I went into this book not knowing anything about it, but the cover just screamed for me to give it a try. I also loved the idea of it being a century since something known as the "great consumption" occurred and I desperately wanted to know more about the ravenous Shivers. Everything from the tiny synopsis sucked me in, but it gave nothing away about the actual story so I really felt helpless and clueless beginning this novel.
When we open this book, we meet Anthem, an Exilist from the small walled city of Atlas. Atlas believes itself to be the very last bastion of humanity and Anthem has the gruesome and scarring job of handling the poor souls afflicted with their personal Shivers. We only ever know as much as Anthem throughout the story and even though he has ten years of experience with these creatures, we find out that he actually knows very little because in this society you are not meant to ask questions, you are simply meant to go about your day smiling and ignoring any problem you see. The forced smiling was actually one of the most unsettling parts of this story, especially when you are faced with a sad woman wearing a metal halo on her head forcing the corner of her lips to rise. Throughout this tale, we see the day-to-day of our Exilist, we meet his last remaining bit of family which is his daughter Melody, we experience what it means to live inside Atlas, we experience what it feels like to have our own personal Shiver slowing waiting to devour us, and we go on a journey for the salvation of those left remaining in a world that has devoured itself.
"There was thunder. No lightning, no rain." I loved this quote and I loathed this quote, but I am using it here because I don't want to give a way the plot of this book, but I desperately need to discuss its heart. I went into this book thinking it would be like any other horror novel, scary and possible gory and just maybe keep me up at night with nightmares of my own, but I had no idea I would find myself crying at the end and forgiving myself for the years of depression and the shame I felt along with it. This is not your typical horror story. It includes terrifying descriptions of grotesque monsters, gore, and nightmare fuel, but the heart of the book is about the stigma we have on mental health. It is about the shame we have been taught to feel towards any moment of weakness, anxiety, or depression and how we all need to stop beating ourselves up and embrace ourselves - embrace absolutely everything we are inside, without exclusion.
Was this a good horror story? Yes. I felt myself on more than one occasion wanting to physically pull away from what was being described on the page. The monsters were horrific, but the Shivers were not the only monsters and humanity had me cringing away more time than the Shivers did. From the first chapter on, we have at the very least an under layer of disgust and dread for every thing we read. Anthem's daughter Melody and his found savior Zoey were really the only light moments in this novel and I found myself thankful for every scene they were in and basking in their warm glow to shake away the darkness I felt turning each page.
Were things left open at the end? Yes and no. The author did a wonderful job tying up the lose ends in this story and almost all the questions you had at the beginning are answered. We find out how the Shivers may have begun, what was actually happening in Atlas the past century, what has been happening outside the walled city, we get a direction for all our main characters, heck, the author even circled back and let us find out what happened to the sweet black lab (Jupiter) from the first chapter before the book closed. I have to a partial no, because we only have a direction for our main characters and I desperately wanted to know what they were going to be getting up to for the next decade. I also have to say no because of a certain group of cannibals' and my dire need to find out what was going to happen with them in the future or how they came to be because we were given breadcrumbs to figure out who they were and why they were, but the cannibal we got to spend the most time with still felt like a bit of a mystery and I wanted more.
Was this a book about self acceptance, because I did say that was the heart of this story? Yes. I feel like most really good horror stories are lessons about the human condition or observations about human folly. I know lots of them have monsters or curses or some outside entity causing most of the issues, but when you get down to it when know they are terrifying because we see the bits of ourselves inside them - or maybe that's just me. This story is so much more than just a bit of seeing ourselves in the monster and it was handled with such grace and skill I felt almost slapped in the face with the revelation. This horrific and monster filled journey was a beautiful story about forgiving ourselves and loving ourselves and our loved ones for exactly who they are inside and I loved it.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves a scary story, a dystopian world, an epic journey for salvation against all odds, or anyone who has suffered with depression or anxiety or loves someone who has, or just anyone who needs to be reminded to love themselves messy bits included.
Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read this story in exchange for my honest review.

4.5- This book had me hooked from the beginning! It’s part dystopian part horror and one I would read little bits at a time before bed because I could tell it was one I didn’t want to end. The elements of the shadow monsters lingering also has a meaning in todays world and our mental status we must fight through. The main character never seems to give up and is optimistic at the worst of times. The dystopian world this author created had me wondering what was around the corner at all times!
Now, if I can find a copy for purchase, a must have for the bookshelf collection!

Normally I wait a few days to really get my thoughts together about a book. This one is just fading away more than anything. It was ok, but nothing more really. A prolonged metaphor for sure, but it fell into some overdone tropes. We have Gollum, dressed as a cannibal. We have a section that follows the early portions of the Walking Dead series. First out of the city and to the Farm. Then to the institution where the cure lives. Et cetera.

Our Hero falls into his own tropes. The metaphor parallels inspiration porn - your diability is your strength - or self-help - how to live with your monster.

If you liked Justin Cronin's Passage, etc, this will likely be a fave since I had similar complaints there.

Take your mental health and project it onto your own personal monster that stalks you endlessly. Make it so everyone can see your monster, judges you for its existence, and avoids making eye contact or discussing anything to do with it. It makes you an unfit parent or partner, suicide risks the lives of everyone you know, and death is inevitable; just wait for the Reaper to show up and escort you out of town. At which point your monster devours you, one limb at at time, slowly savouring its meal, before moving on to anyone nearby. Welcome to The Monsters in our Shadows.

"Still distant, she took a sip of her cold, bitter tea. 'It showed up after I gave birth. This vacuum where the brightest future used to be. It's my fault.'
'It's not your fault. Never is.'
Could you fault a candle's flame for being hushed out by a hurricane? Or the poor soul treading in the darkest ocean, sinking from exhaustion? Could you blame the hyena's hunger, or its captured prey's submission to the feast? No, it wasn't her fault. This much he had gathered during his tenure as Exilist."

There are a few hurdles to overcome...
-The scope is a little small, and we don’t get as many details as I’d like.
-For someone who had problems going down stairs and walking across town without knee pain, Anthem manages to do a LOT of running throughout the Deadlands.
-Rib’s motivation is incredibly opaque and confusing, even for a crazy person.
But overall, this is a unique, interesting concept told in a captivating way.

Graphic, gory, and terrifying; The Monsters in our Shadows is the harrowing tale of dystopian horror it promises. Thanks to the fast pace, it feels like a much quicker read than the page count would suggest. Despite the gore and the sense of hopelessness in this terrifying world, I couldn't stop reading and had no idea what would happen next.

“The other side of what you’re going through could be


This very intriguing new dystopian story was fun from the start. There is a lot of symbolism in this tale but I loved that it wasn’t so forced to make it eye rolling in the end. The characters were developed well enough all though o do feel a few were brought into the story too quickly with no background. I’m not sure if this was purposely done for further books or to just move the story a little more easily.

Anthem the main protagonist is what we all wish we could be. A down on his luck father but strong in his convictions and never giving up. Having to come to the conclusion of facing owns own demons or shadows is very well told as Anthem’s growth as his exile moves along.

This fast paced story takes a bit to get going but then doesn’t stop until the bitter end. I will be recommending this book to not only anyone asking for a great new read but for anyone who asks for any suggestions.

The book felt like it was inspired by many dystopian classics that came before it, and that’s not a bad thing. I could see this being recommended as an addition to the classic dystopian novels, and it wouldn’t fall short.

This book is well on its way to become a new dystopian classic. What would happen if depression manifested itself as big, horrible, shapeless monsters that follow you everywhere you go? People ignore them until they devour you alive, that's what happens. Only one person in Atlas can keep the city save from these monsters -- but then he is exiled too. This was such a thrilling read. The mystery around what happened, if the protagonist is going to survive and if he's going to make it, who we can trust was perfectly woven and made the book impossible to put down. Highly recommended for any dystopian story lovers!

This was a very original, brutal dystopian story about the last dregs of society and the monsters that plague them. It's fast paced and a quick, easy read. Much of the book feels like a fever dream, where the world building is incredible, but bleak. I did wish for more depth of character with Atlas, but I still enjoyed the book. 3.5 stars
Thank you to Edward J. Cembal and Netgalley for the chance to review this advance copy.

Thank you Edward J Cembal and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC e-book. This book centers around a futuristic/fantasy type world where people are plagued by monsters but not the type that are lurking on the shadows but visibly follow you around pretty much feeding off your energy until they no longer are satisfied and ultimately kill you in a completely grisly way. For one man capturing them AFTER they have attacked and getting rid of them outside their protected world is considered a job. This book follows his journey and it definitely plays on the fact we all have demons sometimes. The book was a creepy psychological type horror and I was pleasantly surprised how well I enjoyed it.

This book was slow-going at first but really picked up towards the end. Once the crew was heading back to the city, and all hell started breaking loose, I couldn't put the book down.

I am not the biggest fan of science fiction but this story was quite interesting. I feel this book held quite a deeper meaning than just it's basic plot line. It does, at times make you really think about things. The overall story was good; however, I did find that parts of the story seemed to really drag out and other parts just didn't seem necessary or essential to the story.
Despite that, I found the book was really well written.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this e-ARC. The synopsis was what first caught my attention. I already have an huge interest for sci-fi, and I wanted to try out more horror book genres.

Some members of the community have monsters, Shivers, that await for the perfect moment to devour their host. It is the Exilist’s job to ease them into their deathbeds, yet everyone finds that what he does is taboo. He made it his mission to find a more humane solution to deal with this problem.

This perfectly depicts a dystopian society, how the human race is on the brink of extinction and resources were becoming more limited. Horror was also intertwined flawlessly that made the book a more appealing read. The descriptions for the monsters were gruesome, even the details of a severed hand had me shivering (no pun intended).

It was a slow start but I soon couldn’t put it down. I was curious about how things would come to be, being mostly surprised at every twist the author has added. Although origins of the creature were never concretized, I still liked how they at least found a better solution.

I have a soft spot when it comes to children in books, and this made me more enticed to the story. Despite the copious amount of times that the main character wanted to give up, he wants his daughter to find and experience the pleasures that the world has to offer. But he can only do that if he speaks the truth, to reveal the monster that lurks with him.

This book is all about learning to co-habit with the monsters inside you, how it really isn’t something to be ashamed of, but something that you must face. the monster in this book could be a metaphor for a lot of things, mental stress, past faults, or built-up anxiety. You aren’t alone in this journey, open up and there will be someone who is willing to walk with you.

This book reminded me of the videogame series Fallout, except with even less hope for the world outside, which is aptly dubbed the Deadlands. Atlas was reminiscent in description of Megaton, a town encompassed by a wall of metal. Atlas is also a walled civilization – except in Atlas, no one leaves, unless you’re being Exiled. The book cover reminded me of a card from Magic the Gathering called, ironically, Nightmare.

"I’m not saying it’s as easy as using the power of belief to make things change. I’m saying that it’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to be haunted by something horrifying. You can survive it."

I would consider this book to be more gory horror and suspense than outright terror. The general attitude of the Atlas population towards individuals with Shivers bordered on hostile and those with Shivers that couldn’t be hidden was essentially ostracized. Although, when people don’t understand something, this is usually, and unfortunately, how it is handled by the terrified masses. Eventually, the story reveals how people seem to acquire their Shiver and all I will say is I’m not sure how any of the remaining human population escaped having one. How the Shivers came to be was never fully put down in concrete. I’ll go out on a limb here – mainly because the remaining population isn’t interested in finding out or creating/finding a cure, their only focus is surviving.

Atlas felt realistically human to me – flawed, hopeful, struggling to deal with his own demons. The two main side characters were eclectic and interesting. There were a couple of people that I think could have benefitted the story with more page time.

"We play our song with each step, each breath we take. The dance of movement and the lyrics of our words. If you’re lucky, if you’re privileged enough to have loved ones hear it, then after you’re gone, they’ll remember you like a fine chorus. A life tune echoing in the minds of our loved ones."

There were a couple of instances where the acquisition of an item had zero page time but suddenly a person simply just had it in their possession. The conclusion to this story was unexpected, it seems like it is possibly a temporary solution and could lead to a second book. Personally, the world-building could be more descriptive but the author did a really good job with it – just my personal preference. I would like to thank Lovecraft Press for the opportunity to read this post-apocalyptic horror debut – I enjoyed my journey with Anthem and I’m excited to see other works from this author.

Right off the bat I knew I was going to like The Monsters In Our Shadows. The world ended. Atlas, a crumbling city where its residents are all that remain of humanity. The shivers, shapeless creatures who latch on to the host, torment them, and eventually they consume the host whole. The story follows Anthem, the city's exilist who's job is to remove the shivers to the deadlands outside the city walls.

I really enjoyed this book, I thought the concept was unique and pretty damn cool. It was medium paced, engaging and easy to follow. I found myself on the edge of my seat a few times dying to know what will happen next.

For the first half of the book I was convinced this will be a 5 star read for me, but it lost some points for a few things I didn't enjoy. I expected a little more from Anthems character, he felt a little flat and ultimately I didn't end up caring for him much. I also felt myself rolling my eyes at times, he became annoying and whiny with the nonstop I should give up, I should keep going, I should give up, I should keep going dialogue and it was exhausting to read over and over again. (-.5 stars.) The " big twist" and ending wasn't bad but felt very underwhelming for my personal taste. I just expected more (-.5 stars.)

If you love dark and bleak dystopian, post apocalyptic, sci-fi, horror this may be a great read for you.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Edward J Cembal for sharing the digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my authentic review.

I was truly mesmerized by the imagery in this one. A small population remains in a broken world where darkness follows people and manifests into their worst nightmare. The 'afflicted' develop a Shiver - a monstrous shadow creature - that can follow them for years before eventually consuming them entirely. Anthem, the town's Exilist (the one given the duty of taking the afflicted outside the city walls before their consumed, has been trying to find a way to save people from their Shivers.

A dark and twisted story showing an aspect of what a post cataclysmic world could look like. Especially as Anthem travels into the Deadlands (the world outside their enclosed city) to try and find more answers on how to help people. Cembal does an impressive job of unraveling this story and demonstrating the depravity of a world living constantly in fear.

I enjoyed all of the characters in this one. The story moved at a perfect pace where nearly every chapter leads you perfectly to the next step and the monsters in this one were just scary enough to believe their existence. Anthem's journey to find answers was believable and his trials were reasonable. Nothing happened easy, but it wasn't done in a way that some dystopian novels do where it's all a big stretch to believe.

A wonderful read that I'd recommend to anyone that likes to read dystopian novels. Not quite as scary as I thought it might be, but it will leave you a little more concerned about the shadows around you.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the free copy. Here is my honest review.

TW: blood, graphic description of death, gore, mutilation, physical torture and abuse, cannibalisms, mental illness, depression, strong language.

This book was absolutely amazing! It griped me from the start, brought me to tears and left me with a massive book hangover. I read it in 3 days and that is something because my usual time for a book of this format is 2 weeks.

The writing style of Edward Cambal is easy to fall into in just couple of pages. There are some weak spots and a lot of repetition which was slightly annoying somewhere in the middle but then it became clear why the repetition is in place and it was all explained so just stick with it. It will make sense.

I love Anthem from the start. A lonely man who saves people from the monsters? Hello dystopian Geralt of Rivia! But as I read on he also felt a lot like Blade. In the end I have to say that Anthem is a unique character. With his believes and family values he always tries to do the best he can. As the plot progresses he learns new information and grows with the knowledge. He changes and it was amazing to watch. One thing I would point out as his flaw is his naivety. He trusted too easy, too fast and it usually worked against him.

The worldbuilding was very well done. I love the book style of "egg shell" - I mean you start in a one small location and learn everything about this place and then the book opens up the wider world. This was well done and I enjoyed every bit. The reader starts in the city of Atlas, the last surviving society in the world. The city felt small, in decay and somehow two dimensional but still very vivid and functional. Things like food supply and lam lighting are explained which give perfect sense of functioning city.

Main theme of this book were of course the monsters - Shivers. These monster would just randomly appear for some people and live with them. Follow them with just one goal. Eat their hosts alive. They had a hunger that nothing could stop. These Shivers were characters. They looked different, behaved slightly different and felt different. Their constant presence in the book was fully supporting the dystopian vibes.

But we have to address the metaphor here. Because the Shivers were symbolizing mental illness, depression, sadness, loneliness, stress... 'we all have the monsters in our shadows". What I found absolutely amazing what how the society of Atlas treated people with Shivers. The people of Atlas would ignore them, not even look at the monster following them. They would not acknowledge their presence. And when a person with a Shiver walled in a most people retrieved to safety, frowned or called the shiver disgusting thing. The stigma of society treating the mental in this way was so perfectly portraited. And thanks to all this effort at the start of the book I loved the progress Anthem made. How he befriended his Shiver, and honestly there was a scene at the end where he carried an injured woman to safety and his knee failed to support him, his Shiver was at his side to prevent the fall.... I WAS SOBBING! YES!

This book was dark, heavy, gory and full of horrors but it was also full of hope, strength and persistence.

This book was disappointing. I felt that the protagonist's optimistic outlook for the entire book given the horror around him was completely ridiculous. For a dystopian novel, Anthem was far too trusting of people, especially the mysterious man in power, The Architect, to follow through on promises and that he really had the good of the people at heart. The man lives in a cemetery for crying outloud and has goons stationed at the door to keep people out.

I was seriously hoping for some good horror and scary monsters. Instead, I felt let down and at times bored with the story. The heavy weight of depression being represented as an enormous monster that slowly feeds on its host is an excellent metaphor but the backstory of these creatures needed more flushing out. The ending also was not cathartic and left me more annoyed than anything else.

This book was very different from anything I’ve read lately. It was very interesting! I would recommend for anyone who wants a bit of fantasy and horror mixed in one. Fast paced read!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced ARC of this book! This was one of the more thrilling and horrifying books I’ve read in a while.

The whole universe is built so well and it’s a terrifying imagining of a world where your mental health follows and devours you. The ‘monsters’ in the shadows follows characters and can devour them - this is a great comparison to how stress and our own personal monsters can devour us if it’s not held in check.

This was a gruesome story full of horror + thrills and it was an amazing debut novel!

This was a really profound read, the mix of mental health and existentialism, with the gore and horror was really wuite incredible.
Honestly i need to forget this book so i can read it again and enjoy it again. Ill see it in 6 months.