What do you think?
Rate this book
The Moon Heresies #2
The Shape of Monsters
A talented heretic and the emperor she both loathes and loves will learn what monsters are really made of in the second installment of the Moon Heresies trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Tessa Gratton.
Iriset—prodigy, outlaw, now sunderer—has broken the Moon-Eater god’s prison at the heart of the empire. But the consequences of her actions land her in a city of monsters where the heretical magic of human architecture is freely practiced, and the only person she knows—and can trust—is Lyric, the emperor she’s lied to and loved in equal measure. As scheming kings and capricious gods drive them towards different extremes, they soon realize that to find their way home, they must remake the world…at the risk of breaking it forever.
Praise for the Moon Heresies
"Laced with a vivid sensuality." —Jacqueline Carey, New York Times bestselling author of Kushiel's Dart
"A beautiful, elegant, passionate novel. A triumph and a delight from start to finish." —Antonia Hodgson, author of The Raven Scholar
“Sensual and suspenseful.” — Publishers Weekly
"A lush story of dangerous intrigue in an intricate and utterly unique world." —C. S. Pacat, author of Captive Prince
Iriset—prodigy, outlaw, now sunderer—has broken the Moon-Eater god’s prison at the heart of the empire. But the consequences of her actions land her in a city of monsters where the heretical magic of human architecture is freely practiced, and the only person she knows—and can trust—is Lyric, the emperor she’s lied to and loved in equal measure. As scheming kings and capricious gods drive them towards different extremes, they soon realize that to find their way home, they must remake the world…at the risk of breaking it forever.
Praise for the Moon Heresies
"Laced with a vivid sensuality." —Jacqueline Carey, New York Times bestselling author of Kushiel's Dart
"A beautiful, elegant, passionate novel. A triumph and a delight from start to finish." —Antonia Hodgson, author of The Raven Scholar
“Sensual and suspenseful.” — Publishers Weekly
"A lush story of dangerous intrigue in an intricate and utterly unique world." —C. S. Pacat, author of Captive Prince
560 pages, Paperback
First published June 16, 2026
About the author
Tessa Gratton
80 books1,979 followersTessa Gratton is the author of adult and YA SFF novels and short stories that have been translated into twenty-two languages, nominated twice for the Otherwise Award, and several have been Junior Library Guild Selections. Her most recent novels are the dark queer fairy tales Strange Grace and Night Shine, and queer the Shakespeare retelling Lady Hotspur. Her upcoming work includes the YA fantasy Chaos and Flame (2023), and novels of Star Wars: The High Republic. Though she has lived all over the world, she currently resides at the edge of the Kansas prairie with her wife. Queer, nonbinary, she/any.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
1/11/25: ACTUALLY screamed, and when I tell you I RAN to preorder--!!!!
15/4/26: think I need to reread before I review it, but THANKS I LOVED IT!
11/6/26: REVIEW!
*I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*
Highlights
~go big or go home
~go big to go home
~one (1) unicorn
~magic prosthetics
~Silk is Syr
:spoilers for The Mercy Makers ahead!:
Shape of Monsters is unlike its predecessor in all ways but one – it’s excellent.
This is a slower, more thoughtful book than Mercy Makers was; there’s much less forward momentum, and for the first half or so there is less of a unifying plot. But there are many smaller plotlines, intimate and emotion-heavy, philosophical while focussing on the human element of every Big Question. Iriset and Lyric both have to deal with the reality of their relationship, and both of them undergo a lot of growth, albeit in pretty different directions. There are new characters to fall in love with, and a lot of revelations, including many retroactive ones. And all the wonder and beauty and magic of Mercy Makers is on full display in its sequel.
In Shape of Monsters, Iriset and Lyric are transported far from the world they know, and in so many ways that strikes me as genius, because who are they – who are they to each other – outside of the context they’ve always known? What happens when Lyric is no longer a goddess-ordained emperor, but someone with no power at all? What is Iriset when she is no longer a heretic, but is free to practise her magic openly, surrounded by peers? Was it only their context that made their love so terrible, can they make something real outside of it? The dynamic between them is reversed; suddenly Iriset is the one with all the influence, respect, the one people listen to and revere and consider important, and Lyric is only her spouse.
It’s the way Shape of Monsters is written, even more than the story itself, that delights me. As in Mercy Makers, Gratton does so much with tenses, with gleefully casual asides to the reader, dropping details that rip the rug out from under us as if they’re nothing. It starts on the very first page, when someone we know is dead is referred to as very much alive, and that is only the start of the oh, fuck moments, the mic-drops and table-flips. Mercy Makers challenged genre conventions in a lot of ways; Shape of Monsters does the same, but tackles different conventions, different reader expectations. The entire book hinges on something that’s usually considered a sci fi trope, not a fantasy one; the shape of the story itself completely disregards the typical three-act structure most of us take for granted; but maybe most shocking is the realisation that none of these characters are safe. Which shouldn’t be shocking, we should have already known that after what Gratton pulled in Mercy Makers – and yet!!! Shape of Monsters is gutting, and it hurts worse and cuts deeper because so much of it feels soft. The unhurried pacing…it got me to lower my walls, made me unafraid, and THAT WAS A MISTAKE.
I adored the worldbuilding in Mercy Makers, and despite Shape of Monsters taking place in a different setting, we actually still learn a lot about Moonshadow City and the Empire of Silence. We learn about it through contrast, and it’s just GENIUS. Things we never learned in Mercy Makers, because Iriset took them for granted and thus never drew the reader’s attention to them, are revealed now that Iriset is somewhere different. My favourite example of this was the trees: in seeing what we would consider normal trees, Iriset realises that trees and other plants don’t naturally grow full of right-angles – because apparently that’s how trees grow in Moonshadow City. And we never knew that! That kind of – shockwave of realisation, that flows backwards to alter what we thought we knew – EEE! It’s SO COOL and SO CLEVER and I love love loved it!
But that contrast – between Moonshadow City and where Iriset and Lyric end up in Shape of Monsters – between the way of life that is Aharté’s Silence and a place that’s never heard of such a thing – it’s more than just delightful for worldbuilding obsessives like myself. Gratton is showing us, teaching us, important fundamentals about this world, about the regime Iriset (and me, and presumably most readers) hated in Mercy Makers. It’s not a lecture, but it does feel as though we’re being encouraged to consider…not which way is better so much as, the pros and cons of both. Iriset idolised the Apostate Age, when there were no rules at all governing what design magic could be used for – but maybe it’s not such a great idea to have no rules at all? Maybe it’s more complicated than saying all the rules or no rules? I never got the sense that Gratton had an ideal, a clear conclusion they wanted readers to come to – more like they ‘just’ wanted their readers to think.
I am very much in favour of books that want me to think.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
15/4/26: think I need to reread before I review it, but THANKS I LOVED IT!
11/6/26: REVIEW!
*I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*
Highlights
~go big or go home
~go big to go home
~one (1) unicorn
~magic prosthetics
~Silk is Syr
:spoilers for The Mercy Makers ahead!:
Shape of Monsters is unlike its predecessor in all ways but one – it’s excellent.
This is a slower, more thoughtful book than Mercy Makers was; there’s much less forward momentum, and for the first half or so there is less of a unifying plot. But there are many smaller plotlines, intimate and emotion-heavy, philosophical while focussing on the human element of every Big Question. Iriset and Lyric both have to deal with the reality of their relationship, and both of them undergo a lot of growth, albeit in pretty different directions. There are new characters to fall in love with, and a lot of revelations, including many retroactive ones. And all the wonder and beauty and magic of Mercy Makers is on full display in its sequel.
Thought strips away, worries and wonder, everything, until Iriset is sensation, she is wind and starlight, laughter.
In Shape of Monsters, Iriset and Lyric are transported far from the world they know, and in so many ways that strikes me as genius, because who are they – who are they to each other – outside of the context they’ve always known? What happens when Lyric is no longer a goddess-ordained emperor, but someone with no power at all? What is Iriset when she is no longer a heretic, but is free to practise her magic openly, surrounded by peers? Was it only their context that made their love so terrible, can they make something real outside of it? The dynamic between them is reversed; suddenly Iriset is the one with all the influence, respect, the one people listen to and revere and consider important, and Lyric is only her spouse.
Iriset is more powerful than Aharté.
It’s the way Shape of Monsters is written, even more than the story itself, that delights me. As in Mercy Makers, Gratton does so much with tenses, with gleefully casual asides to the reader, dropping details that rip the rug out from under us as if they’re nothing. It starts on the very first page, when someone we know is dead is referred to as very much alive, and that is only the start of the oh, fuck moments, the mic-drops and table-flips. Mercy Makers challenged genre conventions in a lot of ways; Shape of Monsters does the same, but tackles different conventions, different reader expectations. The entire book hinges on something that’s usually considered a sci fi trope, not a fantasy one; the shape of the story itself completely disregards the typical three-act structure most of us take for granted; but maybe most shocking is the realisation that none of these characters are safe. Which shouldn’t be shocking, we should have already known that after what Gratton pulled in Mercy Makers – and yet!!! Shape of Monsters is gutting, and it hurts worse and cuts deeper because so much of it feels soft. The unhurried pacing…it got me to lower my walls, made me unafraid, and THAT WAS A MISTAKE.
“That is what you fail to understand, Lyric Aharté,” the (spoiler) croons softly. He caresses Lyric’s cheeks. “I am a monster of extravagance, of ambition. Excess and splendor. I don’t do little things. It’s a waste of my time.”
I adored the worldbuilding in Mercy Makers, and despite Shape of Monsters taking place in a different setting, we actually still learn a lot about Moonshadow City and the Empire of Silence. We learn about it through contrast, and it’s just GENIUS. Things we never learned in Mercy Makers, because Iriset took them for granted and thus never drew the reader’s attention to them, are revealed now that Iriset is somewhere different. My favourite example of this was the trees: in seeing what we would consider normal trees, Iriset realises that trees and other plants don’t naturally grow full of right-angles – because apparently that’s how trees grow in Moonshadow City. And we never knew that! That kind of – shockwave of realisation, that flows backwards to alter what we thought we knew – EEE! It’s SO COOL and SO CLEVER and I love love loved it!
But that contrast – between Moonshadow City and where Iriset and Lyric end up in Shape of Monsters – between the way of life that is Aharté’s Silence and a place that’s never heard of such a thing – it’s more than just delightful for worldbuilding obsessives like myself. Gratton is showing us, teaching us, important fundamentals about this world, about the regime Iriset (and me, and presumably most readers) hated in Mercy Makers. It’s not a lecture, but it does feel as though we’re being encouraged to consider…not which way is better so much as, the pros and cons of both. Iriset idolised the Apostate Age, when there were no rules at all governing what design magic could be used for – but maybe it’s not such a great idea to have no rules at all? Maybe it’s more complicated than saying all the rules or no rules? I never got the sense that Gratton had an ideal, a clear conclusion they wanted readers to come to – more like they ‘just’ wanted their readers to think.
I am very much in favour of books that want me to think.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
June 24, 2026
I'm so very confused but in a good way?
The world building is intense, more so than in the first book which did a lot of the heavy lifting to introduce the world. But now we have to both unlearn and relearn it all again through Lyric and Iriset and their MANY bad choices.
It was as fun as it was maddening and I'm very curious to see where this series is going to go.
The world building is intense, more so than in the first book which did a lot of the heavy lifting to introduce the world. But now we have to both unlearn and relearn it all again through Lyric and Iriset and their MANY bad choices.
It was as fun as it was maddening and I'm very curious to see where this series is going to go.
June 13, 2026
3.5 ⭐️s | ‘Thought strips away, worries and wonder, everything, until Iriset is sensation, she is wind and starlight, laughter.”
Okay so first thing: I did like this more than the first book. The Shape of Monsters expands the strange, ambitious world building established in book one, and it pushes its characters into even murkier territory where gods, monsters, and humanity blur together. I loved watching Iriset and Lyric grapple with their identities, beliefs, and feelings for one another. Their growth felt earned, and the emotional tension between them remained one of the strongest parts of the story. It was such an improvement from the first book. I didn’t really care for the romance in The Mercy Makers, but I definitely enjoyed it in this book. Tessa Gratton excels at creating imaginative, deeply weird fantasy concepts, and the setting was every bit as fascinating as it was unsettling.
That said, this felt very much like a middle book. While the worldbuilding was rich and the themes were compelling, the pacing occasionally dragged, and the sheer number of POVs made it difficult to follow along at times. I’m a huge fan of multiple POVs, but this was a lot even for me. Some characters added depth to the story, while others pulled me away from the characters I was most eager to follow. Even so, the book left me intrigued by the larger questions it raises about power, faith, and transformation. The cliffhanger ending has me curious about where this trilogy is headed, and for the sake of this trilogy’s biggest fans, I hope theyre given a satisfying conclusion. It’s mentioned in the acknowledgments that “there’s still a chance” Gratton will never finish this trilogy. I’m not sure I’ll continue if there’s a third book either but we’ll see!
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for this eARC!
Okay so first thing: I did like this more than the first book. The Shape of Monsters expands the strange, ambitious world building established in book one, and it pushes its characters into even murkier territory where gods, monsters, and humanity blur together. I loved watching Iriset and Lyric grapple with their identities, beliefs, and feelings for one another. Their growth felt earned, and the emotional tension between them remained one of the strongest parts of the story. It was such an improvement from the first book. I didn’t really care for the romance in The Mercy Makers, but I definitely enjoyed it in this book. Tessa Gratton excels at creating imaginative, deeply weird fantasy concepts, and the setting was every bit as fascinating as it was unsettling.
That said, this felt very much like a middle book. While the worldbuilding was rich and the themes were compelling, the pacing occasionally dragged, and the sheer number of POVs made it difficult to follow along at times. I’m a huge fan of multiple POVs, but this was a lot even for me. Some characters added depth to the story, while others pulled me away from the characters I was most eager to follow. Even so, the book left me intrigued by the larger questions it raises about power, faith, and transformation. The cliffhanger ending has me curious about where this trilogy is headed, and for the sake of this trilogy’s biggest fans, I hope theyre given a satisfying conclusion. It’s mentioned in the acknowledgments that “there’s still a chance” Gratton will never finish this trilogy. I’m not sure I’ll continue if there’s a third book either but we’ll see!
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for this eARC!
July 5, 2026
Tessa Gratton, how dare you.
This was fucking fantastic.
This was fucking fantastic.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The Shape of Monsters is the second and newest book in the ongoing Moon Heresies series by Tessa Gratton, following The Mercy-Makers, which I’ve reviewed here last year. Both books are thoughtful, character-driven stories with a unique magic system, steamy sex scenes, and complicated relationships. They’re a little hard to recommend; the prose is more lyrical than the standard fast-paced fantasy novel, yet the heart of the story lies in its romantic and sexual relationships, making it a romantasy that probably won’t work well for that genre’s primary readership. That being said, I really enjoyed this one. Even more so than the first book, this is a book that revels in sensuality, in melancholy, and in mood at the expense of a thrilling plot. I don’t think it will work for many, but if you’re conceptually interested in romance-forward fantasy with lush prose and a weird world, they’re worth the read.
The rest of this review is going to spoil the first book, so if you haven’t read it yet, you’ve been warned!
I don’t know how Ursula K. Le Guin would have felt about these books, but they do remind of me her famous “carrier bag of fiction” essay, in which (to simplify to a fault) questions the need for one singular conflict-focused shape of stories. The Shape of Monsters has conflict aplenty, but not in the traditional kind. Instead, it’s a story about grappling with your own desires and beliefs when you find them shaken. It’s a story about love and sex and the messy nature of relationships. It’s a story about wanting to keep your love with you and knowing that they need space to fly away.
I really don’t know who these books are quite for, aside from me, but I really liked this one quite a bit, and hope that Gratton gets to conclude the trilogy next year.
The Mercy Makers is set to publish June 16, 2026.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.
The rest of this review is going to spoil the first book, so if you haven’t read it yet, you’ve been warned!
I don’t know how Ursula K. Le Guin would have felt about these books, but they do remind of me her famous “carrier bag of fiction” essay, in which (to simplify to a fault) questions the need for one singular conflict-focused shape of stories. The Shape of Monsters has conflict aplenty, but not in the traditional kind. Instead, it’s a story about grappling with your own desires and beliefs when you find them shaken. It’s a story about love and sex and the messy nature of relationships. It’s a story about wanting to keep your love with you and knowing that they need space to fly away.
I really don’t know who these books are quite for, aside from me, but I really liked this one quite a bit, and hope that Gratton gets to conclude the trilogy next year.
The Mercy Makers is set to publish June 16, 2026.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.
June 23, 2026
Oh boy, what a disappointing sequel.
This book is a mess for a multitude of reasons. I'm not gonna go too in depth for most parts of this, but there are two things I want to discuss in detail. First of all, the writing. Yes. Again. Mercifully, one of them is not the same issue at last time, but un-mercifully, that does mean there was a new writing thing I had to struggle with throughout the book.
Firstly, the overuse of repeated words. Falling falling falling, up up up - this was used repeatedly in a way that pulled me out of the reading experience every single time. Don't get me started on the ha ha ha's that were used in casual narration. I think haha and lol and lmfao have no place in written novels unless you have text conversations included in the writing.
The second issue was actually an issue from book 1 that I forgot to mention but - remove the exclamation point key from Gratton's keyboard, I swear to god. She overuses that thing in a way that I think is supposed to make the narrative sound quirky but instead just made me roll my eyes. Exclamation points have a time and a place, and I don't think Gratton used a single one correctly in this book.
And then the plot. Oh boy. I don't even know where to start with this one. For a plot that sounds so intriguing - getting thrown back in time to before your civilization as you know it was made and having to remake it yourself even when you disagree with it - it sure as hell was boring. I never once felt the rush to get to work, to remake the society Lyric & Iriset came from. It was annoying and made the book feel so much longer than it actually was.
Chapter 39... oh boy. It's called "Sex magic" and honestly, it made me want to hurl. What the fuck? Why the fuck? Why did we...? Why? No, like... seriously question for you, Tessa, why did you write that?
Anyways um. What else is there to say? My favourite characters all died in some of the worst scenes I've ever read, the sex scenes served no purpose to me, Rabbit was annoying as fuck and his romantic? sexual? obsessive? relationship with one of the main characters did absolutely nothing for me but annoy me and yeah. Boo.
Unfortunately, don't think I'll be coming back for book three. No way. Thanks for this ride though... I guess?
(Also, quick shoutout to the unicorn who loves getting high. Funny paragraph to send to people out of context, not gonna lie.)
This book is a mess for a multitude of reasons. I'm not gonna go too in depth for most parts of this, but there are two things I want to discuss in detail. First of all, the writing. Yes. Again. Mercifully, one of them is not the same issue at last time, but un-mercifully, that does mean there was a new writing thing I had to struggle with throughout the book.
Firstly, the overuse of repeated words. Falling falling falling, up up up - this was used repeatedly in a way that pulled me out of the reading experience every single time. Don't get me started on the ha ha ha's that were used in casual narration. I think haha and lol and lmfao have no place in written novels unless you have text conversations included in the writing.
The second issue was actually an issue from book 1 that I forgot to mention but - remove the exclamation point key from Gratton's keyboard, I swear to god. She overuses that thing in a way that I think is supposed to make the narrative sound quirky but instead just made me roll my eyes. Exclamation points have a time and a place, and I don't think Gratton used a single one correctly in this book.
And then the plot. Oh boy. I don't even know where to start with this one. For a plot that sounds so intriguing - getting thrown back in time to before your civilization as you know it was made and having to remake it yourself even when you disagree with it - it sure as hell was boring. I never once felt the rush to get to work, to remake the society Lyric & Iriset came from. It was annoying and made the book feel so much longer than it actually was.
Chapter 39... oh boy. It's called "Sex magic" and honestly, it made me want to hurl. What the fuck? Why the fuck? Why did we...? Why? No, like... seriously question for you, Tessa, why did you write that?
Anyways um. What else is there to say? My favourite characters all died in some of the worst scenes I've ever read, the sex scenes served no purpose to me, Rabbit was annoying as fuck and his romantic? sexual? obsessive? relationship with one of the main characters did absolutely nothing for me but annoy me and yeah. Boo.
Unfortunately, don't think I'll be coming back for book three. No way. Thanks for this ride though... I guess?
(Also, quick shoutout to the unicorn who loves getting high. Funny paragraph to send to people out of context, not gonna lie.)
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the ARC.
Between The Mercy Makers having less than 400 ratings on Goodreads and Tessa Gratton herself saying in the afterword of this book that she's not sure if she'll ever finish this trilogy, I am deeply, deeply concerned that we are not going to get a conclusion to this story, which is unfortunate, because this one ends on another cliffhanger.
As far as books go, I think it does suffer a bit from Second Book Syndrome. Following the events of the first book, Isiret and Lyric end up in another place and spend the whole book trying to get home, rewrite history, etc. The new setting comes with its own new cast of characters who are intriguing to various degrees. The book continues to be very horny but not necessarily SEXY. I am unsure why there is such an emphasis on this. Meanwhile, the "modern day" timeline we left Amaranth in feels EXTREMELY underutilized. There are only four chapters in the ENTIRE book that are devoted to this, and I would have liked to spend more time here as Amaranth is a much more interesting character than, say, Lyric.
As for "scenes that jump out" there is a FAIRLY PROLONGED eyeball scene in this book; beware. There's also a weird god-sex scene; I found the one in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms to be better as far as these go.
I have no indication of where the story is going to go from here, but I hope we ultimately do get a conclusion for it.
Between The Mercy Makers having less than 400 ratings on Goodreads and Tessa Gratton herself saying in the afterword of this book that she's not sure if she'll ever finish this trilogy, I am deeply, deeply concerned that we are not going to get a conclusion to this story, which is unfortunate, because this one ends on another cliffhanger.
As far as books go, I think it does suffer a bit from Second Book Syndrome. Following the events of the first book, Isiret and Lyric end up in another place and spend the whole book trying to get home, rewrite history, etc. The new setting comes with its own new cast of characters who are intriguing to various degrees. The book continues to be very horny but not necessarily SEXY. I am unsure why there is such an emphasis on this. Meanwhile, the "modern day" timeline we left Amaranth in feels EXTREMELY underutilized. There are only four chapters in the ENTIRE book that are devoted to this, and I would have liked to spend more time here as Amaranth is a much more interesting character than, say, Lyric.
As for "scenes that jump out" there is a FAIRLY PROLONGED eyeball scene in this book; beware. There's also a weird god-sex scene; I found the one in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms to be better as far as these go.
I have no indication of where the story is going to go from here, but I hope we ultimately do get a conclusion for it.
June 29, 2026
This series is very original and stands out in a sea of fantasy book which all seem like versions of one another. That said, this book was a drag.
I hoped that, just like with book one, after a tough couple of chapters trying to understand the many confusing words and settings, I'd be rewarded for sticking around and would fly through the pages enjoying the actions. That didn't happen.
Even though I had saved the glossary that I made for book one to have fighting chance at understanding what was going on I was confused for much of the book. It doesn't help that every character has not just a name, and potentially pronouns that the author invented, but also a moniker. And those three things are used interchangeably without much explanation. Top it off, those monikers might be regular words like 'never' or 'shade' and the author loves to use the moniker and name in the same sentence. See why I got confused?
I see a lot of reviewers saying that this a character driven book. I agree because plot-wise not a lot is happening. However, it's lacking character growth in my opinion. There was so much potential to have these characters clash over their contrarian world views and instead we got stilted conversations and a predictable ending.
Why did I finish the book you may ask? The plot sounded intriguing, it's set in a LGBTQIA accepting world and the FMC is a badass who pushed boundaries. Those are all ingredients for a great novel. I hoped for a great finale, which never came.
The kicker was when I read in the author's note that they may never write book 3. At least tell me how the trilogy ends.
Thanks to Orbit for the eARC
I hoped that, just like with book one, after a tough couple of chapters trying to understand the many confusing words and settings, I'd be rewarded for sticking around and would fly through the pages enjoying the actions. That didn't happen.
Even though I had saved the glossary that I made for book one to have fighting chance at understanding what was going on I was confused for much of the book. It doesn't help that every character has not just a name, and potentially pronouns that the author invented, but also a moniker. And those three things are used interchangeably without much explanation. Top it off, those monikers might be regular words like 'never' or 'shade' and the author loves to use the moniker and name in the same sentence. See why I got confused?
I see a lot of reviewers saying that this a character driven book. I agree because plot-wise not a lot is happening. However, it's lacking character growth in my opinion. There was so much potential to have these characters clash over their contrarian world views and instead we got stilted conversations and a predictable ending.
Why did I finish the book you may ask? The plot sounded intriguing, it's set in a LGBTQIA accepting world and the FMC is a badass who pushed boundaries. Those are all ingredients for a great novel. I hoped for a great finale, which never came.
The kicker was when I read in the author's note that they may never write book 3. At least tell me how the trilogy ends.
Thanks to Orbit for the eARC
July 9, 2026
Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for the eARC!
I was chomping at the bit to get back into this world after reading The Mercy Makers, which ended on a painful cliff-hanger. I loved diving back into this mystical, lush world. Tessa Gratton's writing is again beautiful and impressive, some sentences leaving me in a daze with how perfectly crafted they were.
In the sequel to The Mercy Makers, main character Iriset and her husband Lyric are sent back in time centuries ago, when the world was new and wild, and the empire was yet to be founded. The story of this book has a slower momentum compared to the first, and the change of pace took a little getting used to at first. It's a lot more introspective, spends a lot more time on more precise philosophical questions for which we did not always have time during the explosive forward-moving plot of the first book. There is time for character growth, relationships to build, and a whole cast of multi-dimensional side characters to meet and get to know. At times the plot lost me a bit, and I found it harder to stay focused compared to the first book. At the same time, I don't think there's any part that I think this wouldn't need.
I couldn't get enough of the worldbuilding that continues from The Mercy Makers, taking every bit of lore like a precious jewel when it was offered. The time travel aspect only added to this, as the protagonists realize how different their world was centuries ago. This is one of the most unique and interesting fantasy worlds I've come across, and I read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi.
I can't wait to see where this trilogy goes with the final book, and at the same time I'm not ready to let go of this beautiful, ruthless world and its incredible characters.
I was chomping at the bit to get back into this world after reading The Mercy Makers, which ended on a painful cliff-hanger. I loved diving back into this mystical, lush world. Tessa Gratton's writing is again beautiful and impressive, some sentences leaving me in a daze with how perfectly crafted they were.
In the sequel to The Mercy Makers, main character Iriset and her husband Lyric are sent back in time centuries ago, when the world was new and wild, and the empire was yet to be founded. The story of this book has a slower momentum compared to the first, and the change of pace took a little getting used to at first. It's a lot more introspective, spends a lot more time on more precise philosophical questions for which we did not always have time during the explosive forward-moving plot of the first book. There is time for character growth, relationships to build, and a whole cast of multi-dimensional side characters to meet and get to know. At times the plot lost me a bit, and I found it harder to stay focused compared to the first book. At the same time, I don't think there's any part that I think this wouldn't need.
I couldn't get enough of the worldbuilding that continues from The Mercy Makers, taking every bit of lore like a precious jewel when it was offered. The time travel aspect only added to this, as the protagonists realize how different their world was centuries ago. This is one of the most unique and interesting fantasy worlds I've come across, and I read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi.
I can't wait to see where this trilogy goes with the final book, and at the same time I'm not ready to let go of this beautiful, ruthless world and its incredible characters.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Tessa Gratton, Orbit, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of The Shape of Monsters in exchange for my honest review.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The Shape of Monsters is a primarily character driven story, with the plot starting up immediately where the last book ended. However, unlike the first book which was very plot heavy, this book was more a setup for book three and a way to get the characters to where they needed to be. It is not a plot that can be summarized without giving away spoilers. I will say that you learn a lot more about the world and their beliefs in an unexpected way throughout this book. Where I struggled was with how slow this book felt. It kept dragging on and I could not get invested into what was going on. There were many times that I wanted to quit because it did not seem worth it to me. I did decide to stick it out and in some ways I am glad that I did. Not because I loved this book. I more tolerated this book out of necessity. It is because we are now back at a spot where I think.I will end up loving what happens next. I think book three will return to one that is more a balance between character development and plot, rather than one or the other. I am excited to see what happens in book three because we are back in a space that I enjoy, one that is more similar to book one. That is all I can say. I can also say if you liked book one and are struggling, push through because I do think book three will be worth it, and we do need this book to understand book three I am pretty sure.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The Shape of Monsters is a primarily character driven story, with the plot starting up immediately where the last book ended. However, unlike the first book which was very plot heavy, this book was more a setup for book three and a way to get the characters to where they needed to be. It is not a plot that can be summarized without giving away spoilers. I will say that you learn a lot more about the world and their beliefs in an unexpected way throughout this book. Where I struggled was with how slow this book felt. It kept dragging on and I could not get invested into what was going on. There were many times that I wanted to quit because it did not seem worth it to me. I did decide to stick it out and in some ways I am glad that I did. Not because I loved this book. I more tolerated this book out of necessity. It is because we are now back at a spot where I think.I will end up loving what happens next. I think book three will return to one that is more a balance between character development and plot, rather than one or the other. I am excited to see what happens in book three because we are back in a space that I enjoy, one that is more similar to book one. That is all I can say. I can also say if you liked book one and are struggling, push through because I do think book three will be worth it, and we do need this book to understand book three I am pretty sure.
June 16, 2026
Everything The Mercy Makers was, but inverted.. sort of!
Gratton is excellent at world building. In the first book we are exposed to the characters and their natural surroundings, learning of their "normal". In The Shape of Monsters, we are now experiencing a new scenery, new relationship dynamics and new characters. The pacing of the story is steady, however somewhat slow at certain points, but redeems us readers with artfully woven plot twists. The Shape of Monsters introduces us to a new place, which removes our friends from their usual environment and forces them (and us) to consider how much of our relationships are dynamics of our choosing or placed upon us. It made me reconsider some of my own relationships and how we could be the villain in someone elses story.
But back to the story, with the current state of our world, I welcomed a slower pace that redirected my focus to fully enmesh me in the storyline. With that being said, and on second thought, the pacing was just what I needed.
Thank you to Tessa Gratton for a different kind of up-side-down that gave me the right perspective! Thank you to Orbit Books for making it happen!
Gratton is excellent at world building. In the first book we are exposed to the characters and their natural surroundings, learning of their "normal". In The Shape of Monsters, we are now experiencing a new scenery, new relationship dynamics and new characters. The pacing of the story is steady, however somewhat slow at certain points, but redeems us readers with artfully woven plot twists. The Shape of Monsters introduces us to a new place, which removes our friends from their usual environment and forces them (and us) to consider how much of our relationships are dynamics of our choosing or placed upon us. It made me reconsider some of my own relationships and how we could be the villain in someone elses story.
But back to the story, with the current state of our world, I welcomed a slower pace that redirected my focus to fully enmesh me in the storyline. With that being said, and on second thought, the pacing was just what I needed.
Thank you to Tessa Gratton for a different kind of up-side-down that gave me the right perspective! Thank you to Orbit Books for making it happen!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books, and Tessa Gratton for allowing me to receive an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Warning: this review contains slight spoilers
I want to start off by saying I loved The Shape of Monsters. The Moon Heresies has become my new obsession. I don’t think I have truly been this hooked since I read the Locked Tomb series.
This book was brilliant, poignant and intense. Lyric and Iriset are foils to each other in the story, which is not something I was expecting. The ways that they both change and really get to know themselves is beautiful. They both get what they have always wanted to a certain degree and find it is not what they thought it would be.
I cannot wait until the next book!!! Tessa Gratton is absolutely going on my automatic "buy this authors book" list.
Warning: this review contains slight spoilers
I want to start off by saying I loved The Shape of Monsters. The Moon Heresies has become my new obsession. I don’t think I have truly been this hooked since I read the Locked Tomb series.
This book was brilliant, poignant and intense. Lyric and Iriset are foils to each other in the story, which is not something I was expecting. The ways that they both change and really get to know themselves is beautiful. They both get what they have always wanted to a certain degree and find it is not what they thought it would be.
I cannot wait until the next book!!! Tessa Gratton is absolutely going on my automatic "buy this authors book" list.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This series has become one of my all-time favorites. The prose are stunning — lyrical, ambitious, and dreamlike in the way it pushes boundaries while feeling deeply emotional. Every part of the world feels alive, from the magic system to the layers of political intrigue woven throughout the story.
What makes the series stand out to me, though, are Iriset and Lyric. They’re messy, complicated, and deeply flawed in ways that make them feel incredibly real. After the explosive opening, the story settles into a slower, more immersive pace that allows the world and characters to fully breathe, and I thought that worked perfectly. Then, by the final stretch, the tension builds all over again in a way that completely hooked me.
I’m so invested in this story and already counting down the time until the next installment. I NEED IT, TESSA!!
What makes the series stand out to me, though, are Iriset and Lyric. They’re messy, complicated, and deeply flawed in ways that make them feel incredibly real. After the explosive opening, the story settles into a slower, more immersive pace that allows the world and characters to fully breathe, and I thought that worked perfectly. Then, by the final stretch, the tension builds all over again in a way that completely hooked me.
I’m so invested in this story and already counting down the time until the next installment. I NEED IT, TESSA!!
June 18, 2026
4.5 STARS
The Moon Heresies series is one of the most unique stories I have come across.
The story is complex, fascinating, and thought-provoking. The characters are dynamic, relatable, and intriguing. And the world building is stunningly atmospheric and immersive.
Book two picks up right where The Mercy Makers wrapped up and dives right in.
The plot is more of a slow-burn in this middle instalment, and gives a deeper insight into the characters, politics, and history. The truths and explanations that are revealed are not what I could have ever predicted, and I am truly astonished by Tessa’s creativity and imagination.
The book is long, and there were times when the pacing felt off, however with such evocative and lyrical prose it was worth every page.
I will be (im)patiently waiting for book three and cannot wait to see how the end of the story unfolds …. especially after that last surprise.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC copy.
The Moon Heresies series is one of the most unique stories I have come across.
The story is complex, fascinating, and thought-provoking. The characters are dynamic, relatable, and intriguing. And the world building is stunningly atmospheric and immersive.
Book two picks up right where The Mercy Makers wrapped up and dives right in.
The plot is more of a slow-burn in this middle instalment, and gives a deeper insight into the characters, politics, and history. The truths and explanations that are revealed are not what I could have ever predicted, and I am truly astonished by Tessa’s creativity and imagination.
The book is long, and there were times when the pacing felt off, however with such evocative and lyrical prose it was worth every page.
I will be (im)patiently waiting for book three and cannot wait to see how the end of the story unfolds …. especially after that last surprise.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is absolutely one of my favorite series of all time. The prose was gorgeous, heady, boundary-pushing, Joycean, incredible. Iriset is incredible - complicated, torn, ecstatic (haha), and so vividly painted. The pacing felt a bit slower to me like a lush sprawl after a very tense opening and I really felt that it worked so well - and then ratcheted right up at the 90% mark.
April 14, 2026
I absolutely love this series. The world and magic system are so lush and intricate, and I find all the political intrigue utterly brilliant.
Iriset and Lyric are deeply flawed yet fascinating main characters, and I think that’s what makes their story arcs so interesting to follow.
I’m so engaged with this series and I cannot wait for the next one!
Iriset and Lyric are deeply flawed yet fascinating main characters, and I think that’s what makes their story arcs so interesting to follow.
I’m so engaged with this series and I cannot wait for the next one!
May 31, 2026
Gratton dives deep into time travel adjacent weirdness for this installment, and also coming to terms with the fact that maybe the person you thought you married isn't that person at all (literally, in Iriset's case, yay deception), lots of sex and magic dives and intrigue, all while trying to figure out how the fuck to get home after having accidentally Escaflowne'd yourself to the in your time nonexistent moon in the past. As one does. Can't wait to see how this ends.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The Shape of Monsters is a dark, haunting fantasy that explores what truly makes someone monstrous through a story filled with complicated characters, dangerous magic, and emotional depth. Tessa Gratton excels at creating morally complex protagonists, and I loved how the story constantly challenged assumptions about heroes, villains, and everything in between. The worldbuilding feels rich and immersive, while the relationships carry just as much weight as the larger conflicts unfolding around them. There’s a melancholy beauty running through the narrative that made it difficult to put down. A thought-provoking and emotionally layered fantasy that lingers long after the final page.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Tessa Gratton for providing with me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
Edit: for whatever reason, GoodReads is a hard time with saving my star rating, so I want to be clear. This was a solid 5/5 stars!
Oh. My. God. This was a phenomenal sequel. It definitely was easier to read as I understood the magic system, so I was not as lost as I was in the first book. But I would argue this was even better than book one! It was deeply complex and does not shy away from intense feelings of grief, anger, and pain, as well as love and the process of finding yourself in a strange world while also bridging that identity of who you were in the past. As in the first book, every single character was at the risk on being on the chopping block and I LOVED it! I loved trying to predict who lives and who dies, and being satisfied (but sad) when I was right.
This book follows Lyric and Iriset (and the numen!) immediately after the events of book one, where they find themselves in a land of monsters and human architecture, while Amaranth and Garnet deal with the aftermath of their sudden departure.
It was extremely interesting to see the growth of our main characters, Iriset and Lyric. They grew immensely in this book, and Tessa did not shy away from making them confront their belief systems and their own identity. Their growth as characters, both individually and as a couple, was really well paced and well done. Nothing felt rushed or out of the blue. Their thoughts and decisions made sense.
The other vast cast of characters were very complex and very vast. It's hard to list them without any spoilers, so I won't, but I will say, I am looking forward to more of Amaranth in the next book (I HOPE!). On the flip side, a certain character appearing in the last chapter was immensely disappointing as I was hoping we'd leave them behind in this book. But alas!
I will say, the one element of this book I did not enjoy was the large number of POVs. I felt like there were too many cooks in the kitchen, and I did not care for some of the characters, so I was like "damn, again?" when a certain animal-named character was narrating the chapters. I tallied the POVs, and there were nine (9!) narrators. Even though they all had their purpose, it felt very excessive. I know this book wasn't just Iriset's and Lyric's story, but everyone's story, and everyone was interconnected, but they were MY babies, and I wanted more of Iriset and Lyric.
Edit: for whatever reason, GoodReads is a hard time with saving my star rating, so I want to be clear. This was a solid 5/5 stars!
Oh. My. God. This was a phenomenal sequel. It definitely was easier to read as I understood the magic system, so I was not as lost as I was in the first book. But I would argue this was even better than book one! It was deeply complex and does not shy away from intense feelings of grief, anger, and pain, as well as love and the process of finding yourself in a strange world while also bridging that identity of who you were in the past. As in the first book, every single character was at the risk on being on the chopping block and I LOVED it! I loved trying to predict who lives and who dies, and being satisfied (but sad) when I was right.
This book follows Lyric and Iriset (and the numen!) immediately after the events of book one, where they find themselves in a land of monsters and human architecture, while Amaranth and Garnet deal with the aftermath of their sudden departure.
It was extremely interesting to see the growth of our main characters, Iriset and Lyric. They grew immensely in this book, and Tessa did not shy away from making them confront their belief systems and their own identity. Their growth as characters, both individually and as a couple, was really well paced and well done. Nothing felt rushed or out of the blue. Their thoughts and decisions made sense.
The other vast cast of characters were very complex and very vast. It's hard to list them without any spoilers, so I won't, but I will say, I am looking forward to more of Amaranth in the next book (I HOPE!). On the flip side, a certain character appearing in the last chapter was immensely disappointing as I was hoping we'd leave them behind in this book. But alas!
I will say, the one element of this book I did not enjoy was the large number of POVs. I felt like there were too many cooks in the kitchen, and I did not care for some of the characters, so I was like "damn, again?" when a certain animal-named character was narrating the chapters. I tallied the POVs, and there were nine (9!) narrators. Even though they all had their purpose, it felt very excessive. I know this book wasn't just Iriset's and Lyric's story, but everyone's story, and everyone was interconnected, but they were MY babies, and I wanted more of Iriset and Lyric.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews