Make Me a Monster by Kalynn Bayron review

 

Make Me a Monster by Kalynn Bayron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars
🚫 No Spice

WOW this book was not what I was expecting when I picked it up for some fun, light reading as my first book of the new year.

The book begins beautifully. I loved the gothic, morbid vibe, wrapped in a surprisingly sweet slice-of-life feel about a teenager trying to get to grips with her world. I genuinely didn’t know what I was getting myself into and at first, I thought I was settling into something cozy and gentle.

And then… about halfway through?
I was sobbing my heart out in the dead of night.

This book lulled me into a false sense of safety sunshine, normalcy, comfort before taking a sharp turn into something deeply emotional and dark. It forces you to confront death, morality, and the right and wrong of impossible choices. I went in expecting light reading and suddenly found myself thinking, “What would I do?” and “How could someone live with that?”

I was completely gripped. The grief, confusion, and emotional weight were handled so well that I couldn’t look away. It made me question things, feel things, and sit with uncomfortable emotions and that made it a genuinely powerful read.

Is the book perfect? No.
There were a few things that didn’t fully work for me:

The ending left me with a slightly bitter taste (though that may just be personal).

The father’s silence frustrated me long before everything fell apart, communication was clearly needed.

And I felt like two characters were slightly forgotten in the second half of the book.

That said, overall this was a really enjoyable, impactful, and surprisingly emotional quick read one that caught me completely off guard in the best (and most heartbreaking) way.

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