Review: Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, however I did end up listening to the final publication version of the audiobook. As always all opinions expressed are my own.

This was excellent. It is a tough one though, full of trigger warnings. I wouldn't particularly say it was scary, but it is terrifying and gives you that uncomfortable feeling in your stomach you are looking for in a horror book. This isn't exactly what I consider traditional horror as it doesn't have the jump scares and gruesome bits that you might expect thought there are some, it is more in the social horror realm with a paranormal twist. It does have the atmosphere and tension you need and as the story progresses you are more than horrified by what the characters go through.

This is told from the perspectives of Daisy and Brittney. Brittney is a film student, and her latest project is attempting to find out what happened to Daisy 10 years ago at the mansion that Brittney's own mother had a life altering experience at. We mainly get Daisy's story, with brief interjects of Brittney's research and glimpses into how both girls are connected and why telling Daisy's story is so important to her.

Daisy has the ability to see the dead. Her mother is aware of her ability and has been "helping: her since she was a child to control it. When Grace, Daisy's mother, inherits a mansion aka "The House" from her late uncle, they jump on a chance to have financial stability by turning the property into a rental. Grace is adamant that Daisy never enter the mansion and only go into the greenhouse and guest house where they live. Grace has always kept secrets from Daisy, but now that they have "The House" she is determined to find out what is going on inside and find out what her mom is keeping from her. Daisy uncovers truths she never expected to find and learns more about the house than she ever anticipated. She also learns more about her ability and why her mother has kept so many secrets.

I don't want to spoil anything but there are so many different social commentary topics discussed, many of which lead to a content warning. I've listed them at the end of the review. The characters start out a bit unlikable, but mainly that is a protection tactic as they are all suffering. As the story unfolds we find that Grace, Daisy, Brittney, and several of the other characters have had traumatic experiences and they are all doing the best they can. They are all dealing with their personal trauma in different ways, some better than others. I really liked the way that Sambury used supernatural elements to talk about the real life horrors the characters experienced. I thought it was a great way to get people thinking about how this stuff happens in real life. The author did a great job weaving this horrible topics into a creepy paranormal backdrop that made for a very compelling read. The characters go on a journey, and I think it was well done. I also thought the world building was well done. I felt like I was in the forest or the bush as they refer to it in the book with Daisy.

This was a tad bit on the long side and there were some respective parts. I think this was an important story to tell, and I loved the setting the author chose. I feel the story could have had the same impact without taking quite so long to get to the reveals. I also could have done with out the maggot scenes, but this is a horror book so they were appropriately placed and fit well with the storyline. They were kind of gross though.

Overall, I loved this! I couldn't put it down once I started listening to it.

This is not an easy book to get through. There are many content warnings and social commentary topics discussed. It is a wonderful book, however I would not recommend it for everyone, it was heartbreaking and upsetting. These are the content warnings that the author lists prior to chapter 1, so I'll put them here: childhood sexual assault (off page, some details discussed), childhood physical abuse (corporal punishment, off page, described), childhood physical abuse (confinement punishment), childhood neglect, gaslighting, grooming, suicide (off page, mention), killing of a goat (off page, described), discussions of fatphobia, body horror/gore, violence, death

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