My Name is Monster by Kate Hale came into my life from an unhaul from the lovely Olivia. Without this, I don’t know that I would’ve heard of this book. So thank you Olivia!
Set mostly in the UK, with a small sojourn into the Nordic realms, this is a post-pandemic dystopian novel. One that isn’t suitable for some at this time, but that I thought handled the topic well and should be readable for almost all.
I went into this book reasonably blind, and I was surprised by some of the themes and content. There are heavy themes of motherhood (in both an adoptive and birth capacity) that as a child-free person by choice, were unexpected. I think anyone who has children may get more out of this aspect of the novel than I did.
I had actually expected this, from the synopsis, to be a fantastical read. For our MC to be some other species. It’s not, it’s definitely more in the “survival novel” bracket and is as realistic as possible for a scenario that isn’t occurring in real life.
I did really enjoy the world building within this book. How it sets up our main character to be realistically isolated from the general population and therefore to survive the pandemic. I also liked how Hale had our MC traverse and reach the north west of England, it shows her understanding and familiarity with the land and how one could eek out survival upon it.
On CAWPILE I rated this: Characters: 6, Atmosphere: 6, Writing: 5, Plot: 6, Intrigue: 5, Logic: 6 and Enjoyment: 6 with an average of 5.71 and a 3* rating.
Highlight here for content warnings: death, animal death, bullying, gore, medical content, grief, pregnancy, suicide, homophobia.
This is a decent wee book, but not a new favourite. It’s also one that I won’t be recommending to everyone, as I don’t feel like it has the widest appeal. But it is an interesting book and if it’s piqued your interest I do recommend picking it up!
Abi of Pellinor 