2.5

I initially requested this because the synopsis had me sold. It sounded like a revenge story which slowly got weirder and weirder and in the end I felt like I had absolutely no idea what this was.

My main issue was the writing style! I can say the writing and me were definitely not best friends throughout this reading experience. Which left me struggling to get into this and immerse myself in the experience because the writing felt so jarring to me. I couldn’t connect to anything going on and I found the main character to be increasingly infuriating.

I will say I think some people will absolutely love this, unfortunately it just wasn’t for me :(

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read in exchange for an honest review!

Sarah Langan, I was not familiar with your game.

I've had one or two books by this author on my TBR for awhile now, and now I can't believe I didn't get to them sooner, because this was so great. It's exactly the type of writing style that I devour. It was short enough to finish in one day and I would have read it in one sitting if I could have. It really took a turn (a few turns) that I wasn't expecting, it got weird and heavy and a bit surreal, and I loved every page of it. I also wasn't expecting to have this book make me tear up over trauma and friendship but it got me good.

Despite being a relatively short read, Pam Kowolski is a Monster! Packs a punch. This novella follows Janet, Pam's former classmate and self-imposed archenemy. Her life hasn't turned out the way she wanted tit o, and she hardly has a thing to show for it. However, Janet is certain that this is somehow all Pam's fault because she had done something cruel to Janet in high school. Now, many years later, Janet is surprised to realise that the same Janet Kowolski she's despised all this time is the same TV psychic Madam Pamela she's seen on screen many times. This revelation spurs Janet into action. How could Pam be so successful when she'd never realized her dreams of becoming a journalist? Janet is determined to finally write an article worth acclaim and take down Pam Kowolski at the same time... because Pam's a monster... isn't she?

I was so fascinated with this book. Janet is not a feel-good protagonist. She is bitter and carries one hell of a chip on her shoulder. She was meant for big things, and yet she's just a college dropout in her forties. In her head, she feels as though she can pinpoint everything going wrong to something mean Pam did to her in high school. Janet convinces herself that if she can expose Pam as the fraud she knows she i, then her life will somehow reverse course. However, the more Janet digs into the mystery of psychic Madam Pamela, the less things are as they seem. Janet reaches out to old teachers and people who knew Pam then and now in hopes of finding out some hidden truth. All the while, reality seems to be unraveling around her and it's all tied to Pam and some big reveal she plans to show the world.

I found Janet to be so interesting. She remembers things about her life and others in a way that does not meet the reality she uncovers. She wants to disprove Pam’s psychic abilities as a sham. The more she digs, however, the more Janet starts to believe.

I enjoyed the concept of this story, although the overall outcome of it left a lot to be desired. Janet was a fairly unlikeable character throughout the novel - she was judgmental and selfish. I thought the storyline was unique and I liked where the story was trying to go, however, I think that the ending was underwhelming. Janet’s character was redeemed by the final page, but, with all the exposition, the finale didn’t quite work as hard to wrap it up. The story was well-woven, it just wasn’t an exciting ending. It was slightly disappointing given the plot.

I rarely give out five-star reviews, but this novella was an absolute banger. It has unexpectedly become one of my favorite reads this year. I've already pre-ordered my physical copy.

The story is told from the perspective of would-be journalist Janet Chow. Bitter and dissatisfied with her life, Janet is reflecting on where she went wrong when she sees her old class mate on TV. Norm-core Pam Kowalski is now a celebrity psychic living a life of fame and fortune. Janet sets her sights on revenge, determined to bring down her old rival and revive her journalism career by exposing Pam as the fraud she is. Janet must revisit their youth and shared childhood memories to build her case. Along the way she starts to wonder if the truth is much scarier than Janet expected.

This story is creepy, heartfelt, and wonderful. I highly recommend. Thank you to RDS Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!

this was phenomenal. a story that unexpectedly had me in a choke hold. a story about trauma, odd supernatural elements, and friendship that made me genuinely emotional. the writing was great, it felt like the perfect length for what it was. thank you to the publishers for the ARC!!

If you're a a fan of Ainslie Hogarth, Mona Awad, or Jen Beagin then Pam Kowolski Is a Monster is the perfect book for you.

We follow Janet Chow, 20-ish years after high school, who once had dreams of becoming a whisleblowing journalist but now works a menial dead-end warehouse job. One night while watching television, she comes across a show about a psychic that claims to be able to channel the dead and offers reunions for grieving families. But wait she looks familiar.... is that Pam Kowolski from high school!? Pam is the girl that ruined Janet's high school life and Janet is ready for some revenge. Her form of revenge? Writing a hit piece on why Pam Kowolski is a monster and a fraud.

What a strange amazing ride this was. I love surrealist literature so when I read the plot blurb I was immediately like "Yep sign me up" and I'm so glad that I was able to read this. It starts off as a surrealist revenge trip but then executes one of the best genre shifts I have ever read in my life. It becomes much more weirder and darker and it happens so naturally that I didn't even notice it really.

I don't want to say too much since I believe going into this novel knowing as little as possible is the best way of approaching this. It's a short read but it kept my engagement the whole time and I can't wait to revisit it and check out Sarah Langan does in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
I love the cover art for this text. This was a quick read and I was pulled in right away. Mystery, surrealism, repressed memories, and an unreliable narrator. The weird lit girlies are going to love this. Janet made for an interesting MC in all of her complexities and exploration of past hurts. The ending was abrupt. I wanted more of a conclusion; something more definitive that brought all of the story's intriguing ideas together. I also wanted to hear more from Pam once Janet finally came face to face with her again. Overall, I recommend checking out this novella when it releases on May 21st!

This novella certainly packs a punch—my heart raced at concerning speeds through the last third and I had nightmares all night. So thanks but no thanks for making me drag myself through life on this fine Monday!!

Though at times it leaned towards flowery and sentimental when the narrator was trying to be emotionally affecting, particularly at the start, overall this was really enjoyable prose. Pam Kowolski is a Monster! is fast-paced, intriguing and funny but also bleak and spooky. Glossing over the human and technological disasters happening in the background is enough to add to the dire atmosphere. In fact one thing I loved was the near-future setting, familiar enough but allowing for small (and ominous) technological advances that seemed uncomfortably possible. The build-up towards the end was really effective, perhaps it was inevitable that the ending would feel abrupt. There's not a lot of resolution, which doesn't bother me that much, but I would imagine it might disappoint some readers.

I was reminded of Rogue and Patricia Wants to Cuddle, not sure why exactly since Pam Kowolski has little to do with any of them so maybe ignore me. I’d recommend this to those who want a quick fix of horror and love a deplorable narrator.

Pam Kowalski is a monster. Initially, it feels like a revenge story, but it slowly spirals into something much weirder—and I loved every second of it. It’s unhinged, weird, and gory, sprinkled with humor. The plot twists aren’t jaw-dropping, big revelations, but rather small, unexpected moments that left me stunned, making the read even more enjoyable.

Sarah Langan did a wonderful job with this story—it was way better than I imagined. Also, I love the cover!

So, if you enjoy dark comedy, gore, and horror, this 120-page novella is for you.

Thanks NetGalley and Sarah Langan for giving me a copy of this book to read.

Sarah Langan really gave us something special here. We meet Janet, who feels deeply wronged by Pam Kowalski. Janet's bite-sized, unhinged journey for revenge also comes with some unexpected heart. Are things always as we remember them? Or are we victims of our own hells we create in our heads? Sarah combines humor & some dark themes into a mind-bending, weird read and I loved it. We stan a petty queen hehe. There is a lot to unpack in this novella and I will be thinking about it for awhile. Thank you to Raw Dog Screaming Press and NetGalley for the ARC. Definitely give this a read when it publishes May 21, 2025!

I received a Netgalley ARC. This review is my honest opinion.

Pam Kowalski is a Monster is a story about repressed memories, long-held grudges, and quite possibly the end of the world. It's told my an unreliable and often unpleasant narrator. In the end, it was truly moving.

I was interested in reading this title, because I've traditionally thought of Sarah Langan as a reliable author for thoughtful angsty horror. This is a novella.

For a while it felt like killer fungi was the go-to in horror. I also had a streak where I kept picking up books with dying parents with cognitive decline. Lately, for reasons that aren't hard to discern, books have been more hopeless and apocalyptic, with characters who know it's all over soon but who still have to make dinner tonight.

Janet was once all "bright-eyed and busy-tailed" as my grandmother would have said, and then life and deep traumas happened. When we meet her she is a disillusioned and rather selfish adult who works at a warehouse and still clings to the remnants of a failed journalism career.

She sees a clip of a very successful psychic and for the first time recognizes her as a girl she knew growing up who she blames for ruining her deliberately ruining her opportunity to get into Northwestern and who did something -- an unnamed something -- very cruel and humiliating to her, which Janet can't quite remember.

Pam, the psychic, has a big event on the horizon -- who have no idea! -- and Janet figures this is her opportunity to write a hit piece to even the score.

It's obvious in a couple pages Janet doesn't remember why she is so angry and that she likes no one and no one likes her. The story is a largely a filling in of the blanks for Janet, and for the readers, and as the story is brought into focus both Janet and the reader must reevaluate.

I found myself liking Janet more as I got a fuller understanding. She really had been though a lot of trauma, just not quite what she portrays. Also, the world aint doing so hot and the spiritual world seems to be gunning for her.

Some of the story felt familiar, if no less creepy, since I have been reading tonally and thematically similar stories, as I've mentioned, where things get increasingly bizarre, with increased death and deterioration, and the temporary survivors quieting take the new normal in stride.

Relatable.

Along with those every day horrors, the story is steadily creepy and occasionally horrific, with more than 1 gruesome act of self-annihilation. The ending felt poignant and, in a strange way, triumphant.

Pam Kowalski is a Monster was a rewarding read for me, and it amazes me that Sarah Langan isn't a bigger name since she is never let me down.

Pam Kowolski is a Monster! by Sarah Langan was a wild, unsettling ride that had me questioning reality right alongside the characters. The story follows Janet, a struggling journalist who decides to investigate her old high school rival, Pam Kowolski. Pam isn’t just any former classmate—she’s now a famous online psychic making a fortune by predicting apocalyptic events. What starts as a simple attempt to expose Pam’s act quickly turns into something much darker, as Janet digs into their shared past and uncovers truths that are far more disturbing than she ever expected.

From the beginning, I was hooked by the eerie, almost dreamlike quality of Langan’s writing. She does a fantastic job weaving together psychological tension with emotional depth, making Janet’s journey feel both personal and terrifying. The pacing was perfect—each revelation came at just the right moment to keep me guessing, while the mix of mystery and dark humor kept the story from feeling too heavy.

What really stood out to me was the way Langan explored memory and how it can be warped by trauma. Janet’s perspective felt raw and real, especially as she grappled with her own doubts and the weight of her past. The story’s blend of psychological horror and strange, almost cosmic elements added an extra layer of unease that lingered long after I finished reading.

Overall, Pam Kowolski is a Monster! was a unique and gripping read that kept me thinking even after I turned the last page. If you enjoy psychological horror with complex characters and a touch of the surreal, this is definitely worth picking up.

From the very first page, Pam Kowolski Is a Monster! hauled me in...every creepy moment. Sarah Langan’s writing is perfect. The style is sharp, engaging, and absolutely addictive.

I loved this book. It felt so fresh and unique, and even though the main character is objectively awful, I couldn’t get enough of her. Being inside her head was a wild, fascinating ride. It’s eerie, suspenseful, and unsettling in a way that feels now.

The pacing is spot on, keeping me hooked the entire time. It perfectly blends mystery, dark humour, and unexpected emotional depth.

If you love unsettling and thought-provoking books, this is a must-read.

Oof! Loved the synopsis, but could absolutely not engage with the material.
I found the beginning very drawn out, with a detestable narrator that I kept wanting to shout at. This ruined the reading experience for me, and I kept forcing myself to finish this story despite it not being that long.

The author is a fantastic writer, but this book and I just didn’t get along.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and RDS Publishing for a copy!

oh, how I adore weird, genre-bending, fever dream books that randomly drop gut wrenching lines whiplashing you into the pangs of living and how all humans are such intricate, complicated beings, so maybe we should be a little bit nicer to each other, yeah? This was an interesting take on how trauma paints our versions of reality, I just wish it was a bit weirder and the build up lasted longer

The cover, title and blurb all drew me into this book, and I’m so glad it did not disappoint.

Janet is an unlikeable yet relatable main character who is angry about her own unfulfilled potential while holding onto jealousy about an old school friend. The representation of competition amongst female friends and jealousy was reminiscent of Yellowface in the beginning but ended up going down a much weirder and more surreal path.

Janet is a somewhat unreliable narrator, thanks mainly to her lack of memory from her childhood and her tendency to assume other people’s feelings or motives. It’s not always clear if this is down to her own psychic ability or if she is projecting her hatred for herself onto others and the world.

The fast pace, constant questions and unknown blanks in her memory kept me guessing throughout and the build up to a big reveal in an unravelling world kept me hooked.

I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed at the ending. While I don’t think we needed to be given all the answers it did feel a bit rushed and I would have loved for this to be a longer book so this could have been executed better, also could have explored some of the other characters and fleshed out some other areas of the story.

All in all I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a quick read, that is as unhinged as it is dark. Will be looking out for more from this author in the future.

3.5☆ Fast-paced and cinematic novella! I could see this working incredibly well as a film, but it falls a bit short for me as a novella. I love the author's style, and I really appreciate the world she has built here. However, this novella feels overstuffed and unmanageable. We don't spend a lot of time on most of the events that occur in it. Additionally, the end was abrupt and incredibly anticlimactic. While I am excited to read more from this author, this piece didn't quite work for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and RDS Publishing for the ARC

This fast-paced horror/revenge novella is a story of Janet, whose life didn't turn out how she imagined, and she places the blame squarely on high school classmate Pam Kowolski. As Janet seeks her revenge 20 years later, she delves deep into her memories to remember what exactly happened back then while strange events begin to happen to everyone around her. Weird and unhinged, but quick and grossly fascinating.

Janet Chow blames Pam Kowolski for an incident in high school which propelled her life toward a dead end job and an unfulfilled life. When she learns Pam is living large as a psychic with a huge following, Janet decides to bring her down with the power of the pen. But the evidence shows that Pam might have some real powers and the Big Reveal pay-per-view event might just put the world in peril.

Janet’s character arc is brilliantly constructed and her revenge plans act as the perfect catalyst for her to unpack her past and lean into her journalistic dreams. She begins the story with a mindless job as an order picker at an Amazon-like company and wishing her aging punk rock roommate dead. Picking at the past, however, gives her insight and drives her to face it, and Pam, head on.

Langan paints a bleak future with its AI influence and society’s self destruction, which makes the perfect landscape for the story. Not only does Langan make Janet and Pam complex, the secondary characters such as Janet’s roommate, stepmother, and former teachers are beautifully constructed. The chapter titles are super fun, especially the fitting final one “The Monster at the End of the Story.” The horror elements are strong and so is the story’s heart.

I highly recommend this lean, mean, and darkly hilarious horror novella.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Raw Dog Screaming Press for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.