"A deceptively simple, and quite beautiful read, what would it feel like to be the only person left in the world?"
Oh… my… word, this is one fabulous debut! I found a deceptively simple, and stark dystopian foray into a world blighted by bombs and sickness. Monster is completely alone until one day she finds a child. She becomes mother and passes on her knowledge, but are her mothering skills being received in the way she is expecting them to be? Told in the first person, Katie Hale has created short chapters where thoughts scatter, bounce, zigzag. I filed away feelings and emotions as I read, each within touching distance, lying in wait to prod and provoke. This feels honest, as though looking at a future just within grasp, or back to a history that has already happened. The feelings are raw, sometimes painful, yet relatable and believable. I found the premise of this novel absolutely fascinating, I explored interpretation of meaning, motherhood, and thoughts on the basic cycle of life. ‘My Name is Monster’ is poignant, moving and wonderfully different, it is also incredibly intimate, readable and surprisingly beautiful, I adored it.
| Primary Genre | Dystopian and utopian fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
On entering a post-apocalyptic world, which readers often do, I was quickly drawn into this quiet and beautifully written story. 'My Name is Monster' by Katie Hale is a very different take on the genre.
I was attracted towards this story by the intriguing synopsis and interesting book cover.
On entering a post-apocalyptic world, which readers often do, I was quickly drawn into a quiet and beautifully written story. A very different take on the genre.
A woman named ‘Monster’ (an endearing parental nickname from her childhood), emerges after an unexplained war and sickness believing she is the only human left alive. She alone fills the first half of the story, which starkly and atmospherically, explores her journey back to her home town. Although the background of the situation is left intentionally vague, we learn enough through her flashbacks to become engrossed in the short chapters.
Monster ekes out an existence on an old farm. During her regular forays into town to scavenge supplies, she suddenly meets and ‘adopts’ young girl.... Read Full Review
A poignant, literary post-apocalyptic story that I would recommend.
My Name is Monster is an incredibly interesting book. Told from two different perspectives - monster/mother and her adopted daughter monster - this is a tale of survival and humanity.
As I was reading it reminded me quite a lot of The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I think My Name is Monster was better than The Road though, because of the character development and the opportunity to gain more insight into the younger character's thoughts and feelings.
This book tackles a wide range of themes focusing around what it means to be alive and human.... Read Full Review
Beautifully bleak, beautifully written post-apocalyptic story of a young woman left alone as the only survivor of a mysterious Sickness that wipes out humanity. A great read.
This is a beautifully bleak story about a young woman, Monster, who believes that she is the only person left alive in the world after a mysterious Sickness. She was given the name Monster by her parents as a nickname when she was young and some of the backstory glimpses are fascinating. She becomes a loner and this helps her to survive after everyone else has died. She returns to her parents’ home after the Sickness but then makes a home just outside a deserted city, where she goes to find food and supplies. On one of her trips into the city she finds a small girl who appears to be almost feral. She adopts the girl and takes her home.
The story describes their life together from both of their points of view, which is captivating and insightful.... Read Full Review
After the Sickness has killed off her parents, and the bombs have fallen on the last safe cities, Monster emerges from the arctic vault which has kept her alive. When she washes up on the coast of Scotland, everyone she knows is dead, and she believes she is alone in an empty world. Monster begins the long walk south, scavenging and learning the contours of this familiar land made new. Slowly, piece by piece, she begins to rebuild a life. Until, one day, she finds a girl: feral, and ready to be taught all that Monster knows. Changing her own name to Mother, Monster names the child after herself. As young Monster learns from Mother, she also discovers her own desires, realising that she wants very different things to the woman who made, but did not create, her. Inspired by Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein, My Name Is Monster is a novel about power, about the things that society leaves imprinted on us when the rules no longer apply, and about the strength and the danger of a mother's love.
My Name Is Monster features in the following genres: Book Club Recommendations, Books with reviews by our Reader Review Panel, Debut Books of the Month, Debuts, Recommendations, Dystopian and utopian fiction, Family Drama, General Fiction, Horror and Supernatural Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Speculative fiction, Fiction
My Name Is Monster is available in Paperback, Hardback, Ebook
My Name Is Monster was written by Katie Hale and published by Canongate Books Ltd
My Name Is Monster has 320 pages
£8.09
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