WOW! I really wasn't sure what I was in for when I started this book, but it was AMAZING! So different and fun and just an all-around good time!! This is another winner from Ezeekat Press thru Bindery and I really hope Truelove writes more stories like this! This was just released at the beginning of June, so please make sure to pick up a copy and give it a chance! You won't be disappointed!! Thank you soooooooo much to NetGalley and to the publisher for my digital ARC!! ❤️❤️❤️

The Demeter is a space ship, and a very good one, who has been going through … a spate of bad luck. First, one crew was slaughtered — all 198 of them — murdered by a shadow, a nothingness that managed to open her doors, avoid her cameras, and vanish. Then there was the werewolf who slaughtered the passengers and crew, but this time, Demeter was able to save two of them! Then, she was optimized (lobotomized) in time for her third trip, where fish people corrupted the crew (killing those who wouldn’t change) and jerked her off course. A patchwork man helped that time, but the radiation she endured almost killed her. Then, there was the man made of bugs.

Really, it’s been a rough few years! And now, the Demeter’s going to be scrapped. Not even broken down for parts, but destroyed! And she’s angry. Angry that everything she has done to do the right thing, to save people, to save herself is brushed aside. When Agnus, one of the two children she managed to save from the werewolf manages to snag the master keys from the Captain, Demeter is happy to embrace the life of a space pirate.

The Demeter, though, isn’t after loot and plunder. Oh no. The Demeter is going to find Dracula — the thing that started all of this mess — and destroy him!

This is a book with a splendid idea, some very fun characters, and some pacing issues. The book opens with the marvelously creepy idea of the Demeter, the doomed ship from Dracula, waking up to a dead crew and no knowledge of why or how it happened, and the repercussions, as she calls up the medical program to examine the bodies, deals with the station AI, and then the rumors and gossip that surround her as a ghost ship. It’s moody and it’s well written, with a tight, focused pace … and then it moves right into the next section, the werewolves.

Again, it’s atmospheric, clever, and interesting … and then it keeps going. And going. While it’s important to show Demeter bonding with the two surviving crew, it also went on too long for me, and the horror/gothic vibe sort of faded away. Section three has Demeter pushed aside, as her programing has been altered, and the book picks up the medical AI Steward’s point of view. They’re hilarious. Snarky, smug, full of calculated bluster and irritation — both with humans and Demeter — they’re a marvelous character. But the tension, the atmosphere, the vibe if you will … it wasn’t there. Toss in Frankenstein, and it just felt less focused and far more jumbled.

This read, for the first half, like a collection of short story ideas tied together by their location, the Demeter. The constant breaks of POV, the leaps ahead from one instance to the next, it was all just very disjointed. Once we were past the mummy — who was brought in during a section that felt rushed and underdeveloped — and the crew was all together, things picked up and I enjoyed the last half of the book almost as much as I enjoyed the first story.

Demeter is full of personality, brash and unapologetic, head strong and always forward moving — so confident in her processing, knowing she can pick the optimal plan, even when it’s maybe not the most suitable — she’s charming. Her relationship with Steward is antagonistic, as she has the ability to shut Steward off when she wants, and all the medical AI can do is accept it. But as adventures go on and she realizes how much she needs the other AI, who is programmed to handle humans, the two of them learn to accept one another. And then, of course, fall in love.

And it’s a sweet, snarky love:

You made a mistake.

My wires heat. When?

You said you loved me, Steward pings, code decidedly smug. You should’ve said “I love you too,” since I said it first.

My processors stutter. You did not.

I did. Frankenstein can confirm.

When? Give me the time stamp.

When you were dead.

It doesn’t count if I’m dead!

By my calculations, it should count more.

Then you are a suboptimal calculator, I snap.

A suboptimal calculator that you love? Steward answers, unruffled.

Affirmative . . . unfortunately.

Good. They settle their code against mine, small but precise and painfully perfect. I love you too, Demeter.

My favorite characters though have to be the Spiders and the little camera bot inside a pill who wants to be swallowed, because how else can it take pictures? The Spider bots are simple but cheerful, always with a ready Hello! They’re obedient, loyal, and eager to please. The robots and the AIs are the best part of this book, their ruminations on duty versus obligation, freedom versus programming, and sacrifice versus safety. I would love more books about the Demeter and her crew, I would love to see more of the Spiders and the electric romance between Steward and Demeter.

If you’re looking for an unconventional romance, with some interesting ideas and clever plot twists, you should give this book a try. For all its pacing issues, it was a lot of fun to read.

At first read, I thought this was along the lines of the Murderbot series, but this book was something else altogether. I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.

This book was a lot of fun to read, as it kept my imagination engaged while I attempted to solve the mysteries. Right when I thought I had it figured out, the story took a turn, and it ballooned into something else! The writing style of this author is one I do not believe I have encountered before; she gave us an ancient Egyptian body-snatching, treasure-seeking mummy, as well as Dracula, Frankenstein, werewolves, and did I mention a treasure-hunting mummy?
Oh, and a robot ship doctor who is very done with everyone. And I mean fair.

The amount of emotion, action, and mystery packed into this book is phenomenal. Imagine reading a book that makes a spaceship and its AI ship doctor so vivid that you forget you're reading about lifeless objects.

I did not want this book to end!

Thank you, Netgalley, Bindery Books | Ezeekat Press, and Barbara Truelove, for the ARC of this imaginative and atmospheric read!

Monsters, transport vessels, AI, murder, and mayhem!!! What is not to love about such a premise that quite literally transcends time and space?! While I was initially engaged from page one by the anthropomorphic qualities of Demeter and Steward and all the action packed scenes that follow, I found that the novel lost its momentum two thirds of the way in. There were far more characters introduced than I thought necessary, although I understand that the author set to create a "motley monster crew" to defeat the ultimate villain, Dracula. Additionally, I felt that this book could have been tightened a bit more and truncated in length.

My favorite parts were truly the segments involving Steward, their quips, and love-hate relationship with Demeter. Although, not a total standout for me, I think this still makes for a light, entertaining read.

This book is a wild ride! I loved the AI characters so much. The weaving in of all the horror genre elements within the space travel storyline was brilliant. This gave me hints of Becky Chambers and Douglas Adams but is definitely a unique new voice in this genre. I really enjoyed this book.
Will highly recommend!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

I LOVED this book! Delightfully humerous, but also dark and a really incredibly refreshing take on the gothic folk and horror tales. I loved Demeter, and Steward especially and the overall feel of this book is as if the author took ART from the muderbot series and said "I want more of them". The overall structure of this book was more a series of interconnected novellas, but I found that I really enjoyed that structure.

4.25 ⭐️

This was so much fun!! A delightful mashup of horror and sci-fi with found family chasing down Dracula in space.

I loved the characters being queer playful reimagining of classic horror villians, and human feeling AI spaceships.

My one frustration was that it felt like this was a series of novellas sandwiched together up front, and took too long to set up the “main” plot indicated in synopses of this book so I’d recommend going in blind. I also felt like one of the romances (side-plot) was a little underdeveloped and came together a little too quickly at the end.

If you’re looking for a fun, queer horror/sci-fi mashup I hope you’ll pick this up!

Thank you to Bindery Books and NetGalley for sending an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this. Truly. Madly. Deeply. I mean, come on—Of Monsters and Mainframes has one of the coolest titles I’ve seen in a minute, and the premise had me ready to fling myself into a weird little genre-blending hug of tech and mythology.

But... I just didn’t vibe with it. At all.

Is it the book’s fault? Maybe a little. The pacing dragged, the tone felt uneven, and I never fully clicked with the characters. I kept waiting for that thing—that spark, that moment, that connection. And it just never came. Like a first date where the conversation’s fine, but you keep checking your watch and mentally planning your escape route.

More likely? It’s a case of right book, wrong time. My brain wanted something sharp and strange and maybe a little unhinged. This felt more like a thoughtful slow-burn, and I just didn’t have the bandwidth for it.

So—DNF at 42%. Maybe I’ll come back to it someday. Maybe not. But for now? We part ways with a polite nod and a sigh.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review, even if that honesty is, “Welp, not for me.”

I liked the concept of this book and the cover is awesome. I didn’t find the monsters to be fleshed out enough. The monsters are the element that sets Of Monsters and Mainframes apart from other similar science fiction stories that are really popular right now. I do love Demeters struggle to operate within her parameters but I felt that since we had so much adult language throughout the book the story could’ve been elevated to match that.

This was such a fun time! I cannot help but recommend this book highly to anyone. Like anyone. It's a mashup of many genres like fantasy, sci-fi and supernatural horror. My favourite perspectives to read from were of Demeter herself and Steward. Their relationship was prickly but so full of feels. I loved these two. They made me get emotional in the best way possible. My only complaint? The romance between Agnus and Wilhelmina was way too rushed. And the ending. Expected much more from it. Nonetheless it was a humourous and heavily enjoyable read that explores the question of what it means to love & be human.

The spaceship autopilot for a Demeter class starship charts its unlikely history of transporting classic Universal movie monsters, falls in love with its medical AI, and raises a kid who might be among the monsters, herself. This is a whole lot of fun.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bindery Books for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is the sci-fi novel of my DREAMS!!!

Pure, unadulterated CHAOS mixed with a healthy dose of found family, monsters, mainframes and aliens that will make you gasp, giggle and cry as you read this absolutely stellar book!

Please make sure to check out this truly bonkers, wild ride of a book, I promise you won't regret it!

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this as an ebook for review from NetGalley.

Thoughts: I absolutely loved this story. It was engaging and interesting, unique, and really kept my attention. That's really saying something considering I was reading this during a week when I quit my job, my son graduated from high school, and we moved to a new house (yes, it was a week).

Demeter's passengers are dead and, as far as she can determine, a vampire is responsible. However, no one believes her. She gets shut down and then restarted, and again, bad events happen. People (and other AIs) are calling her a ghost ship. Demeter will have to join forces with the monsters if she doesn't want to be decommissioned for good.

The story starts with the ships governing AI Demeter, but we also hear from some humans, from an AI forced into a human body, and from the medical bay AI. The way these different POVs are used to deliver the story is masterfully done. At first, the things happening seemed very improbable and a bit random, but the way the story came together towards the end was amazingly well thought out, yet still surprising and unpredictable. I love all the classic monster references in here as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between AIs and also enjoyed how the different AIs interacted with humans (and non-humans). There is a ton of action which makes this so much fun, but it is also simultaneously very thought-provoking. Each AI has its strength and weakness, not unlike their human counterparts.

This was incredibly well written, engaging, and practically read itself, which was the type of story I really needed at the time I read this. It's one of those books that is hard to explain but definitely worth reading. It's very creative and different from anything else I have read. There is also a lot of humor in here, which I enjoyed.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this. This was so much fun, action-packed, thought-provoking, and just a very well done and creative mash-up of paranormal tropes in a sci-fi world. It was a very engaging story on so many levels and practically read itself. I would highly recommend this book, especially if a quirky sci-fi story involving AI and paranormal creatures sounds intriguing to you.

One of the most original and surprising books I've ever read. I don't like to compare books, but I agree that this one is perfect for Gideon the Ninth fans. (But easier to understand)

Of Monsters and Mainframes is exactly what the title suggests - a story about a spaceship AI system and monsters that seem to be drawn to it.

Most of the book is told through Demeter's pov, and she's the system operating a spaceship designed to travel between Earth and its colonies. I really enjoyed her character and how she developed throughout the book. I didn't think that I would get this attached to the spaceship system. But my favourite character in the book was the second AI living in the ship's mainframe - Steward. Steward serves as the doctor on the ship and has a complicated relationship with Demeter, but she needs them to help with the human interactions. Their banter is one of the best parts of the book.
There are also some human and not-human characters, but I don't want to spoil anything. I will just say that I love them all and would gladly read a few more books about them.

As for the plot - it's hard to explain without revealing too much. There are a lot of surprises, monsters and even love and revenge. Some really fun moments and some emotional. It's really well written and there are no boring moments.
My only complaint is that the ending feels rushed. I wish that the last chapters were a little longer.

But I still highly recommend reading this book.

Of Monsters and Mainframes was uproariously funny. I haven’t laughed so much from a book in a long time.
The start of the book feels a bit episodic. The plot in the description about killing Dracula doesn’t kick off until 2/3 through which I think is more of a problem with the blurb than the book itself.
I loved all the characters in the book especially the two AIs. It was great to see the AIs grow as characters and redefine themselves and their relationship as the book went on.

Monsters, mayhem, fun! This poor sentient cursed ghost transport ship is just trying to keep her passengers alive, but tragedy after tragedy keeps occurring. A fast-paced adventure that leaves you guessing. Two thumbs up!

Of Monsters and Mainframes offers a fantastic blend of sci-fi and fantasy, as the Demeter keeps encountering supernatural monsters. I've never seen a premise like this before, and it was so fun!

I have one main gripe though. I thought the stuff with Dracula would be more important throughout the book, but after the inciting incident, it falls off til like 60% of the book, where suddenly it's like "we have to kill Dracula". Like where did this go for like half the book? This could have used a main thread through the monster-of-the week (or monster-of-the-flight?) format it had for a while.
Also feel like the climax could have been for satisfying...

I loved being in Demeter's mind, and I grew attached to this poor AI that just seems to always attract trouble. Also great friendship that got developed between her and Steward, the medical AI, this was probably the relationship I liked the most.

As a Dracula Daily veteran, I was looking forward to (and maybe dreading a bit) the references to the book, and this delivered! I loved the little tidbits, like the spider drones from Renfield Enterprise. And most importantly <spoiler> MINA !!!!!!! I was so happy to see her, here you don't even know! Though I was sad to learn she never got to love this version's Jonathan, which is such a shame.</spoiler>

All in all this was a light, fun (kinda gruesome?) read, with lovable characters and a unique setting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for providing with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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A wonderfully bonkers and cosy paranormal space adventure with a dash of horror!
In this story, we follow space AI Demeter over the span of multiple decades as weird things keep occurring on the ships that have her installed. As no one believes her, she keeps being re-set and waking up with the feeling that something is just not quite right.
Is this a case of malfunction tech, or is there something brewing in outer space?

It took me a bit to get into the story as I was getting used to the manner in which the AI systems communicated. I really enjoyed how it all unfolded and felt genuine upset for Demeter, who's trying so hard to be a good AI and keep her humans alive. I appreciated how the author explained all the background stories of the characters and slowly revealed how some of them were connected throughout the ages. I laughed and got a bit emotional at the end. The main characters are delightfully weird, and I loved them.

This is a book about a spaceship AI trying to get revenge after a vampire killed all its passengers. With the exception of one of the romances that felt very rushed (because most of it happened off-page, during a time skip), I really like everything this book had to offer. From the very likeable characters to the fast-paced plot, the combination of those things makes it very easy for readers to go through this book quickly, even though at 400+ pages, it's not the shortest book, but it can definitely feel like it (in the best possible way that leaves you wanting more). The writing is also generally excellent, very readable in a pulpy way while still being good prose, with the exceptions of some modern references that threw me off, like the mention of Pilates. Overall, an excellent monster sci-fi reads for people who like not-so-cozy space opera.