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Article Title

Monstrous

Authors

Aylea Stephens

Keywords

Excellent, Intermediate, MarcyKate Connolly, Monsters, Fantasy, Slavery, Kidnapping, Wizards, Dragons

Document Type

Book Review

Abstract

Kym’s father created her to help defeat an evil wizard and save the girls of the city of Bryne. She is part dragon, part bird, and part human. The special way she is made makes her immune from the wizard’s curse, enabling her to rescue girls one at a time from the wizard’s prison. She can’t talk to the humans, however. Her father tells her that if she does, they will kill her because of her differences. When she encounters one boy, Ren, on her nightly visits to Byrne, she learns that he also knows about the missing girl and the history of the evil magic that threatens the city. As she finds out details of the city’s past, as well as her own, she has to decide who to trust and how important it is to her to save the girls from the wizard, even when it costs her what she wants and forces her to accept that she is a monster. A book that will remind readers of Frankenstein, Monstrous is a unique tale about accepting yourself for who you are, choosing to do the right thing even when it is difficult, and making the most out of an unfortunate situation. Readers will probably realize who the wizard is early on, and will wonder why it’s taking Kym so long to accept reality and move on to solve the problem. It is an excellent transition from middle grade fantasy to YA fantasy. It starts out slowly and has more violence and sadness than many middle grade books, but it is still accessible to intermediate readers who are wanting to read more advanced books. The beautiful writing, interesting world, and unexpected ending will make this book stand out to fantasy lovers.

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