Goodnight Monsters is just… unexpectedly good! Psychological thriller with a little bit of a horror twist, this was hard to put down. My general sense of unease grew throughout the story, and the final twist was so good, I had suspicions, but the final reveal still felt incredibly satisfying. This is a really unique critique of suburbia and female expectations, if you like creepy, and weird, for sure read this.

Thank you to the author and She Writes Press for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

*Goodnight Monsters* by Suzanne Junered is a delightfully eerie and imaginative read that balances chills with charm. The storytelling feels fresh and engaging, with a tone that’s both playful and slightly unsettling in the best way. A fun, memorable book that lingers long after you’ve finished.

𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏...𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆?

This is the kind of book that makes you pause mid-page to start keeping track of how many times you whispered, "What the actual f*ck?" Lia is a suburban housewife who discovers she is pregnant but keeps it a secret from her husband Evan while quietly unraveling. Instead of embracing the new life growing inside her, she surrounds herself with death by blackmailing her way into a job at a forensic anthropology center known as The Body Farm. There, her intrusive thoughts take on a sharper edge, and when someone she has fantasized about killing turns up as an actual body donation, the line between imagination and reality does not just blur, it dissolves.

This book read like a fever dream in the most unsettling way possible. I felt unmoored the entire time, constantly questioning what was real, what was imagined, and whether that distinction even mattered anymore. Lia is not a comfortable character to sit with, and I do not think she is meant to be. Her thoughts are invasive, disturbing, and at times almost suffocating, but they are written with such precision that I could not look away. The deeper I got, the more I felt like I was losing my footing right alongside her, which made the experience both gripping and deeply disorienting.

This is psychological horror that does not ask for permission to get dark, and it absolutely will not be for everyone. The subject matter is intense and may be triggering, especially in the way it explores motherhood, violence, and the parts of ourselves we try to keep buried. At the same time, there is something undeniably compelling about how far this story is willing to go. By the end, I had completely given up on figuring out what was real and was just trying to steady myself after absorbing everything. This is the kind of book that leaves you sitting there slack-jawed, a little shaken, desperately hoping that the character remained quietly confined to the pages of a fictional creation. So many thanks to Mindbuck Media for the early copy that will publish September 1, 2026.

Thank you NetGalley and She Writes Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars

This book took me on a rollercoaster of emotions with these characters. At first I sympathized with Lia, having never been a mother myself I don't know exactly how I would react but I can imagine being scared and angry especially living in a home that pushes her to be a traditional housewife. Then she starts imagining killing people and cheating on her husband, and her best friend encourages her to do so, and it just keeps getting crazier.

Overall I couldn't put this book down and finished it in about 48 hours, which for me is VERY quick. I loved the writing style, I loved the premise, I didn't love the ending as much as I wanted to but it did close out the story well. It looks like this is her debut novel as I can't find any other books under this author, and I would happily read more when they release.

Goodnight Monsters tells the story of Ophelia - Lia - after she finds out she is pregnant. She and her husband have been very much wanting this baby: they have been trying for a while and have been to a fertility clinic, but Lia's about to start a new job at a forensic anthropology center (the Body Farm) after two years of being a stay at home wife, and her feelings are complex: is it the right time for a baby, does she want her marriage, and her life, to change as much as it will when a baby enters the mix?

The plot kept me reading, and Lia's feelings about her pregnancy are very understandable and well-realised on the page, and I respect the author for allowing Lia to be honest about her ambivalence. She's not always a likeable character (not least because she keeps thinking about brutally murdering people) but she is compelling. I also found C (Lia's best friend) to be an interesting and similarly morally grey character, offering a different perspective on motherhood.

I think my only criticism is that I wanted more. I would have loved Lia's work at the Body Farm to be more deeply explained and explored, I would have loved a deeper exploration of some of the other themes raised in the book.

This is a great debut and a book I found difficult to put down.

Thank you so much for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
This book was an absolute wild ride. I had a hard time putting it down, even while it was actively unsettling me. Lia’s intrusive fantasies felt disturbingly real in a way that got under my skin. The book digs into that terrifying question of “What if your darkest thoughts didn’t stay thoughts?” and then follows the spiral as things begin slipping further and further out of control.

Without getting into spoilers, this gave me strong American Psycho vibes, but through a distinctly female lens. What really elevates it, though, is that it doesn’t treat mental illness as a gimmick. Lia is deeply unwell, and the story takes that seriously. She’s also one of the most effective unreliable narrators I’ve read in a long time. There’s a moment midway through the book where the floor completely drops out from under you and you realize you cannot trust anything she’s been telling you.

The atmosphere is tense, claustrophobic, and increasingly nightmarish as reality and fantasy start bleeding together. The setting of the Body Farm adds another layer of discomfort to everything, making the entire novel feel steeped in death and decay from the very beginning.

One of the most unsettling books I’ve read in a long time. Highly recommend if you like psychological horror that leaves you feeling deeply uncomfortable in the best way.

4/5

I was going to say that for 80% of this book, I had no idea what was going on or where the story was headed. Then I realized, who am I kidding, it was at least 90%. I mean this in the best way possible.
It started out……. normal. Lia and her husband Evan are happy together. Except that he wants kids and Lia just is not sure if that is a good idea. A positive pregnancy test has her questioning whether to share this news with Evan. She has two options, but she is torn, weighing the pros and cons.
Add in her new job at The Body Farm. A place where the effects of death are analyzed on donated bodies, and Lia becomes obsessed with, well, death. Things happen, lots of things, and I could never be sure if they were true or manifestations of Lia’s state of mind. No spoilers, but when everything was revealed, I gasped. Oh, and the ending. 😳

What a crazy ride this novel was. I loved the subtle (and not so subtle) clues that everything was not as it seemed. The main character was so frustrating to read, but this is a compliment. Almost every decision she made was the wrong choice, until the end when she finally lets others help her.
The twist in the epilogue was expected but made my stomach drop all the same. It called into question everything that happened in the novel, because how could it be happening again?

This was such a great read! If you enjoy literary horror, surreal nightmares, and stories that blur the line between fairy tale and psychological terror, Goodnight Monsters is a chilling and memorable read that sticks with you long after the final page!

I really appreciated this book and felt a huge connection to the characters!