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The Monster Who Wasn't - T.C. Shelley (book review)


Book: The Monster Who Wasn't
Author: T.C. Shelley
Genre: Children's, Fantasy, Adventure
Published By: Bloomsbury
Published Year: 2019

My Review:
Having noticed this in a book shop I decided to go to my local library and reserve a copy in order to read it. Luckily it arrived rather quickly for me so I was able to start reading this a lot sooner than I had planned and as a result decided to also give it a review.

The book is about a child who is born in the underworld however is born with not only the last sigh from the man dying but also a babies laughter which makes the monster come across more human. Trying to stay hidden from the troll king who is trying to use the child he is trying to keep hidden but also finding out about family and maybe he just isn't a monster at all.

I thought that The Monster Who Wasn't was well written and made me want to know more about it right from the start, by having the gargoyles as creatures who accept the child for who he is and try to keep him hidden by having them as one of their own was really sweet. I also thought that the humour in which they brought to the book made me want to spend more time with the characters and left me feeling happy whenever they were around.  I also thought that by having the family in which he was created from being a part of the story and showing how they were still connected was really sweet and really made the reader hope that they will accept the child as one of their own, while doing this having the witch from the start be the person who has been trying to get that family for centuries is something in which I thought really showed how much the monsters wanted that family and made the monster feel all the more important.

However, I did feel that at times this book was just a little too religious for me and having it link in with good and evil in that way did turn me off a little. I thought that it was touched upon well though for those who are looking for a children's book in which there is some religious aspects. Not only this but I thought that discovering afterwards that this is going to be the first book in a trilogy made me unsure of what they would be able to do next with the story as it seemed rather complete from where it ended.

Overall, I thought that The Monster Who Wasn't was a good read however personally just too religious for me to enjoy fully. I would recommend this to a younger audience and for people who would like to read a rather light monster book with their children. However, personally I don't see myself reading this novel again.

My Rating: 3/5 

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