The Monstrous Child

THIS MONSTROUS CHILD is about how Hel, a young teenage girl came to rule the underworld and how she and her brothers will be the ones to destroy the Gods. Right away I knew I would be interested in this book. I love when books take well-known stories and twist them into something completely new. For this one, Hel is a teenage girl and like any teenage girl, she definitely does not want to rule the underworld. A place, not even the Gods want to go. Now when I picked this one up I didn’t realize that it was the third book in the series. It’s definitely one that can be read alone, but I’m interested in going back and reading the first two. Simon has intrigued me with these stories.

Hel was an interesting character and not really what I was expecting. Especially when it’s dealing with the Underworld. She definitely was a character that grows on you and a lot of this story was telling her background and where she came from. In Hel’s world, the birth of her and her brothers is an abomination. Hel lives with her mother and brother in a cave far away from any of the Gods. Hel absolutely hates the Gods, with good reason and she longs to be alone. One of the things I liked about Hel was that she really just wanted to be loved. She wanted people to accept her. She also doesn’t know how to be around others. When she’s kidnapped from her cave and taken to Mount Olympus she begins to think that she’s going to have a better life than she did in the cave. I definitely felt for Hel. She had been through so much and people kept treating her horribly, it’s no wonder she acted the way she did.

There are a couple things I would have loved more of, one being more development with the prophecy. Again I haven’t read the first two but I would love to know more about it. And the second is I would have loved more action after Hel gets to the Underworld. I loved every second she was there, but I would have loved to see her do more. Overall I thought this book was fantastic. We get a story so rich in detail and imagery that I felt like I was there with Hel. I know there are some how don’t like a lot of detail but I felt like the amount of detail was perfect for this story. I loved it and I can’t wait for more from Simon.