Little Monsters: PERFECT FOR FANS OF FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE AND THE PAPER PALACE

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As the mystery of Bailey's disappearance intensifies, the towns people begin to turn on Kacey. There are rumors swirling around that indeed..she may have had a role in what happened to Bailey. Or was she a cunning psychopath who did this knowingly and coldly? The end seems to me to imply that with the last sentence. I SO wanted to know. I felt a bit frustrated because there were so many unanswered questions. Little Monsters is an enjoyable, above-average YA mystery/thriller which, at times, falters yet still roars with its favorably stifling writing and inventive final twist perfect for a fun Halloween scare.

I'd love to see a part two or even a prequel. I also would have LOVED to see a POV from Jade or Laura. Maybe a chilling diary entry from one of them as the last chapter! In other words, the book was to good to end when it did...and with SO many questions. I was fascinated and really wanted to know more. I also wanted to know how Jade got to Laura and convinced her. We are told not shown and I wanted to be shown not told. Told through multiple POVs, Little Monsters has the right balance of family drama, flawed characters and the coastal, summer setting of Cape Cod.

The enigmatic Steph is a competent police officer vacationing in Provincetown, with her partner, Toni. Newly the birth mother of Jonah, Steph wants to connect with the Gardner family, now that a recently revealed secret has come crashing to the fore, but how to best proceed?

At this, the doctor plastered on the kind of smile a kindergarten teacher might offer an unruly child at the end of a long day. He exhaled audibly and resumed his list of banal recommendations: limit stress, exercise daily, eat a balanced diet. The doctor reviewed Adam’s long history of episodes, noting that he generally cycled once a year, typically in the late spring, with symptoms lasting anywhere from ten to fourteen weeks. “Looks like you’re not too far off your normal schedule,” he said. “We should be able to manage this pharmacologically, no problem. That said, many of my patients benefit from group therapy. Have you considered this option, Dr. Gardner?” I enjoyed the building of the characters. This may be a trigger for some but I would recommend.Not a perfect ending which is appreciate I love these messed up characters who are easy to either love or love to hate. Their issues, their journeys, their goals are what spark a thread of connection in this reader. It's the reason I love Family Fiction and why I highly recommend Little Monsters to others who love it, too!

The display of friendship between teenage girls feels so accurate in how complicated it all can be. Obsession, jealousy, manipulation, and secrets all coming into play. I liked the different dynamics that emerge regarding the relationships Kacey had with each of her family members. The characters are believable. I just wish there had been more development there. It really would have made a world of difference. Kacey keeps hinting at this dark, mysterious past. This never gets fully explained. I, for one, was curious and thought it added to the mystery if we in fact got any answers. It just felt like her past was danced around at a certain point. The more I ponder on it, the more I wonder if I missed something? It is also worth noting that there is zero romance. The diary entries were helpful and sent chills. Like so creepy. I do have to get the author credit for writing these girls as twisty and nasty as she did. The ending was very bitter sweet and left me in chills (again). Sibling relationships are compelling fodder for a novel simply because it’s hard to fathom how people growing up in the same family can experience the world so differently. Also, the relationship is so ripe for both closeness and conflict. I looked to the archetypal story of Cain and Abel, hoping for answers about sibling rivalry, and was left wanting. It is truly a bare-bones story. That said, the tale informed the structure of the book in as much as Cain and Abel made offerings to God, and God favored Abel’s gift. In Little Monsters, the narrative structure builds toward the patriarch’s seventieth birthday where his children present him with gifts of great personal importance and the father favors one child’s offering over the other’s. Older brother Ken, a successful businessman is focused on a future in politics. He already has a seemingly perfect family in his wife Jenny, and twin daughters. It's all part of his grandiose plan. There are several red herrings throughout. I did eventually guess whodunnit, but not before having a few other solid suspects in mind. This one definitely had a few twists throughout. The small town setting is interesting and written really well. I enjoyed the local legend of the Red Woman tied with the "haunted" barn. It all truly adds to the atmosphere.

I adore books that encroach on the dark, secret lives of teenage girls and this book did so in an exciting yet unpredictable way. From sneaking out at midnight to parties, to holding seances in haunted and remote buildings - this book was a series of exhilarating scenes tied together with the dark undertone of both the reader and the characters second-guessing everyone's motives. No emotion was spared and I spent much of my time reading this breathless with either suspense or terror. Kacey has recently moved in with her father and stepmother after leaving her abusive mother. She has a new stepbrother and half-sister, as well, although her relationship with the whole family is good and not something she takes for granted after having such a tumultuous childhood. She also has two friends named Jade and Bailey, although their relationship, in the way of most teen girl relationships, is tense and fraught with tension. This story is slow and steady the whole way through. We get a slow unraveling of the two children/ adults and their father that shares glimpses of who they are and how their relationships became so disconnected yet strongly gnarled together. It’s a real pleasure, Dr. Gardner,” the doctor replied, accepting the rebuke with bemused resignation. going to try my best to explain my thoughts here… 😅 Sometimes I struggle reading and reviewing literary fiction in bookish communities because there is a pressure that you have to like it, and if you don’t you must not “get it.” You must not understand the themes. You must suffer. You must enjoy said suffering.

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But drill down a little and there are unresolved traumas that must be healed and secrets that must come out. These fully-realized characters are each on the cusp of singing their own songs – much like the whales that Adam studies – and grasping control of their own destinies. The writing is confident with sharp narrative tension and sharply observed episodes that lead to growth and understanding as the book proceeds. In particular, therapy sessions between Ken and his psychoanalyst, George, are beautifully illuminated. Maybe we were meant to find each other today. Maybe we’re the Not Okay Girls, and we’re supposed to save each other.” While reading this book, I kept thinking that it reminded me of something - and then it hit me: Sarah Pinborough's 13 MINUTES. That suffocating small-town paranoia of everyone being in everyone else's business; the mean girls with a sinister (maybe?) agenda, and the twists upon twists upon twists? Yeah, both books have you covered. I feel like if you enjoy Gillian Flynn's work, you will enjoy both of these, but 13 MINUTES is more like GONE GIRL where the easy answer isn't the right one, whereas this book is more like SHARP OBJECTS - there's a twist, and there's a twist about the twist that will make you question everything. Kacey is the new girl in town. She is running. from a bad and toxic relationship with her mom. From her old life. From herself.