Review Detail

DELICIOUS MONSTERS is an enthralling YA horror/mystery. The story takes place in two timelines, 10 years apart. In the first, Daisy, a 17-year-old who can see the dead, lives in Toronto with her mother, Grace. She has just been dumped by her older boyfriend, Noah, and she is having a tough time coming to terms with their relationship. Her mother had always talked about what would happen when she inherits a large house from her former brother-in-law, who had been a kind of father figure for her.

When the notice comes, she and Daisy leave to go to the small town of Timmins, but though her mother inherited a mansion, they live in the bunkie out back and rent out the rooms of the fancier house through airbnb. When she forbids Daisy to enter the house, her curiosity is peaked. As the psychic neighbors and her absentee father also warn her away from the house, Daisy cannot help but wonder about its story and its dangerous and deadly past.

Ten years in the future, Brittney and her partner Jayden are working on their show about hauntings. They are young and were naïve when they received an offer to buy the rights to their show, working for a company that creates content - and won't allow them to do their proposed season theme of forgotten Black girls. Instead, they have a new idea that will allow them to focus on the same key story through a different topic, getting to the heart of what happened in Timmins with Grace and Daisy.

To add to the interest, Brittney's mother came back supposedly changed from her visit to the "Miracle Mansion," making money and a career off the book that she wrote about this transformation. The abuse Brittney suffered was tempered following, but she hates that everyone knows about her childhood and the way her mother holds everything over her head. By doing this story, she might be able to debunk the miracle place her mother treasures so much.

Told in alternating perspectives, this story builds from two directions to something dark, compelling, and pensively potent.

What I loved: This is quite the consuming story. The book slowly pulls the reader into both timelines and builds them over time in their own compelling ways. Both Daisy and Brittney have important stories to tell, and they complement each other while also presenting different characters fully. The themes of the story certainly merit discussion, and this would be a great pick for a book club or discussion group as a result. Themes include family issues particularly mother-daughter relationship complexities, child abuse/neglect/sexual assault and ripples of these in a life, the importance of creating and defining boundaries, control and power, prejudice and disparate treatment by race, gaslighting and emotional abuse, friendship, sacrifice, revenge, and healing.

Brittney and Daisy (as well as Grace) have been shaped by the challenges of their childhoods, and their relationships with their mothers are difficult and strained. They are coming to terms with the abuse they have faced and beginning to realize and create their own boundaries, albeit under different circumstances. While their mothers and situations are different, there are parallels that speak deeply to the important themes of the story.

Daisy and Brittney are both really compelling and complex characters that readers get to know deeply through their sections. While Daisy's sections compose the majority of the story, both characters really complete the story and make it something special. While Brittney's sections do focus on her work investigating Daisy's story, the reader also peeks inside her life, understanding her challenges and the ways she has developed into who she is. Other characters were also really intriguing, particularly King, Daisy's neighbor in Timmins, and Ivy, another neighbor that she meets.

This book has some really big twists that felt shocking, but they also made sense upon reflection. I was absolutely gripped by the stories, the mysteries, and the ways things change along the way. This was a really devastating, surprising, and ultimately satisfying story. The horror elements were just as strong as the mystery elements, and this was quite the fantastic read with supernatural elements and a gripping mystery that made it all the stronger for it.

Final verdict: Consuming, devastating, and dangerous, DELICIOUS MONSTERS is a masterful and gripping YA horror/mystery that will keep readers on their toes from start to finish. Highly recommend picking this up for fans of SADIE, THE BLACK QUEEN, and/or SMALL FAVORS - readers will not regret getting into this thought-provoking and compelling story!