If you're a fan of Jack the Ripper, you should meet Johann. This book is about monsters, but not ones such as vampires or werewolves, but rather, the ones who luck in the shadows for victims to fall in their clutches and are never seen again. The atmosphere is dark, murderous, rainy, and wretched. However, it works well for what the author is trying to create.

Do not plan for a happy ending because this kind of story never really has a happy ending. Johann is one of these monsters and so is Florian, though in a bit of a different way. When Johann is out hunting for his next victim, he runs across Florian who is "different" than others. There is something about him which he recognizes as being soft and easy and delicate. However, Florian is a sorcerer and has his own abilities.

Johann and Florian form a tentative alliance and their dynamic is uniquely, brutal and toxic in so many ways. I do have to admit the way the author creates this world with her wording is fascinating. There are themes of obsession, lust, rage, depravity and violence but it's incredibly intriguing.

The Monster of Elendhaven is the sort of book where I paused in the first paragraph to pop a picture into my Instagram stories because I vibed with the writing so much! This is definitely a, ‘take the “Monster” in the title seriously’ sort of book, and, there are many monsters throughout this little toxic novella of revenge in a dead land (and a lot of murder and descriptions of disease and). While I can understand some of the more negative reviews, I really liked it and ate this up in less than a day -- I liked the gruesome, exhausted take on a place destroyed by not just the magic it's known for and was built from, but also the people who've forsaken everything except their own selfish interests. It is a sort of love story? In a toxic m/m messy way of two people very closely tied together despite their very different backgrounds, and discovering just how tied together was lovely.

I didn't know "Monster" was a reprint of a book from 2019 (now in paperback it seems!) so mainly I'm delighted this came into my radar as I straight up just wasn't reading in 2019 and this was a great time for me to experience the first time.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for review!

The Monster of Elendhaven is a weird, creepy little story of murdering mages and zombies, of a sort. It is unique while also carrying hints of well-known myths. This is especially gory and quite terrible, but there's also some seriously dark romance going on here, which is a highlight despite how disturbing it simultaneously is. The one thing I'm really missing is more of a why Florian became who he did, and that holds me back to 4 stars. The writing was interesting, engaging, and surprising; I needed a bit more to buy Florian's villain origin story though.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for this ARC!

I almost DNF'd this. If it weren't so short, I probably would have. It wasn't awful, but hard to get into. I'd hoped for a satisfying ending, but didn't feel I got it. Overall, I'd rate this book as just okay.

I loved the opening pages and adored Johann's macabre and unrelenting nature. About halfway through, I lost immersion. Johann was so much more compelling than his royal counterpart, and I'll admit to not fully believing their connection. Overall, the writing was beautiful and visceral; the world building was subdued but highly effective. It's a shame it was lacking in plot exposition.

It’s sort of like Frankenstein, if Frankstein were a love story between the mad scientist and the monster. Not quite that but still. Johann is a man..or is he..that has never known anything but the worst of humanity and has responded accordingly by killing anyone in his path that has something he wants. He’s also apparently unkillable, and he draws Florian in with sort of moth to the flame vibe. How can you have a scientists mind and not be intrigued by the evidence of something so other worldly right infront of you? This book is graphic and stalk and bloody and not for the faint of heart. You shouldn’t like the characters, but you do and the story is fairly fast paced.

Fascinating and gruesome.
One of the stronges points of the bookw as the narration.
The story was atmospheric and certainly horrific, but also intriguing. I kind of lost track of what was going on at the end though. Might give this another read sometime.

Content warnings include: gore, violence, murder, sexual assault and rape, plague, manipulation and controlling other people, mutilation of corpses, vague incest vibes