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abby_ace_of_books 's review for:
A Mastery of Monsters
by Liselle Sambury
Welcome back to reasons why I'm convinced you should never join a secret society in college.
A Mastery of Monsters is a YA urban fantasy/dark academia novel that features a secret monster society, deadly competitions, and mysteries involving missing people. Urban fantasy can sometimes be a bit hit or miss for me, but I didn't mind those elements so much in this book. Admittedly, the setting is implied to be recent, as characters frequently use terms like "rizz," "sus," and "vibes" that might make some readers cringe (especially because they're used unironically), but it wasn't too impactful on my reading experience.
After August's brother disappears and she's attacked by a monster in the forest, she must ally with the only person who might have the knowledge and the willingness to help her: Virgil, a bookworm destined to turn into a monster himself if he doesn't find someone to bond with. The story balances college social life, deadly competitions, and mystery investigations quite well. The pacing can be a bit slow at times, and the book itself is a bit lengthy, but it's overall enjoyable. I found the ending to be a bit anticlimactic, and I struggled to get a grasp on all of the worldbuilding and characters because it felt info-dumpy at times. That being said, I really did have fun trying to guess the mystery, and I was invested in the plot.
August is probably one of my favorite FMCs of the year so far. She's fiery and stubborn, but she's also empathetic, and I found her to be quite realistic. Virgil was fun too, but that could just be because I like bookworm characters. I will admit that there were a lot of names, and sometimes I struggled to keep track of who was who (I think it could've benefited from a glossary and maybe dramatis personae, especially within everyone's affiliations), but I was relatively indifferent to most of the side characters. I liked who I was supposed to like, although so many of the motivations were twisty enough that I'm still not sure who to trust. In general, I just think August's personality is something we need more of in the genre.
If you're a fan of dark academia, secret societies, or not-so-monstrous monsters, check out A Mastery of Monsters.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
3.75/5
A Mastery of Monsters is a YA urban fantasy/dark academia novel that features a secret monster society, deadly competitions, and mysteries involving missing people. Urban fantasy can sometimes be a bit hit or miss for me, but I didn't mind those elements so much in this book. Admittedly, the setting is implied to be recent, as characters frequently use terms like "rizz," "sus," and "vibes" that might make some readers cringe (especially because they're used unironically), but it wasn't too impactful on my reading experience.
After August's brother disappears and she's attacked by a monster in the forest, she must ally with the only person who might have the knowledge and the willingness to help her: Virgil, a bookworm destined to turn into a monster himself if he doesn't find someone to bond with. The story balances college social life, deadly competitions, and mystery investigations quite well. The pacing can be a bit slow at times, and the book itself is a bit lengthy, but it's overall enjoyable. I found the ending to be a bit anticlimactic, and I struggled to get a grasp on all of the worldbuilding and characters because it felt info-dumpy at times. That being said, I really did have fun trying to guess the mystery, and I was invested in the plot.
August is probably one of my favorite FMCs of the year so far. She's fiery and stubborn, but she's also empathetic, and I found her to be quite realistic. Virgil was fun too, but that could just be because I like bookworm characters. I will admit that there were a lot of names, and sometimes I struggled to keep track of who was who (I think it could've benefited from a glossary and maybe dramatis personae, especially within everyone's affiliations), but I was relatively indifferent to most of the side characters. I liked who I was supposed to like, although so many of the motivations were twisty enough that I'm still not sure who to trust. In general, I just think August's personality is something we need more of in the genre.
If you're a fan of dark academia, secret societies, or not-so-monstrous monsters, check out A Mastery of Monsters.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
3.75/5