"What was this physical nonsense? It was her body. She controlled the nerve endings. It shouldn't be allowed to tell her how to feel. A single organ didn't command her."

Shesheshen is a terrifying shape-shifting monster. She uses components of anything she devours, be it inorganic or human, to build a body. Though she does need to occasionally satiate her hunger, on the whole, she just wants to be left alone. Unfortunately, there always seem to be a bunch of pesky villagers with torches and rosemary soaked harpoons out looking to slay "The Wyrm", as she's called by the local yokels. It is through one such encounter that she meets Homily, a kindhearted, gentle soul, who sees the good in Shesheshen, and only seeks to help her. ZING go the strings of whatever stuff Shesheshen has inside her at the moment, and now she's feeling all sorts of confusing feels. Could Homily be the proper nest for Shesheshen's eggs . . . someone to hold the eggs within her lungs where they would be bathed in oxygen "until they were strong enough to burrow out"?

Or does Shesheshen love Homily too much to let her be "devoured by their young"?

And, then there's Homily's terrible family, devout monster-hunters who would never approve of this newly hatched love . . .

You can probably tell that I enjoyed the heck out of this dark fairy tale. There's plenty of gore (digesting people is a messy business), but there's also a lot of humor, and Shesheshen's struggle to playact the proper human reminded me quite a bit of one of my favorite film characters - Bella Baxter in 'Poor Things'. For poor monsters struggling to fit in, it's a strange new world to navigate, and it's easy to forget the very complicated regulations. Honestly, Shesheshen - there are only two rules you really need to follow: never say "No" to love, and only gobble up people who deserve to be eaten.

There has been a strategy to rewrite fairy tales from the villains point of view, but this is the first I have seen where it is written from the monsters point of view. Shesheshen is the last of her kind, as far as she knows, as she has either eaten her kin, or her kin has been slaughtered by humans. She just wants to be left alone. So what do those pesky humans do, but come to her home to hunt her.


There is, of course, more to the story than that, but I love how Shesheshen has to get along with humans to understand why she is being hunted, and in doing so, she falls in love with Homily. Thus the name of the book. The biggest love is to plant your eggs in your beloved, so that your brood can feed on their flesh.


There are sooo many great lines in this book, as the monster, disguised as a human tried to understand human ways.


“There was no easy way to ask if HOmily wanted her to eat her mother”
“I want you to be prepared.” “Does she have the normal amount of human hands?”


“[The guffaw sounded] like the mating call of a sad moose with a cold”


“She did not mind. From what she knew of civilization, all children were parasites. You were supposed to grow to like that about them.”


I want to classify this as a romance, between Homily and the monster. I want to call it horror, because it has a monster. It is fantasy as well as humor.Yes, this book has everything, and I keep telling people about it while I’m reading it.


I enoyed this so much, I wrote the author to let them know. It has such a turn of phrase, a turn of thought, on who are the true monsters. Thoroughly loved this one.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. The book came out into the world in April, and is available all the places where you can buy books.

I have never read a book that was simultaneously so lovely/cozy/heartwarming and disgusting/horrifying/F L E S H Y.

Ahem. Yes, congratulations John Wiswell for proving that you contain multitudes. Seriously, though, I'm going to be throwing this book at as many people as possible---it's hilarious and yucky and just so. much. fun. It's the monster romance I've been waiting for, and Shesheshen is one of the most memorable characters in recent memory.

It sounds like a cliche to say "I can't wait to see what this author writes next" but for real, I'm BUZZING.

John Wiswell tells the story of an abandoned blobby shapeshifter, Shesheshen who lives in an abandoned manor. The locals consider her a monster, especially since killing humans grants her human organs to use. Hunters find her as she awakens from hibernation, and, despite hiding as a human girl, is discovered and chased over a cliff. There she is lucky enough to be rescued and nursed to health by Homily, who thinks she is human. Maybe Homily is Someone You Can Build a Nest In (hard from DAW) Unfortunately Homily’s family, particularly the Baroness, is desperate to kill her monster form to remove a curse. Even though Shesheshen knows the curse is a lie, she gets involved in hunting herself to help Homily deal with her mother. But there is a dark secret here, and Shesheshen is facing a truly dangerous trap. This is a fascinating tale of love and the essence of humanity. Maybe this tale might find its way to an award nomination.

This book was such fun – but, I’ll be honest, it had some hard hitting topics scattered throughout its entirety. I find that lately I’ve been gravitating towards the dark side of fantasy, maybe because the characters feel more realistic? Even though Shesheshen was deeply flawed (by “human” standards) she’s more truthful and only hides her true self because of humanity’s mindset.

"Weaknesses were a human invention. They called it your weakness if they fantasized about murdering you with it."

Shesheshen’s relationship with Homily was a delight to read – their growth, realizations, and acceptance was beautifully written. Her views on things that humans do throughout the book are hilarious and had me laughing out loud when I was reading.

"Dressing up so that you could eat never made sense to Shesheshen; the food was typically dead and surely unimpressed with its audience."

A big round of applause for the twist towards the close of the book – completely blindsided me and it was downright devastatingly done. Overall, this book was amazing & I devoured it as readily as Shesheshen would a perfectly timed meal. Highly recommend reading this book if you enjoy dark humorous books with a unique perspective that has a little slice of (in my opinion) beautiful romance. Oh, and one cannot forget – the animal companion, Blueberry. If there ever happens to be a continuation of this book: prequel, sequel and/or standalone book in the same world – I’ll be reading it. A BIG thank you to DAW Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital arc of this book – all opinions are my own. Rounded from 4.5 stars.

I think this might be the best speculative fiction novel that I've read this year. Although it took a while for me to finish the story, I'm so glad that I sat down one night and read through the whole tale.

Shesheshen is a monster, a wyrm specifically. But she would rather keep to herself and only eat when hungry. Sure, she eats people, but it's not like she's wiping out the local town in the Underlook. And monster hunters tend to attack her in her lair, in what used to be a manor, rather than the other way around. Shesheshen is hibernating when those hunters attack in the winter. They want her heart, confusing Shesheshen since she has no heart or organs. Thanks to the encounter, however, Shesheshen falls off a cliff while in human guise, A kind human named Homily rescues her, and has her own agenda for finding the wyrm of the Underlook. Sheshshen knows she eventually has to break the truth to Homily, but things get complicated when a powerful matriarch arrives, ready to hang and imprison anyone who looks the wrong way in her direction.

John Wiswell always makes me jealous with how he creates such unique stories. This book does everything; it has queer and ace rep, generational trauma with years of both physical and emotional abuse, and real consequences. Homily is a mirror of the trauma she has endured since a wyrm killed her father, and having to raise siblings that don't respect her. Meanwhile Shesheshen, who never had a mother, struggles to figure out what it would be like to have been told what she could do.

The twist at the end is both brilliant and frustrating; it does raise questions about what does and doesn't define a monster. I'm not going to spoil it because it caught me by surprise. But it was brilliant and, in hindsight, reinforcing the themes regarding nurture and nature.

Shesheshen is awakened from her hibernation early to hunters at her door. Through a series of events, she meets Homily, a woman with secrets of her own, and a family to die for.

As a concept, five stars.

A main character who is a shapeshifting amorphous blob that develops a heart as she falls slowly in love with the person she's going to use as her egg-nest (who will die from this)? Brilliant.

There were plenty of twists and turns in this, but after a night's sleep one of the turns just didn't really make sense when looking back at it. I have questions.

I have more questions on other things, too, and I kinda felt that this was just too long. It really dragged in places.

But I will say: I liked Shesheshen and Homily's relationship, I loved the care toward depicting the abuse Homily endured, and I absolutely hated every single person in Homily's family.

Again, another book others will adore but just didn't quite work for me.

I received an ARC from the publisher

Cross-cultural relationships rely on clear communication and not making assumptions. Shesheshen, a blob monster, learns this when she realizes her new human girlfriend, Homily, doesn’t consider laying your eggs in your partner so they may be eaten alive by your young…to be the logical goal of dating.

Somehow, as a reader, I’m with Shesheshen on this. Infest me, Mommy.

This is definitely a pick for queer readers with family trauma. Despite this book being about a ravenous blob-monster on the run, so much of the real drama and interest is about Homily’s ruthless family, and how they have left scars on her past.

It’s also a rather asexual romance, where the asexuality is not a point of tension, which I really appreciate.

Somehow, I found this book almost cozy. The horror definitely comes through in the end, but I was so much more invested in Homily and Shesheshen’s romance and latching onto their every scrap of domestic bliss. I loved the end, and felt quite satisfied. There doesn’t need to be more. It’s just…nice. Very nice.

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.

The perfect book for an old fairy tale feel. As someone who is not big into romance, this book is just enough that the love story doesn't overshadow the whole story. It is just enough to drive the plot without being overbearing. I will recommend this book to any and all looking for a quick, fun read, that doesn't mind a bit of darkness.

Thank you DAW and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an e-arc of Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell.
There is virtually no way to concisely describe this novel. With elements of horror, romance, humor, fantasy, action and family drama, there is something for every reader to latch on to. And just like the nest Shesheshen fantasizes about (both past and potentially future) the book wraps you in a warm, nurturing albeit sometimes gory hug from start to finish.

While our MC is a monster, one can argue she may be one of the more human characters in the story. Her inner thoughts highlight a range of emotions that show Shesheshen as more than just the ravenous beast the townsfolk fear. She is smart, she is cunning and resourceful, and while solitary in nature, she looks for connection with the first person who show her kindness. Her burgeoning relationship with Homily, while at the center of the story, is also the platform for Shesheshen’s growth. I was rooting for her, and them, through the entire book, even throughout the gruesome bits. And any book that includes such an awesome pet/mascot/ gatekeeper as Blueberry deserves 5 stars. 5/5 star read

Cozy fantasy horror sapphic monster romance? Count me in!
I loved everything about this. The characters are amazing the worldbuilding is just right for a book of this size.
Theres a good balance between cozy romance and plot, sprinkle in a bit of a mystery and some body horror and you get this gem of a book.
There also was amazing ace rep which is so hard to find.

This book was wild, engaging, and original. It's terrifying, in ways, but also beautiful. I love that it's written from the perspective of a monster who's just trying to exist and, though villified, has heart.

It's hard to categorize the book, part horror, part fantasy, and part romance. I thoroughly enjoyed my read.

I love the combination of horror, romance, and fantasy in this! Completely up my alley. I've read short stories from John Wiswell before and was really excited to see a full length debut novel. I loved the characters in this, I loved how creative the premise is. Thank you for the opportunity for this advanced reading copy, I'll definitely recommend this to friends and book clubs I'm in.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell – Review

Equal parts disarming and charming, Someone You Can Build a Nest In is one of the most original works of speculative fiction that I’ve read in a long time.

Shesheshen is a monster, the wyrm of the Isthmus, a formless blob-like creature whose infamy has helped her craft a life of blessed solitude. Feasting on flesh and absorbing the bones of her victims to take any physical form she desires, Shesheshen’s got a pretty sweet gig. If only those pesky humans would stop trying to hunt and kill her! When Shesheshen infiltrates a monster-hunting family, she finds herself falling for Homily, the black sheep of the family…and a human!

A delightfully strange blend of horror and romance, Someone You Can Build a Nest In is about revenge, void creatures, and what it really means to love someone. Some heavy topics are discussed, including child abuse and self-harm, but Wiswell handles these with care and respect. Tonally, this story has quite a cozy vibe – which is a real feat, given how objectively horrific the subject matter is. The protagonist is a blob monster who eats people, her love interest is in an abusive relationship with her family, and the world’s socio-economic system is deeply exploitative. Wiswell doesn’t shy away from the violence, desperation, and psychological impacts of these circumstances, but the matter-of-fact presentation ensures they don't feel gratuitous or voyeuristic.

Shesheshen’s is a fantastic narrator, with a dry wit and a rather unique perspective on humanity. Her observations about everything from the “big issues” like the hypocrisy of human violence to the challenges of small-talk were poignant and clever. I understand why Homily found Shesheshen so funny – I found myself laughing out loud several times myself! She’s also surprisingly earnest and sweet, at least when it comes to her beloved pet bear (yeah, you read that right) Blueberry and her girlfriend. Don’t let that fool you though: Shesheshen is also angry, prone to violence, and starving. Some people just need to be eaten, you know?

While most of the plot was pretty predictable and well-telegraphed, there was one major twist that took me by complete surprise. I appreciate that Wiswell puts some juice into the plot, because the predictability of my previous forays into “cozy” books made them…well, kind of boring. Someone You Can Build a Nest In is most certainly not boring! The “magic system” is essentially non-existent, but this makes sense given how isolated Shesheshen is from other beasties. I was happy enough to accept that she knows nothing (sometimes less than nothing), although, as always, I would’ve loved more lore.

I would happily read another story from this universe, but even if Wiswell never revists the Isthmus, he’s made me a fan! Add Someone You Can Build a Nest In to your TBRs and keep an eye out for whatever he’s working on next. I, for one, can’t wait.

Highly recommended.

This is really hard to say, but I read this book on and off for almost 3 months before giving up at ~40%. I was so stoked to be reading this early... The very idea of reading a book from the perspective of the monster seemed so great, and the first few chapters were great, but then it just .. trailed off. ;( I think I might pick this up at a later time again.

What a delicious cozy queer monster romance. I feel like plenty of books have taken the queer subtext of BEING the monster and made it text, but John Wiswell did an amazing job of making it clear just how monstrous we can become, as well as those who seek to keep up contained and hidden.

Our two romantic stars, the monster Shesheshen and Homily were both fully fleshed out characters (most of the time for Shesheshen given her monstrosity - ha) even with the quick pacing and the romance.

As a mother, I thought the book also had interesting and complicated things to say about motherhood and how it works - what you give up, what you claim and what you fight for as a mother - good or bad. I cannot wait to encourage a few other friends to read this so we can talk about it!

For all my queer fantasy romance lovers, this is something that you will definitely want to sink your teeth into! The book is told from the viewpoint of the shapeshifting creature Shesheshen and they do not disappoint with their development from "monster" to something all together quite human in response to their relationship with the human Homily. And while the novel is in turns gore ridden and darkly humorous, I would contend that the overall message focuses on familial trauma and the complicated nature of healing from it and it does it with aplomb. This isn't a steamy romance, as it focuses most on the developing feelings of the main characters more than the physical, but it is rewarding nonetheless.

Being a monster is hard. Everyone runs away screaming when they see you or, even worse, keeps trying to murder you when all you're doing is minding your business and looking for someone to start a family with. But what happens when you fall in love with one of those people interested in killing the monster? Meet Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell, a delightful Fantasy Romance which will answer those questions. It also has a stunning cover! Thanks to DAW and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Monsters; we love to be scared of them. I recently taught a university module on monstrosity and Otherness in medieval literature and one of the theoretical frameworks I discussed with my students were the seven theses of monstrosity, as proposed by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. He suggested that we can explore societies and cultures through the monsters they create, because our monsters reveal a lot! His first thesis, for example, speaks of the monster's body and how it is a cultural body, across which social issues are explored. Think of the body of Medusa, from Greek mythology, for example, and how her monstrous body is a consequence of a sexual assault. Another thesis speaks of how the monster always returns, which we can see through the figure of the vampire, which returns again and again to popular culture to explore concerns about immigration (in Bram Stoker's Dracula), homosexuality (Ann Rice's novels) and teen romance from a Mormon perspective (see Twilight, which also responds to another thesis of Cohen's, about how we desire the monster as much as we are afraid of it). I really like Cohen's approach to monstrosity and while reading Someone You Can Build a Nest In I kept thinking of how interestingly Shesheshen fits to some of these theses and how she, as a monster, reveals cultural anxieties. From her shapeshifting abilities, her desire for home and belonging, and her dangerous sexuality (in the sense that her offspring devours her partner), I think Wiswell explores some very interesting things through Shesheshen. Most importantly, however, to me at least, is also how Wiswell asks us to identify with the monster, to question who truly is wrong, and whether those who are different couldn't just happily live alongside us, if some people would just stop screaming 'Monster!'.

Shesheshen is rudely awoken one morning by intruders in her lair. She had been enjoying her hibernation but now she has to get up, arrange her limbs, and deal with a threat. Recovering from her injuries, she has the delightful misfortune of meeting Homily, a human who is much warmer and kinder than Shesheshen has come to expect from the species. Kindness turns to love and now Shesheshen finds herself in front of a difficult choice: assist Homily in hunting herself down or walking away from the one person she could consider starting a family with. I fully enjoyed Someone You Can Build a Nest In from page 1. Shesheshen is a great main character, in part because she is utterly confused about human interaction. I loved the bluntness of some of her statements, how she would just say what she did or did not want and how this led to some very honest communicating. Homily is also a great character, both gentle and sharp, both wounded and determined. The world in which the story takes place is also built up quite nicely, with enough info to make it distinct but not so explicit that it overwhelms the story. In a way, Someone You Can Build a Nest In is a very simple novel, in the sense that its basic storyline is not complex. Yet what Wiswell does with it is excellent, leading to this book being both delightfully but innovatively romantic and a solid Fantasy romp with villains you can hate and heroic monsters you can adore.

This is my first book by John Wiswell, but I'm definitely down for reading more by him! When I began Someone You Can Build a Nest In, I had expected something a bit harsher and more horror-focused, but the tone of the novel is that of a delightful fairy tale. There definitely is body horror and violence in this book and Wiswell also very explicitly deals with abuse and trauma. However, the focus there isn't on shock but rather on tenderly exploring something painful with someone you trust. In that sense, I found the way Wiswell approached the romance in this book enlightening. Shesheshen and Homily are consistently discussing their boundaries, consent, their desires, etc. without it feeling forced or unnatural. While the Romance genre has definitely learned that consent is sexy, it is always good to see authors exploring different ways of presenting it, especially in LGBTQIA+ contexts as well. The same is true for the trauma discussions, which are handled with care. And on top of all of that, this book is funny! I highlighted plenty of phrases that made me laugh and I can see myself rereading this when Halloween and the dark time of the year comes around.

I really enjoyed reading Someone You Can Build a Nest In! It is fun and sweet, while also bringing in a solid dose of body horror and conflict. The way Wiswell addresses trauma, family and belonging throughout the narrative elevated it to a 4 for me.

2.5 ☆

And the award for the most annoying MC name goes to.... SHESHESHEN!

Highly recommend *not* picking up the audio for this book and/or co-reading like I did because hearing SHESHESHEN being said every sentence was the most grating reading experience of my life. While some might say focusing on the names Shesheshen and Homily re beyond the point of the novel and human names are insignificant, in a sense, those names 100% detracted from my reading experience and enjoyment of the book especially on the audio version.

This is a sapphic aroace story of a monster learning how to live and think the way humans do. It's about a monster learning the ethics of what it means to be human and how to handle and process emotions, including love. That to me, was the best and most beautiful part of the book. I loved the FMC's exploration of human feelings with every person she ended up consuming. At the end of the book I really loved her so much as a character and wished I could give her a hug. Homily, on the other hand felt quite bland as a love interest.

Also, I glanced at a couple of reviews before diving in and many claimed this was cozy fantasy-horror. I'm not quite sure about that classification as this was filled with really vivid descriptions of body horror and a whole lot of gore so while it's not scary, it is very much horror. I quite enjoyed the body horror in this novel.

As for the audio narration as I co-read this with my eARC, I didnt enjoy the narrator at all, and I tend to be fairly easy to please with European accents. To me, she felt as devoid of enthusiasm for what she was narrating even to the very end of the novel when our FMC was filled to the brim with human emotions she could barely describe.

Overall, I felt very conflicted about this. There were things I Really Quite Enjoyed in reading this book and a whole lot of others I wished I did without. Nonetheless, I'm def recommending this to a couple of my friends who enjoy queer horror stories.

Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review!

This was…unexpectedly delightful? Far more of a cozy fantasy than I was expecting, “Someone You Can Build a Nest In” is gory and sweet, gritty and soaring. Shesheshen is both funny and horrifying, and being in her POV was a fun place to be for ~300 pages.

I loved the subtle body positivity (Homily is often depicted as a larger woman, which Shesheshen finds attractive because hey: the more to eat at the start of their encounter/the better nest for young once they start traveling together!), asexual representation, and trauma representation.

“No young woman of means has gone through her entire life without at least once surveying her opportunities and wishing for a dragon instead.”

For being a man-eating monster, Shesheshen is surprisingly astute at analyzing human interactions and honoring the history between history while providing support to her allies. The plot was compelling: as Shesheshen encounters Homily’s terrible family members, there are horrifying secrets she must keep from her new friend that kept me turning pages to see how everything would play out.