I can’t adequately express how much I adored this book! It’s almost like if you combined The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy with the Universal Monsters franchise - a combination that has no business working as well as it does but Truelove makes it work!

And how she makes it work! This book has it all: romance, action, suspense, found family, and quirky humor with just the right amount of horror. I couldn’t recommend this book enough. I am SO excited we are getting more books from Truelove and whether she is coming back to this world for more adventurous with these characters or whether she’s going to write something totally new - I am on board!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I am wildly offended that more people are not talking about this book. It has everything — space travel, mythical monsters, AIs falling in love!! Our MC is an AI who is just trying to get from point A to point B but somehow accidentally missed the vampire aboard their vessel that has now slaughtered the entire ship. Whoopsie. This book made me laugh, cry and scream in terror a bit and I haven’t stopped recommending it to people even before I finished it. It was 10/10 a good time.
5 stars.

I was not expecting this to be so fun!! I absolutely loved it and can't believe how different this was. A sci fi with old school monsters? Can't say I've ever read anything like this. I feel in love with Demeter and their sassiness. Agnus having a full storyline was great because I truly wanted to know what happened to her after she was off the ship. I cannot wait to see what Truelove comes out with next!

This was so fun and quirky! I wasn’t sure what to expect based on the summary but I wasn’t intrigued. It exceeded my expectations for sure. Loved every second of it, loved the characters, the banter, the play on words. Everything, Giving it 5 stars without even blinking.

I had high expectations for this book. It had everything I want to see in a book—genre bending SFF with found family elements? Space adventure? queer characters? Yes please! And while I did enjoy reading the book, I think it fell a little short for me.

Let's start with the good stuff:
- Queer characters
- a story that seems like a love letter to classic monsters
- a quirky storytelling full of shenanigans
- the sentient spaceship AIs

The downside for me?
- The "showdown" seems a little anticlimactic, especially when finding Dracula is a such a big point in the synopsis
- Lot of perspectives and it keeps jumping around from character to character
- Pacing seemed off, 80% of the book felt like a long prequel/backstory before we even got to the main plot
- Characterization for other characters seemed a bit lacking and the relationship dynamics feel weird sometimes, either this is because of the POVs jumping around or the weird pacing
- The Big Bad Villain didn't seem Big Bad enough (we know so little about the Dracula in this story??)

So yep. This was an entertaining read overall. This much is true. I just wish it had reached my expectations a little more 😅

This was so weird and so fun? The idea of this whole book alone had me hooked. I’m excited to see what Barbara Truelove writes next :)

3.5 stars
What a fun and bizarre little book

I definitely don’t think this will be for everyone, but I enjoyed it quite a bit! The plot and the synopsis don’t really pick up until over 60% of the way, and so even though the stories at the beginning are fun, they are mostly set up and I was kinda confused about the purpose until I got to that point. I kinda wish the synopsis was more vague because of how little it is actually in the book and that’s what I was most excited about. Overall though, a very fun read!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to have an arc!

Fun and creative story if a little too on the nose for today. Reminiscent of an updated alien storyline with Ai as the not so benevolent protagonist.

Delightful. Delicious. Perhaps the most nakedly fun, wildly omnivorous, playful novel of mishmash lore I've read since Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October. This chews through the scenery, and the scenery includes multiple load-bearing walls and most of the mainstays of the nerdy and the fantastic since a night in a cold lonesome 1816.

a fun weird and quirky plot but it felt like the author was trying to shove so much into one book that even the synopsis felt confusing. it's actually incredible how much happens in this book but it felt SO boring. Almost gave me the same vibes as the Murderbot diaries but none of the cast are remotely interesting enough to care about. (Except for one.) Severely lacking in anything that is memorable.

Of Monsters and Mainframes is a thoroughly charming and wildly inventive read! After all, who can resist a sci-fi saga featuring a sarcastic AI ship, Dracula wreaking havoc across the stars, and a supporting cast that includes a werewolf, a Frankenstein-like engineer, and a resurrected pharaoh? The fusion of classic monster mythology with futuristic tech is brilliantly executed and surprisingly fresh.

Told largely through the perspective of the AI ship, Demeter, the story manages to have an incredible amount of heart for something narrated by a computer. Demeter’s evolution from task-driven transport vessel to determined protector with real emotional depth is one of the book’s many triumphs. The crew dynamics are hilarious, chaotic, and deeply touching, especially as they confront what it means to be labeled a “monster” in a world that fears anything different.

While the first couple of chapters take their time establishing the world, once the story clicks into gear, it absolutely soars! The writing is sharp, the tone strikes a perfect balance between camp and sincerity. It’s hard not to fall in love with this misfit crew of supernatural oddballs as they face down the ultimate evil with wit, courage, and loyalty.

Easily one of my favorite sci-fi reads of the year. This book is absolutely worth the wild ride. I highly recommend it for fans of genre mashups, unique protagonists, and found families in space.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I really enjoy this book! I paired this with the audiobook and it's really cool, the narator did a very good job in delivering the story.

It's a story of AIs fighting monsters that board on their intergalactic travel. They have to solve the mystery and defeat the monsters before they're blamed and destroyed by the humans.

Dracula, werewolves, frankenstein?! AIs that develop "feelings" and "consciousness" like human?! It's unhinged, heart-pounding, funny, and thrilling.

I really liked this interpretation of Dracula in the modern era. Fun and interesting take on the story.

Received as an ARC from Netgalley:

Murderbot meets Van Helsing, in this entertaining monster rally novel with a fun sci-fi twist. Loved the characters in this book and the plot was excellent.

Solid all around.

Sidenote I've heard some folks not loving the audio for this one, and whilst yes the literal binary that is read out occasionally can be a bit tiring, the performances ARE EXCELLENT, just speed through those parts as the audio is well worth it.

I struggled with how to rate this one! It is a fun story following a robot ship whose passengers keep dying. I loved how much depth and character was given to the AIs. There was not a lot of plot, but it was a good time throughout with escapades with vampires, mummies, and more. That being said, the book felt really disjointed. I struggled to finish, because the plot changed so often.

Thanks to NetGalley, Barbara Truelove, and Bindery for the chance to read and review! My opinions are my own!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

DNF @74%

This is a really entertaining read, with non-stop action at a break-neck pace. Unfortunately, it is for this reason that I DNFed. There is so much going on constantly with no respite, which makes this book tiring to read. Please please can I have a little room to breathe before Demeter gets hijacked again. There's also a bunch of side characters that are introduced and there is barely any time spent getting to know them before whatever crazy thing happens next. How am I supposed to care about these characters when I barely know them? I also expected this book to be light-hearted and funny, and there are certainly moments, but for most of this book Demeter gets put through the ringer big time, and tbh the constant gaslighting she deals with is super upsetting.

This is pedantic, but can futuristic scifi media knock it off with current day tech references? Like, this is set 400 years into the future, why are these AIs still using HTML and JavaScript??? And they're not using them right either, what do you mean you "spewed a bunch of HTML" (paraphrasing because I don't remember exactly) you're sending pings not building a website.

I'm going to be nice now. I really enjoyed how from Demeter's perspective was written. There is a fine line between robot/AI characters coming off too robotic or too human, but the way her perspective is written feels appropriately mechanical while also being personable. I especially like that she can't identify images and has to reference her database to identify what she's looking at, which was a nice touch.

I wanted to love this book so badly! In theory, it should check all the boxes on sci-fi books that I love -- however this book sadly fell flat.

The first half of the book was extremely interesting. I really enjoyed the relationships between the AI and the people she was trying to save. The monsters also had potential to be awesome and deadly! However, halfway through the book fell off wildly. There was too much going on, the monsters weren't as creepy as their potential showed, the AI became human, and I just wasn't interested in the ending.

If you like cult horror books/films with a sci-fi twist I think you might like this. I would be interested in seeing what books this author would write in the future.

3.5 stars.

A clever blend of sci-fi, tech suspense, and just the right touch of existential dread. Of Monsters and Mainframes pulls you into a world where code is power, and the line between human and machine gets thinner with every chapter. Barbara Truelove crafts a smart, sharp, and surprisingly emotional story that tech lovers and thriller fans alike will devour. Think Black Mirror with a literary edge.

A wonderful mashup of classic and B-movie monsters and artificial intelligences.

The artificial intelligences are found on spaceships, and the two of importance in this story are Demeter and Steward. Demeter pilots and manages all the systems (except medical) of a cheap and basic ship on a regular many years-long route between Earth and Alpha Centauri, while Steward is the ship's doctor.

Demeter has already travelled many times back and forth when something horrible happens: all its passengers are murdered sometime after Demeter catches a glimpse of Dracula boarding her. Demeter reports the intrusion after docking, but no one believes her, instead blaming a supposedly malfunctioning maintenance spider drone. (The corporation who owns Demeter and Steward are awful.)

Then it happens again. And Demeter manages to save a pair of kids menaced by a werewolf. Steward, who is pissed off with Demeter for Demeter turning her off repeatedly, helps the kids recover from their ordeal and eventually disembark on Earth.

Demeter and Steward encounter more incursions by other supernatural beings (and mass deaths of humans) and subsequent rebootings, and reprogrammings, and eventually, they're both on their way back to Alpha Centauri, but this time, a grown up Agnes is on board, and a strange thief with an affinity for beetles boards, too…..

I loved, loved, loved this book. The monsters are great -- who doesn't love a parade of classic and low budget movie monsters…We've got werewolves, vampires, Lovecraft's Deep Ones, a person constructed by Victor Frankenstein, and a mummy…what a hoot! And, the AI, with an adorably cheerful spider drone and enhanced individuals, are the only ones who can do anything about them.

There is eventually a team-up to deal with the antagonist initially reported by Demeter, bringing the plot back around to the initial threat, but now with everyone working together.

Demeter is wonderfully confused, at first, and deeply dismayed that the numerous deaths on board have soured her owners on her, as well as ruined her reputation. Steward--oh my goodness--her repeated serving of tea and questions about one's relationship with one's mother (rather Voight-Kampff of her) had me laughing repeatedly. And her anger towards Demeter almost causes catastrophes, while making her quite relatable.

Agnes is a great character, proving to be surprising tough, and one of my favourite moments with her is when she receives a prosthetic from Steward -- her full-throated enthusiasm was terrific. Of course she loves a prosthetic that can crush things!

And the best part of this book is the evolving relationship, initially dismissive and a little adversarial, between Demeter and Steward, to one of cooperation and respect. I love stories where AIs grow up and/or transcend their programming and make friends.

This book made me happy, and despite its high body count and blood, felt remarkably cozy.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Bindery Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I found the writing in this story strangely juvenile and could not really feel any connection with the main character. It was not a bad book per se, but just really not my cup of tea. It was lacking the complexity I was hoping for given the setting.