily's mom was interesting, but also I was already kind of losing interest, and trying to follow the mechanics of everything here was impossible for a visual reader - there is no good way to visualize a shapeshifter who can mold their flesh and bones and muscles and orifices at a whim and the image of the nesting of eggs from the egg sac? Yeah, you can forget that.
- The audio was done very well, I think the narrator helped build a cozy feeling, while also adding enough differentiation between voices to carry the story clearly.

This was a very enjoyable read! Cozy horror that goes great with a rainstorm and hot coco. The characters are developed really well, and the journey taken by Shesheshen over the course of the book is beautiful.

There are some spots I felt that dragged, but for the most part it’s all really well paced.

This is such a bizarre read that I'm not entirely sure if I really did like it as much as I did, but I think it warped my mind with how original the concept is.
Its basic premise is that of a shapeshifter monster, Shesheshen, passing herself off as human in order to escape hunters and exact revenge on those who've wronged her. Except Shesheshen meets a member of the family hunting her and this particular human woman is sweet and caring and makes Shesheshen feel all kinds of things she didn't know she could. So what does a sentient sludge with a need to find someone to implant her eggs into do when the person who makes her want to lay her eggs is also the person she can't imagine losing?
There is so much bloody violence in everything that has to do with Shesheshen and those hunting her, but it's done in a way that feels so spectacular and out there that the unreality of it makes it not feel as violent as it truly is, particularly because the heart of the story is the humanity of not only Homily but Shesheshen. Their heartfelt talks and explorations of their past and how it's shaping their present make for riveting reading that perfectly balances out the more action-packed scenes.
I would have never thought I'd say this, but it's one of the books I've most enjoyed reading this year. At the very least, the most memorable from sheer originality.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and DAW for the memorable read!

First of all let me start by saying, I think the marriage of Romance and Horror makes a lot of sense when you consider how they are both based on the build up of narrative tension and it's controlled release. With that said, I think for that to work you have to lean a lot harder into the narrative tropes of both for it to truly work. In a lot of ways it feels like the teeth were filed off of both genres here, I'm not sure if it's my lack of experience with the current "cozy horror" trend or if the plot elements that the author decided on in addition to the romance left them spinning a few too many plates. But in the edition I had (ARC copy that I'm finally finishing after 2 months, I'm assuming not that much changed from there to release) the romance feels incomplete.

I want to be clear that I did mostly enjoy this book. It was a refreshing concept. I enjoyed the feeling of alienness that we get from having a monstrous character, though the neurodivergent among the crowd may find certain elements fairly relatable sometimes talking really is too much work. But after the romance is established, not even really that bothered by the instalove, it gets shoved to the wayside for a plot that doesn't land as successfully as it would if we also saw the main relationship getting worked on. We rely a bit too heavily on the Shesheshen says something sincerely, Homily thinks it's meant as a joke -- something I also quickly found a little annoying -- to show the relationship is progressing.

The plot which surrounds Homily's family, which I think is too big for the purposes it's being used for. I don't need my bad guys to be fleshed out necessarily, but having 3 characters whose personalities boil down to loud, rude, and abusive leaves that section of the book feeling a bit one note - the 50% mark when we're just in the forest with Homily's family hunting the monster is when I set it down and just could not bring myself to pick it back up for nearly a month, not ideal. When I pushed through that point, things got easier to progress through, but I knew with a good deal of certainty that this wasn't going to be my next favorite book like I'd been hoping when I saw it. The conclusion was fine, the epilogue portion suffers in the same way that the romance did -- it relies too heavily on the audience to find the suggestion of relationships that the author hasn't fleshed out.

My last complaint, I am genuinely not someone who is bothered by the use of more modern language in a "period" piece. Especially fantasy where the period is usually more implied than outright stated, and if it's for the sake of better representation, I normally really, really don't mind if our MC calls themself a lesbian or bisexual or gay regardless of the language that would be used at the time. That Being Said, when our shapeshifting blob used the phrase allosexual I had to put the book down for a minute. I don't object to the concept, and in fact I thought that was probably the most fun twist in the book that the monster in the monster romance was ace, it is just such a jarringly modern word to be used in a world that is dubiously medieval. And also personally, I don't like the word enby that's not the author's fault but it was another choice in here that took me out of my rhythm.

I feel like I need to reiterate that I did like this book. It has a lot of heart, it's a fun concept that I think was largely well executed. There are going to be a lot of people that this works for more than it did me, and it could turn into a brand new favorite for them. I'll probably even give the author's next book a go to see what he does.

I really enjoyed this book! some of the body horror was a bit over the top, but it was well-balanced by the humor. I really enjoyed the romance as well. It took me by surprise just how well the romance worked. So glad to have gotten this ARC!

This is one of the weirdest and surprising books I've read in a long time. It felt so unique and intriguing of a premise - and I had absolutely no idea what direction it would go in the beginning. Besides a familiarity with many of the authours lovely short stories, I might not have been attracted to a book in this genre otherwise, I might not have enough stuck with it, despite enjoying the writing because body horror isn't really for me generally, but it wasn't intense, and it paid off, I'm glad I kept reading because it was very enjoyable, but also very weird.

This is an odd sort of love story, the descriptive language evokes the feeling of being there, the villains are not who you think, and empathizing with a human eating amorphous flesh monster was not on my bingo card for the year.

Sometimes you get really excited about a book based on its cover and premise only for it to leave you utterly disappointed. This is not the case here. Someone You Can Build a Nest In is a thoroughly enjoyable and unique blend of horror and romance that gets to the heart of what it really means to love someone. Shesheshen is such a memorable protagonist, and her journey of self-discovery is so heartfelt and humorous. This is definitely a book I will read again one day.

Happiest of Fridays to you bookbots!

I am decidedly in my Horromance era but I didn't know that was what I was stepping into when I started SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN by @john_wiswell (although I totally should have based on the title alone...). Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher @dawbooks for the audio-ARC.

This story begins as a monster is propelled out of hibernation by a group of local villagers invading her chamber to slay her. From there, the monster, who is a shape shifter of sorts, assumes a human visage to try to figure out why the villagers are after her. Along the way she meets a kind, helpful, and generous human woman who teaches her that not all humans are blood-thirsty. But can their romance stand up against the truth of the history of this village?!?

I found this book to be charming and easy to read. I was very invested in the beginning and even though my attention faltered slightly toward the end of the story, I would certainly recommend it to:

🪱Folks who like monster stories
💚Horromance lovers
👯‍♀️Sapphic romance lovers
😍Folks who are looking for a refreshing romance where the characters in love are never toxic or conniving against each other but support each other the whole way

This one is out on shelves now!

If you could be any kind of monster, what would you choose?

I think I would go with an evil Siren, a vampire or maybe even a bog wife just for kicks.

💚SMASHBOT💚

Super strange in the best way - I loved this delightful and honestly weird novel. Surprisingly heartfelt!

🖤 COZY HORROR 🖤

This is a Love Story.
Love of self and love for another.
A sweet, ugly, gross yet heart warming Love Story.
And it was so much fun!
Shesheshen is an incredibly relatable MC, as an introvert that hides away from civilization, unless she's in need of a meal or quick snack. Only she's a monster, a "wyrm," that a powerful family wants dead. When thrown into a series of unfortunate (often amusing) events, Shesheshen has to learn to socialize, tolerate and work with the people she meets in order to stay alive all while navigating unknown FEEEEEELINGS for a human woman that would make the perfect nest... again, very relatable.
Someone You Can Build A Nest In has adventure and charm... oh and it has plenty of ooey-gooey gore that's perfectly balanced with humor.

Thanks to NetGalley and DAW for the EARC!

"Someone You Can Build a Nest In" by John Wiswell is a delightfully twisted and heartwarming tale that subverts traditional monster narratives. At its core is Shesheshen, a shapeshifting monster who falls in love with Homily, a kind-hearted human who mistakes her for a fellow person.
What follows is a darkly comedic and poignant exploration of love, identity, and what it truly means to be a monster. Wiswell's prose is both whimsical and sharp, effortlessly blending humor and horror. The world he crafts is richly imaginative, populated by eccentric characters and visceral creature designs.
Amid the quirky premise lies a profound emotional depth. Shesheshen's internal struggle to reconcile her monstrous instincts with her growing affection for Homily is equal parts endearing and unsettling. Their unconventional romance challenges societal norms and forces the reader to confront their own preconceptions about love and acceptance.
Bizarre, heartfelt, and utterly original, "Someone You Can Build a Nest In" is a must-read for fans of speculative fiction that dares to push boundaries. Wiswell's debut is a tour de force of imaginative storytelling that will leave readers both charmed and unsettled in the best possible way.

I am so impressed with this story, holy F.

Absolutely stunned that this monster romance dealt with such HEAVY mental health, consent, and identity topics with such finesse and gentleness. Hands down one of my top ever reads!

Wiswell did a fantastic job of inclusion, intersectionality, and representation. The lovable characters are so endearing- the monstrous characters infuriating. Shesheshen and Homily's evolutions have the reader cheering for their every step. I loved the disability representation, not only with Shesheshen's physical state, but also with her mental- I was getting big AuAdhd feels (aka way too familiar social situations). Bringing topics like consent and familial abuse to the forefront in such a casual and gentle way had me verbally shouting "YES". The way consent is acknowledged for any physical touch and even social interactions and not solely sexual was so necessary and needs to be more common! I appreciated how one character was allowed to come to the conclusion that their family was abusive on their own, instead of being badgered and convinced. It showed great tact and understanding that there was support and kindness during this period of the story, instead of shame, judgement, and pity.

I could gush about this for pages, but that would involve spoilers. I highly, highly recommend this book to all readers. There is a touch of body horror, and gore, but the majority of this read is cozy and very well developed.

I have never before related so much to an amorphous lump. If I could keep a bear trap in my chest and retractable claws in my person just for the fun of it, I probably would as well. This was such a unique cozy-horror romantasy and a wild ride from start to finish.

It’s about the villainous monster who meets a lovely human and learns what it means to be truly monstrous. It’s about found family, falling in love, and making room for yourself within yourself.

I loved reading from the perspective of Shesheshen and the shapeshifting mechanics of her form were bizarre and a touch gory but so entertaining to read. Wiswell did a great job of visualising a monstrous creature that was actually monstrous.

It’s a little bit of a difficult book to categorise. The horror element was minor, body horror being the primary suspect, and it definitely slots in well with the current trend of cozy fantasy if not for the tentacled protagonist. It’s entirely self-aware of its ridiculousness and Shesheshen’s discomfort with basic human practices makes for some funny moments. All in all, this was a whole lot of goopy fun.

A new story from a nebula award winning author, this is a creepy, charming monster-slaying cozy fantasy romance but told from the perspective of the monster. This is a must-add to your TBR if you love, creepy monster story, Cozy horror, Shapeshifting monsters and a sapphic love tale full of humor and darkness, yes this does have some gorey moments, some body horror so keep that in mind. I did find the story to be a little slow and I had trouble liking and siding with the characters, but I liked it!

"What was this physical nonsense? It was her body. She controlled the nerve endings. It shouldn't be allowed to tell her how to feel. A single organ didn't command her."

Shesheshen is a terrifying shape-shifting monster. She uses components of anything she devours, be it inorganic or human, to build a body. Though she does need to occasionally satiate her hunger, on the whole, she just wants to be left alone. Unfortunately, there always seem to be a bunch of pesky villagers with torches and rosemary soaked harpoons out looking to slay "The Wyrm", as she's called by the local yokels. It is through one such encounter that she meets Homily, a kindhearted, gentle soul, who sees the good in Shesheshen, and only seeks to help her. ZING go the strings of whatever stuff Shesheshen has inside her at the moment, and now she's feeling all sorts of confusing feels. Could Homily be the proper nest for Shesheshen's eggs . . . someone to hold the eggs within her lungs where they would be bathed in oxygen "until they were strong enough to burrow out"?

Or does Shesheshen love Homily too much to let her be "devoured by their young"?

And, then there's Homily's terrible family, devout monster-hunters who would never approve of this newly hatched love . . .

You can probably tell that I enjoyed the heck out of this dark fairy tale. There's plenty of gore (digesting people is a messy business), but there's also a lot of humor, and Shesheshen's struggle to playact the proper human reminded me quite a bit of one of my favorite film characters - Bella Baxter in 'Poor Things'. For poor monsters struggling to fit in, it's a strange new world to navigate, and it's easy to forget the very complicated regulations. Honestly, Shesheshen - there are only two rules you really need to follow: never say "No" to love, and only gobble up people who deserve to be eaten.

There has been a strategy to rewrite fairy tales from the villains point of view, but this is the first I have seen where it is written from the monsters point of view. Shesheshen is the last of her kind, as far as she knows, as she has either eaten her kin, or her kin has been slaughtered by humans. She just wants to be left alone. So what do those pesky humans do, but come to her home to hunt her.


There is, of course, more to the story than that, but I love how Shesheshen has to get along with humans to understand why she is being hunted, and in doing so, she falls in love with Homily. Thus the name of the book. The biggest love is to plant your eggs in your beloved, so that your brood can feed on their flesh.


There are sooo many great lines in this book, as the monster, disguised as a human tried to understand human ways.


“There was no easy way to ask if HOmily wanted her to eat her mother”
“I want you to be prepared.” “Does she have the normal amount of human hands?”


“[The guffaw sounded] like the mating call of a sad moose with a cold”


“She did not mind. From what she knew of civilization, all children were parasites. You were supposed to grow to like that about them.”


I want to classify this as a romance, between Homily and the monster. I want to call it horror, because it has a monster. It is fantasy as well as humor.Yes, this book has everything, and I keep telling people about it while I’m reading it.


I enoyed this so much, I wrote the author to let them know. It has such a turn of phrase, a turn of thought, on who are the true monsters. Thoroughly loved this one.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. The book came out into the world in April, and is available all the places where you can buy books.

I have never read a book that was simultaneously so lovely/cozy/heartwarming and disgusting/horrifying/F L E S H Y.

Ahem. Yes, congratulations John Wiswell for proving that you contain multitudes. Seriously, though, I'm going to be throwing this book at as many people as possible---it's hilarious and yucky and just so. much. fun. It's the monster romance I've been waiting for, and Shesheshen is one of the most memorable characters in recent memory.

It sounds like a cliche to say "I can't wait to see what this author writes next" but for real, I'm BUZZING.

John Wiswell tells the story of an abandoned blobby shapeshifter, Shesheshen who lives in an abandoned manor. The locals consider her a monster, especially since killing humans grants her human organs to use. Hunters find her as she awakens from hibernation, and, despite hiding as a human girl, is discovered and chased over a cliff. There she is lucky enough to be rescued and nursed to health by Homily, who thinks she is human. Maybe Homily is Someone You Can Build a Nest In (hard from DAW) Unfortunately Homily’s family, particularly the Baroness, is desperate to kill her monster form to remove a curse. Even though Shesheshen knows the curse is a lie, she gets involved in hunting herself to help Homily deal with her mother. But there is a dark secret here, and Shesheshen is facing a truly dangerous trap. This is a fascinating tale of love and the essence of humanity. Maybe this tale might find its way to an award nomination.

This book was such fun – but, I’ll be honest, it had some hard hitting topics scattered throughout its entirety. I find that lately I’ve been gravitating towards the dark side of fantasy, maybe because the characters feel more realistic? Even though Shesheshen was deeply flawed (by “human” standards) she’s more truthful and only hides her true self because of humanity’s mindset.

"Weaknesses were a human invention. They called it your weakness if they fantasized about murdering you with it."

Shesheshen’s relationship with Homily was a delight to read – their growth, realizations, and acceptance was beautifully written. Her views on things that humans do throughout the book are hilarious and had me laughing out loud when I was reading.

"Dressing up so that you could eat never made sense to Shesheshen; the food was typically dead and surely unimpressed with its audience."

A big round of applause for the twist towards the close of the book – completely blindsided me and it was downright devastatingly done. Overall, this book was amazing & I devoured it as readily as Shesheshen would a perfectly timed meal. Highly recommend reading this book if you enjoy dark humorous books with a unique perspective that has a little slice of (in my opinion) beautiful romance. Oh, and one cannot forget – the animal companion, Blueberry. If there ever happens to be a continuation of this book: prequel, sequel and/or standalone book in the same world – I’ll be reading it. A BIG thank you to DAW Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital arc of this book – all opinions are my own. Rounded from 4.5 stars.

I think this might be the best speculative fiction novel that I've read this year. Although it took a while for me to finish the story, I'm so glad that I sat down one night and read through the whole tale.

Shesheshen is a monster, a wyrm specifically. But she would rather keep to herself and only eat when hungry. Sure, she eats people, but it's not like she's wiping out the local town in the Underlook. And monster hunters tend to attack her in her lair, in what used to be a manor, rather than the other way around. Shesheshen is hibernating when those hunters attack in the winter. They want her heart, confusing Shesheshen since she has no heart or organs. Thanks to the encounter, however, Shesheshen falls off a cliff while in human guise, A kind human named Homily rescues her, and has her own agenda for finding the wyrm of the Underlook. Sheshshen knows she eventually has to break the truth to Homily, but things get complicated when a powerful matriarch arrives, ready to hang and imprison anyone who looks the wrong way in her direction.

John Wiswell always makes me jealous with how he creates such unique stories. This book does everything; it has queer and ace rep, generational trauma with years of both physical and emotional abuse, and real consequences. Homily is a mirror of the trauma she has endured since a wyrm killed her father, and having to raise siblings that don't respect her. Meanwhile Shesheshen, who never had a mother, struggles to figure out what it would be like to have been told what she could do.

The twist at the end is both brilliant and frustrating; it does raise questions about what does and doesn't define a monster. I'm not going to spoil it because it caught me by surprise. But it was brilliant and, in hindsight, reinforcing the themes regarding nurture and nature.