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Book Review: Only Ashes Remain (Market of Monsters #2) by Rebecca Schaeffer


Only Ashes Remain by Rebecca Schaeffer

HMH Books for Young Readers, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1328863553

Available: Hardcover,  Kindle edition, audio CD

 

Only Ashes Remain is the follow-up to Not Even Bones (previously reviewed here). At the beginning of this book, Nita and Kovit have escaped from the Death Market, leaving chaos and over a hundred deaths in their wake. Kovit, a former mob torturer, goes on the run, and Nita turns herself over to INHUP, the international organization charged with policing “unnaturals” and eliminating the dangerous ones. Shortly thereafter, she discovers that the boy she freed from her mother,Fabricio, who betrayed her to the Death Market, is also the son of someone high up in a mob family, and is on the run from them as well. In the first of many incidents in the book, Nita has to make decisions about whether vengeance, and death for those who threaten her, is worth the price. Taking advantage of INHUP’s willingness to take her to her closest relatives, she decides to contact her mother in Toronto, who saves her from a police investigation. Nita is unwilling to go back to the role her mother wants her to play in hunting and killing unnaturals, and leaves her, connecting with Kovit once again. Video of Nita with her ability to heal has been shared on the Internet, and her anonymity has been compromised, leaving her in constant danger from bounty hunters. Nita has some desperate choices to make, and feelings that she must come to terms with, about herself, Kovit, and who she can trust.

Many of the characters here tread questionable moral ground. Where previously Nita was a complicit but passive participant in the murders her mother committed, then a desperate victim of a black market dealer willing to do terrible things to escape and survive, now she has agency. And, as might be expected from a traumatized teenager raised in a home where murder is the norm, her impulsivity causes some serious problems, and her judgment is really, really poor.  Crossing her line of when it’s acceptable to kill becomes easier and easier for her, so much so that even Kovit warns her about what she is becoming– and Kovit never lets go of the knowledge that he is truly a monster. Nita, while she can’t witness Kovit’s enjoyment in torturing others without fear and disgust, also can’t break the connection she has with him. Only Ashes Remain is still gory and graphic in places, but in terms of torture, dissection, and body horror, much more is implied than shown (that doesn’t mean it isn’t shown at all, but it wasn’t quite as hard for me to handle).

Although Kovit’s background is considerably fleshed out, we’re already pretty clear on what kind of relationship he has now with Nita. Nita is a less sympathetic character, probably because she is claiming her agency in some pretty murderous ways and keeps doing exactly the wrong thing after being told not to do it. Still, the plot races along, characters new and old add some interesting flavor, with a few loose ends possibly showing up again in the third book. We’re left wondering what’s reallly going on at INHUP, how Fabricio and his family play into the story, if the mob will catch up with Kovit, what role Nita’s mother plays in all of this, and how Nita and Kovit’s story will end. Despite the fact that Kovit is a monster who feeds off people’s pain and Nita is now responsible for multiple murders, Schaeffer has been a virtuoso in drawing them as characters that the reader still wants to make it.

There’s a lot of moral gray area to navigate in this book, as well as the gore, murder, and torture, so, again, it will take a special kind of reader to appreciate it.  For those readers, though, Only Ashes Remain is a solid sequel to the first book in the series. Highly recommended.

 

 

Book Review: The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey– Two Reviews!

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2009

ISBN: 9781416987987

Available: Hardcover, paperback, mass market paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

In The Monstrumologist, twelve year old Will Henry is thrust into danger when a grave robber brings a horrifying creature to his mentor, Dr. Warthrop, in the middle of the night. Dr. Warthrop is a monstrumologist, a monster-hunting doctor, and now Will and his mentor are in a race to find and stop these creatures before there is more bloodshed.

The Monstrumologist is an incredibly well written book that contains elements of mystery, horror, and adventure. Yancey fills this book with both atmosphere and gore. Written in a gothic style, there is no romance here, only a world of darkness and dread. The relationships of the characters, especially between Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop are complex and develop throughout the story. The difficult language will be a barrier for reluctant readers, though- this is a book for advanced readers and not for the faint of heart. In short, The Monstrumologist is a wonderful, old-fashioned horror tale, and since it is the first in a series, readers can expect to see more from Yancey soon. Readers advisory note: The Monstrumologist would make a good stretch title for those who are attracted by action and darker themes and are looking to read something more complicated and nuanced in the writing style. Highly recommended for middle and high school libraries and public library YA collections.

Contains: Gore and violence

Reviewed by Dylan Kowalewski

 

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A second look at The Monstrumologist:

The Monstrumologist is the first book in a continuing series. Rick Yancey explores the life and times of Dr. Pellinore Warthrop through the eyes of his young assistant/foster child Will Henry. Dr. Warthrop is a monstrumologist, devoted to studying the physiology and physiognomy of monsters. Through Will’s authoritative journals, we discover that they were quite prevalent in his childhood.

In this initial volume of the series, Dr. Warthrop and Will must do battle with the Anthropophagi– a headless primate version of a shark. A nest has developed in their New England town’s cemetery, and Dr. Winthrop must enlist the help of hunters, such as the cold-blooded Jack Kearns, to assist in the eradication of the monsters. The Monstrumologist is a fun, absorbing look into the dark recesses of the human mind. Recommended for advanced young adult readers, and older.

Contains: Violence and gore, cannibalism, medical dissection.

Reviewed by Ben Franz

Book Review: Spectral Evidence by Gemma Files

Spectral Evidence by Gemma Files

Trepidatio Publishing, 2018

ISBN-13: 1947654181

Available:  Paperback, Kindle, Nook

Spectral Evidence is a short story collection that has a bit of something for everyone: old gods, vampires, witchcraft, and even a few stories about monster hunters saving ordinary humans from the deadly extraordinary. The stories, with the exception of “Spectral Evidence”, flow smoothly together, anchored well by short stories about an antagonistic alliance between a mountain witch and two female hunters that are scattered throughout the work.

It is clear in the dialogue of her characters that Ms. Files does extensive research in each story’s subject matter, from a doomed archaeologist describing the architectural structure of an ancient temple in “A Wish from a Bone”, to the incident report-like format of “Spectral Evidence”, to the medically specific ways a zombie-turning drug affects the protagonists in “Imaginary Beauties.” This attention to small details gives a vivid credibility to each storyline.

There are no wholesome protagonists in these stories: even the hunters are significantly flawed, which actually creates a more realistic portrayal of the archetype than in other works. While Sam and Dean’s illegal activities are opaquely glossed over in Supernatural (e.g., stolen credit cards, fake IDs, trails of bodies), for example, Ms. Files’ hunters embrace them, even flaunt them. The opening story of the witch Allfair Chatwin and the hunters Samaire and Dionne (!) Cornish begins in the maximum security unit of a female penitentiary.  “Crossing the River” is about the planning of a prison break, and, while there are no heroes here, the character development was compelling enough that I was excited when I realized “Black Bush”, placed two stories later, picked up where “Crossing the River” left off.

“Spectral Evidence” is a unique short story. As mentioned, it is in an incident report format, describing photographs and other evidence of an investigation gone horribly wrong. Descriptions do leave more to the imagination, but this choice over actual pictures resulted in a few re-readings to get a complete understanding of what was going on. I admire the attempt of the experimental storytelling, but its format made the story feel out of place with the rest of the selections. It may have been better served in another collection.

Spectral Evidence is recommended for all horror fans. There are many strong female protagonists in these stories, which may appeal to specific audiences.

Contains: gore, graphic sex, violence, witchcraft

 

Reviewed by Wendy Zazo-Phillips

 

Editor’s note: Spectral Evidence is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2018 Stoker Award in the cagegory of Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection.