“Monster” by CJ Skuse is hide-under-a-blanket scary

Monster - CJ SkuseMonster
C.J. Skuse

Rating: 4.5/5

Nash wants nothing more than to be appointed Head Girl at Bathory.  However, when her brother goes missing Nash’s parents go looking him, causing Nash to stay at the boarding school over Christmas holiday along with several other of the school’s misfits.  The myth of the violent Bathory Beast is in everyone’s thoughts as a man in the village is brutally murdered and their matron disappears during the raging blizzard. Tensions run high and terror runs wild!

From the first page, an underlying eerie feeling was present.  You could tell it wasn’t going to be your ordinary boarding school story with squabbles over boys; you knew it was going to get dark.

About halfway through it got REALLY CREEPY.  Seriously, really really creepy.  Maybe it’s just me and my inability to watch horror movies (I blame the 1999 movie The Haunting, which I was stupid enough to go see in theatres and that messed me up for years), but I found the plot hide-under-a-blanket scary.

While reading, I had a few theories, all of which were wrong.  I’m quite glad I didn’t guess the outcome. It would have anti-climactic if it ended and I was like: “Oh, well I could have told you that.”

I loved Nash. She was level headed, but still acted exactly how you’d expect a teenager to react in this situation.

Monster is the first novel I’ve read from C.J. Skuse and I am so excited to check out the rest of her work!

I received an advance reading copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

You can pick up your own copy here (Amazon / Book Depository)

6 thoughts on ““Monster” by CJ Skuse is hide-under-a-blanket scary”

  1. I will have to check that out! Hey, been meaning to recommend to you The Rabbit Back Literary Society. It’s about a woman who writes kids books, forms a weird literary society of promising young writers, and then disappears. I really enjoyed it and while I was reading it, thought I really need to tell Dana about this one. Hope you are doing well over there in England!

    1. That definitely sounds like something I’d enjoy. Added it to my to-read list, thanks!
      England’s been great and beautiful 🙂 Hope Canada isn’t too cold!

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