Liselle Sambury returns to the world of YA Fantasy with this story about siblings and secrets. I’ve loved Sambury’s recent thrillers so I was so excited to be back with this release. While this reminds me more of Blood Like Fate, I enjoyed August’s main character journey. Keep reading this book review of A Mastery of Monsters for my full thoughts.
Summary
When August’s brother disappears before his sophomore semester, everyone thinks the stress of college got to him. But August knows her brother would never have left her voluntarily, especially not after their mother so recently went missing.
The only clue he left behind was a note telling her to stay safe and protect their remaining family. And after August is attacked by a ten-foot-tall creature with fur and claws, she realizes that her brother might be in more danger than she could have imagined.
Unfortunately for her, the only person with a connection to the mysterious creature is the bookish Virgil Hawthorne…and he knows about them because he is one. If he doesn’t find a partner to help control his true nature, he’ll lose his humanity and become a mindless beast—exactly what the secret society he’s grown up in would love to put down.
Virgil makes a proposition: August will join his society and partner with him, and in return, he’ll help her find her brother. And so August is plunged into a deadly competition to win one of the few coveted candidate spots, all while trying to accept a frightening reality: that monsters are real, and she has to learn to master them if she’s to have any hope of saving her brother.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
A Mastery of Monsters, in some ways, feels like a return to Sambury’s roots of YA Fantasy/Speculative Fiction. While the horror and thrillers are my favorites of Sambury, I was instantly intrigued by A Mastery of Monsters. There are secrets seeping from the pages. It begins as this story about trying to save her brother, to figure out where he might be, and quickly turns into a story about secret societies and more to the world than meets the eye. After the initial hook, there’s a bit of an info dump which made it a bit tricky to get back into, but it mirrors how thoroughly August is inundated with information.
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While it became hard to get a handle on the world – especially considering the secrets – my favorite element had to be August. She’s been so used to being on her own, that to open up even in this world of betrayal was my favorite thing to see. Even though she has her own agenda, and they all probably are hiding secrets from her, can she find true moments of friendship here? Once you get a handle on the world, I enjoyed how A Mastery of Monsters examines the racism and privilege in the world. It’s probably the element I’m the most excited for in the sequel. August not only sees the newness of the world, but also the rot within.
Overall,
A Mastery of Monsters bites off a lot with the academic setting, the deadly trials, and the secret societies. And while I think it succeeds at varying points at each of these, the balance becomes tricky at times. Because of that, the pacing suffers a bit as we are thrown headfirst into some of these elements. But it serves as a solid book one to a world I am intrigued by for the future. If you’re ready to jump into a series which just illuminates the tip of the iceberg, this is for you! Find A Mastery of Monsters on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.