Delicious Monsters
by Liselle SamburyPublished by: Margaret K. McElderry Books on February 28, 2023
Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Mystery
Pages: 512
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Rating:
The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.
Daisy sees dead people—something impossible to forget in bustling, ghost-packed Toronto. She usually manages to deal with her unwanted ability, but she’s completely unprepared to be dumped by her boyfriend. So when her mother inherits a secluded mansion in northern Ontario where she spent her childhood summers, Daisy jumps at the chance to escape. But the house is nothing like Daisy expects, and she begins to realize that her experience with the supernatural might be no match for her mother’s secrets, nor what lurks within these walls…
A decade later, Brittney is desperate to get out from under the thumb of her abusive mother, a bestselling author who claims her stay at “Miracle Mansion” allowed her to see the error of her ways. But Brittney knows that’s nothing but a sham. She decides the new season of her popular Haunted web series will uncover what happened to a young Black girl in the mansion ten years prior and finally expose her mother’s lies. But as she gets more wrapped up in the investigation, she’ll have to decide: if she can only bring one story to light, which one matters most—Daisy’s or her own?
As Brittney investigates the mansion in the present, Daisy’s story runs parallel in the past, both timelines propelling the girls to face the most dangerous monsters of all: those that hide in plain sight.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- Creepy old houses with sinister secrets and a body count
- An edge-of-your-seat mystery that’ll keep you turning pages
- Thoughtful commentary about overlooked victims
- Difficult family dynamics, generational trauma, and healing
- A very creepy atmosphere that perfectly fits a paranormal web series
Many thanks to Turn the Page Tours and Margaret K. McElderry Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished product and may differ from the final version.
I still haven’t recovered (and honestly, probably never will) from my big horror crave that started at the end of last year. So the moment I saw this not only compared to The Haunting of Hill House but that it’s done through a web series (yes, I’m addicted to Buzzfeed Unsolved/Ghost Files), I knew I absolutely had to read this book. And I’m so glad I did! I just couldn’t put the thing down.
Delicious Monsters is a spine-tingling horror mystery told under the premise of a web series, where dark secrets will be revealed, old ghosts will come to haunt, and forgotten girls will be brought to light.
This book is a freaking ride, but not in the way a lot of books I read are. The characters cling to their secrets until the very end, and I was dying to know what would happen next! There are a lot of parallels between the two protagonists, but their story is far from the same, even though it crosses (albeit briefly) and centers around the house. And the house! Talk about creepy. If you enjoy horror that involves paranormal elements and spooky, mysterious houses, Delicious Monsters is absolutely a must-read!
Delicious Monsters is told with a dual timeline, with two female protagonists: one seeking the truth, and one who’s gotten good at hiding it. But the thing they both have in common is a mansion that changed both their lives . . . and it doesn’t want to give up its secrets.
Going in, I hadn’t realized this was a dual timeline, and I wasn’t sure how that would work, but boy was I wrong. It works. So well. The stories aren’t actually all that far apart. Daisy’s story of moving into the manor with her mother happens just ten years before Brittney’s documentary series about what happened in that mansion. Because it has claimed lives, and those girls deserve their stories told.
Even though their stories are vastly different, there are plenty of parallels between Daisy and Brittney’s stories, which I particularly enjoyed. Both are raised by single, neglectful, abusive mothers (to varying degrees) and are trying to earn their freedom. For Daisy, the new manor is her ticket to freedom, because the stability will let her leave her mother and venture off without feeling guilty (not to mention with money to make it possible). For Brittney, the so-called “Miracle Mansion” supposedly healed her mother and gave her a “come to Jesus” moment . . . except it didn’t, and Brittney is still caught up under her mother’s thumb. But if she exposes the real truth behind the “Miracle Mansion,” she may just be able to earn her own freedom.
Not gonna lie, there are parts of this story that are going to be straight-up hard to read. I did my best to include content warnings, but while Delicious Monsters was a fantastic read, it isn’t an easy one. It will make your blood boil as more and more secrets come to light.
One of our two protagonists can see ghosts . . . which is every bit as terrifying as it sounds.
If you haven’t figured it out, ghosts tend not to be all that friendly. I mean, would you be all roses and sunshine, if you suddenly found yourself dead and wasn’t thrilled to be that way? Sambury’s spin on ghosts is an interesting one. By and large, they’re not coming back with messages from the great beyond or unfinished business, necessarily. Seeing ghosts is an important part of who Daisy is, though, even if she would rather it wasn’t. Since it’s such a pivotal plot element, I won’t say more than that!
They shuffled from one place to another, mouths gaping wide even though most of them didn’t talk. Meaning they couldn’t tell me anything useful like what Noah was doing when he wasn’t texting me. Mostly, they were distracting and annoying. And I seemed to be the only one cursed to notice them.
The side characters in this book are *chef’s kiss*. While the focus is obviously on the female protagonists, their male counterparts certainly hold their own.
Brittney has Jayden, her fellow intern and partner-in-crime. They started the Haunted documentary web series together, which has launched them into quasi-success in their field. This season is meant to seal the deal and ensure their futures. With a manipulative mother, though, and not much of a childhood, Brittney has trouble trusting anyone, even her best friend. Despite that, Jayden works well with her, and they play off each other in really fun ways.
For Daisy, she’s got King, so isn’t quite what he first appears. The banter between these two is wonderful, and King really steals the show in the scenes he’s in. It’s hard not to fall for his charm and genuine concern.
“Is that so?”
“I do own mirrors. There is nothing wrong with being aware of what you look like. I’m a good-looking guy, you’re a good-looking girl. It’s pretty obvious even though it’s technically subjective.”
My eyebrows climbed near my hairline. “Is that you shooting your shot?”
“No. You honestly seem like a lot of work, and I’m trying to live a reasonably lazy life.”
At least he’s direct. “Good. Because despite your ‘obvious attractiveness,’ I’m not interested.”
“Glad we could agree on that.”
The relationships the characters have with their parents in this book is complicated. It isn’t all as hopeless as it initial seems, though, and there is a lot of character growth, on all sides.
This is the thing I absolutely loved about this book. Sure, the focus is on Brittney and Daisy, both of whom are victims in their own right, especially when it comes to their abusive, neglectful parents. However, everybody in this book is a victim of something. There’s a big theme of generational trauma here, and the way it’s passed down, oftentimes unintentionally. Every character is haunted by their own personal ghosts, and each of them has something they need to overcome. Whether or not they choose to do so, however, is an entirely different matter altogether.
“I’m busy,” I said when I picked up.
I answered the same way once when I was out with Megan. She asked why I didn’t give him more of a chance.
What did that mean, exactly? That I should act happy because he called me once a week and pretend like it didn’t matter that he either lectured me about what he thought I should be doing or talked about himself? That I should be more grateful and act like it didn’t matter that he sent gift cards for places I didn’t like on Christmas instead of just spending the holidays with me?
I was the kid, so shouldn’t he be the one trying? Shouldn’t he be asking me questions about my life? Shouldn’t he have to try to figure out what topics made me happy or upset?
Why wasn’t he giving me more of a chance?
The big theme throughout this book is forgotten girls, and boy does Sambury really drive it home and strike right in the feels with it.
It’s pretty clear from the beginning that this is going to be the case. After all, the entire premise for this next season of the Haunted web series is intended to be ‘Forgotten Black Girls,’ and even though that’s shot down, Brittney finds a way to spin it to still be able to fit her purpose. Because girls tend to be forgettable in general, and Black girls even more so. Especially when they’re victims.
Despite that being the focus of Brittney’s web series, it isn’t just Black girls that have been forgotten in this book. It’s others, too. And these girls are victims in a myriad of ways. Sambury does such a wonderful job of showing all the different ways girls (and women) can be forgotten, from simple gaslighting and toxic culture to much bigger, unforgiveable crimes.
Mom’s head jerked up. Her eyes were wide as she stared into mine. She looked at me as if she had only just realized I was in the room with her. Then her face crumpled. It compressed and broke. Because it wasn’t marble. It was paper painted to look like it. Something fragile pretending to be unbreakable because that was the only defense it had.
About Liselle Sambury
Liselle Sambury is the Trinidadian-Canadian author of the Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalist, Blood Like Magic. Her work spans multiple genres, from fantasy to sci-fi, horror, and more. In her free time, she shares helpful tips for upcoming writers and details of her publishing journey through a YouTube channel dedicated to demystifying the sometimes complicated business of being an author. She’s represented by Kristy Hunter at The Knight Agency.
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Wow, this sounds amazing. I’ve been curious about it, and yours is the first review I’ve seen. Sounds like so many elements I love, plus some hard hitting themes. Thanks for sharing!
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I think you’d like this one! Definitely hits the horror points really well, but with a pretty meaningful narrative, too.
Great review. I really loved this book. I also had a hard time putting it down.
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Glad to hear you also enjoyed it!
This book sounds like something my daughter would love to read!
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
I hope she gets to check it out! Was definitely a good one.