The Maiden and Her Monster reimagines the Jewish myth of golem that’s rooted in history, folklore and of course a sapphic romance.

My favorite part of this novel is that it felt very atmospheric specifically in the beginning when our main character was starting her adventure in the woods. I would pick reading this in the Fall time if you like catering your books to certain season! It had very heavy fairytale vibes which I have been loving lately.

Since this was marketed as having a sapphic romance I did think there was going to be more romance. I didn’t feel the build up on their connection so when it started to happen it didn’t feel believable. I wanted to love the romance so bad but it just wasn’t there for me.

Now, there were also a lot of words in here that I did not know what they meant and it was nice to have this book on my kindle to search up what they meant, however, I feel like in the beginning because of this it took me awhile to get into the story. .

Romances specifically spahhic fantasy romances have been something I have been on my immediate add to TBR lists this year and I knew when I saw The Maiden and Her Monster’s blurb that I needed to get my hands on it.
Overall I loved the premises but the story did turned more political than I thought it was going to. Normally I don’t mind it but my mind wasn’t in the right spot for it. I really thought it’s was interesting in the first part but after she meets Nimrah and then they end up in a city and out of the woods I started to lose more interst. I also thought the romance between the characters weren’t as strong as I would have liked it to have been.
Things I did like. I did like the world building. This is based off of Keyes’s folklore and I always find it fascinating. It makes me want to look more into the folklore itself as I am not well versed. I liked the prose. I really enjoyed the writing especially in the beginning.
I feel like I would have enjoyed this more if I had known more what I know now going into it for now my rating is 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for review purposes.

Thank you to Tor for the complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a fascinating fantasy that draws on Jewish folklore. I really enjoyed how the story came together, and how the characters developed throughout the story. I do think the pacing could have been a little more consistent and I wish the magic system had been a little more developed. But overall, I really enjoyed this and I can't wait to see what this author writes next!

I did not finish this book, but didn't feel it deserved any less than 3⭐️.

I appreciated the world building and use of magic in The Maiden and Her Monster, and loved all the mentions of herbs and plants for healing, as it is a special interest of mine. The Jewish mythology was incorporated well and clearly so much time and research went into this work, though I suspect some of the terminology and language was just made up, which made it a little hard to tell up from down.
Additionally, the pacing felt incredibly slow and I struggled to stay immersed in the story. The first part felt sort of like an extended prologue, with so much detail and conversation that I found myself having to work to stay focused. I expected the second part would pick up a bit in pacing, but that wasn't the case and the storyline didn't cause me to feel emotionally invested in the characters or their goals. I DNF'ed before 50%, and it feels incredibly important to say: please check out other reviews before you decide for yourself! A DNF for me could be a 5⭐️ for you!

An atmospheric dark fantasy reimagining the tale of the golem of Prague, this novel has very lush writing, but there was something about it I couldn’t quite get into, so about 3.75 stars.

Malka lives in a village where girls have recently been killed by a monster in the nearby forest. When her mother is falsely accused of being responsible by the church oppressing the village, Malka strikes a deal to capture the monster and prove her mother is innocent. But in the forest, Malka meets the golem, Nimrah, who is supposedly responsible. Malka then strikes a deal with Nimrah that she will help her reunite with the rabbi that created her if Nimrah will give herself up, and they go on a journey, where the plot expands into one with political machinations, magic, sapphic romance, and about religious freedom.

The blurb really only covers like 30% of the book, so I did feel slightly misled, as I was expecting this to be a more character-focused journey like the Bear and the Nightingale or Spinning Silver. It’s more politically-focused than I expected, which isn’t usually to my taste. It’s also quite dark, with dismemberment being pretty regular as well as death and blood and violence. The writing was pretty good, but I couldn’t help but think it didn’t quite live up to my expectations based on some of the authors it’s compared to. The middle felt kind of slow at times and I was never as immersed in this as I wanted to be.

I feel like I didn’t understand Malka as much as I wanted to. I understand the journey she’s going on, where she’s unsure of herself at the beginning but she grows, but some of her decisions along the way made no sense to me and felt too much like serving the plot. Nimrah was interesting, but I think it was a little predictable where she was headed so the layers we saw to her didn’t feel as satisfying as I wanted it to, like it felt pretty obvious that everyone just misunderstood her. The romance between them was a little sudden, like there wasn’t much development between them getting used to each other to lusting after each other. Definitely wanted more there so I could feel as invested as I wanted.

And yeah, the magic system and worldbuilding confused me. Lots of words borrowed from other languages or made up entirely, often times without much context to make it clear what it was talking about so there were entire sentences that just flew over my head. I usually don’t look up much stuff as I read so definitely is a me problem, but it seemed maybe a tad excessive. And the magic system seems to be vague on purpose based on the author’s note, which is fine, but it added to my confusion. I did enjoy the stories and Jewish folklore that are interspersed throughout, but I would’ve loved them even more if they were maybe written in the style of the person telling the story just to differentiate them.

The blurb sounded amazing and I made assumptions on what the story would be, which raised my expectations. Unfortunately it didn’t end up being what I had hoped for, but I do see people enjoying this. You’ll definitely learn a lot of Jewish folklore and customs from here, which was a highlight here.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Maiden and Her Monster is an incredible, vibrant adventure that explores timely resistance against theocracy and fascism through love; familiar, communal, platonic, and romantic. Maddie Martinez has created a beautiful world and fascinating magic system inspired by Jewish folklore and mysticism. Malka is a fantastic main character, flawed but still likable, and Nimrah makes a compelling broody enemies-to-lovers romantic interest. While the focus of the novel is more on the political drama and magic system, the slow-burn romance is still threaded skillfully throughout with a pay-off that’s worth the wait.

a lush fantasy rich in folklore. wish there had been more time spent in the creepy forest but otherwise very interesting political fantasy about how faith can be weaponized. also gae 💅

Special thank you to Tor and Netgalley for the advanced ebook in exchange for a review!
The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez
4.5/5
While it was the initial concept that drew me in: a forest that preys on women who venture in after dark, this story was so much bigger than I could have imagined. I will admit, I am not very well-versed in the Jewish faith or folklore, so most of what this story is based on is very new to me. I ended up finding this story completely fascinating and I could NOT put it down. It is very heavy and daunting to understand for the first 1/3 of the book, yes, but sticking through and learning ended up being so very rewarding.

It is such a beautifully written story about having hope and faith despite violence and oppression, as well as learning to let your own feelings come to the surface instead of shoving them down in order to take care of those around you. To me, this did not read as a debut novel at all. It was incredibly well written, and the way the story evolved was very intelligently put together. I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a fantasy twist!

Goodreads review is live, I will review this book on retailer websites once published!

I appreciate the opportunity to read this ARC, but it was the first book in a long time that I have not finished.

I was really excited to read this due to the description, but boy did I have a hard time. I knew it was a retelling of Jewish folklore, but reading it was so complicated. The names of everything were entirely too complex, so I spent a lot of time rereading to see what I missed, who was who, and what was what. It became frustrating and tedious. I also couldn't connect with Malka- sneaking into the woods to drink with the enemy... odd given the abuse her townspeople had just suffered and apparently do on a regular basis.

This was not the book for me.

despite me having an arc, this took me MONTHS to get through because i just didn’t connect with this book. the writing was nice and i really was excited for the magic and lore but the mc was a pain to go through this story with. the relationship felt so bland. like there’s sexual chemistry there but ask me about anything else and i question why they’re together. this is the type of book that doesn’t leave an impression on you, it will fade from your mind in a couple days. you miss nothing by skipping it. and i know this sounds harsh but eh…after 70% it does get really interesting though and i binge read it pretty quickly. it’s not ALL bad, just very bland and underwhelming.

While I loved the rich folklore and the fantasy Jewish mysticism (known as Kefesh in this novel), the story was just... okay.

The summary only describes the first half of the novel, so just a heads up if you were hoping for a magical forest type of story for the entire book.

Nothing really stood out to me honestly. The storyline wasn't gripping. I didn't even care about the FMC and her problems.

The sapphic romance wasn't all that interesting either. There was a lot of tension, but not the romantic kind. I wasn't even sure why they liked each other, other than the fact that this was basically a forced proximity trope.

The first half of the novel was just Malka and co. traipsing through the creepy woods on a manufactured quest that lost its focus halfway through the story. Then there was a tonal shift in the second half of the book when the main plotline switches up. That was a lot more interesting than the forest stuff. It kept me entertained, so at least there's that.

I really liked the magic and lore surrounding Nimrah's creation story and her life since then. Hell, I wish this novel was written in Nimrah's POV. Or the Maharal's POV. Or a specific character in the second half (no spoilers). Sorry, Malka. You're not that interesting or compelling.

But alas, here we are.

The story itself was a 2 star. But the cool folklore stuff bumped it up another star. I actually wished this was a book of short stories about the Kefesh folklore instead. Do note that some of the folklore storytelling portions were pretty much infodumps. But I found them enjoyable.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for this arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

The Maiden and Her Monster is a touching Golem of Prague inspired fantasy that incorporates elements of Jewish storytelling and culture throughout. I loved the sapphic romance as well! I've seen reviews indicating that there is glossary on the author's website for the Hebrew, Czech, and fantasy words, which will be helpful especially for non-Jewish readers. I did find the mix of fantasy Jewish and real Jewish terms and lore a little distracting, but a more seasoned fantasy reader might be better at managing this real and new terminology.

Around the halfway mark, this book has a slight genre shift from an atmospheric woodsy fantasy to political intrigue (in a fantasy city). Again, I'm assuming a more seasoned fantasy reader might be more accustomed to this sort of thing, but I thought it made the book a bit less interesting. I was also left wanting a little more from Malka's relationship with Amnon: it seemed like this was introduced to present a conflict in Malka's romance with Nimrah, but this didn't end up really going anywhere.

Overall, this book is a great sapphic Jewish fantasy novel!!

The pacing in this storyline felt off - romance didn't happen until the latter half of the book, and it felt very rushed. I loved the idea of mixing Jewish culture and lore, but I struggled to get through this book.

A difficult book to rate and review, there was a lot I liked but it was perhaps not the forest core story I thought I was getting.

I love a retelling and the prose was good, as with any fantasy book there is a bit of a learning curve at the beginning learning the lore. I did not end up highlighting as many passages as I expected. But about 25% of the way thru we lost all the world building we had made and I felt like I started a new book.
We switched from forest core to politics really quick, and I really like both so I’m have trouble identifying why it was difficult for me. Maybe because it was so abrupt?

Lots of tell and not as much show as I would like, but I think the author has huge promise and I would read other novels by her!

2.5 stars

Expectations were not met and I’m sad. The only reason this didn’t put me in a reading slump is because I felt obligated to finish it since it’s an ARC. I probably should’ve DNFed when I realized I wasn’t enjoying but whatever.

- They keep talking about how the magic system is so complex and requires knowledge and studying but Malka becomes good at it immediately.
- You’re telling me I wasn’t supposed to think Malka was in love with Chaia? Honestly I ended the book still thinking they’d be better together than Malka and Nimrah.
- Where did the romance even come from? Malka and Nimrah just randomly started being attracted to each other for no good reason
- The amount of made up words and words in Hebrew or Czech was insane. It was so confusing and made it really hard to read. Also made world building infinitely harder to keep track of
- One of the major plot points was resolved not by the main characters and off the page
- So many helpful coincidences and things working out super neatly and easily
- I really think this book could’ve benefitted from also being told from Nimrah’s POV, we barely get to know her

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

Malka's village is in constant fear of monsters that live in the forest. Maidens who go in and stay until dark are never seen again or their bodies are found in hideous shape. When Malka's mother is accused of using witchcraft to kill a young woman, Malka takes it upon herself to prove that the monster in the forest is real and that her mother is innocent. What she finds in the forest, however, is not what she expected.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the opportunity of reading this book!

Knowing the state of the fantasy genre in the last years (disapppointing), I was not expecting such a beautifully told story based on old traditions and folklore, which can recall so much to nowadays happenings; so I was pleasantly surprised. I have decided to separate the review in 4 categories for it to be easier to understand.

: ̗̀➛ Plot: Although I ended up absolutely loving the story and how it developed, it was quite dfifficult to follow it at the beginning, due to how slow it felt. We start with some very shocking facts and happenings so the readers are left curious and wanting the novel to start revealing how things work, what is the reasoning behind the happenings etc., so from about 20% to 40% it can feel like "nothing" is happening, even though the characters are moving and advancing to get to an important point in the plot. I believe it can be important to know that, as I've seen many reviewers DNF the book before the 40% mark; knowing that the novel has a slow beginning but that it is important for you to then understand the point they will get to after this mark could spare somebody from DNFing such a wonderful book.

: ̗̀➛ Characters: Malka and Nimrah's stories, being the main characters, are carefully constructed as their own person but also as an enemies to lovers relationship. Althought many of the secondary characters have their own backstories, reasons, desires and fears and most of them to do feel flat, I would have liked to see their development a little bit more. We can see a development in Amnon from the beginning to the end of the book, there is a change in him; however, Imma's character felt more rushed in my opinion, I was not completely satisfied as she has gone through so much yet we know so little about her. The "villans" form the beginning of the novel are also not mentioned again if I am not mistaken, and as a reader I was left wondering what had happened to some of them, where they ended up, had they changed etc.

: ̗̀➛ Romance: Yearning till the very last part of the book, that's what we like to see in these books! No but seriously, the trope of yearning couples is difficult to achieve in so many novels, because it's so much easier to have them kissing and touching all the time than showing how much they WANT to but CAN'T; and this author has successfully done it in my opinion. Although I would have liked to see a more "intense" yearning, as it can feel like we go from 0 to 100 if you are not closely paying attention to the details which reveal Malka's and Nimrah's infatuation for eachother, I believed in their love.

: ̗̀➛ Prose/language: The author's writing style is unquestionably charming, the vocabulary used is perfect for the type of story being told, and had me opening my dictionary more than once to learn about new definitions and traditional clothing, plants or festivities. And you can tell an authors research has been successful when you find yourself on google looking for the visual inspiration because of how beautifully described things were. The magic used in the novel can be easily understood and the tales told by the characters is such an interesting device to explain how the world works. When the prose needed to be soft andromantic and beautiful it was, when it needed to describe visceral gore scenes it did, and it shows how skillful the author is at writing.

Despite some of the more "negative" comments I could make about some parts of this story, I enjoyed the Malka and Nimrah's journey so so much. I've learned, laughed, cried with them and thought about the many present situations which resemble Malka's people's story; and I believe that is what every fantasy book should foment in readers: giving you the opportunity not only of living thousands different lives through the characters stories but also think about your own. And Maddie Martinez has victoriusly done so.

I found this book to be an enjoyable read. The story kept me engaged from start to finish and had some moments that really stood out. Overall, it offered an entertaining reading experience.

Thanks to Tor and NetGalley for the preview. All opinions are my own.

DNF at 40%

This book just isn’t for me. I’m bored, I don’t like the characters, and I started dreading picking it back up.
I think there are absolutely people who are going to love this. It is deeply steeped in Jewish folklore and faith, and leans heavily on storytelling within the narrative.
From where the characters are when I stopped, I cannot at all see how they get to a romance with how absolutely hateful Malka is towards Nimrah. Nor do I care to keep reading to find out.

Thank you Tor and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review! Tor was so kind as to send me a physical arc and I have to say, the cover is even more stunning in person.

The fact that this is the author's debut novel is incredibly impressive. Rich with Jewish folklore, atmospheric prose, and a unique prayer-based magic system, The Maiden and Her Monster does not shy away from complex themes such as religious persecution and wielding religion as a weapon. The story follows Malka, a Yahadi woman, who must venture into the cursed forest of Maveteh to capture the monster that is killing her village's girls in order to save her mother who has been blamed for the murders. She encounters a mysterious golem who has all the appearances of the monster in question, but offers Malka a deal that she cannot refuse, even if it means she must work with the cold and emotionally distant golem.

Malka as a our protagonist is incredibly loyal, intelligent and brave, all qualities that make her very likable. I did struggle with her character in the second half because she never seemed to have much of a plan and was quite lucky with some of her endeavors. Nonetheless, her growth as a sister, daughter and even from a romantic aspect was admirable in the face of such persecution. The romantic subplot did not overwhelm the story, which I loved, and contained plenty of tension and angst. Although at times, I did find that the iciness between Malka and Nimrah was almost too much and diminished the believability of their connection. However, this is overall such a moody, if at times dark, and delectable read. And while it's set in a mythical Middle Age time period, it is still incredibly relevant to modern day events surrounding antisemitism and the belief that certain religions are superior to others. I enjoyed that I could immerse myself in the fantasy of the world, but also had to stop and contemplate the how it closely mirrored our own. This is the perfect read for readers seeking unique and dark fantasy worlds, with rich lore and little slices of romance woven throughout. Absolutely save this one for your moody fall tbr's!