I was provided an ALC and an ARC of this book via Netgalley and the team Harlequin, all opinions are my own.

This was a strange book for sure. It is told from the perspective of Riccardo, a struggling writer who can't make ends meet and can't find the word to put on the page. His agent is begging him for the draft of his first novel after reading a short story that blew everyone away. At the peak of his dispair, a man shows up with an envelope that could change the direction he is going and possibly pull him out of his downward spiral. The man has worked for Riccardo's grandmother, Perihan for many years, and she has just passed away. Riccardo has been summoned back to Milan to attend her funeral and deal with her estate as her sole surviving relative. There he finds an old journal that spans her lifetime and tells a story that reads like a fantasy novel. These journal entries are told from Perihan's perspective, and we learn about her life and why butterflies are so important to her story.

Overall I thought the pacing was a bit slow. I'm not sure if it was the frequent POV and timeline switches or what. I didn't particularly connect with either character, though I did prefer Perihan's journal entries more than the Riccardo perspective. It felt like Riccardo wasn't doing anything but reading a book for most of the novel, then at the end everything happens all at once. This does have some suspenseful moments and mild horror elements, but I felt like it needed more. This does have a really cool premise and is filled with symbolism

I appreciated that there were two narrators in the audiobook, one for Riccardo's perspective in the present and one for Perihan's perspective when he is reading the journal. The chapters don't have a clean break for the point of view to switch as Riccardo will be doing something, then he will pick the journal up and start reading, so it was a nice touch that the narration changes as he picks up the book and puts it down.

A writer experiencing writer's block suddenly inherits a villa. When he travels to Milan, he does not expect to be involved in a mysterious situation. After coming across his grandmother's personal diary, he begins to learn about a part of her life that he would've never guessed and the meaning behind those butterflies she collected, which seem to hold a deeper meaning.

I received an e-ARC and ALC! The narrators did an excellent job bringing the characters to life, and that, along with the production, made for an enjoyable story.

Definitely recommend this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the e-arc and ALC!

Thank you @tlcbooktours @htpbooks @mirabooks for the beautiful special edition and for including me on this tour!

“Beauty had a threshold, and beyond it, it became a captivating terror, holding people’s attention hostage to fulfill its own needs.”

A mysterious stranger shows up at Riccardo’s apartment with some news: his grandmother Perihan has died, and Riccardo has inherited her villa in Milan along with her famed butterfly collection.
The struggling writer is out of options. He’s hoping the change of scenery in Milan will inspire him, and maybe there will be some money to keep him afloat. But Perihan’s house isn’t as opulent as he remembers. The butterflies pinned in their glass cases seem more ominous than artful. Perihan’s group of mysterious old friends is constantly lurking. And there’s something wrong in the greenhouse.
As Riccardo explores the decrepit estate, he stumbles upon Perihan’s diary, which might hold the key to her mysterious death. Or at least give him the inspiration needs to finish his manuscript.
But he might not survive long enough to write it.

This is a very unique and fantastical story with both beautiful and grotesque imagery. I was completely immersed in the eerie and gothic setting of Milan. The translated writing could be quite lyrical and the ending left me with chills! I also appreciated the author’s note about how his inspiration for the story.

Rating 4⭐️

An atmospheric, dark, slow burn horror- filled with multiple POV's, family secrets, twists and turns, and an ending that will SHOCK you!

Alternating between Riccardo's POV in the present day, and his grandmother, Perihan's manuscript from the past, we get a deep dive into the truths of her mysterious death. This story was very detail heavy, and lagged just a bit at times (for me) - however, these details were needed and by the end of it I was stunned.

Overall, a very strong debut for Yigit Turhan and I can not wait to see what else the author puts out.

The idea of the book was great but it felt a bit longer and I found myself wanting to skim some paragraphs.

Gothic is a hit or miss for me and this one was riiiight in the middle. It also didn't feel like horror at all, it was more of a fantasy thriller?

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the arc.

3.75*

Riccardo is pulled back to his grandmother’s house in Italy after trying and failing to make it as a writer. Though his first work seems to have earned him accolades, he is now failing to meet the publisher’s deadline for his next. However, one day a man arrives at Riccardo’s door and informs him of his grandmother’s passing. He tells Riccardo he must come back to Italy where he will receive the house and his grandmother’s butterflies. This is where the story really seems to begin.

Riccardo arrives at his childhood home where his grandparents took care of him after the disappearance of his mother. Upon wandering around the house and stepping into his grandmother’s room, he finds a handwritten book by her, and he decides to read it as it has his name on it. He calls it a manuscript because the story within starts as a memoir but seems to evolve into a fantastical tale he cannot imagine to be real. However, the friends of his grandmother are still sticking around the house, and they seem to be plotting something.

The story is a bit slow, at times, since much of it is Riccardo reading his grandmother’s story. The last quarter of the book is fairly quick, and it seems to rush to wrap things up. I do find an eerie atmosphere and lots of questions regarding what the grandmother is hiding. It is clear the book is not telling everything even if it presents itself like a memoir. It’s not a bad book, but the pacing was off, and I feel like I had a lot of questions still lingering.

Their Monstrous Hearts by Yigit Turhan is a tale about what happens when your inheritance may cost you your life? Riccardo inheritshis grandmothers home and as a struggling writer welcomes the idea of this gift... at first. After a bunch of wild occurances and disturbing behaviors told through journal entries, Riccardo is not sure if he has bit off more than he can chew. Great build and character development. Loved the storyline and plot points.

Their Monstrous Hearts was such a deranged, magical, dark tale. It starts off slow, but when it really gets going, I was stressing. 🥲 I was kindly gifted the audiobook and loved how well done the narration was. The ending is so wrong and I loved it - I realize I’m weird for that. I enjoyed the diary entries that gave us insight into such a magical, yet depressing story Riccardo’s grandmother, how she came to have the butterflies anxiously what the butterflies are capable of. If you enjoy dark family secrets, magical realism and a dark, gothic atmospheric setting, this makes for a quick, haunting read. Thanks to MIRA and The Hive for my advanced audiobook. Their Monstrous Hearts is available today.

Perihan's decaying Milanese mansion provides an unnaturally sinister setting. The reader comes to know the deceased Perihan through her diary, her surviving servants, "friends," and Riccardo's own childhood memories. Perihan wrote of her immigration, leaving her oppressively religious home and embracing "the thrill of transformation." One night she meets a beautiful, mute girl with irredescent skin, surrounded by butterflies. Perihan brings her to a party, as a novelty, not even bothering to learn her name. But this "angel" is "cruelly replaced by a monster" that preys on the shallow and the superficial in exchange for eternal life.

At first, I couldn't put my finger on why the reading felt uneven. Then I realized that the third-person narration for present-day Riccardo fluctuates between direct and passive voice while the first-person diary of the past flows more naturally. Consequently, Perihan's dramatic revelation completely overshadows Riccardo, who deserved more character development earlier on. There's also a gratuitous amount of repetitive or out of place modifiers throughout. This is all, of course, up to an editor to catch. Overlooking these few structural flaws, it is like a Lovecraftian mix between The Masque of the Red Death and The Great Gatsby! A thin veneer of success and beauty hiding an insatiable, cancerous darkness, and how it all unfolds will certainly stay with you.

This was such a fantastic book. This is something I wouldn't normally pick up, but I am so glad I did.

Not only am I extremely impressed that the author wrote this on English even though it's not his first language, but the overall story was so beautifully written. It was mysterious, emotional, and impossible to put down. I highly recommend checking this one out.

I liked it but did not love it. I keep learning that slow burn isn't my thing. And it is especially hard when reading/listening to audio books. The narration, and the story telling is very beautiful and lyrical. It's a fairy tale. But one that isn't beautiful. But it is so so slow. And the horror doesn't really shine till the end.

This books in on point gothic. Mysterious house, mysterious family, family secrets, dark underlyings.. It all builds on this gothic fairy tale. And we have a diary that tells it all. You want to know the mysteries of the butterflies and this beautiful and enigmatic grandmother.. but also how long will it take? I wanted something more in between those diary entries.

I'm sure there will be readers that will love the prose and the style. But not me. I was 100 the cover buyer, as I'd pick this book just based on it! IT IS gorgeous.

Thank you to The Hive, Mira, HTP, and Harper Audio for the gifted copies!

Their Monstrous Hearts
Yiğit Turhan
Publishing Date: April 8, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Talk about judging a book by its cover… the moment I saw the cover of this one I was drawn in. I love butterflies and it was just so beautifully creepy. Then add in the Italian setting, it was one I knew I had to read.

The concept here was intriguing and had a lot of potential. Ricardo is a struggling author who has just inherited his grandmother’s estate and.. butterfly collection. When he arrives in Milan he also finds a manuscript his grandmother had been working on. As we read, we go back and forth between real life/present day and Perihan’s manuscript. It quickly becomes evident that something strange is going on. Perihan’s friends are always lurking around whispering, there is a mysterious greenhouse behind the house, the butterflies, and the manuscript tells a super eerie tale. Will Ricardo get the inspiration he needs to finish his book or is he in danger?

We spend A LOT of time in Perihan’s manuscript, quite possibly more time than we spend with Ricardo in present day. I found this made the majority of the book hard to connect with. Without a lot of time WITH the main characters it was just hard to feel invested in what was happening. I really like the book within a book concept, I just think a different balance would have hit better. The manuscript was bizarre and I found myself a bit confused by it for much of the book. Once we hit the last 20% or so the connection between present day and the manuscript start to weave together and that is where this book had its moment to shine. It just took a bit too long to get there.

🎧 The narrators themselves did a nice job with this one. However, the perspectives change suddenly and in a way that is not very clear. This in addition to the back and forth between present day and the manuscript, made it a bit confusing at times on audio. If I had to do this again I would either read with my eyes or do tandem.

Thank you to Hachette Book Group, The Hive, and Harper Collins for the gifted copy!

This was finished in nearly just one sitting. Absolutely riveting, engaging, and exciting. I'll never look at butterflies the same way again.

🖤🖤🖤🖤
4/5

This was a captivating story that had me sucked in from the beginning. The setting is what really drew me in once Ricardo was in Milan. Yiğit Turhan’s writing in this flowed so well & I found myself turning page after page. (Definitely stayed up way past my bedtime once or twice while reading this one)

Ricardo, an aspiring writer, finds himself back at the Milan villa that he grew up in with his grandparents before he was sent to boarding school. With his grandmother recently passing, he is the sole family member left to inherit her house, money, & all belongings. But her friends that she’s left behind are acting a bit odd…and while searching her room, he finds a manuscript that seems to be a fantasy embellishment of her life’s story. Or is it actually the reality of her life?

Thoughts I have after reading this…

🦋 I will never look at a butterfly the same after reading this

📖 THE ENDING. WHAT. 🤯 not what I was expecting at all!

💔 I was rooting for Lorenzo & Ricardo the whole time. The romance lover in me always wants a love story in every book now.

🐛 was Monarch the real monster in this? Or was it the humans? I’m leaning towards the humans.

🖊️ the story of the manuscript was so enchanting and captivating! I wanted more every time it ended. I really love books that include manuscripts, journals, letters, etc. So, this was a big plus for me.

🖤 overall, I really delighted in reading this mystifying book! I would recommend this to anyone that is starting to get into horror or to those that enjoy horror with a touch of magic & fantasy!

I was hooked from the beginning!!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

"A haunting novel about the boundaries people will cross to keep their dreams alive."
Their Monstrous Hearts is a page turner from beginning to end that had me captivated. Riccardo is a writer that is struggling but he ends up inheriting his grandmother's villa in Millian but things aren't what they seem. The book was written well and all of the characters in this were interesting. I highly enjoyed this one and would recommend to any reader who loves horror. Thank you to The Hive for the paperback book and to NetGalley and The Hive for the ebook in exchange of my honest review of Their Monstrous Hearts by Yiğit Turhan.

Thank you to Hachette Book Group, The Hive, and Harper Collins for the gifted copy!

Thriller • Gothic • Horror

“Nobody runs away from fate, my dear,”

How far will you go for your dreams? What’s the line you can’t cross? And what might push you to cross it?

The cover caught my attention. My curiosity made me want to know more. The premise is interesting but had a hard time keeping my attention for most of the story. It’s a very slow burn and doesn’t pick up until the last 25-30%. Also I think I expected a different take. More traditional horror, which it’s not. But this is creepy. A bit eerie. Somewhat dark. I liked the vibes and secrets. Also the poignant message at the end. How we utilize our very short time on this planet matters. I was very touched by the author’s note.

“For in the face of fear, the true test of our character lies not in succumbing to it but in finding the strength to overcome and emerge transformed on the other side.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed the crumbling Italian villa setting of this story, and I like stories about writers looking for a new idea. Unfortunately the pacing was so slow it was hard for me to really get any real sense of dread or fear, though I was intrigued enough to keep reading and found myself invested in finding out the reveals.

Their Monstrous Hearts by Yiğit Turhan is a captivating gothic tale that left me spellbound. This darkly alluring book blurs the lines between fantasy and horror, creating a dazzling and haunting spectacle. Turhan skillfully weaves a beautiful story that explores the delicate balance between blessings and curses. Nostalgic and harrowing, this novel will forever change the way you view butterflies.

DNF @ 40%

The story is so very disjointed and confusing and I’m bored reading this right now.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC and ALC. all thoughts are my own.