[Book Review] MONSTRE Vol 1 by Duncan Swan

MONSTRE Volume 1 by Duncan Swan is a terrifying tale of desperation and determination.

If you enjoy unputdownable reads filled with storylines that will keep you flipping the pages just as quickly as you can, you gotta pick this one up!

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way. 

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on MONSTRE Volume 1 by Duncan Swan

The story begins with a character in the middle of a scary situation with a fire burning below him, and it really doesn’t let up from there. Of course, it backtracks to show more of the history so you can see what lead to the character making a mad rush up a stairway… But as you know something bad had happened, the sense of dread is thicker than the smoke from that first scene.

This book follows various storylines that are all interwoven and organized from a starting point from either Day 0 or Day 89.

When I first saw that this was the case, I got a little nervous as I’m not a huge fan of books with multiple perspectives. However in this case, they were all so perfectly developed that I didn’t have a problem keeping up.

This format, combined with the writing style and amazing characters, also made it impossible to put the book down as I just wanted to see how everything turned out for everyone, but you’d have to wait awhile for an update.

The writing was wonderful. From the description of the small details to the explosive action and violence, it was very vivid! The character development had to be pretty quick in quite a few cases, and the author nailed that! I was drawn or interested in all of the characters almost immediately. I also loved that some of the characters we developed in a way that made us slowly learn more about them, so there was a sense of mystery and unease with a few!

There is a cosmic creature element here and I found it to be incredibly eerie. While leaning heavily toward sci-fi, this is something that I can easily see actually happening so that makes it so much more spooky. And then seeing how some people handled the situation? Even more terrifying.

And my god, that ending. I CANNOT wait for Volume Two!

Also… can we just talk about this dedication?

My Favorite Passages from MONSTRE Volume 1

He looked away from his computer screen for a moment to see that the two men were far less impressed, shaking their heads. Then they exploded into a fine pink mist. 

There wasn’t a tree or building left standing, no people, nothing but scattered fires and columns of smoke, charred and splintered trees lining the sides of the road. Their shattered trunks glowed white in his flashlight, like jagged teeth, as though the four of them were walking into the mouth of some giant beast. 

Claire was the type of person who could put on a brave face like it was makeup. 

“I’m Lieutenant Dan,” the soldier said when he didn’t have to scream anymore. “Lieutenant Dan!” said Levi, finding his voice again. He couldn’t help it. “You got new legs!” 

People think evil is easy to spot. They think of evil and imagine a monster. They imagine the Devil with horns, something obvious and identifiable.But sometimes evil looks just like the kid next door.

My Final Thoughts on MONSTRE Volume 1

I loved every second of MONSTRE. I could not stop reading! Even though I felt really uneasy throughout the read, I was also totally hooked and blown away by the writing and overall plot. It was so perfectly organized.

I can’t believe this was a debut novel. Sign me up for Volume Two! I cannot wait!!

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Thanks for reading!
And thanks again to Sarah Miniaci of SMITH PUBLICITY, INC. for sending a copy my way! I am so grateful!!