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 wasn’t sure about this book for the first half. It wasn’t bad, just slow. The writing was beautiful and evocative and the writer has great skill, I just wasn’t sure the story was going to take off for me.

And then BANG, IT TOOK OFF.

I don’t want to say more and risk spoiling it. Read this book. Stick through the first half, you’ll be rewarded.

"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.

A haunting, eerie story that keeps you turning the page. Imperfect female characters FTW! I can't wait to see what else comes from this author in the future.

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.

Atmospheric, disquieting, unsettling – are all terms I’d use to describe this book, but in the best way possible. For me this sits somewhere between K. Ancrum’s The Wicker King and Claire Legrand’s Sawkill Girls, with a dash of And The Trees Crept In. It’s not really a horror-fantasy offering but it’s drawn in a way very reminiscent of one. Skye is done with her younger sister, Deirdre’s, increasingly twisted games and fantasies. A move across country seems to offer a promising new start, but Deirdre’s imagining get worse until one day, she disappears. What follows is a gripping, suspenseful story that tests Skye’s boundaries and the limits of her own reality. Really enjoyed this one.

Here There Are Monsters is a very different kind of creepy fantasy YA book. At the beginning of the book, the reader is almost lulled into believing that Skye is delusional or imagining all of the skin-crawling, inexplicable events surrounding her sister's disappearance. About hallway through the book, when William stumbles across Skye confronting the monsters, it's revealed that they are not merely part of her imagination - they are tangible, dangerous beings, out for blood. This revelation was disappointing to me because I always think it's scarier when the "monsters" are internal - something inside the character that terrorizes them, but can't be seen by the outside world. I think for my students who are really into fantasy, they will enjoy this book, but for students looking for a predominately thriller-like read, they might want to steer clear. I was also kind of disappointed in the ending. It definitely made for a more realistic conclusion, but it sucked for Skye all around. However, as I said, I know I have quite a few readers who would really enjoy this book. I give this book a 3.5 (2 for me personally, but probably a 4 for future student readers.)

WHERE. DO. I. START.

Okay, the cover. LOVE IT! Title meh.

This book really grabbed me and I loved it! I feel like the synopsis is a little misleading, because I thought we would start at the move and see Deirdre's gradual withdrawal from everything, but it starts off right away with her missing and the rest is told in flashbacks. Sometimes flashbacks do take away a little bit because we aren't really experiencing these things for ourselves; we're only seeing through the lens of the past.

This book really shows the complicated relationship of siblings (sisters in this case). I really had 0 sympathy for Deirdre, probably because I'm an only child and it really really made me glad I don't have siblings. Deirdre was crazy though - sorry. She really didn't have any redeeming qualities and it seemed as thought it was only Skye's unconscious love for her that made Skye search. I especially felt this way toward the end.

I very much enjoyed the evil in the book - no spoilers - their descriptions/appearances and sounds. Very interesting. Would definitely like to see more, get some background? The ending is a little vague on the evil's history.

Sorta reminded me of Beware the Wild but I'm not saying it's similar necessarily.

Things I enjoyed about this book: take-charge female lead (definitely flawed, raw, and human), and her no-nonsense attitude toward William (love interest).

ALSO THAT KISS DAYUM. You'll just have to read it to know what I mean.

Anyway, Skye's attitude. Kicking ass and taking names. She doesn't want William to tell his friends about what they saw in the woods because no one would believe him. But he's stubborn, of course, and she fires back with: would YOU have believed me?

Naturally he had no response and I thought: FINALLYYYY! Point 1 to Skye. Would it kill anyone in a book to believe some weird stuff once in awhile? I digress; that isn't a comment on this book.

Then jerkwad friend is like, who would you choose, your sister or William? And Skye's like, since you know everything, why don't you tell me? And he can't answer that. POINT 2 TO SKYE with the comebacks!!

Spoiler alert: no one believes her until they see for themselves.

Also really really liked William standing up for Skye against Sophie. Oh, Sophie. "There are more things in heaven and earth" you get the quote.

The background characters did feel, well, background'y. Stereotypes, caricatures. They are revealed to have more to themselves than that, but we don't really get to know them enough for that stuff to flesh out. Even the parents and they do have a big role in the book.

Ending is wrapped up only a bit. There's definitely a resolution -I have no complaints - but not EVERYTHING is resolved. I don't think there could be a sequel, just that the author left too much in the air. For example, what exactly does William remember?

Would love to have read this from alternating POVs with Skye and Deirdre.

Definitely would recommend this and will read something else by this author.

Wow. Skye is an amazing character. Her journey to see the deepest darkest part of her soul and to come out and be able to live with her new idea of herself was sad and painful and heart breaking. Great book! Loved it!