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Club Monstrosity

de Jesse Petersen

Séries: Monstrosity (1)

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Natalie's one of Frankenstein's creations and works in a New York City morgue. So of course she needs therapy. She and her friends--er, fellow monsters--have formed the world's most exclusive, most dysfunctional support group. What could go wrong? Undetected in the modern world and under pressure to stay that way, Natalie Grey, Dracula, Bob the Blob, and others (including the fetching wolfman Alec) meet regularly to talk about the pressures of being infamous in the Big Apple. Topics include how long it's been since their last sighting, how their "story" creates stereotypes they can't fulfill, and--gasp--sometimes even their feelings. But when their pervy Invisible Man, Ellis, is killed in a manner reminiscent of the H.G. Wells novel, it's clear someone's discovered their existence and is down for some monster busting. Led by Natalie--and definitely not helped by Hyde's bloodthirsty tendencies--the members of Monstofelldosis Anonymous band together for security and a little sleuthing. And maybe--maybe--if they don't end up dead, they'll end up friends somewhere along the way.… (mais)
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Once the group is defined, the misfit monster interactions make this a worthwhile read. The complex relationship between Jekyll and Hyde is an engaging narrative by itself. So is the shudder that passes through the group when Halloween is mentioned — as if someone has indelicately mentioned a bodily function that polite company wouldn’t discuss. There is a lot to enjoy as classic monsters navigate my favorite city. The novel ends with a very clear setup for a sequel (I just Googled, and The Monsters in Your Neighborhood is out next month) so they can have more monster adventures in New York!

Sure, Club Monstrosity might use a scarred corpse-construct, an ancient vampire who won’t freaking dorm down in public, and Van Helsing’s crazed daughter-in-law to tell the story. But it’s really a novel about the moments of alienation in a crowd.

(Full review at Club Monstrosity: Classic Monsters In Manhattan)

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley to review, but opinions are my own. Free books have never stopped me from snarking about a bad book! ( )
  TheFictionAddiction | Aug 12, 2020 |
There are many support groups out there for all kinds of problems – and even the monsters have problems, albeit, rather more unusual ones than most people’s problems.

Chief among them is not actually getting caught (made difficult because Dracula will not stop wearing that damn cape); but even that fades when they start disappearing – and turning up dead. And dead by the same methods as is found in their stories.

This causes Natalie - Frankenstein’s monster – to try and rally her fellows in the most difficult task of all. Actually working together with minimal hissy fits.

This book gets massive points for originality. Just by taking all the monsters of so many schlocky, horror movie fame and putting them together is pretty new – especially lesser seen versions like the swamp monster (Linda, the weepy, emotional, needy one), the Blob (Bob, who has a hoarding problem because he accidentally absorbs things), the Invisible Man (wants to be an actor) and the Mummy (Kai, has a severe need for moisturiser) is unique in and of itself. Werewolves and vampires we see, but the others? Not so much.

And their need for community, their need to have people to know who they are and have their support has brought them together even if they don’t like each other very much. I think that’s the ultimate humanising element of these monsters, actually making them more human than so many human characters in other books. They’re not nice people, they don’t like each other very much. They’re not over the top “mean girl” villains, they’re just normal people who, like most normal people, can be a little irritating. Whether it’s Alec with his inappropriate humour, Linda with her desperate neediness and emotional outbursts, Natalie with her sarcasm, Kai with her impatience, Jekyll with his wealthy clueless bubble or Drake with his over-believing of his own legend.

And when danger threatens they rally together! Except not. Because people don’t. They bicker, they argue, they get distracted, they go into denial, they bury their heads in the sand – which is exactly what the group does. They lie about silly things and keep secrets that don’t matter and argue about things that are irrelevant. It’s some incredible human and real about them – they act like normal people. Not monsters, not heroes, not characters – but people. I especially like how this adds in to what Linda says in that she clings to her over-emotional neediness because it makes her feel human; even the flaws, even though it’s an irritating habit, it’s a human flaw and it’s a way for this monster to reconnect to their humanity

The path to humanity is an ongoing theme and a major part of Natalie herself – part of her not wanting to go on the rampage isn’t just from conscious but from rejection of her monster nature – she doesn’t want to be a monster, she’s trying to fit in, she’s trying to be human, to act, think and live as a human. She carries pepper spray on her keyring, because human women working at night would feel the need to, even though she could rip any attacker’s limbs off. She works in a morgue to cover any possible smell, even though Alec the werewolf says she doesn’t smell even to his enhanced nose

This same insecurity about their humanity is an ongoing theme – Linda and her concealing make up, Kai being sensitive about her need for moisturisers, even Alec obsessing about razors to try and tame his raging facial hair – it’s a real theme and very well and subtly presented.

While this humanising makes for some awesome characters (and Alec is cute and I can definitely see the scruffy scruffy werewolf with puppy dog eyes) it makes for a rather… realistic story. They don’t spend a lot of time investigating, they’re not very good investigators. The enemy rather falls into their laps rather than them seeking them out. It’s decently paced, but it’s decently paced with more character interaction and development. Which is excellent, but the plot kind of drifts with it.

Again, this adds to the realism of the book. Real people aren’t organised don’t do well in a crisis, do get distracted and don’t really know how to track down a murderer. But while it made for awesome characters, it made for a plot that was more good and awesome. Amusing, with excellent characterisations and an amazing concept; certainly, but not the most exciting murder mystery ever.

But I’m not sure that would have worked. I don’t think it could have been exciting or twisty or complicated and kept the very nature of the book itself.

Read More ( )
  FangsfortheFantasy | Sep 20, 2013 |
‘Club Monstrosity’ is the first book I have ever received directly from the publisher and I have to say that I now have Pocket Books to thank for providing me with one of my favourite books of all time.

This book is mystery about a group of monsters, living in New York City, that are slowly being killed off. The race is on to find out who is behind the murders before they become extinct. When written down, the synopsis seems quite simple, but I assure you, this book was well-written, funny, romantic, and action-packed; everything you could possibly ask for really!

When I saw ‘Club Monstrosity’, I was instantly drawn to the cover; it is very graphic and simplistic in it’s illustration style, giving a clear yet fun indication of what the book would be about. I had a high expectation just from the cover and the brief synopsis provided and I have to say, I was most definitely not disappointed.

My first impressions were that the writing style was amazing; full of witty humour, intelligently written and the way it flowed made even the less action-packed scenes well-paced, and the style reminded me a lot of Jasper Fforde’s works in that way. I was highly impressed by the style of story-telling as it kept me captivated throughout and the mystery element added a lot to the suspense and drama. Also the romantic subplot was very well done as the relationship progressed in a natural way and didn’t take over from the main plot, so much so, that I was rooting for those two particular characters to get together!

To me, the characters were another highlight of this particular novel. They are each quite well-known characters based on other myths and classic monster stories, but I found that Jesse Petersen gave them very interesting personalities, sometimes making them just human enough, whilst having more wild traits, to make them relatable in many ways and a joy to read about.

As the mystery unfolded and the book neared the end, I found the conclusion of the plot to be flawless. The mystery was concluded in such a way that it leaves the reader satisfied, yet the characters are so brilliant and interesting that I am certainly looking forward to reading the sequel. A definite 5 out of 5 star read, and it has shot into being one of my favourite books of all time. ( )
  charlottejones952 | Sep 2, 2013 |
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: It’s hard enough to get through every day in New York as a monster straight out of the old horror movie, but its even harder to get through every day when there’s some lunatic trying to kill you and your friends.

Opening Sentence: The basement of the Holy Heart Church on East 125th St in New York City smelled like a strange combination of dust, hundreds of years of age, and the leftovers of charity dinners cooked in the kitchen hovering just above it.

The Review:

Club Monstrosity was a fun and quick read that centered around some of the famous “monsters” of movie history like the wolfman, swamp thing and, of course, Dracula. Natalie Gray is the main character. She is one of Frankenstein’s monsters and like the others she is trying to fit into the world by layering make-up to hide her scars and always keeping people at a distance so that they wouldn’t notice anything odd about her like the fact that her body is made up of a bunch of different parts of different people’s bodies. She seems to want to be human more than any of the rest of the monsters but struggles more than the beautiful Kai, an undead mummy from ancient Egypt or the handsomely rugged werewolf, Alec.

The relationship that forms between these three is easy to spot right from the beginning. Natalie acknowledges that while Kai is usually a bit high strung and overly confident, Natalie has a begrudging respect for how she handles the disappearance of another member of their group who also happens to be their leader, the Blob or Bob. Alec, is a pretty basic pretty boy character. He gets a lot of girls and that fuels his ego which in turn makes him obnoxious but deep down he’s actually sweet and intellegent. That is sort of the trend of the book. Nothing is super complicated. Yes, this group of misfits is searching for someone who is methodically killing off members and yes they are monsters trying to pass as humans. However, the characters aren’t super deep. Natalie is the nerdy outsider, Alec is the hot guy, Kai is the hot girl, Linda is the crazy one, Dracula is the old fashioned guy, Jekyell is quiet, Hyde is the barely restrained rebel. The entire story is very straight forward and simple but very enjoyable as well.

Notable Scene:

Earlier in the day, Alec had said she was a little more monstrous. Now she felt a lot more monstrous. And not in a good way. She wanted to rip this man’s arms off. Which would only prove his point. Instead, she leaned closer to him and growled, “Do you know who might be behind these attacks, Mr. Van Helsing?” He stared at her evenly for so long that Natalie began to think he might have died and no one had noticed. But finally, he cleared his throat. “Describe this person who is supposedly following you,” he ordered, his tone dripping with condescension. Natalie coutned to ten in her head as she quickly described the person outside of Jekyll and Hyde’s apartment. “How narrow a description,” Van Helsing sneered. “Yes, I’m sure we can pick this person out of a line-up. She bit her lip. “He was wearing a medallion, as well. Square, large, possibly with a jewel in the center.” Van Helsing’s stare jerked to her face briefly, but then he shook his head. “I can assure you, my family has nothing to do with this. Now leave.” “But–” Natalie began. “No. And if you monsters use this fancy of yours to interfere with the Van Helsings, know that our war will rekindle. I’ll make certain the world knows what kind of disgusting mistakes you all are.” He straightened up in his chair and Natalie could see a glimpse of what he’d been before disease and age had wizened him. “We have more money than ever, Ms. Grey, and with modern technolgy, your lives could be hell on earth. I will destroy you in every way. If there is war this time, it will not end until you are ended.”

FTC Advisory: Pocket Star/Simon & Schuster provided me with a copy of Club Monstrosity. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )
  DarkFaerieTales | May 31, 2013 |
The members of Monstofelldosis Anonymous meet in a church basement twice a week and discuss things like when was the last time they were outed, problems they are having and anything else that comes to mind. When Ellis the Invisible Man not only turns up dead, but has been killed according to His Story (by H.G. Wells), the others begin to get uneasy. Is there someone in New York City going around killing monsters? They need to get to the truth quick before more members die because no one wants to go out like they did in their Story.

This is an interesting, creative, humorous take on monsters. Well-written with well-developed characters this is a mystery that had me turning the pages as fast as I could read them. I’m happy to see there will be another story involving the monsters from Monstofelldosis Anonymous. I look forward to reading it!

*Book source ~ Many thanks to Pocket Star Books and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy. Please see disclaimer page on my blog. ( )
  AVoraciousReader | May 9, 2013 |
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Natalie's one of Frankenstein's creations and works in a New York City morgue. So of course she needs therapy. She and her friends--er, fellow monsters--have formed the world's most exclusive, most dysfunctional support group. What could go wrong? Undetected in the modern world and under pressure to stay that way, Natalie Grey, Dracula, Bob the Blob, and others (including the fetching wolfman Alec) meet regularly to talk about the pressures of being infamous in the Big Apple. Topics include how long it's been since their last sighting, how their "story" creates stereotypes they can't fulfill, and--gasp--sometimes even their feelings. But when their pervy Invisible Man, Ellis, is killed in a manner reminiscent of the H.G. Wells novel, it's clear someone's discovered their existence and is down for some monster busting. Led by Natalie--and definitely not helped by Hyde's bloodthirsty tendencies--the members of Monstofelldosis Anonymous band together for security and a little sleuthing. And maybe--maybe--if they don't end up dead, they'll end up friends somewhere along the way.

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