Unfortunately, the formatting of the copy I received is messy and disorganized, making this a rather unpleasant reading experience. The text was scattered about the page, and no illustrations were featured. Bodies of text were broken up with random jargon & the author's name, etc.

The shame is that I really loved the stories, and I would want to read this book as it is intended to be read, but the copy provided here was not legible. I'm giving three stars because that only seems fair, based on the actual text I don't know how high I would rate it, based on the copy I received it would be a 1.

Man Made Monsters will take you on a captivating journey through time with an extended Cherokee family, spanning from the 1830s into the future.
The book's gripping narratives offer unique perspectives by seamlessly transitioning between first-person, second-person, and third-person storytelling.

The supernatural elements will keep you on the edge of your seat, and the author's imaginative portrayal of the future is genuinely intriguing. You'll also gain insight into Cherokee culture and language, making this a must-read for horror enthusiasts and those interested in Cherokee traditions.

Happy Spooky Reading, Paige 📚 👻 🎃

Manmade Monsters

✨Book Review✨

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5)

This novel is a series of short stories revolving around a singular Indigenous family tree with a mix of supernatural elements. The stories vary in length and time period across the United States. Each story offers its own unique perspective, with different protagonists, plots, and conflicts. Each story is a surprise waiting to reveal itself, featuring references to werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and zombies. Readers will be taken through a cultural experience mixed with supernatural phenomena.

Highlights:
⭐️ Unique and different novel format.
⭐️ Each story follows a singular family tree. I felt this was a unique spin and something I haven’t seen in other novels before.
⭐️ Variety of supernatural elements. You never knew what was coming next in a story. Stories included vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and more.
⭐️ Ama’s story and reappearance was my favorite.

Pitfalls:
❌ The family link between stories wasn’t visible enough for me as a reader to notice. While I think the intention of this is a highlight of the novel, I feel it wasn’t executed strongly enough. I think if a family tree was included at the beginning or end of the novel, it would have cleared up a lot of my confusion, and I would have been able to make the connection the author intended.
❌ Several stories were just a miss for me. While those stories weren’t for me, I would still recommend this book to those who like horror and supernatural elements.

Thank you, NetGalley and Levine Querido, for the ARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review!

This book is a collection of YA horror short stories following generations of a Cherokee family and the supernaturally terrifying things that happen to them.

This book opens up with such a visceral, violent story, I was both shocked and intrigued.

I loved the use of the Cherokee language woven throughout the stories - I felt it gave the stories an added layer of authenticity and realism even though the stories are fantastical and supernatural.

This is Rogers’s debut novel and I will certainly be reading more of her work. These stories, while on the surface, may be about werewolves, vampires, ghosts, resurrections, zombies, etc, they touch on a deeper theme like colonialism, loss of self and culture, assimilation and more.

This was the perfect book to get me into the spooky mood. I definitely recommend this book to horror fans, those wanting to read native stories, and those who like short stories (woven into the bigger story).

Thank you to @netgalley, @hearourvoicestours and @Levine querido for my copy!

Intrigante coletânea de contos em que o horror se funde e se confunde, com temas universais sobrenaturais e até mesmo góticos, com o recorte muito rico do povo Cherokee através dos séculos.

A colonização como uma ferida aberta, durante uma interessante jornada de contato com diferentes identidades que foram apagadas, perseguidas e hostilizadas.

O horror se derrama em diversas camadas com vampiros, zumbis, lobisomens e o homem branco cis hétero, sendo o ápice desse horror em diferentes épocas em momentos importantes para nossa história, em contextos sociais culturais múltiplos como também nos diversos estágios em que a violência de gênero e doméstica devasta a vida de mulheres e crianças.

A vulnerabilidade de meninas e mulheres também apavoram no decorrer dessa obra, assim como o poder religioso na mão de tão poucos e que se alastra na vida de tantos, da dimensão da negligência ao abuso mais explícito.

Tive acesso a nova edição com ilustrações pelo Netgalley que sou muito grata, e torço para a publicação no Brasil, todos esses contos tem muito a nos dizer sobre tempos passados e até mesmo futuros, apesar da dimensão fantástica.

This is an absolutely incredible book! Man Made Monsters is a collection of short horror stories following various branches of the same Cherokee family through the past, present and future.

Storytelling and the passing on of history is one of the book’s central themes. Cherokee language is key in this. It is incorporated not only in the stories, but also in Jeff Edward’s amazing illustrations preceding each story. You can see an example of this on the cover.

Throughout the generations, through genocide and oppression and apocalyptic threats, the book’s central family struggles to hold on to their language and their stories—but hold on they do.

I was impressed with the wide variety of characters, styles, tropes and themes presented in these stories. Each one of them stands well on its own, while also adding to the whole of this family’s long history.

Taking on all kinds of classic monsters and horror staples, the love for the genre can be felt on every page. But while the inspiration from horror classics is clear, each story brings something interesting and new to whichever monster it features.

By the end of the book, there’s the feeling that these stories have always been around, and will continue to be created far into the future, even if the book is over.

Whether you’re an experienced horror lover, someone new to the genre, or you’re just interested in reading more Indigenous fiction, you should read this book.

Get ready for spooky season with this multi-generational novel that features a different monster in each chapter. Mark your calendars, the paperback comes out September 17, 2024.

Each chapter is not only a new story but features a different character. I was intrigued by how the characters are connected through the stories and through extended family. The stories also move in chronological order, following one family through generations and centuries, progressing all the way to the future.

There are monsters that are familiar to many readers regardless of culture like vampires, werewolves and ghosts; but there are also monsters specific to Cherokee and native culture like Deer Woman.

Multigenerational Sagas
The following of the generations reminded me of Yama Gyasi’s Homegoing, where each chapter is a new family member from the next generation. In both Homegoing and Man Made Monsters you are left yearning for more and simultaneously getting caught up in the next chapter’s plot. Rogers builds an intricate literary web that I was happy to be caught in.

This is one of those books that I became immersed in. I kept flipping back to the family tree to see who is related to who. There were monsters who were scary and monsters that were scary and helpful. It was a different way of looking at society, monsters and our actions.

Illustrations & Family Tree
For non-speakers of the Cherokee language, the audiobook will help you with the pronunciation of Cherokee words and names in the book. I loved reading the physical book because it has illustrations at the beginning of the chapter connected to the story. There is also a family tree that you will want to have handy as you read.

Great Debut
Man Made Monsters was a fantastic debut for Andrea Rogers and I look forward to her future works. This is a book that you will want to go back and do a second read, paying attention to the family details and connections. I definitely will be doing that! I’m someone who can often easily guess the twist, and this book caught me a few times. A great read for high school English classes too!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher, Levine Querido, for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Men Made Monsters is a collection of stories that weaves classic monsters like werewolves and vampires with the true horrors of colonialism, domestic violence, and displacement.

Although it is a collection of stories, in this book we follow the story of a Cherokee family across the years and generations. The book provides a family tree at the beginning of the book which made it so much easier to follow the link between family members. There are also beautiful illustrations from Cherokee artist Jeff Edwards that accompany each story.

This is one of my favorite books I have read this year! It is beautifully written by Andrea L. Rogers and it is consistent across all stories in this collection. The POV from a Cherokee family was refreshing and new to me. I found it extremely interesting to read the hardship this community went through.

I loved the supernatural elements added to the stories. I could not stop reading to find out what other monsters our protagonists would face in the next one.

I would highly recommend this book.

Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers

Thank you @hearourvoicestour for including me and for the digital ARC!

This starts off strong with an intense vampire scene! I was so creeped out I was worried I wouldn't be able to finish the book. But I did finish it, and ended up really loving it. It's a series of short stories, but they are definitely interconnected and go forward chronologically. I recognized names of ancestors from previous stories but I didn't take the time to meticulously track who was related to who; I just went with the flow. By the final story, I'll just say that the book comes full circle.

I would say that the first story is the most intense, for horror babies like me anyway. The rest are still really good, disturbing in delicious ways, and have you rooting for many of the "monsters". The connection between horror and colonization is strongly explored. Some of the standout stories in my mind were the final one (zombie apocalypse!) - I would absolutely watch a movie about that story, and the one about the show filming team, as well as the deer woman story. They were all excellent however.

Book recs to go with this collection:

📚 Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris. This Indigenous horror novella has a similar creepy dreamlike vibe with a strong sense of place with a dash of eco-horror.

📚 The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. This was my first SGJ and it left a huge impression on me! And it was my introduction to Indigenous horror - usually I am too much of a baby to read horror but this changed my perspective. This is so good and really brings out the horror of colonization like Rogers does in Man Made Monsters.

📚 Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones. I know, I know... two recs by the same author but they're just that good! This one is about werewolves, poverty, self-reliance... so good!

It's always a pleasure to read books by Indigenous Authors and to see how their tribes beliefs/culture impacts the story told. I enjoyed reading the different point of views and how it progressed from beginning to end. I will say that I did not expect that ending whatsoever but it was a nice touch. Man Made Monsters had the typical monsters of scary movies and books, but it also had the monsters that people try to hide from...themselves. It made me angry, it mad me want to cry, I understood how certain characters felt, and thats what a good book is. A story that makes you feel, a story that you connect. The author did a great job of blending Indigenous storytelling with modern storytelling.

I received this ARC from NetGalley, although I see it has already been available for some time. I am not sure how this occurred, but I am very glad that it did. Reading this collection of Native American short stories by Andrea L. Rogers has been an incredible experience. Her unique take on classical horror has been a refreshing experience for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves horror, a Native American perspective, and/or short story collections.

I’m not sure if it’s my brain/my mood, but I just couldn’t get into this one — out of the handful of stories I read, the only one that stuck out was the story “Man Made Monsters” & that’s primarily because it was giving Frankenstein which is a story I love to see with retellings.

The writing is still good! & this will definitely work for other horror readers, especially those in the mood for a short story collection! There’s also a bit of art in between stories that I enjoyed!

I feel like short story collections can be hit or miss, and this was definitely a success. I really appreciated the variety within the collection and felt like each story maintained my attention. This was a creative approach to short storytelling, and I imagine this collection will do well.

Man Made Monsters is a collection of horror short stories organized chronologically surrounding a family and exploring intergenerational trauma. High recommend for those interested in horror short stories.

I loved this, this is so well-written and the art adds amazing contextualization for each story. Special shout out to American Predators, Lens, Deer Women, I Come From the Water, and Zombies Attack the Drive In! as some of my favorites.

The explanation and descriptions of the Cherokee language are also excellent and provide some great positioning to better understand and contextualize each of the stories.

YA can go either way for me and this was just the right bit of creepy for me to love. I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to read this ARC. Also short stories sometimes do not keep my attention, but this was perfect.
4/5 stars
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC

Thank you to Levine Querido, Hear Our Voices tours, and Netgalley for my e-copy.

This short story collection is stunning. Many of the stories are inspired by classic monster stories but they are paired with real life horrors such as colonization and domestic violence. Andrea L. Rogers is Cherokee and also includes mythology, language, and the experience of Cherokee people over time. As with all short story collections, there were some stories I liked more than others. But overall, I'm very impressed - there's a lot of powerful imagery in here that I'm not going to forget. Excited to see what this author does next!

Man Made Monsters follows a Cherokee family over the course of hundreds of years. This horror collection has a great range—covering vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, and much inbetween. It also delves into some real life issues, such as domestic violence.

Andrea L. Rogers has a lovely writing style and I really enjoyed some of the stories, with my personal favourites being Man Made Monsters, Zombies Attack the Drive-In, Snow Day, and Shame on the Moon. Having said that, I did think a lot of the stories could have done with a bit more of a punch in terms of horror. I felt myself being reeled in, but then I was left wanting just a little bit more.

The beautiful illustrations by Jeff Edwards before each story were a great touch. Overall, this would be a great read for anyone who only wants a little bit of horror in their reading.

The cover pulled me in but the creepy, imaginative stories along with the stunning illustrations kept me hooked.

This is a serious of short stories following a Cherokee family from the 1830’s to 2039. Each has its own characters and ‘monsters’ but they are all connected by the family. Usually I don’t pay too much attention to them, but this has a family tree in the beginning that you will most likely want to use to see the relationships. There are usually a few stories I don’t like in anthologies, but I actually enjoyed them all to some degree.

While it’s rich in mythology and lore, it also has some pretty heavy themes of generational trauma, domestic violence, and racism. Some of the monsters are people, vampires, zombies, and maybe even an alien or two.

This is perfect if you like lightly spooky vibes without keeping yourself up at night.

Unlike many family trees in literature, this one is both useful and haunting, adding depth to the narrative by highlighting the tragic ends of certain lineages. The anthology format adeptly explores themes of intergenerational trauma within an Indigenous family, tackling issues like racism, violence, and apocalyptic scenarios. With each story offering a different genre, from ghost stories to modern tragedies and zombie apocalypses, this is a compelling and thought-provoking read, best enjoyed in sequence for its full impact.

When I started reading this I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. But I really do! I kind of skimmed the one about the aliens, but other than that, this is a well written take on symbolic horror. I enjoyed the threads that link the stories. Having a Native American take on the horrors of US History and how it echoes down through personal relationships is a great (and painfully accurate) concept. I’m not sure this could be used in a high school classroom, maybe in part. Bottom line, it is horror and very smart horror, but probably not for general classroom use. However, some students will love this one and I’ll put it in their hands.