Thank you to NetGalley, Maddie Martinez, and Tor Books for allowing me to read this ARC.

I do truly love any book reminiscent of folklore or folklore adjacent. Maddie has done an excellent job turning a fascinating blurb into an even better story.

Malka, the oldest daughter and main character, lives in a village with a monster in the forest. After losing her best friend, her anger and frustration with this forest grows. When circumstances align, she and several other characters decide to venture into the dark wood to capture the monster— For good.

The sapphic twist on the age old monster vs human is fabulous, and I personally believe it is incredibly difficult to find a good sapphic read these days. Especially in the fantasy realm.

I gave this book a 4 star because at times, things move a little slowly. While I generally don’t mind slow burn, or overall slow pace, there were several points in the story (namely approx 40% through) that I very much wanted things to get moving.

I look forward to seeing what else Maddie will release.

Where to begin. I know Hebrew so understanding the text wasn't the issue, but a lot of the world building here reads really off. In places the Hebrew is incorrect ("simcha shachar" is not grammatically correct, "Baba" is not grandfather in Hebrew) and I cannot get over the fact that one of the "nicknames" for Malka is "Yedid Nefesh," it was distractingly silly. For context, "Yedid Nefesh" is not a pet name, it's a liturgical poem traditionally sung on Shabbat. It winds up reading like, "Hi, my name is Christina, but my sister calls me O Come All Ye Faithful," with zero irony. There were a bunch of things in this vein that I think most Jewish readers will clock as off, and I think if you're going to use a language people speak and a living culture as the basis for an SFF story, authenticity and accuracy should matter a bit more. The book would have benefitted from a sensitivity reader

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC! The Maiden and Her Monster is a dark and haunting retelling of the Golem of Prague. Make sure you read the content warning before starting! (I did not!) The world-building was dark and beautiful. I just had a disconnect with the characters. That has nothing to do with the story itself. I just had different expectations going into the novel. Overall, it was not for me. But it is a worthwhile read for those who like a darker fantasy!

An enchanting debut that is both lush and immersive. THE MAIDEN AND HER MONSTER weaves folklore, yearning, and dark atmosphere all into one lyrical Fantasy novel

A gorgeous, atmospheric debut fantasy that reimagines the Jewish myth of golem in a tale rooted in history, folklore, and sapphic romance—perfect for fans of Katherine Arden, Ava Reid, Hannah Whitten, and Naomi Novik.

THE MAIDEN AND HER MONSTER is a masterpiece of a debut. This is one of the most impactful and close-to-the-heart stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and it brought me to tears with its profundity.

This book features a glorious canopy of Jewish folklore, sapphic romance, and the enchanting allure of a sentient forest.

Overall, I truly enjoyed reading The Maiden and Her Monster. It reminded me very much of Ava Reid's The Wolf and the Woodsman.

I received a free copy from Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Publish date September 9th, 2025.

I requested this book because I was intrigued by the concept of a sapphic retelling of the golem story. In The Maiden and Her Monster, fantasy Jewish Malka's village is beset by a monster that lives in the forest, preventing them from meeting the cruel tithes. When Malka's mother is accused of sacrificing a fantasy Christian girl, Malka makes a desperate deal to enter the forest and kill the monster in exchange for her mother's life.

The Maiden and Her Monster is a book that's very explicitly about faith, from Malka's ties to her culture to the faith-based magic system written in Hebrew. While Martinez might call them Ozmini and Yahadi, the world is clearly based on conflicts between Christians and Jewish people somewhere in late medieval eastern Europe. This conflict is depicted broadly and brutally, from the knights imposing an impossible tax, to the Yahadi people murdered, to the patches Malka and her friends are forced to wear in the city to identify that they are Yahadi. Like the conflict, characters are written as broad archetypes. The cruel knight who uses his strength to brutalize, the poisonous and sinister bishop, the wise and mystical Maharal, Malka's loyal and courageous friends.

Malka herself is notably young and inexperienced. Although she's 23, her unmarried status means she lives in her parent' household with her younger sisters. She has strong opinions about morality and faith, but her opinions are raw and untested, and it's clear that she pulls them directly from what she was told as a child rather than making her principles her own. While her romance with the golem Nimrah is interestingly complicated by the magic emotional bond they are forced to create, it is also defined by a petulant push-and-pull squabble that feels very young. Combined with the relatively straightforward plot progression, Malka's characterization made the novel slightly more YA flavored than I personally prefer.

The Jewish setting, fairy-tale plot, and combative sapphic romance makes this an excellent read for people who enjoyed A Dark and Drowning Tide by Alison Saft. While I was personally enchanted by the premise, I found the execution not to my taste, and I'm not sure I'm interested in reading other books by Martinez.

First and foremost, thank you to Tor Publishing for the e-ARC and the opportunity to review one of the most anticipated reads of 2025. I've been following Maddie on Twitter since the drafting stages of The Madien and Her Monster, to dive into this book in it's final form was such an honor.

For those who enjoy an immersive worldbuilding experience and characters who are willing to defend their livelihoods and loved ones, you will greatly enjoy following Malka on her journey of self-discovery while drawing closer to the culture she knows and loves. Based on the legend of the Golem of Prague, Martinez intricately weaves a new tale based on folktales from old. Nimrah contends with the sole purpose of protecting the Yahad people, regardless of what consequences are at play. There is reflection, anger, and desire.

Worldbuilding can personally be a hit or miss, but in this case, Martinez hit it right on the head. From introducing cultural elements to political conflict, I found myself immersed and wanting to dive deeper into the story as everything unfolded. There are aspects of violence, as political conflict never is without and it would be an injustice to shy away from that fact. Every element of this book is carefully woven together.

When it came to the pacing, I struggled just a bit. There would be moments where it would slow down a bit too far and I could feel myself pulling away from the tale more than I would personally enjoy. Repeated themes, especially with Malka and her turmoil regarding her relationship with using Kefsha, while vital to the tale, had moments of coming up too close back to back for my liking, especially when her standpoint had not changed. But once all the characters really started challenging their realities I was able to get back into it.

Overall, I think this book is a wonderful choice for anyone who wants a well-rounded book, immersed with dynamic characters, and intricate storytelling and YES we do have ROMANCE!!!! Trust me if you like pining and love interests who find each other insufferable at the start, you'll enjoy watching this romance unfold.

"Belief is not meant to be wielded as a political weapon."
"Then why is it the most powerful sword, and the sharpest knife?"
I am in debt to NetGalley for providing me with an opportunity to read this incredible debut novel. Realistically, it's more around a 4.25-4.3 star read for me, but it is so strong as a debut that I feel compelled to give Maddie Martinez her due. I don't think I've read a debut I liked so much since The Wolf and the Woodsman, and I am so excited to see what she does next.
This is a book with conflict that grows in scale and stakes in a very satisfying way, the romance subtly growing alongside it. It balances political and religious machinations with horror and emotional gut punches. My only complaint with the book is that you're truly only in the woods for about half of it, and I missed the lovely descriptions of eldritch creatures once we were in the city. I've seen a couple reviews saying that the words in different languages were hard to follow, but I had absolutely no problem with them, and the author has a helpful glossary here: https://www.maddiemartinez.com/books/the-maiden-and-her-monster/glossary.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book due to not being able to understand what was going on with the language and the characters from the very beginning of the book. It was very dry and not what I was anticipating at all, the cover of the book was very beautiful and drew me in but the content did not match.

Reminiscent of the Winternight Trilogy and Spinning Silver, The Maiden and her Monster weaves a rich folkloric fantasy steeped in Jewish tradition and mysticism. Malka lives in a village that borders a monstrous forest, a forest that swallows Yahidi women and spits out their mangled corpses. When her mother is accused of murdering an Ozmini woman Malka ventures into the forest to find the creature within and prove her mother's innocence. Malka's quest will take her into the heart of the forest and beyond, where she discovers schemes even crueler than the evil hiding amidst the trees.

My only real critique is the somewhat clumsily handled enemies-to-lovers romance between Malka and Nimrah. The enemies-to-lovers trope really has to toe the line when it comes to true hatred and disgust and that transition to attraction, and I wasn't entirely compelled by its deployment here. The early connection between Nimrah and Malka seems to rely purely on physical attraction - an "I hate you but my heart races when you touch me" sort of situation that I have a hard time buying into. Fortunately, that connection does change in meaningful ways and the back half of "The Maiden and Her Monster" finishes strong.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a physical copy in September!

This book is filled with grief and hope; Jewish folklore; sapphic romance, political intrigue; and some interesting magic. I very much enjoyed this read.


*Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for the eARC.

I’m such a lover of lush folklore tales, and this did not disappoint! This is a book I know I can easily recommend to lovers of Ava Reid or A B Poranek.

Slow burn enemies to lovers romance set before the backdrop of a horror/fantasy. The writing was very beautiful, matching the exquisite cover.

This is a dark, emotionally weighty story rooted in folklore and political allegory. Suspenseful and densely written, it draws clear influence from Jewish storytelling traditions, with themes of persecution, identity, and survival. The monster character is human enough to appeal even to readers who aren’t usually drawn to the monster romance genre.

The romantic connection at the heart of the story didn’t feel fully developed, and the magical bond between the characters lacked emotional grounding. While there are brief romantic and sensual elements, they’re extremely minimal in my opinion. A secondary male character felt unnecessary to the plot and was so detached from the central narrative that I occasionally forgot he was even present in scenes.

As someone outside of the Jewish faith, I can’t speak to which elements are traditional and which are original, but the allegorical layer is prominent and clearly draws on historical oppression. That said, some of the conflict felt a bit one-note, with antagonists whose motivations read as flat and overly evil.
Overall, this will likely resonate most with readers who appreciate dark themes, allegorical storytelling, and political or religious subtext woven through a suspenseful folklore tale.

4/5

In The Maiden and Her Monster, Maddie Martinez reimagines the Jewish myth of The Golem of Prague, connecting the power of folklore, memory, and faith in one transformative fantasy debut. Now I know I am not the only one that has been eagerly awaiting this novel ever since Maddie Martinez first announced it. Sapphic romance intimately connected to folklore, a monstrous forest, and romantic yearning is like Cupid’s arrow aimed directly at my heart. Martinez more than delivers with The Maiden and Her Monster, as a Yahadi healer and a monstrous Golem bargain to save their people and uncover a love they will risk everything for. The Maiden and Her Monster intricately lays bare the conflicting facets of storytelling, from those that connect a larger community and its struggles, to those built, in effect, to justify violence and oppression. Scattered across the narrative, these folktales expand upon Martinez’s inquiry into identity and the long-lasting endurance of a people. Enveloped in history and folklore, The Maiden and Her Monster hides much behind the overgrowth of one twisted forest, if one is courageous enough to venture into its gaping maw.

Trekking through an evil forest responsible for killing dozens of women while falling in love with the monster within is merely the enticing surface to Maddie Martinez’s debut fantasy novel. But like the dense and twisted forest Mavetéh, Martinez’s debut hides much within the background and the only way to uncover it is to brave the forest, and the monsters, within. Through Malka, a young woman desperate to slay the monster and return to a semblance of normalcy, Martinez illustrates a community’s pain as a representation of more deliberate, systemic injustices, than a singular evil that can be defeated with just one blow. A work long endeavored, but no less important in undertaking as this novel draws to a close. The Maiden and Her Monster sees stories take on a life of their own, becoming the extent of a people and the complex tapestry of history reinterpreted and retold. A Jewish fantasy novel abundant in history, politics, and faith, The Maiden and Her Monster is exactly the kind of story that will endure long after its initial telling. Maddie Martinez is the kind of talent that doesn’t emerge often, and I am overwhelmingly feral for anything she writes next.

My full review is now published on my blog!

What a luscious and atmospheric debut! Gorgeously written, beautiful and poetic. Sapphic romance, enchanted forests, and Jewish folklore all mixed into one vibrant story. I cannot wait to see what Maddie Martinez has in store for future tales!

The Maiden and Her Monster is a retelling of the story of the golem of Prague. In this version, our main character Malka has to venture into the magical forest outside her village to slay the monster terrorizing her people. If she brings back the dead monster, her oppressors say they will spare the life of her mother. As the story goes on, the stakes get higher and the scope gets larger.

As a Jewish person, I really loved the large focus on Jewish mythology and found myself entranced by the narrative. I felt really represented reading this book and it helped me feel more connected to my culture in a world constantly trying to make me feel disconnected.

If you liked Ava Reid’s The Wolf and the Woodsman, I’d definitely try this book. They are both some of the best Jewish representation I’ve read in a long time.

The weakest part of this book for me was the romance, which I did not find to be compelling. I knew going in that there would be a sapphic romance between Malka and the golem Nimrah, and I kept waiting for their dynamic to be developed so the romance would make sense, and then suddenly they were in love and I couldn’t see what precipitated it. I wish the book had been longer and they had more scenes together that weren’t just Malka spitting insults at Nimrah.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the ARC of this book.

This was such a highly anticipated story for me, as a huge fan of religious folklore and retellings. Maddie dives deep into the lush and beautiful mysticism with plenty of drama, sapphic romance, and history. Thank you so much to Netgalley for the eARC.

A beautiful story of love, friendship, fierce belief in faith, and how truth can be twisted to become nothing more than folklore. The Maiden and Her Monster is a mix of cultural myths and stories interwound with a new fantasy world. It’s a story of faith and virtue and how our prejudices control our fear.

The daughter of a healer, Malka, enters the woods that have been claiming the lives of women in her village so that she can prove that her mother is innocent of their deaths and to help save her people from an oppressive church. What she finds is more than she bargained for.

This book is atmospheric with a dark fairytale feel. The writing is beautiful and the story gripping. I did give this 4 stars instead of 5 because the languages used and the cultural folklore made the story confusing at times though I still feel it is a great read!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the digital ARC copy of this book.

The maiden and her monster is one of my anticipated reads of 2025, and I regret to say it didn't meet my expectations.

This is a story about grief, religions, and fighting against your oppressors. At first, I thought we'd spend the majority of the book in the forest, but it only took up a small portion, the rest was spent in the capital city. I didn't realize religions played a heavy part in the magic system, and since I’m not religious at all, I found myself bored for the majority of the book.

There's a lot of infodumping and non-English words. Within the context of the book, I could understand most of the words. However, I think the world building needs to be fleshed out more, and there should be a glossary or a list of characters at the end of the book.

The romance is another let down. I couldn't see the chemistry between Malka and Nimrah at all. One minute they're antagonizing each other, the next they're falling in love already. There's no buildup to make their feelings believable, no tension to make me root for them, and no reason for them to fall for each other. Also, Malka was so rude towards Nimrah. I can handle enemies to lovers, but I can't stand it when Malka’s religious views made her look like a bigot. Then towards the end, she suddenly had a change of heart out of nowhere. As for Nimrah, I didn't have any strong opinions about her, and she's definitely not a monster, which is another disappointing aspect, as I was looking forward to a morally grey character.

I think it's an interesting choice to make this world queer norm even though other discriminations exist. Racism, antisemitism, misogyny, and violence against minorities are incorporated in this story, and it's definitely not an easy read. Malka and Nimrah suffered a lot from bigotry, so I think the author didn't want to make them suffer from homophobia as well.

Overall, this book is not for me, but it may work for anyone who is interested in how religion shapes the magic system.