Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury Pages: 512
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on February 28, 2023
Source: ARC from Publisher
The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.
Daisy sees dead people—something impossible to forget in bustling, ghost-packed Toronto. She usually manages to deal with her unwanted ability, but she’s completely unprepared to be dumped by her boyfriend. So when her mother inherits a secluded mansion in northern Ontario where she spent her childhood summers, Daisy jumps at the chance to escape. But the house is nothing like Daisy expects, and she begins to realize that her experience with the supernatural might be no match for her mother’s secrets, nor what lurks within these walls…
A decade later, Brittney is desperate to get out from under the thumb of her abusive mother, a bestselling author who claims her stay at “Miracle Mansion” allowed her to see the error of her ways. But Brittney knows that’s nothing but a sham. She decides the new season of her popular Haunted web series will uncover what happened to a young Black girl in the mansion ten years prior and finally expose her mother’s lies. But as she gets more wrapped up in the investigation, she’ll have to decide: if she can only bring one story to light, which one matters most—Daisy’s or her own?
As Brittney investigates the mansion in the present, Daisy’s story runs parallel in the past, both timelines propelling the girls to face the most dangerous monsters of all: those that hide in plain sight.
The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.
Delicious Monsters is a young adult horror thriller by author Liselle Sambury, and I was fascinated by the story set up. First, I love the Haunting of Hill House, and I love a dual timeline in mystery/horror novels, so I was totally sold right away. This book was great. I really enjoyed the writing and the plot and I was engrossed in both of the girls stories.
In Delicious Monsters, we meet our two main characters Brittney and Daisy. Brittney and Daisy each have their own story about this haunted mansion. Brittney is there in present day in the book and Daisy was in the house ten years prior. Their story lines are presented in a parallel format, which worked really well for the book because it allowed for information to be revealed organically. I really enjoyed the dual story lines.
I really enjoyed how dark and creepy this story was. I have read some YA horror that is not really creepy at all, but Delicious Monsters really does deliver a dark, atmospheric and truly creepy story. Daisy can see the dead which really shaped her experiences in the house, and Brittney is at the house trying to make a show about Daisy and her time at the mansion. The author does a good job handling the horror elements of the story along with some of the darker horrors that people face on an every day basis. There is a lot of heavy themes and topics discussed in the book, so I would highly recommend checking out the content warnings prior to reading, because I went in fully informed on some of the topics that would come up and I will say there is some heavy stuff in this book, but it was well done in my opinion.
If you are a fan of dual timelines and you are looking for a mysterious horror novel about creepy haunted houses, with great characters then you need to check out Delicious Monsters. This book creeped me out in a good way. I really enjoyed it.
Note: check the trigger warnings before reading because there is quite a lot of childhood abuse/trauma in the book, among other TWs.
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