I thought that this was a basic supernatural/horror book for middle grade. Nothing really stood out to me and the writing was mediocre. It seemed like something I read before, which I think is something that would draw the kids in.

"Monster Club" by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel is a delightful and imaginative middle-grade comic that invites young readers into a world of monsters, friendship, and adventure. Aronofsky and Handel's creative collaboration shines as they craft a tale of camaraderie, discovery, and the magic of the unknown. The comic's vibrant artwork and relatable characters create an engaging reading experience that resonates with middle-grade audiences. The creative duo skillfully blends elements of humor and fantasy, leading readers through a journey filled with monstrous surprises and exciting escapades. "Monster Club" is a captivating and fun-filled read that encourages young imaginations to run wild, leaving readers with a sense of wonder and the excitement of joining the characters in their monster-filled adventures.

Monster Club was a fast-paced book that I think middle grade, adventure fans will love! I feel that that there could definitely be a sequel too.

Thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this book. This is a story about a boy who loves to doodle and his doodles come to life. It also explores different relationships such as in school, friendship, and family difficulties. The book is very relatable and I’m sure that many middle graders are going to enjoy it. However, as much as I was expecting to like this book, it was somewhat underwhelming for me.

3.5 stars.
Eric's life sort of revolves around a game him and his friend Yoo Hoo made up when they were a few years younger and they have been playing it awhile and added some players. It's all about drawing your own monsters and having battles kind of in a D&D fashion with a few other games thrown in. They eventually added some friends and players.

Now those friend are starting to feel they are a bit to old to be playing such games and this hits Eric hard especially since his family is going through a rough patch because of King's Wonderland being hit bad by a hurricane and it's his fathers legacy and he is deterimed to bring it back while Eric's mother sees no hope and they constantly fight.

When Eric gets in a bit fight with his friends and gets detention his mother takes all his art supplies away as punishment but Eric finds some ink that could have some magical qualities that are interesting at first but then turn horrible.

This was a decent story about a friend group and growing up, but for a book that was called Monster Club I was expecting a bit more monster. It took probably halfway or more before the fun monster stuff happened and then not long for that to get out of control and pick up the pace of the book, so to me the beginning just lagged a bit. Oh and way to much fart type jokes.

Monster Club is so fun! This story about friendship and growing up and letting go had a good mix of monsters and feelings. There's a lot happening in Eric's life and when his friends decide that the game they created together is a "kid's game", Eric just can't deal with it. So what does Eric do? He finds a vial of magic ink and BAM! Those monsters from Monster Club come alive. It's up to Eric and his friends to save their city together. A truly heartfelt adventure that would be great for upper elementary and up!

This was such a fun book! It was funny, clever, and an enjoyable ride! I was really excited to be able to read it!

I saw Monster Club on @netgalley and it looked like my kind of middle-grade book. Then I saw it was written by Darren Aronofsky (yes, that one) and Ari Handel and I was in.
.
Monster Club is about Eric, aka “Doodles,” and his group of middle-school friends. They formed a club where they draw the best monsters they can think of and battle each other to see which one reigns supreme. Eric’s father owns a theme park on Coney Island that has been in their family for generations. Things are not going great for Eric: his parents barely speak to each other and his friend group is growing apart. He is not handling either particularly well.

One day Eric finds some mysterious ink and uses it to draw his favorite monster creation, Brickman. But using this ink makes Brickman come to life. The story that follows is equal parts awesome kid-dreams coming true and those dreams spinning way out of control.

I really liked this story. I loved the diverse group of friends. The club gave me big DnD meets Battlebots vibes, which I really enjoyed. The characters and situations felt very authentic to the middle-school experience: parents struggling, bullying, fighting with friends, making mistakes and figuring it all out. Luckily, thanks to the great writing, the story never got bogged down by the real-life drama. The balance was just right and it was fast-paced and fun.

I think any middle-grader or lover of middle-grade fiction would really enjoy this book. It’s a great combination of adventure and heart. Highly recommend!

Thanks to #netgalley and @harpercollins for the ARC. Monster Club released on 9/13/22.

This was definitely a fun book. As an adult who is a huge fan of Darren Aronofsky’s movies, I think I overhyped this book in my head. Which is very much a me problem and not a problem with the book. I do think that it is the perfect book for its target audience. My 9 year old son will absolutely love having his own copy of it! So I would say that this isn’t a middle grade that necessarily appeals to adults but it was fun and it’s perfect for the right age group!

What a fantastic tale! Just when things couldn't get worse for Eric, they do. When monsters he brought to life attack his friends and family, everyone learns just how much everyone and everything means to them. This story has scares, thrills, laughter, and tears--a surefire hit for many readers.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperCollins, for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

Doodle’s real name is Eric. He came by his nickname honestly. He doodles a lot, and so well that his artistic ability got him into Mark Twain Middle School for the Gifted and Talented.

His favorite thing to draw is Brickman, a fighting monster he designed for the game he and his best friend, Yoo-Hoo created. They, along with three other friends play it during lunchtime. They call themselves the Monster Club.

Starting sixth grade is never easy, but it’s been even harder for Doodle. His parents are fighting. Money is tight after a hurricane ravaged the family-owned amusement park at Coney Island. His dad has been working long hours trying to rebuild King’s Wonderland in time to open for the summer season. If he can’t, the bank will foreclose and he’ll lose the park.

Doodle finds a strange bottle of ink in his dad’s stash of relics. When he draws his monster Brickman, the creature comes to life. That gives Doodle the brilliant idea of bringing all the Monster Club monsters to life and staging an epic battle on opening day of Kings Wonderland. So many people will come, the park will be saved. What could go wrong?

Of course, everything does go wrong and it’s all Doodle’s fault. Saving the park becomes the least of his worries. He’s just trying to stay alive and keep his friends alive too.

This action-packed story is full of exciting fight scenes that the fans of the Marvel movies will enjoy. It’s also about growing up and accepting the inevitable changes that occur which Doodle (Eric) struggles with like many middle schoolers do. It takes a little bit of suspending disbelief to fully enjoy this contemporary tale with the magical element, but I believe readers between ages ten and up will have no problem with that.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC.

I read this to my 9-year old autistic son and it was a lot of fun. My so loves to draw pictures of characters. He (probably unfortunately) got interested in Five Nights at Freddy's and likes to draw different animatronics -- some from the game and some of his own invention. This book really captured the spirit of the young creative mind and I could tell he really identified with the characters. The story is unique and a lot of fun. This seems like it would make a good animated feature as I kept imagining in my head what these Monster (fight) clubs must have looked like.

The language in the book might be objectionable for some parents or younger children. I changed a few words here or there as I was reading to my son (though honestly, nothing worst than he's heard me say during some frustrating moments). But I think this is a fine book for older grade schoolers, pre-teens and younger teens.

Everything in eleven-year-old Eric “Doodles” King’s life seems to be falling apart right in front of him. The family amusement park was damaged by a recent hurricane. His parents are (probably) getting divorced, and his friends are starting to lose interest in the one thing he thought he was still holding onto, Monster Club. Then, Eric comes across some magic ink that brings his drawings to life. I really wanted to like Monster Club by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel for starters, I love the films these two authors make. Also, the concept of a kid who spends a lot of time at an amusement park and loves monsters was exciting to me because it reminded me of my own childhood. Sadly, I did not connect with a lot of this book and I don’t think many kids will enjoy it. For starters, the authors are mostly used to working in film, which is a very different medium from a novel and while they have previously written novels, this is a children’s book and kids are not just mini adults. The book gets better as it goes along but there were several big problems.



Things I liked

Cute concept

Creative kid doing art things

Magic

Coney Island rides/history

Problems:

The first third of the book is almost exclusively exposition and a lot of telling rather than showing and I can’t see many kids sticking it out for that long.

The characters talk too similarly. I could not keep track of who was who and that will turn kids off as well.

2.5 out of 5 bumped up to 3 because you can't do fractions.

What if your favorite RPG or video game character came to life? Fans of fast-paced action scenes that feel like a movie, monster battles, and stories about family and friendship struggles will love this new book. There's a surprising amount of heart in this book as the main character, "Doodles", struggles with the closing of his family's Coney Island business, his parents possibly splitting up, and friends who don't think drawing and monster battles are cool anymore. Recommended for readers 4th-8th.

3.5/5 stars
Eric aka Doodles loves drawing his monster, Brickman, and fighting his friends' monsters in Monster Club. However, things get real (literally) when he discovers magical ink that belonged to one of his ancestors. With this magic ink, his drawing of Brickman comes to life. Soon, he and his friends are battling their monsters in real life! Things take a turn though when the bully of the middle school steals the marker and creates monsters of his own.

This book was cute. I was sad my copy didn't have the accompanying artwork because I'm sure it will look great! This middle grades books covers a wide variety of topics like divorce and bullying and is pretty good.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Darren Aronofsky & Ari Handel wrote a wonderfully done children's novel, it was what I wanted from a good monster novel. The cover is what drew me in and my appreciation of Darren Aronofsky's movies and I'm really glad I was able to read this. It read like a great children's novel and I enjoyed the use of monsters, each scene had a suspenseful atmosphere. I hope there is more in this series.

"Isaac took a step closer to look when suddenly the mermaid opened her mouth. There were rows upon rows of teeth, like inside the mouth of a shark, and Isaac realized he’d made a mistake—this was no mermaid at all but a monster, just as he’d first thought, one that was about to lunge forward and bite him."