We Shall Be Monsters by @alyssa_wees

⭐️: 5/5

I BLEW through this book! Couldn’t put it down!! Wees’ writing style is so luxe and full. It’s like walking into a dream!!

This is classic fairytale writing for a modern audience. It has that sense of lulling you into a false sense of security and then pulling the rug from under you. But in a good way! I’m not a fan of horror or anything that’s too scary and I think this book sits just on the edge of what I’m comfortable with. More than anything, it forces the reader to examine what exactly makes someone good or evil.

If you’re a fan of The Brothers Grimm, you’ll really enjoy this one! Lmk what you think!

TW: slight gore

Approx. 320 pages

Now playing:

The Night we Met - Lord Huron
1:35 ───ㅇ───── 3:47

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Characters:

Gemma - I love wild little Gemma. Her resolve for saving her mother is moving and I love the way she is brave despite being scared and how smart she is.

Virginia - Despite her flaws it was evident of her fierce love for her family.

Ash - He was charming fun and so motivated by love. I teared up at his reunion with Gemma. He always took care of Virginia before all else, and it was one of the best romances I have read in a really long time.

Silvanus - I hated, HATED what they did to him. He started out as a sweet love interest for Gemma, only to turn into a hot headed crazy person who I just found myself wishing he would SHUT UP almost all the time.

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Plot: I LOVED this book yall, a favorite of the year easily. The plot was fast moving as it took us down a path of twisted tales and complex morals. The complex scenes we flew through were so magical. And while I did see the solution I didn't see a lot of other things that left me SHOOK and I LOVED IT!!!

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Writing: This world was so LUSH. The writing fully sucked me in and was so beautifully it bled into real life. I loved the way it painted life. It made me ask so many questions AND AHHHH READ IT

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Overall thoughts: I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE WAY IT MAKES US ASK WHAT TRUELY MAKES A MONSTER IS SO GOOD AND ALL THE MORAL QUESTIONS ARE SO YUMMY

Wees does it again with another twisted story with all the dark, atmospheric fairytale vibes. This book takes you on a journey through the lives of three familial generations of women as they struggle to make their way and find their strength. If you like weird vibes, strong female characters, and a side of romance then this book is for you. I give it 4/4.5 stars.

3.75 stars

This book had all the dark fairy tale, magical woods, fantasy vibes. The writing was beautiful and you are definitely immersed in this world and the woods and all the eerie vibes. The story is told through two POV’s: Gemma and her mother Virginia. Through these alternating POV’s you slowly learn more about the story and what’s happening.
For me personally, this book moved too slowly. I felt like it took too long to establish the stakes and what was being accomplished so I had a hard time getting invested. I did enjoy how the plot played out and really enjoyed the ending, it just too long to get there.
If you like slower paced books that are more about the vibes or if you like eerie fairy tales and magic woods with strange creatures you should give this book a try!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!

"A girl marked for death ventures into the wooded realm of the fairies to rescue her mother in this dark, lyrical fantasy about vengeful witches, beastly fathers, and the stories mothers tell to keep their daughters safe - from the author of Nocturne.

Gemma Cassata lives with her mother in an isolated antiques shop in Michigan, near a seductive patch of woods concealing an enchanted gateway to fairyland. Gemma knows she's not supposed to go into the woods - her mother, Virginia, has warned her multiple times about the monsters that lurk there - and yet she can't resist.

Virginia understands her daughter's defiance. She knows the allure of the woods all too well. Her own mother warned her about the monsters, and Virginia also did not listen - until a witch cursed her true love just days before their child's birth. So Virginia will do whatever she can to protect her daughter - even if it means stealing Gemma's memories.

But everything changes when Gemma gets too close to the truth, and the witch takes Virginia. Now it is up to Gemma to venture deep into the mysterious woods to rescue her mother and break the curse.

Told in the alternating viewpoints of Gemma and Virginia, this novel is not only a tale of a girl's fantastical quest through a darkly magical fairyland but also an exploration of the complex bonds between children and their parents."

Ah yes, the point wherein you have to venture into the forbidden to save everything.

A dark fairy tale, where the metaphors are not to be counted but the plot is not bad either. A kind of Jungian analysis in a story with fairy princes and human princesses. I really liked it and it is not a romantasy, which says a lot about the performance provided by this book.

Una favola dark, dove le metafore non si contano ma anche la trama non é niente male. Una specie di analisi junghiana in una storia con principi fata e principesse umane. A me é piaciuta molto e non é un romantasy, il che la dice lunga sulla prestazione fornita da questo libro.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House (Ballantine) for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ya know I was mixed going into this book in the first few chapters with the constant switching between the mother’s and the daughter’s points of view. Once I got into the rhythm it didn’t bother me but it was certainly an interesting choice. Overall I really appreciated the book’s nods to and respect of classic fairy tales in all their original dark gory glory. None of the characters felt real but it was an obvious choice since they were never moored in reality to begin with. The exploration of what defines a monster was good but a little overdone by the end, same with the mirror metaphors. But overall I really loved the tone and environment created and I’m really pleased I got to read this one. I’d certainly recommend to anyone looking for a dark moody exploration of what makes a monster in a dark fairy tale forest.

We Shall Be Monsters is a dark, lyrical fantasy set in an isolated, heavily forested area of Michigan. The story follows Virginia & her daughter, Gemma. In this world, only a few know of the mystery, magic and monsters that live in the woods. As her mother did before her, Virginia warns her daughter of the dangers of the woods. And just as her mother couldn’t resist the siren song of the woods, neither can Gemma. After Virginia is taken into the woods by a witch, Gemma must venture into the woods herself to find her mother and break a curse.

At its core, this is a story of the relationship between mother and daughter, the challenges of parenting in a dangerous world and a curious young girl navigating a new reality.

This story has dark fairytale / gothic & horror vibes. It is written in a such a way that everything feels mysterious & you are unsure if it has further meaning than what is simply stated on the page. I liked the fusion of classical type lore in a contemporary setting.
I also enjoyed the dual POV from Virginia & Gemma — being able to observe the push & pull relationship between mother & daughter also gave an interesting perspective.

I found the lyrical style of writing to be quite creative & unique from any other fantasy that I have read. Overall, the writing is beautiful and whimsical but can feel a little repetitive as the “danger of the woods” is very prevalent throughout the story.

It is a dark fairytale, the writing is absolutely wonderful and pulls you in right away. This story reminds me of other books like Alice in Wonderland, The Cruel Prince, and Coraline. The characters are very compelling and the storyline exploring their relationship as well as the magic of this world is not only original and unique but also gives you reflection.

This publisher never fails. This is another wonderful book from this publisher from a talented author. Wees' book was so much fun to read and I loved every second of it. I loved the characters and found the world to be so much fun to move around in as the story developed. I highly recommend this book and I love the cover, the art is so pretty and I think fits the book so well.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I wanted to love it so much but the writing style had me lost and I couldn’t get past the first few chapters. The metaphors and similes used were cringy at best. This just was not my cup of tea.

Gemma lives at the edge of the woods… a woods, her mother Virginia says she must not enter under any circumstances. There are monsters that live in these woods, monsters who will hunt and devour innocent little girls who come across them. But for all its mystery, Gemma is drawn into these woods for the magic she experiences - and her mother has no trouble understanding why.

Gemma has never encountered a monster, at least that she can remember. She does not know what a monster was, only that it would eat you. You will have nightmares her mama says, you will never sleep soundly again. Only that it would speak in a voice like deep water, and when it called to you it was impossible to resist. So each time Gemma finds herself drawn into the woods, her mother Virginia uses magic to take these memories away - that is, until Gemma stumbles upon the truth of why her mother wants to keep her away from the woods, the secret of her parentage, and the curse that hangs upon them all. Her mother is taken, replaced by an imposter, and it is up to Gemma to repair the damage brought to her family. But as she moves along her quest, she starts to question her actions and the impact she has on the rest of her world.

Where did a hero end, and a monster begin?

We Shall Be Monsters was a wonderful mix of fantasy and family drama. The story gets revealed to us through both Gemma and her mother Virginia’s points of view with timeline jumps that manage to tie together everything seamlessly. It was a beautiful portrayal of family bonds as we try to do what we think is best and realize our failings along the way. I did find myself annoyed with the male characters during the story but it only helped to highlight how women are in charge of their own stories… and where it may not be from their own beginnings, it belongs solely to them in their endings.

Read if you like: mother-daughter relationships, fantasy, dual timeline, multiple points of view

(I received an advanced copy of this novel via NetGalley so final quotations may differ)

Book Fort Rating: 5 Stars

Is it building the Book Fort? It's currently picking out the gothic wallpaper that will line the walls.

I have a lot of feelings about this book.

Let me first be clear this was a 4.5 star read that I've rounded to a 5 - that doesn't mean the book was without flaw, but that I found the story and meaning to outweigh some of the smaller execution things that I noticed while reading. That story, by the way, is like if Alice in Wonderland, Coraline, and Brave had a baby that grew up in an 80's dark fantasy world. And I ate it up.

To say that We Shall Be Monsters is simply about the connections between a mother and daughter does not do this book the justice it deserves. The question that Alyssa Wees poses to all of us reading is simple: What does it really mean to be a monster? But the answer to that question changes over and over again within the text, showing our main characters Gemma and Virginia (or Gigi, for short) that monsters can be found everywhere, including inside of ourselves. And being a monster means that even when we don't mean to, even when we don't intend to, we can unfortunately harm those around us - especially those we love the very most.

The writing in this book was, 95% of the time, absolutely gorgeous. I will make mention that it reads much more like a lyrical literary fiction (similar to Donna Tartt's The Secret History) than a general dark fiction or fantasy novel. If that isn't your cup of tea, you will likely feel as lost in this book as Gemma and Virginia do in the woods. I am a big fan of meandering prose, so this book spoke to my tastes, but I can understand why others may not feel the same way.

For my reading taste, the 5% of the time that the writing did not speak to me occurred whenever more modern phrases ended up in the prose - it was jarring to be in the middle of dark lyricism, to suddenly have a character talk about how they don't want children to "ditch school." It didn't occur overly often, but did break the suspension of disbelief I think is necessary to truly immerse yourself in this book.

I felt that the character development throughout this novel was easily its strongest point. Both Gigi and Gemma noticeably grow as both mother/daughter and people throughout the book. This was especially noticeable as Gemma went through and concluded her "coming of age" within the woods, as she took the position of leader, and Gigi was gently pushed to step back and allow her daughter to take care of her, rather than the other way around. I also felt that their relationship developed in a beautiful way throughout the novel, and I think that many mothers and daughters with perhaps less than perfect relationships will feel the same way by the end of reading this.

I also just loved the general aesthetic of this book - it demanded dark, fantastical music as I read, and the lyrical descriptions Wees weaves into the prose really transport you to this sometimes scary, sometimes not place in Michigan. To that end, I've created a playlist full of the perfect creepy fanciful music to read along to - feel free to check it out at the end of this review.

My biggest gripe with this book, honestly, was that I don't think it could ever truly decide if it was an adult or YA novel. This may be because one of the main characters was a full-grown woman in her 30s, and the other was a girl between the ages of 12 and 15, but I often felt like it oscillated between the two genres in a way that was strange. I sometimes felt that Gemma's thought processes were far beyond realistic for a YA character, and simultaneously thought Gigi's sometimes were a little less than I would have expected. I honestly believe this to be a side effect of the writing style and general aesthetic, which I've already pointed out I love, so I can forgive this. Like I mentioned - hefty suspension of disbelief.

That all being said, I would (and will) recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fantasy, adventure fiction, lit fic, or just wants to spend some time in some creepy woods with a monster or three. Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Del Rey for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I can't wait to pick up a copy of this book once it's finally published for my library shelf.

Publication Date: 11/12/2024

Reading Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Bo250OHKKYmxEmNjikAxd?si=2ac34f35e21c479b&nd=1&dlsi=03004d84747744d3

This book is perfect. Absolutely perfect. A dark fairy tale with magic and fae and monsters. But in truth it's about the relationships of mothers and daughters and breaking generational...missteps. I don't think either mother we read about nor either daughter was a bad character. The mothers did what they could to protect their daughters. And their daughters did what they could to be themselves. There's such a beauty filled within the darkness and I was unable to put this down. Couldn't stop thinking about it when I had to.

This book had so many beautiful pieces. I wasn’t sure how they were all going to fit together, but I was content with the ending. The way this story casts light on generational trauma in the form of magical curses is splendid and heartbreaking. I would highly recommend for anyone seeking a dark, melancholic story of magic and fae.

#WeShallBeMonsters by #AlyssaWees is truly a story about mothers and their daughters. How badly we want to protect our children and the things our mothers do that we swear we never would and yet somehow tend to repeat those same mistakes just in different ways.

Gemma and Virginia live by an enchanted wood where fairies roam and darker things tend to linger. All her life Gemma has been told to stay away from the woods from the dangerous things that live here. The woods though have always called to her and she goes to them from time to time where she meets all over again and again her fairy prince. Yet each time they meet its as though she has forgotten who he is and all of their adventures together.

Virginia wants nothing more than to keep Gemma from the woods and the things that live within it the way her mother kept her from them. Enough so that she does to her the unthinkable and steals Gemma's memories of the woods and the fairy prince every night with the use of an enchanted hair brush that she herself stole from the Slit Witch that lives within the woods years ago. Virginia can't just take Gemma and leave because the woods are a part of her and inside of them resides the man she loves. Virginia and her mother have been trying for years to break the curse that was placed upon him by the Slit Witch, but their time is running out and soon he will come for Virginia and eat the still beating heart out of her chest.

A novel about learning to love onesself, being brave even when you feel like a coward, and knowing that fear is a good thing as long as you don't let it control you We Shall Be Monsters is full of the most beautiful imagery that pulls you into these enchanted woods and makes you wish that you never have to leave them behind. I dragged my feet finishing this book because I didn't want the adventure to end. Bravo to Alyssa Wees for writing a novel that will forever live in my heart and on my shelves.

I want to thank #Netgalley and #PenguinRandomHouse for the chance to read #WeShallBeMonsters by AlyssaWees in return for a fair and honest review.

Loved the touches of fantasy and horror throughout! It felt like a book whose author read the original fairytales instead of the Disney movies (and possibly watched Labyrinth too much)

Wow.

No really, I’m rather speechless - We Shall Be Monsters is spectacular.

A dark fairytale set in a forest outside a modern world. Fae, witches, monsters, and magic are brought to life with lyrical prose and atmospheric writing.

But the real magic inside this novel, the themes of motherhood, family, and what it means to be a monster. You might be surprised what you discover…

I loved every single thing about this book and have nary a single negative thing to say about it.

If you love thought provoking, atmospheric story-telling (think Ava Reid, or T. Kingfisher) this is a must read.

What I think you’ll love…
- atmospheric, lush prose & world-building
- themes of family, mother-daughter relationships, & a multigenerational tale
- fae, witches, living forest, monsters, & magic
- a tiny touch of horror
- rich storytelling and distinct voices in both POVs
- non-linear timeline
- mystery and intrigue that will keep you guessing!
- thought-provoking (what makes a monster?)

What I didn’t love…
- NOTHING THIS BOOK IS PHENOMENAL! QUICK READING MY REVIEW AND GO READ IT INSTEAD!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House (Del Rey) for sending this book (eARC) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! The magic was very unique, and her lyrical prose really brought the eerie forest to life. The dual time line POVs were confusing at first, but brought a lot of the depth to the story. The main themes in the book are defiance, protection, and familial love. I think this would be a great book for women to read with their daughters. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 - This was a unique dark fairy tale and I overall enjoyed it. I felt like the middle dragged on a bit and the ending was abrupt, leaving me wanting more. Despite the this being a dark fairy tale it highlighted many deeper themes. Also had some great quotes. "I suppose every monster is real for someone somewhere".

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy, all thoughts are my own.