Mini Book Review – Monster

Over the last few years I have been trying to read Monster; but I have now decided to stop! Written by Michael Grant, and published by Katherine Tegen Books; Monster is the first book in the ‘second season’ of the Gone series of books. Set four years after the events of Light; more meteorites are hitting Earth, with disastrous effects! I absolutely love the Gone series. They are my favourite book series, and I can say without any doubt, that at least three of the books, are easily amongst my most enjoyable reads. So, as a new series was announced, I was excited to read it, and a friend very kindly gave me a copy of the first book. But sadly, it’s just nowhere near as good as the books that came before it.

It’s been about three years since I first started reading it, and I have just struggled to get into it. The last time I read anything of it, was about a year and a half ago. And whilst I tried to push myself to get it finished, just so it’s done; right now it’s just gathering dust on my shelves; and I think for the time being, it’s just time to move on, and try another day.

It did have it’s moments; the Nightmare character is visually fantastic, and all chapters featuring him feel like I am reading the script for one of the greatest unmade monster movies ever. And then there’s bits and bobs I can fleetingly remember, such as the overgrowing monstrous baby which sounded interesting. But for the most part it feels like I am reading too many stories at once. It keeps jumping around to different perspectives, and it’s like I am reading the third or fourth book in a series, not the first. And whilst yes it is a follow-up to Gone, it should still read and feel like the start of something new, and tie into those, not expect the reader to have read nothing but Gone for the last few years, or have not read anything else since then, to keep it fresh in their mind. So currently it is both disappointing to read, and disappointing to stop. But right now I just need to take a break, and maybe try again, in a few years time…perhaps!