Delicious Monsters

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury is an enthralling young adult read that had me hooked from start to finish. Despite its classification as a young adult novel, the horror elements are tastefully restrained yet effectively executed. This chilling and atmospheric tale delves into the intertwining lives of two teenage Black girls, Daisy and Brittney, across two different timelines.

Daisy, burdened with the ability to see the departed, finds herself relocating with her overbearing mother to an eerie, secluded mansion with a dark history, following the end of a toxic relationship. Meanwhile, ten years later, Brittney is determined to carve out a successful haunted house series to break free from her own abusive mother. Her list includes the very mansion that had altered her own mother's life.

One of the most striking aspects of the book is the author's portrayal of Daisy and Brittney's raw, unfiltered emotions as they grapple with the enduring trauma inflicted by their mothers. The characters are allowed to be messy, brimming with anger and resistance, as they navigate their paths to survival. Witnessing their struggles, particularly Daisy's, evoked an urge within me to intervene, a testament to the authenticity of the narrative.

If you haven't yet considered adding this gem to your reading list, I urge you to do so. My review merely scratches the surface of the brilliance captured within these pages. With hopes for more thrilling works from the author in the same vein, I encourage you to explore this captivating piece. Head to your preferred bookseller or online platform to embark on this haunting journey alongside Daisy and Brittney.

This could easily be turned into a movie or Netflix series. There are elements of the story we've seen before BUT the story telling of the author is IMMACULATE. I was originally hesitate reading a YA but appreciate the descriptive and imaginative wiring that had be walking through each scene. Perfect amount of horror, thriller, and psychological twists and turns. Love love love!

I have to be honest, for 90% of it this book was a 3 stars and I was tempted to DNF a few times, it's a slow build up and the story is told in 2 timelines that we switch back and forth between and my ADHD brain doesn't do too well with that. Really I would have DNFed if it hadn't been written by Liselle.
I'm glad I didn't give up on this book because the final reveal and untangling of one character's story at the end had me in tears. Don't get me wrong the ending is satisfying but it's not without a touch of tragedy and it made putting myself through the rest of the book worth it.

Delicious Monsters poignantly highlights how the real monsters in our lives are closer to us and more brutal than any supernatural ones we dream up. The story is about various forms of real-life trauma, the cycle of trauma and how differently we process and get through it, told in a setting of a haunted and paranormal house.

Did you know the name of the plant “Monstera Deliciosa” (Daisy's favorite plant) or swiss cheese plant, literally translates to Delicious Monsters? But that's not the only meaning behind the title of the book.

The main character Daisy's biggest problem according to her is that she sees dead people. But she doesn't see how she has much more real monsters in her life. She has a tendency to trust the wrong people, not trust those who deserve it, and be generally unaware of the trauma around her.

All the characters are nuanced, flawed, and impacted by the abuse they've lived through in different ways. It's difficult to love any of them as the reader but it's even harder to hate them.

The author did a great job of setting the scene with creepy tense vibes. This is a very atmospheric and haunting read. Once things start to happen, it is impossible to put the book down. The mystery and horror of the haunted mansion pulls you in, just like it does the characters in the book.

Daisy's story is interleaved with Brittney's who's looking into the case a decade later, this helps increase the tension of the story since it tells us from the get-go that things aren't going to end well. The parallels and differences between the two characters' situations also help highlight the nuances of their relationships with others.

I really struggled to get through a good chunk of this book. Barely anything seems to happen for the first 40-50%. It didn't help that the MC is insufferable that whole time as well, with the biggest chip on her shoulder. To be fair, she has every right to be that way, and it's absolutely valuable to let characters, especially POC, be angry.

It was difficult to rate this because of how much I struggled at the beginning vs how much I loved it as things started happening. I'm rating it an inexact 4⭐ ranging between 3 and 5.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books and NetGalley for the eARC.