Critics' Opinion:
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Published Sep 2023
432 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Paperback Original.
Publication Information
Forced to spend her summer in her aunt's strange small town, a teen girl discovers dark secrets hidden in the woods. From the author of Bad Witch Burning comes another pulse-pounding novel perfect for fans of Supernatural and Lovecraft Country.
Don't go outside past dark. Come straight home after church. And above all—never, ever, go into Red Wood.
These are the rules Latavia's aunt gives her when Latavia arrives in Sanctum, Alabama for the summer. Though, weird as they are, living in Sanctum does have its pros. Mainly, the cute girl who works at the local ice cream shop.
But Sanctum is turning out to be as strange as the rules—and the longer Latavia's in town, the more suspicious she is that the people there are hiding something. And the more clear it is that she's an outsider. Everyone's nice enough, but they seem determined to prove everything is normal.
But it's not. Because there's something in Red Wood that the towns' people are hiding. And if Latavia doesn't follow her aunt's rules, she might not be able to leave Sanctum. Ever...
"[A] wildly inventive paranormal horror novel....Lewis provides elevating levity to the outlandish—and captivating—premise." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Fantastically vicious." —Kirkus Reviews
This information about Monstrous was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jessica Lewis is a Black author and receptionist. She has a degree in English Literature and Animal Science (obviously, the veterinarian plan did not work out). She lives with her way-funnier-than-her grandmother in Alabama. She is the author of Bad Witch Burning and Monstrous. To learn more about Lewis and her books follow @JLew100 on Twitter.
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