Customer Reviews

Monster Love

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I admired this book and the way that it is written, but I also disliked it intensely because the subject matter is so unpleasant. I read it because friends had liked it and I can see why they did, but at the same time I am sorry that I read it because I feel like it's the kind of book that will haunt me.

I found it difficult to find reviews that explain what the book is about, but it emerges very early in the novel so I don't feel it is a spoiler to say that it's about a young married couple who have an intensely close bond, who find themselves pregnant despite all their plans to avoid having children, and who then abuse, neglect and eventually kill their little girl. I just hated to read parts of the book, didn't want to know these people and felt quite unsatisfied with their inability to process any understanding of what they had done.

Every chapter of the book has a different narrator. Some parts of the story are told by Brendan and Sherilyn (the central couple) while others are written by people who had something to do with them: their family, case officer, neighbours, co-workers etc. Most contribute just their one chapter although the lead characters have more than one. It's an effective technique (although sometimes I wanted to stay with some of the narrators or visit them again) and Topolski brings each different voice to life very well. In an author's note at the end of the book, Topolski explains how she actually started the novel writing a chapter in the voice of the little girl, locked up and confused and I am very grateful that this was omitted. The book is more about the central relationship between Brendan and Sherilyn which is intriguing - they share some psychic connection but also withhold secrets from one another. Ultimately however I think Topolski fails to make that relationship credible.

Why 3 stars? It's a clever book and well written, but it's just such horrible material that I can't recommend it. Having said that, if you are the kind of reader who is drawn to dark novels about very unpleasant crimes and you like spending time inside the heads of monsters, then this is a well written and clever novel (not a thriller, nor a mystery) that you will probably enjoy.

I started reading the book without remembering the story line so I stopped and read the reviews here to see what is was about. I thought OMG - I'm not going to like it but - Wrong - it had me hooked.
It was cleverly written as I had to guess where each person fitted into the jigsaw of the Brendilyn story. The characters were richly developed within their chapter.
Well done to the author as the writing didn't slide into gory details describing the crime but told of it via the characters reactions to it.

Probably not for everyone, but it saved my sanity while I was on my honeymoon in Saudi Arabia and not able to go out when my only abaya was at the laundry! There weren't many English books available in Saudi Arabia, so I was tickled to find this dark gem at the local bookstore. It's bleak, but I found it believable. And the format was so engaging. If you're interested in a book that's not only interesting, but structured in a clever way, and you don't mind dark, give it a try. I think the author did a great job at creating a believable reason for the heinous crimes that happen everyday in the real world.

I was full of trepidation when I started to read Monster Love - friends had highly recommended the novel but did I want to subject myself to hours of depressing reading? I shouldn't have worried - the subject matter is indeed extremely dark but Carol Topolski's wonderful writing skills more than made up for this. The book reads like a highly developed thriller - each chapter is in a different voice, slowly and painfully exposing one facet of the story after another and giving insight into the couple's deeply disturbing world. The multiple narrative creates layer upon layer as the bizarre lives of Sherilyn and Brendan, the book's two main characters, are revealed. The surreal end of the novel left me a little disatisfied but in no way spoiled what is an exceptional novel and one I could not recommend more highly.

I really looked forward to reading this book. But I could not get through it. It actually made me feel ill. Although it is a novel, it was very upsetting to think that people can realy be so evil. It was very difficult and I cannot recommend.