This was not my favourite. I found that the first half of the book dragged along. There was so much self reflection by the main character while mentioning things that had happened without actually fully explaining things to the point it became tiresome and I almost lost interest in what the secret would turn out to be.

I finished this book though, because I was really interested in the "monsters" and the magical woodsy aspect of the story that I wanted to know how things were going to turn out.

The ending was a little disappointing to me too. I didn't find the ending satisfying. I do love a happy ending but since it was a story between two sisters, there was no real love there. It didn't resolve how I wanted it to.

This book is described as being like the Blair Witch Project, but I didn't find it nearly as scary. It wasn't really frightening. There was just so much fighting and things going wrong to actually be scared of anything that was going on.

It was an interesting story, but I wanted so much more.

Here There are Monsters is a creepy story. The cover caught my attention immediately. It's so macabre. The story itself was something I probably shouldn't have read. I found it truly unique and suspenseful, but it's also disturbing. The reality aspect, creepiness aside, is terrible. Imagine this for real. I read it and skimmed through some of it. It's well written and original. I just couldn't read it because it messed with me a little bit. If you like creepy menacing stories, this one is for you. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

WOW. This book was messed up. It kept me hooked on each page and sitting on the edge of my seat, though! I could feel my eyes widening at some parts and I had to remind myself that people would look at me weirdly if I didn't stop that.
This book was such a mind twisting story, that I felt stressed while reading it. I could relate a bit to the MC in that she felt tethered to hers sister, had trouble making friends, moving across the country, etc. What I couldn't relate to was the sister being completely insane and manipulating her older sister like that.
One thing I did enjoy seeing was realistic consequences for the MC's actions. Tell a crazy secret? Instead of the friends sticking around, they actually have brains and realize that that is not okay.
I need the MC to go to therapy after all of this. Really all of them, but her especially after what she had to go through with her sister when they were younger, what she went through at her last school, and then all of the stuff that just happened in this story.
If you're looking for a super spooky and mind twisting book this fall, something that will leaving you with your mouth hanging open after you've finished , then add this to your Fall 2019 TBR.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book. The book focuses around 16 year old Skye who has a 13 year old sister name Dierdre. Her sister is a little on the strange side and refuses to grow up. Dierdre had created kingdoms for her and Skye when they were kids. Dierdre was the queen and Skye was her protector (as she was in Dierdre's real life)
Things begin to change when they move. Skye wants to be normal for the most part. She stops devoting as much time to Dierdre and begins to have a life of her own.

Dierdre disappears and this is where the book took a completely different turn. It had some of a Blair Witch feel to it. The book tried really hard to be creepy at points and it did at some moments, but some of the moments did feel like a little bit of a cheese fest.

What I did enjoy a lot about this book was the characters. I don't think I have ever read a book that had more real characters than this book. Skye was not perfect but she wasn't also overly flawed. She was a good person who had some darkness/badness to her. Much like normal people. She wasn't evil or dark or anything like that, but she had moments of darkness as most people do. We are not perfect, we all at one point or another may have had a bad thought or two. I love that Amelinda wrote Skye that way, it made her so much more real.

This was an extremely interesting read, but it did walk a very fine line between creepy and overly creepy. If you can get past that, you will love this book!

I struggled with this one slightly.

This was a dark and bittersweet tale of a young girl named Skye who moves into a small town to live a normal teenage life but unfortunately what holds her back from getting what she want is her younger sister Deirdre who is a bit... strange and whimsical. Having a very immersive imagination. After accepting their new life, Deirdre disappears.

The story is laid out in an interesting way, alternating between day and night after Deirdre's disappearance as well as past events to fill in gaps which adds a really creepy factor.

My main problem with this is writing and plot pacing. Some sections of the book seemed clunky and out of place and I noticed I kept picking up my phone and scrolling through Twitter or Instagram or bringing up YouTube and watching a Markiplier playthrough. My attention span for the story dwindled tremendously the farther I got and I realized I stopped caring. I can absolutely see people loving this book and I wish I had because it is unique. I will definitly still be looking out for future releases by this author because I'd love to see her delve into Fantasy.

I loved this book and absolutely would recommend it to middle and high school readers. In fact, I've already told friends and students to put it on their wishlists. Without giving too much away, one of my favorite things about this book is that there is no clear-cut "bad" or "good" guy (or gal, as the case might be). I liked that you were never quite sure who to root for, because it sets this book apart from most others I've read. The author creates a clearly defined sister relationship that is brutal in its honesty about how one sibling might feel if the other isn't considered quite "normal", yet the fierceness of love exists between them. This is truly one of the most unique books I've read in years. Berube is now on my must-read authors list.

Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Berube is a young adult, horror style novel.

Skye and Deidre's family move to a new town, surrounded by forest after an incident in their previous town. Deidre and Skye have always been close but as Skye becomes a teenager, she begins to pull away from Deirdre, making her own friends. She has always been her younger sister's protector so when Deirdre goes missing what else is she to do.

This novel follows Skye's search for Deirdre, but the answers are not what she expects.

I really enjoyed this trip into a childs imagination. The imagery and descriptions are terrifying and I had a sense of foreboding througout the whole novel.

I would definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

This book is creepy and full of monsters and I loved everything about it. The sibling bond, the things that go bump in the night, and the dark fantasy! Definitely a must-read!!

Skye is a sixteen year old who is determined to keep the bullies away from her outcast little sister. Moving to a new town has caused stress between the two when Skye begins to fit in and have friends but Deirdre doesn’t.

I was drawn in by the story of Skye and Deirdre. The writing is engaging. The author gives plenty of backstory for the two sisters relationship. It never seems to develop from there though and ends abruptly. I would have liked to have more.

"I've buried terrible things."
Here There Are Monsters is a book about Deirdre and Skye. It's a first person story told from 16 year old Skye's perspective after they move into a new area that is more swamp than suburbia.Skye uses the move as a chance to start over with a new group of friends: Sophie, Kevin, and William. Deirdre is wild at heart and embraces the forest and the forest swallows her somehow. Deirdre feels like there's something more out there in Deirdre's kingdom. It's always been a game, children's pretend stories, but this time it's something more.
I read Berube's The Dark Beneath the Ice Last Year and I loved it so much. I was psyched to get this one through Net Galley as well. She does not disappoint.
I love the way she tells a story. I lose myself in her details and the dark, creepy vibe. She writes a good creepy, horror. It reminds me of nightmares and horror movies. It's so good!
I also love the way she weaves her themes into her books. This one seems to surround the choice teenagers make between their friends and their families, about choices and what defines a person. Is it the monster you know, the monster you want to know, or are you the monster? It's awesome and subtly powerful.
I'm a huge fan. I will follow Berube into the dark any day.

Received via NetGalley for review.

Skye and her family move to a new town, and Skye sees this as an opportunity to truly start over. She's tired of protecting her weird sister, Deirdre, who doesn't even try to be normal. But while the move is good for Skye, Deidre retreats into herself and becomes ever more angry and isolated, eventually going missing. Skye realizes that she would do anything to get her sister back. Bérubé could have spent a little more time showing the depth of that relationship between the two of them, instead of relying on the fact that they're sisters to carry Skye's devotion to Deidre. There are some memories presented, but they're so emotionally complex (and Skye's more recent relationship with her is so complex) that it muddies it a little bit.

A beautifully atmospheric and creepy book with a nice twist at the end. I love stories that portray fairies as as mischievous and cruel, and, boy, does this book deliver (I guess the book never technically calls them fairies or anything else, but they sure seem to fit the bill). Skye is truly tested in her devotion to her sister, and succumbs to the darkness inside without really much protestation.

There's darkness in all of us, and a willingness to use our power for what are really selfish reasons, and that's something that needs to be acknowledged. Certainly, Skye struggles with it, and there could have been more exploration of Kevin's struggle with it, to really tie it all together.

Here There Are Monsters is a creepy and atmospheric read that blurs the lines of fantasy and reality. The author kept my attention from the very first page all the way though to the end. I found the book to be enjoyable, twisty, and dark- everything I was hoping for. Now I am seriously considering reading the authors back list of books because of how fantastic this one is.

Wow...where to begin with this book. It is a dark, creepy thriller that will have you wondering what the h is going on here. The book is a page turning mind bender that at times leaves you confused, but you can't put it down. The suspense is taunt and the characters are out there, yet that what makes this novel so good. The ending is a solid, but missing something.

This is a tricky one to review. I loved the creepy, atmospheric vibes the book had, and the complex relationship between the sisters. Something about the pacing of the novel threw me off a bit, though, and the end left me feeling unsatisfied.
Overall, I thought it was a fun, quick-paced, enjoyable read. A three star book, in my opinion.

Definitely not for everyone who enjoys the YA genre, but this book will appeal to those readers who like the different, the strange and the not able to be explained easily. Not as much horror as it is fantasy, the writing was good and will appeal to those who appreciate such.

*I received a free a digital ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
*I'll be adding a link to my blog closer to publication date.*

I wasn’t sure what to expect with Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Bérubé but I’ll up front - I was a tad let down. Was it a horrible book? Of course not! Was it what I was expecting for a novel labeled “horror”? Not particularly.
Here There Are Monsters starts with Skye and her family grieving over the disappearance of her younger sister, Deirdre. From that point on, the book is focused on Skye’s obsession with finding her even though this leads to some creepy realizations with some magical realism thrown into the mix.
My friends always tell me that I have a twisted outlook and a weird sense for the macabre, but I wasn’t feeling any of these until the last quarter of the book. And these even felt a bit forced for the an immediate gross factor. I was a tad bit bored with the first three-quarters of the book as it mostly involved Skye wandering around and conjecturing about her sisters’ disappearance and their strained relationship. Little bits and pieces of oddness are thrown in but I didn’t feel them to be creepy or horror filled moments - they fell flat for me.
Even though the horror was lacking for me, I do think Bérubé did a fantastic job of creating complicated relationships and a protagonist with a lot of inner conflict to work through. Skye has a sordid past and internal struggle that she slowly embraces and accepts throughout the book and Bérubé let this unravel quite nicely. Not to mention the deep relationship with her sister, which also takes a toll on Skye throughout the entire novel.
Overall, I’m giving Here There Are Monsters 3 out of 5 Awesome Austin Points. I honestly struggled in deciding between a 2 and a 3, but I felt my own expectations for horror are incredibly biasing my opinion. I’d say this novel would be good for someone who is wanting a slow introduction to the horror genre but it may fall a bit short if you’re already a horror aficionado.

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire, Neutrally and Amelinda Berube for the ebook ARC in exchange for a honest review.
"The Queen of Shadows would not be ruled by fear".
Skye is tired of being her wild, little sister Deirdre's protector. Thus, when they move to their new house, she does her best to fit in. In typical teenager fashion, she makes friends and finds a guy she likes. Deirdre becomes more wild and retreats more into herself. With each passing day Deirdre becomes more obsessed with the woods and building creepy statues of wood and bone. One day, when Skye is supposed to be watching Deirdre goes missing. It's told in an alternating timeline between the present (after Deirdre went missing) and before (when they first moved into the new house).
I think the alternating timeline gave a lot of background to the sisters, their motivations and their relationship with each other. The complex relationships between the sisters is what really drives the story forward. Deirdre is a queen in the kingdom and Skye is the protector (Queen of Shadows). As Skye tries to find her sister she has to make difficult choices.
The first half of the novel explored their relationship and Skye trying to comprehend what is going on, and as a reader we want to know what's going on in the woods. The 2nd half has monsters that are Lovecraftian masters, difficult choices and a quest of sorts.
I got this novel because the cover was cool, and I loved it. It was very creepy, dark and a overhanging mystery of what happened. I liked the atmosphere of the cold forest and it did such a good job that I felt cold reading it. It's a perfect mystery/horror combination. Imagine a combination of The Blair Witch Project, with some American Horror Story thrown in and a family love.
5/5
Give this novel a shot, especially if you like horrors. This is a novel that is perfect for a crisp, fall evening and focuses on things that go bump in the night.

I really love the Mori Girl feel of this book, you can practically smell the forest. The sisters and their toxic relationship is particularly disturbing and creepy, the whole story crawls under you like a something lurking in the underbrush.

This feels like it’s going to be a crime thriller and turns it something fascinating and horrifying, but you can’t tear your eyes away from watching this girl quietly unravel while nobody is watching while they’re caught up in her sister’s disappearance.

It definitely feels like a modern day fable and the teens in it are so frustrating, as teenagers should be. A solid four stars for me since I’ll be thinking of this story while trying to sleep tonight and try my hardest not to listen for scratches at my windows.

Here There Are Monsters by Amelinda Burube grabbed my attention from the first chapter but I got lost in the middle. I felt the book dragged and I couldn't follow the story.. The ending also had me confused and I felt it needed another chapter to sum the book up.

I hate Deirdre. From the moment I picked up the book, to the moment I put it down, I hate her. I felt as if most of the characters were unlikeable or not very in depth. I found the book to be confusing with the game that Skye and Deirdre played. A lot of things were hard to picture.