Cover Image: A Monster Like Me

A Monster Like Me

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Member Reviews

This is a book I just could not get into. I tried several times but it just seemed to lose ground. sorry.

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When I read The Moon Shines Red. last year I was quite impressed with it. It really filled my need for a good historical fantasy with that fairy-tale type feel, so I was looking forward to reading this sequel. This time around the story is focused on Zeph, who was more of a villain type character in The Moon Shines Red. I mentioned that he was a really layered character in my review for that book, and that I could sympathize with him to an extent, so I was interested in seeing how he could be redeemed in this book. Also I wanted to know why he was the way he was. This book did not disappoint in that aspect at all. I got every answer I was looking for. Some of them were quite disturbing. Be warned there is a brief scene that involves childhood rape.

This is a story about love, forgiveness, and redemption and those are themes that I'm naturally drawn to in stories. It was nice to see Zeph grow from the tortured soul he was into someone at peace, able to love, and be loved by others. It was also nice to revisit Elin, Lochlin, Arwyn, and other characters that were in the first book. There is also the addition of a new character in this book that I liked, but wasn't really sure he was needed in the book. I guess that would be one of the criticisms I have about the book. The character just didn't really seem to go anywhere other than offer comfort to someone.

In the end I loved Zeph and his story. Maybe not as much as I loved The Moon Shines Red, but this was still very enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author Pamela Sparkman for providing me with an ARC of this book.

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gave this book  [rating stars="three-stars"] I found that this book has a wonderful foundation but I really just wanted to tip author Pamela Sparkman over the pages of the book in hopes of gaining a little bit more details to appear on the page. She has such a great cast of characters with a unique plot between the Seelie and Unseelie court. I wanted the novel to blossom into something more dramatic and a lot more emotional for both the cast of characters as well as for the reader's experiences. I still love this book, and maybe its because I'm a Gemini and I love reading and experiencing dramatic or emotionally changing events that make me want more times with the characters, more time for suspenseful pauses between the plots twist and turn and of course the more sexual tension between the romantic characters. I did love the fact that there is a warning on the book to let you know that there is going to be a scene that deals with the sensitive issue of child molestation, which I thought was a really smart move on the authors part. Not everyone wants to walk into a plot that might be too much of a touchy or sensitive topic that you don't want to read about in a book. I thought that warning gave readers a chance to decided for themselves if they wanted to venture into this book or when they reached that particular part of the book they could skip it or fast read those additional heartaching parts. There is no real way to write about child molestation that would make the events may it be for a fictional character or an actual event on the news, were it's not heart-aching for all involved to witness. However, Pamela Sparkman did an amazing job writing about a character who experienced something that was out of their control and how they managed to take control over their past, their experience, and their slow rebulid to beocme a person who rise above the shame of the emotional and phsyical scars of violation. I know not all romance book need to have sexual details about the characters falling in love, just to make love *wink wink*. I will admit that having the characters fall in love one to kiss was refreshing since most of the romance novels I have read recently seem to have the characters having drunk sex before they can ever get to know their own cast members of their own book. I just wish the sexual longing and romantic satisfaction of being loved in returned left my heart on an emotional struggle instead of having me rush to save a female character from a male villain. Towards the end of the novel, it did feel like I was watching the storyline of Princess Peach being rescued by Super Mario, but I still enjoyed the dynamic twist of having the villain of book 1 get his hero journey in book two. This series The Shines Red is a great doulogy to read!

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Very, very interesting. Dark engaging and intriguing. This was a very good fantasy fiction book, Not a light read!!!!

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When I finished this book, I had to absorb and reflect what I just read. This author carefully and eloquently took me into her world.. Her beautiful world of Seelies, Unseelies, Faerie, and humans. The main character was the most complex villian/hero I've come across in a long time. Pamela has carefully crafted all kinds of emotions and managed to evoke them from me easily. I was able to connect with all the characters easily and strongly. I did not realize it was the second book in a series until too late. I was hooked and no turning back. This book can be stand alone. I need to get the first book and cannot wait for the next book to come out!
I received this ARC of this book from Net Galley and Xpresso Book Tours for an exchange of an honest reveiw.

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It took a few chapters to get into the story, as I had not read the previous book, but after that it was a fluent reading pleasure.

I loved this book! - It's so emotionally written.
At the beginning there was so much loss, pain and self-hatred that it literally pulled me down emotionally. But with each additional page, this feeling changed into a lighter mood, in the end even in happiness. Did I cry in between? - Yes, I did.

Zeph is one of the most tortured and tragic characters I've ever read about in a faeary tale so far.
- He is beautiful in his darkness.

I also liked the other characters of the book. - Everyone had their own story, their own loss, their own happiness and at the end they were like a family.

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Gaaahhh! Wish I’d seen that this was the second book in the series. Need to get my hands on The Moon Shines Red. This was different and oddly intoxicating. Full review to come nearer to release date.

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