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Monstera
Not yet published
Expected 13 Oct 26A reclusive young woman moves into what seems like the perfect apartment and is obsessively drawn to her reclusive neighbour, who keeps a lush garden and is hiding a deadly secret… Eat the Ones You Love meets Wilder Girls in this sensual, sapphic, botanical horror novella from the New York Times-bestselling author of Bloom and House of Idyll.
When Lucy McClintock moves into a dreamy Victorian in downtown Savannah after years of suffering under the rule of her overbearing grandfather, she feels like she's won the lottery—well, outside of the creepy landlord. She soon notices a glorious green haven in the backyard and meets her downstairs neighbor, Saskia, a weightlifter who lives in a magical apartment overflowing with plant life and beautiful artwork. Naïve and lonely Lucy is drawn to strong and secretive Saskia, and as the two women grow closer, they discover they share more than just an apartment building…
A seductive, heady, sinister breathless romance and bone-chilling suspense collide in this sweet and deadly tale.
When Lucy McClintock moves into a dreamy Victorian in downtown Savannah after years of suffering under the rule of her overbearing grandfather, she feels like she's won the lottery—well, outside of the creepy landlord. She soon notices a glorious green haven in the backyard and meets her downstairs neighbor, Saskia, a weightlifter who lives in a magical apartment overflowing with plant life and beautiful artwork. Naïve and lonely Lucy is drawn to strong and secretive Saskia, and as the two women grow closer, they discover they share more than just an apartment building…
A seductive, heady, sinister breathless romance and bone-chilling suspense collide in this sweet and deadly tale.
192 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 13, 2026
About the author
Delilah S. Dawson
195 books3,051 followersDelilah S. Dawson is the New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma, Black Spire: Galaxy's Edge, and The Perfect Weapon. With Kevin Hearne, she writes the Tales of Pell. As Lila Bowen, she writes the Shadow series, beginning with Wake of Vultures. Her other books include the Blud series, the Hit series, and Servants of the Storm.
She's written comics in the worlds of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, Lore's Wellington, Star Wars Adventures, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, The X-Files Case Files, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, and her creator-owned comics include Star Pig, Ladycastle, and Sparrowhawk.
Find out more at www.whimsydark.com.
She's written comics in the worlds of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, Lore's Wellington, Star Wars Adventures, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, The X-Files Case Files, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, and her creator-owned comics include Star Pig, Ladycastle, and Sparrowhawk.
Find out more at www.whimsydark.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
June 9, 2026
thank you so much to netgalley for this arc!!
i am SO torn on this one. when i saw this book was called monstera (my favourite plant), was written by delilah s. dawson (one of my favourite authors), and was sapphic (another one of my favourite things), it felt like this book was made for me.
the characters were wonderful. this read SO quickly and i was so so invested. i loved the relationship in this. i loved most of the reveals.
BUT, not a whole lot happens? i think i can only loosely call this a horror - approximately 80% of this book reads more like a slightly odd romance (which kinda worked for me?? and i think that was supposed to lean more as a horroromance anyways). the ending was also a tad disappointing, as i don’t feel like the most interesting part of this story was really explained.
so i am in two minds - i loved this for what it was, but i was simultaneously a tad disappointed at the lack of horror elements in this one. i wish it had had a little more balance between that and the romance. i would still recommend you give it a go to see what you think!
i am SO torn on this one. when i saw this book was called monstera (my favourite plant), was written by delilah s. dawson (one of my favourite authors), and was sapphic (another one of my favourite things), it felt like this book was made for me.
the characters were wonderful. this read SO quickly and i was so so invested. i loved the relationship in this. i loved most of the reveals.
BUT, not a whole lot happens? i think i can only loosely call this a horror - approximately 80% of this book reads more like a slightly odd romance (which kinda worked for me?? and i think that was supposed to lean more as a horroromance anyways). the ending was also a tad disappointing, as i don’t feel like the most interesting part of this story was really explained.
so i am in two minds - i loved this for what it was, but i was simultaneously a tad disappointed at the lack of horror elements in this one. i wish it had had a little more balance between that and the romance. i would still recommend you give it a go to see what you think!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
boy oh boy am i conflicted. *heavy sigh*
when i read the synopsis, i immediately thought this was written specifically for me...botanical horror? check. sapphic, but it was also giving obsessive? check. creepy landlord? check. secretive, mysterious, suspense? check check aaaaand check. blood on the cover? absolute check. then i started to read Monstera & i was sooo positive that this was going to be my Bloom.
the first half of this was chefs kiss. the writing is good. it was fast paced. there was this underlying mysterious vibe, like i was side eyeing my girl Saskia from the top of my glasses for a hot minute. the eerie vibes were definitely there for me in the beginning. i was loving it. i enjoyed Lucy & Saskia's relationship a loooot more than the relationship in Bloom.
however, the deeper i got into the story i just kept waiting for something to happen. there's really not a whole lot that goes on—it's very little plot & all vibes. is the horror in the room with us? not really. to me, this is not horror. it's a suspenseful romance...if that's even a thing. am i wrong to say that if a book spends 90% of the time focusing on the romance & the horror doesn't show up until the last 30 pgs, then it's not horror? maybe, but i really don't think so.
there's just not nearly enough blood, horror or "botanical horror" in this at all. the big reveal fell flat for me. the ending felt really rushed, & i finished it wishing we'd gotten a lot more of what the synopsis promised.
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review
when i read the synopsis, i immediately thought this was written specifically for me...botanical horror? check. sapphic, but it was also giving obsessive? check. creepy landlord? check. secretive, mysterious, suspense? check check aaaaand check. blood on the cover? absolute check. then i started to read Monstera & i was sooo positive that this was going to be my Bloom.
the first half of this was chefs kiss. the writing is good. it was fast paced. there was this underlying mysterious vibe, like i was side eyeing my girl Saskia from the top of my glasses for a hot minute. the eerie vibes were definitely there for me in the beginning. i was loving it. i enjoyed Lucy & Saskia's relationship a loooot more than the relationship in Bloom.
however, the deeper i got into the story i just kept waiting for something to happen. there's really not a whole lot that goes on—it's very little plot & all vibes. is the horror in the room with us? not really. to me, this is not horror. it's a suspenseful romance...if that's even a thing. am i wrong to say that if a book spends 90% of the time focusing on the romance & the horror doesn't show up until the last 30 pgs, then it's not horror? maybe, but i really don't think so.
there's just not nearly enough blood, horror or "botanical horror" in this at all. the big reveal fell flat for me. the ending felt really rushed, & i finished it wishing we'd gotten a lot more of what the synopsis promised.
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review
Want to Read
March 17, 2026I'm hoping that this will be the next Delilah S. Dawson banger that I've been craving ever since reading Bloom. But chances are good considering that this will be a "sensual, sapphic, botanical horror novella".
Read
March 29, 2026I blurbed this one!
“Compelling, sexy. and overall just heaps of fun, Monstera is the perfect book for those who've always felt that cottagecore would be more enjoyable if it included gore and female rage. After reading this novella, I will certainly never look at seedlings the same way again."
“Compelling, sexy. and overall just heaps of fun, Monstera is the perfect book for those who've always felt that cottagecore would be more enjoyable if it included gore and female rage. After reading this novella, I will certainly never look at seedlings the same way again."
July 3, 2026
3.5 ⭐️ Quick hit: I loved the romance, don’t think this counts as horror, it ends right as things get interesting & doesn’t resolve some big questions. All in all, loved the reading experience & would recommend, just know it’s not a perfect book!
This reads as an unconventional sapphic romance with a side of social horror. I knew this would have some romance but was pleasantly surprised by the spice! The budding romance was sweet, caring and filled with sexy tension 🥵 The character’s insecurities around dating felt grounded & real!
This definitely isn’t horror in the conventional sense & the description sets up some false expectations. The only horrifying aspect of the book was the landlords sexist & homophobic behavior. However that wasn’t particularly scary, it’s just how women are often treated. I suppose I find it disturbing how commonplace misogyny feels to me. That feels like too many meta layers to sift through though…
Spice: Some fade to black, some open door
TW: Violence, sexual harassment, attempted SA, stalking
This reads as an unconventional sapphic romance with a side of social horror. I knew this would have some romance but was pleasantly surprised by the spice! The budding romance was sweet, caring and filled with sexy tension 🥵 The character’s insecurities around dating felt grounded & real!
This definitely isn’t horror in the conventional sense & the description sets up some false expectations. The only horrifying aspect of the book was the landlords sexist & homophobic behavior. However that wasn’t particularly scary, it’s just how women are often treated. I suppose I find it disturbing how commonplace misogyny feels to me. That feels like too many meta layers to sift through though…
Spice: Some fade to black, some open door
TW: Violence, sexual harassment, attempted SA, stalking
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A gorgeous Victorian home covered in luscious plant life and an elusive neighbor that you can't help but be drawn to...
After a traumatic childhood keeping her secluded and withdrawn, Lucy is free and ready for independence. She finds it in a gorgeous Victorian home in Savannah. The landlord is horrid but she has the entire top floor to herself and has been catching glances of the neighbor, Saskia, who owns the bottom floor along with a wild expansive garden. She is quite alluring to Lucy and with her naivety is in desperate need of someone to be close to. The closer the two become the more they learn they happen to have in common...
This was a delightful botanical horror and I think it would bode well in many 'beginner' lists. The book is secretive and holds a lot of mystery in regards to the garden and its actions. Saskia reminded me a lot of Ash from 'Bloom'. I received a lot of the same feelings throughout this story as I did when reading 'Bloom' and I know that was the hope for many. I do want to say, however, 'Monstera' does not meet 'Bloom' in the same way. Monstera feels more suspense heavy and does not contain many horror elements as you would expect to see (blood, gore, brutality, violence). It is truly a book of its own and I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it is. The horror in this story hides behind the actions of men, and other abusers. It is about women taking their power back against the people telling them they can not be who they wish to.
After a traumatic childhood keeping her secluded and withdrawn, Lucy is free and ready for independence. She finds it in a gorgeous Victorian home in Savannah. The landlord is horrid but she has the entire top floor to herself and has been catching glances of the neighbor, Saskia, who owns the bottom floor along with a wild expansive garden. She is quite alluring to Lucy and with her naivety is in desperate need of someone to be close to. The closer the two become the more they learn they happen to have in common...
This was a delightful botanical horror and I think it would bode well in many 'beginner' lists. The book is secretive and holds a lot of mystery in regards to the garden and its actions. Saskia reminded me a lot of Ash from 'Bloom'. I received a lot of the same feelings throughout this story as I did when reading 'Bloom' and I know that was the hope for many. I do want to say, however, 'Monstera' does not meet 'Bloom' in the same way. Monstera feels more suspense heavy and does not contain many horror elements as you would expect to see (blood, gore, brutality, violence). It is truly a book of its own and I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it is. The horror in this story hides behind the actions of men, and other abusers. It is about women taking their power back against the people telling them they can not be who they wish to.
August 22, 2026
In downtown Savanah, a reclusive young woman named Lucy moves into a beautiful Victorian that has been split in two. After years of living under the oppressive thumb of her strict grandfather, she is excited to begin a fresh start. Almost immediately, she takes an interest in her downstairs neighbor Saskia, who keeps a tight schedule and a vibrant garden in the backyard. Lucy begins finding any reason to talk to Saskia, but her neighbor is reluctant to get close because of a secret she holds. But as Lucy weasels her way into Saskia’s life, she learns that they might share more than just a house.
This book was promoted as a sapphic botanical horror novella, so I went in with very specific expectations. To say that I was wildly off the mark is an understatement. I was expecting a dark, tense story with an eerie botanical atmosphere. Instead, this was straight up a romance book. 95% of this book was Lucy setting up her new apartment, cooking up reasons to talk to Saskia, and learning who she is outside her grandfather’s home. The horror is an afterthought as our plot is inflated with pop culture references and infatuation driven internal dialogue.
I think this book relies very heavily on vibes over substance. We don’t really get concrete explanations for certain elements of the story. Which can sometimes work, but in this case there wasn’t much else to prop the plot up on, so the vagueness felt pointless. I ended the book feeling very unfulfilled. I wanted Delilah to lean more into the body horror elements, and introduce the darker tones sooner in the story. I think Lucy and Saskia came off a little too earnest for what she was trying to accomplish.
I will say, I did like the romance. I think if my assumptions of this book going in had aligned more with what it actually was, I would have loved this. Lucy, free from her oppressive religious guardian, is unabashedly living the life she wants. And she desperately wants her hot bodybuilding neighbor to be a part of it. We have this forced proximity trope playing out that leads to some very sweet scenes, and a lot of social growth for Lucy and Saskia. I appreciated the comfort they found in each other, and the chance to heal certain traumas. There is a lot of anger for the violence enacted on women, and our characters are given the space to act on and bond over that rage.
Overall, there were some aspects I enjoyed but felt like they could have been emphasized better in the synopsis. I wish we had dug deeper into and fleshed out the horror elements so that the suspense was more potent. The botanical horror was a little weak for me, I wanted something that was more involved and threatening. So, if you’re looking for a sapphic romance with a darker backdrop then you might enjoy this. If you’re looking for a gruesome horror then it might be best to skip this one.
Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC.
This book was promoted as a sapphic botanical horror novella, so I went in with very specific expectations. To say that I was wildly off the mark is an understatement. I was expecting a dark, tense story with an eerie botanical atmosphere. Instead, this was straight up a romance book. 95% of this book was Lucy setting up her new apartment, cooking up reasons to talk to Saskia, and learning who she is outside her grandfather’s home. The horror is an afterthought as our plot is inflated with pop culture references and infatuation driven internal dialogue.
I think this book relies very heavily on vibes over substance. We don’t really get concrete explanations for certain elements of the story. Which can sometimes work, but in this case there wasn’t much else to prop the plot up on, so the vagueness felt pointless. I ended the book feeling very unfulfilled. I wanted Delilah to lean more into the body horror elements, and introduce the darker tones sooner in the story. I think Lucy and Saskia came off a little too earnest for what she was trying to accomplish.
I will say, I did like the romance. I think if my assumptions of this book going in had aligned more with what it actually was, I would have loved this. Lucy, free from her oppressive religious guardian, is unabashedly living the life she wants. And she desperately wants her hot bodybuilding neighbor to be a part of it. We have this forced proximity trope playing out that leads to some very sweet scenes, and a lot of social growth for Lucy and Saskia. I appreciated the comfort they found in each other, and the chance to heal certain traumas. There is a lot of anger for the violence enacted on women, and our characters are given the space to act on and bond over that rage.
Overall, there were some aspects I enjoyed but felt like they could have been emphasized better in the synopsis. I wish we had dug deeper into and fleshed out the horror elements so that the suspense was more potent. The botanical horror was a little weak for me, I wanted something that was more involved and threatening. So, if you’re looking for a sapphic romance with a darker backdrop then you might enjoy this. If you’re looking for a gruesome horror then it might be best to skip this one.
Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC.
June 9, 2026
Thank you negalley for providing this arc !
I did read this book quickly and couldn’t stop once I started. I loved the romance between our two characters, it was very cute and I am here for Lucy’s gay awakening.
But I must say I was expecting a horror book and it wasn’t that. This book was a romance with a very slight horror subplot, if we can call it that.
I thought the plants and especially the monstera would have a bigger place in the plot but instead we were just left with NO answer for the weird things happening in this book. We can guess, but no definitive answers and it’s personally a problem because I want my questions answered in a book.
Still, this book is a 4 stars for me because even though it wasn’t the horror book I was expecting it to be, I really enjoyed reading about about Lucy and Saskia
I did read this book quickly and couldn’t stop once I started. I loved the romance between our two characters, it was very cute and I am here for Lucy’s gay awakening.
But I must say I was expecting a horror book and it wasn’t that. This book was a romance with a very slight horror subplot, if we can call it that.
I thought the plants and especially the monstera would have a bigger place in the plot but instead we were just left with NO answer for the weird things happening in this book. We can guess, but no definitive answers and it’s personally a problem because I want my questions answered in a book.
Still, this book is a 4 stars for me because even though it wasn’t the horror book I was expecting it to be, I really enjoyed reading about about Lucy and Saskia
June 14, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
A sapphic botanical horror called Monstera should have been an easy win for me. The premise is fantastic, and once I started reading, I was immediately invested. The characters are compelling, the relationship is wonderfully developed, and the story moves at such a brisk pace that I finished it in almost no time at all.
The biggest strength of this novella is the character work. I completely bought into the connection between Lucy and Saskia, and I was eager to uncover the secrets lurking beneath the surface. The reveals that we do get are interesting, and the atmosphere is appropriately strange and unsettling.
My issue is that the story feels incomplete.
The entire time I was reading, I kept waiting for the book to open up into something bigger. Instead, it ended right around the point where I felt like the story was truly beginning. By the final page, I wasn't thinking "what a great ending." I was thinking, "where is the second half?"
This is also much more romance than horror. That's not necessarily a criticism because I enjoyed the relationship quite a bit, but readers expecting a horror-heavy story may find themselves surprised by how little horror is actually on the page. The horror elements are there, but they never felt fully explored.
That's what makes this such a frustrating read for me. I genuinely enjoyed reading it. I never felt bored. I cared about the characters. I liked the romance. But I also couldn't shake the feeling that I was reading the setup for a larger story that never arrived.
For me, this is a five-star concept and a three-and-a-half-star execution. I liked what was there. I just desperately wanted more of it.
A sapphic botanical horror called Monstera should have been an easy win for me. The premise is fantastic, and once I started reading, I was immediately invested. The characters are compelling, the relationship is wonderfully developed, and the story moves at such a brisk pace that I finished it in almost no time at all.
The biggest strength of this novella is the character work. I completely bought into the connection between Lucy and Saskia, and I was eager to uncover the secrets lurking beneath the surface. The reveals that we do get are interesting, and the atmosphere is appropriately strange and unsettling.
My issue is that the story feels incomplete.
The entire time I was reading, I kept waiting for the book to open up into something bigger. Instead, it ended right around the point where I felt like the story was truly beginning. By the final page, I wasn't thinking "what a great ending." I was thinking, "where is the second half?"
This is also much more romance than horror. That's not necessarily a criticism because I enjoyed the relationship quite a bit, but readers expecting a horror-heavy story may find themselves surprised by how little horror is actually on the page. The horror elements are there, but they never felt fully explored.
That's what makes this such a frustrating read for me. I genuinely enjoyed reading it. I never felt bored. I cared about the characters. I liked the romance. But I also couldn't shake the feeling that I was reading the setup for a larger story that never arrived.
For me, this is a five-star concept and a three-and-a-half-star execution. I liked what was there. I just desperately wanted more of it.
June 18, 2026
Thank you Net galley and Titan books for this advanced reader copy.This is my 3rd Delilah Dawson book and honestly, I love whatever is wrong with you Ms. Dawson 🤣
Similar to her novel Bloom, Monstera follows the story of two women, Saskia and Lucy. Lucy was raised by her extremely strict grandfather after her mother’s disappearance. After Lucy’s grandfather dies she is finally free to live her life on her own terms. She meets Saskia, her downstairs neighbor at her new apartment, which is run by a very sketchy landlord. Saskia is strong, a body builder with secrets of her own and a strange affliction which results in her body sprouting literal plant matter. I really enjoyed getting to know both of these ladies and while some parts of the plot were obvious as to where it was going, I still thoroughly enjoyed the ride. My only critic was that I wanted more of this story. It ended leaving me wanting more closure and answers. I’m hopeful I will get to revisit these complicated characters again in the future.
Similar to her novel Bloom, Monstera follows the story of two women, Saskia and Lucy. Lucy was raised by her extremely strict grandfather after her mother’s disappearance. After Lucy’s grandfather dies she is finally free to live her life on her own terms. She meets Saskia, her downstairs neighbor at her new apartment, which is run by a very sketchy landlord. Saskia is strong, a body builder with secrets of her own and a strange affliction which results in her body sprouting literal plant matter. I really enjoyed getting to know both of these ladies and while some parts of the plot were obvious as to where it was going, I still thoroughly enjoyed the ride. My only critic was that I wanted more of this story. It ended leaving me wanting more closure and answers. I’m hopeful I will get to revisit these complicated characters again in the future.
June 10, 2026
Wasn’t sure it was possible to love a book from this author more than I love Bloom…. But here we are!
Quirky, strange, exceedingly tense, and ever so satisfying!
Thank you so much Titan for my gifted copy! All thoughts are my own!
Quirky, strange, exceedingly tense, and ever so satisfying!
Thank you so much Titan for my gifted copy! All thoughts are my own!
June 18, 2026
This actually wasn’t as crazy as I thought it would be. I think I expected a lot and the ending didn’t answer everything I needed. But still a good read.
June 16, 2026
3.75/4 ⭐️
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the review copy of Monstera in exchange for an honest review. All Opinions expressed are entirely my own.
Firstly, I can't get over how gorgeous the cover is, it's what initially drew me to requesting and was immediately sold when I read that this was a sapphic botanical horror!!
Honestly, I wished that this was longer, I would have loved to have spent more time with Lucy and Saskia, and get to know them better. It was eerie more than horror though, I'd say more thriller actually, because it kept me intrigued and the suspense was also good; I just wished that it was longer. The plot twists and Lucy and Saskia's backstories were good, I really enjoyed those, too. There was the concept of plants that were going inside of Saskia, too, which I was hoping to explore more of too, I would have loved to have seen that been more of as well.
Nonetheless, this was an easy, fun novella, for my first read by Delilah S. Dawson.
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the review copy of Monstera in exchange for an honest review. All Opinions expressed are entirely my own.
Firstly, I can't get over how gorgeous the cover is, it's what initially drew me to requesting and was immediately sold when I read that this was a sapphic botanical horror!!
Honestly, I wished that this was longer, I would have loved to have spent more time with Lucy and Saskia, and get to know them better. It was eerie more than horror though, I'd say more thriller actually, because it kept me intrigued and the suspense was also good; I just wished that it was longer. The plot twists and Lucy and Saskia's backstories were good, I really enjoyed those, too. There was the concept of plants that were going inside of Saskia, too, which I was hoping to explore more of too, I would have loved to have seen that been more of as well.
Nonetheless, this was an easy, fun novella, for my first read by Delilah S. Dawson.
August 20, 2026
I adored Lucy and Saskia so much. While they have their differences, there are also some similarities as they both try to make sense of the cruel world we live in. I liked the story, but when I hit the last page, I couldn’t help but think “What?! That’s it?! But what about…”
So while the spirit of the book worked for me, the mechanics, specifically the timing, is what is holding me back. There are a lot of conversations focused on getting to know each other and unpacking the past, and I truly enjoyed them, don’t get me wrong, but by the time things seemed to really take off I was hit with the dreaded “The End”. It was like pushing down on the gas just to immediately slam on the break, and I have a rash from the seat belt.
Maybe the timing and lack of answers are an intentional choice on Dawson’s part, and I totally respect that. I think the fact I’m left hungry for closure is a testament to how wonderful the story is. I would absolutely still recommend to my friends and followers.
So while the spirit of the book worked for me, the mechanics, specifically the timing, is what is holding me back. There are a lot of conversations focused on getting to know each other and unpacking the past, and I truly enjoyed them, don’t get me wrong, but by the time things seemed to really take off I was hit with the dreaded “The End”. It was like pushing down on the gas just to immediately slam on the break, and I have a rash from the seat belt.
Maybe the timing and lack of answers are an intentional choice on Dawson’s part, and I totally respect that. I think the fact I’m left hungry for closure is a testament to how wonderful the story is. I would absolutely still recommend to my friends and followers.
June 29, 2026
Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC of this incredibly anticipated release!
Monstera is a beautifully strange blend of botanical horror, sapphic romance, and gothic atmosphere that completely pulled me in. Delilah S. Dawson has a real talent for creating eerie, unsettling settings, and the lush, plant-filled apartment felt almost like a character in its own right. And I LOVE HER FOR IT, I could not stop turning the pages.
I really enjoyed Lucy and Saskia's relationship. Their connection felt tender and believable. The mix of romance and horror worked incredibly well, creating a story that was both haunting and surprisingly heartfelt.
What held this back from being a full five stars was the ending. I absolutely loved the journey, but it felt like the story ended just as I wanted to spend more time with these characters and the horrors that were beginning. Everything wrapped up a little too quickly, and I was left wishing for a bit more development and a longer conclusion.
Monstera is a beautifully strange blend of botanical horror, sapphic romance, and gothic atmosphere that completely pulled me in. Delilah S. Dawson has a real talent for creating eerie, unsettling settings, and the lush, plant-filled apartment felt almost like a character in its own right. And I LOVE HER FOR IT, I could not stop turning the pages.
I really enjoyed Lucy and Saskia's relationship. Their connection felt tender and believable. The mix of romance and horror worked incredibly well, creating a story that was both haunting and surprisingly heartfelt.
What held this back from being a full five stars was the ending. I absolutely loved the journey, but it felt like the story ended just as I wanted to spend more time with these characters and the horrors that were beginning. Everything wrapped up a little too quickly, and I was left wishing for a bit more development and a longer conclusion.
June 12, 2026
Thank you so much to Netgalley for letting me read this early
Gothic sapphic horror is everything I could dream of and Delilah does a wonderful job. Her stories are short, sweet, to the point, and EXTREMELY effective. I admit this wasn't my favorite of hers that I have read but it was still a truly solid read. Big fan. Will continue to read anything she writes.
Gothic sapphic horror is everything I could dream of and Delilah does a wonderful job. Her stories are short, sweet, to the point, and EXTREMELY effective. I admit this wasn't my favorite of hers that I have read but it was still a truly solid read. Big fan. Will continue to read anything she writes.
August 6, 2026
Mary, Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?
I really wanted to be amazed by this book since the author wrote one of my favourite novellas with Bloom but I felt a little short changed with this book. Lucy becomes enamored with the only other tenant the house converted maisonette. Both of them have secretive dark pasts but will they open up to each other as their relationship blossoms
I really wanted to be amazed by this book since the author wrote one of my favourite novellas with Bloom but I felt a little short changed with this book. Lucy becomes enamored with the only other tenant the house converted maisonette. Both of them have secretive dark pasts but will they open up to each other as their relationship blossoms
July 27, 2026
2.75 ⭐️
I really thought it would have been more ‘horror’ than what it was. It definitely reads more like a romance that is surrounded by trauma and secrets. The plot of one of characters growing seeds and vines in her body could be taken out entirely and it wouldn’t change the book at all. The ending felt very abrupt, just didn’t feel satisfied after i finished it.
I really thought it would have been more ‘horror’ than what it was. It definitely reads more like a romance that is surrounded by trauma and secrets. The plot of one of characters growing seeds and vines in her body could be taken out entirely and it wouldn’t change the book at all. The ending felt very abrupt, just didn’t feel satisfied after i finished it.
July 2, 2026
20% light botanical horror, 80% sexy sapphic yearning. Not mad about it.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Lucy's never been on her own before. After the death of her strict grandfather, she finds herself renting an apartment from a leering landlord, Roger. She introduces herself to her neighbor, Saskia, and becomes entranced by the mysterious woman. Saskia, in turn, is afraid that if she gets too close to Lucy, she might hurt her.
While 'Monstera' has elements of horror with the parasitic plants that grow out of Saskia, it's more of a sapphic romance. I'll confess, I barely like romance when it's in my horror novels, so reading a horror book that feels more like a romance book isn't exactly my thing. I like that it's gay, but there's so much good sapphic horror coming out this year that 'Monstera' doesn't really stick out unless you don't really like horror at all.
While the book isn't long, the simplicity of the characters was a bit groan-inducing. Lucy and Saskia aren't bad, if a bit stereotypical (sheltered timid girl and strong aloof girl), but the antagonists were practically cartoon characters. Lucy's grandfather and Roger have a similar mindset--both are conservative Christians who have probably been radicalized by Fox News. People like this are real, and my complaint isn't characters like this being villains or unsympathetic, but that they feel really flat. Roger in particular feels like a checklist of terrible traits--he's homophobic (and his homophobia is rooted in Evangelical Christianity), he's racist, he's a pervert, he's an anti-masker, he smells bad and is dyeing his hair poorly, he's a creep, he walks into his tenants' rooms without asking and drinks their wine... the list goes on, and it's eye roll worthy because being a landlord already makes me dislike him! I don't mind characters being unlikable, but this book is already pretty short and spends so much of its length making sure that you don't like Roger, which was already done once he started calling his tenant 'baby'.
I get it. We live in a world where hateful rich men get away with things without ever having to face consequences, so there's surely some catharsis in writing a character like this getting his comeuppance. But as someone who hates people like Roger, I thought he was way too flat to be effective.
Lucy's mother has disappeared long before our book begins, leaving her daughter alone with her own strict, similarly religious father. Lucy also needs to point out that her mother had her when she was a teenager and that she was a drug addict, and this is always done to show that she's a bad person. Look... I was an edgy teenager who rolled her eyes at at teen moms and drug users, and while Lucy is a troubled and sheltered adult it's shocking how her mother is never seen as sympathetic. I don't need an entire book on why she was awful, but it's an odd decision to give these traits to a character and to use them as shorthand for her being bad.
I have to point out this line, because it's just baffling to me:
"As she follows, Lucy studies Saskia's butt and wonders if this is a rude thing to do. Sort of hard to avoid, with it right there in front of her, jiggling like two Pringles."
Her butt is like Pringles?! Jiggling like potato-based chips!? Okay, Saskia's supposed to be buff, so her butt probably doesn't jiggle too much. Did Dawson mean like two Pringles cans? I can... maybe see that, though it's still probably the most unflattering description I've seen of an enjoyable butt. This was an ARC, so it could be changed before it's published, so maybe I'm making a big deal about nothing, but this is one of the strangest sentences I've read.
While 'Monstera' has elements of horror with the parasitic plants that grow out of Saskia, it's more of a sapphic romance. I'll confess, I barely like romance when it's in my horror novels, so reading a horror book that feels more like a romance book isn't exactly my thing. I like that it's gay, but there's so much good sapphic horror coming out this year that 'Monstera' doesn't really stick out unless you don't really like horror at all.
While the book isn't long, the simplicity of the characters was a bit groan-inducing. Lucy and Saskia aren't bad, if a bit stereotypical (sheltered timid girl and strong aloof girl), but the antagonists were practically cartoon characters. Lucy's grandfather and Roger have a similar mindset--both are conservative Christians who have probably been radicalized by Fox News. People like this are real, and my complaint isn't characters like this being villains or unsympathetic, but that they feel really flat. Roger in particular feels like a checklist of terrible traits--he's homophobic (and his homophobia is rooted in Evangelical Christianity), he's racist, he's a pervert, he's an anti-masker, he smells bad and is dyeing his hair poorly, he's a creep, he walks into his tenants' rooms without asking and drinks their wine... the list goes on, and it's eye roll worthy because being a landlord already makes me dislike him! I don't mind characters being unlikable, but this book is already pretty short and spends so much of its length making sure that you don't like Roger, which was already done once he started calling his tenant 'baby'.
I get it. We live in a world where hateful rich men get away with things without ever having to face consequences, so there's surely some catharsis in writing a character like this getting his comeuppance. But as someone who hates people like Roger, I thought he was way too flat to be effective.
Lucy's mother has disappeared long before our book begins, leaving her daughter alone with her own strict, similarly religious father. Lucy also needs to point out that her mother had her when she was a teenager and that she was a drug addict, and this is always done to show that she's a bad person. Look... I was an edgy teenager who rolled her eyes at at teen moms and drug users, and while Lucy is a troubled and sheltered adult it's shocking how her mother is never seen as sympathetic. I don't need an entire book on why she was awful, but it's an odd decision to give these traits to a character and to use them as shorthand for her being bad.
I have to point out this line, because it's just baffling to me:
"As she follows, Lucy studies Saskia's butt and wonders if this is a rude thing to do. Sort of hard to avoid, with it right there in front of her, jiggling like two Pringles."
Her butt is like Pringles?! Jiggling like potato-based chips!? Okay, Saskia's supposed to be buff, so her butt probably doesn't jiggle too much. Did Dawson mean like two Pringles cans? I can... maybe see that, though it's still probably the most unflattering description I've seen of an enjoyable butt. This was an ARC, so it could be changed before it's published, so maybe I'm making a big deal about nothing, but this is one of the strangest sentences I've read.
July 9, 2026
Thank you NetGalley for this arc
In Monstera, Delilah S. Dawson delivers a heady, beautifully sinister slice of botanical horror that firmly establishes her as a master of the dark sapphic novella. Acting as a spiritual sibling to her previous work, Bloom, this Savannah-set gothic tale explores the dark underbelly of isolation, desire, and the terrifying cost of self-actualization. Through the eyes of Lucy McClintock, a young woman fleeing the suffocating tyranny of her grandfather, Dawson crafts a narrative where the lushness of nature mirrors the messy, sometimes monstrous evolution of womanhood.
The story’s emotional and thematic core takes root when Lucy moves into a dreamy but unsettling Victorian apartment and encounters her downstairs neighbor, Saskia. A striking, powerful weightlifter whose life is a literal ecosystem of thriving flora and art, Saskia represents everything Lucy has been denied: autonomy, physical strength, and uninhibited presence. As Lucy is drawn into Saskia’s green haven, Dawson uses the setting to weave a rich commentary on how women find form and shape after prolonged containment.
Central to this exploration is the titular plant. The monstera is famous for its fenestrations—the deep splits and holes in its leaves that allow light to pass through to the lower foliage, enabling the plant to survive in the dim understory of the rainforest. Dawson utilizes this biological trait as a profound metaphor for Lucy’s awakening. For a woman to grow after trauma, she must often crack, split, and open herself up to let the light in. Lucy’s infatuation with Saskia begins as a gentle blossoming, but under the canopy of botanical horror, this growth takes on an invasive, untamed quality.
Furthermore, the relationship between plants and womanhood in Monstera subverts traditional notions of feminine nurturing. Often, women and gardens are tied to themes of gentleness, passivity, and soft cultivation.
Dawson utterly upends this aesthetic, plunging the reader into a world of "cottagecore with gore." Here, the plant kingdom is heavy, visceral, and unapologetically predatory. The growth of the women—and the greenery surrounding them—is fueled by female rage, secret appetites, and a refusal to be pruned by the patriarchal or societal forces trying to keep them small.
Saskia's apartment becomes a womb of transformation where the boundaries between the human and the botanical begin to blur. The slow-burn romance between the two women is thick with atmospheric tension, moving from the sweet, tentative steps of first love into something fiercely obsessive. Dawson’s prose is incredibly sensory; you can practically smell the damp earth, feel the humidity of Savannah, and sense the unseen roots coiling tightly around the characters' ankles.
Ultimately, Monstera is a brilliant study in how liberation is rarely a clean or gentle process. It argues that true growth for a woman who has been caged is not merely about surviving, but about becoming wild, reaching aggressively for the sun, and embracing the monstrous nature required to protect one’s own soil. It is a stunning, beautifully grotesque novella that leaves a lingering, unforgettable mark.
In Monstera, Delilah S. Dawson delivers a heady, beautifully sinister slice of botanical horror that firmly establishes her as a master of the dark sapphic novella. Acting as a spiritual sibling to her previous work, Bloom, this Savannah-set gothic tale explores the dark underbelly of isolation, desire, and the terrifying cost of self-actualization. Through the eyes of Lucy McClintock, a young woman fleeing the suffocating tyranny of her grandfather, Dawson crafts a narrative where the lushness of nature mirrors the messy, sometimes monstrous evolution of womanhood.
The story’s emotional and thematic core takes root when Lucy moves into a dreamy but unsettling Victorian apartment and encounters her downstairs neighbor, Saskia. A striking, powerful weightlifter whose life is a literal ecosystem of thriving flora and art, Saskia represents everything Lucy has been denied: autonomy, physical strength, and uninhibited presence. As Lucy is drawn into Saskia’s green haven, Dawson uses the setting to weave a rich commentary on how women find form and shape after prolonged containment.
Central to this exploration is the titular plant. The monstera is famous for its fenestrations—the deep splits and holes in its leaves that allow light to pass through to the lower foliage, enabling the plant to survive in the dim understory of the rainforest. Dawson utilizes this biological trait as a profound metaphor for Lucy’s awakening. For a woman to grow after trauma, she must often crack, split, and open herself up to let the light in. Lucy’s infatuation with Saskia begins as a gentle blossoming, but under the canopy of botanical horror, this growth takes on an invasive, untamed quality.
Furthermore, the relationship between plants and womanhood in Monstera subverts traditional notions of feminine nurturing. Often, women and gardens are tied to themes of gentleness, passivity, and soft cultivation.
Dawson utterly upends this aesthetic, plunging the reader into a world of "cottagecore with gore." Here, the plant kingdom is heavy, visceral, and unapologetically predatory. The growth of the women—and the greenery surrounding them—is fueled by female rage, secret appetites, and a refusal to be pruned by the patriarchal or societal forces trying to keep them small.
Saskia's apartment becomes a womb of transformation where the boundaries between the human and the botanical begin to blur. The slow-burn romance between the two women is thick with atmospheric tension, moving from the sweet, tentative steps of first love into something fiercely obsessive. Dawson’s prose is incredibly sensory; you can practically smell the damp earth, feel the humidity of Savannah, and sense the unseen roots coiling tightly around the characters' ankles.
Ultimately, Monstera is a brilliant study in how liberation is rarely a clean or gentle process. It argues that true growth for a woman who has been caged is not merely about surviving, but about becoming wild, reaching aggressively for the sun, and embracing the monstrous nature required to protect one’s own soil. It is a stunning, beautifully grotesque novella that leaves a lingering, unforgettable mark.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I am here for the novella. I am here for the queer awakening, women discovering their own power, female rage, and botanical horror. Apparently, I am very much here for this particular era of Delilah S. Dawson.
Dawson is an author whose work I've wanted to love for a long time, and continuing to give her books a chance has paid off with these romance-horror novellas. Lucy's circumstances make this one especially effective. Her life under her controlling grandfather is difficult to read, and escaping him only to find herself dealing with a landlord who surveils her, enters her home without permission, and repeatedly violates her boundaries gives the story an insidious kind of horror. There is nothing supernatural about men like Lucy's grandfather or Roger, and that reality makes what follows all the more cathartic.
And then there's Saskia. She had me at hello... or, more accurately, at her name. For reasons I can't entirely explain, I immediately pictured Gina Gershon's Corky in Bound, and once Saskia began revealing just how unusual she was, I was as mesmerized by the enigmatic downstairs neighbor as Lucy. The botanical horror made her even more fascinating, and I eagerly awaited every encounter between them.
What made the novella work so well for me, though, was the connection between these two women. Their attraction is part of it, but so are the secrets and shame each has been carrying alone. I didn't need their backstories explained to one another for their relationship to work, yet I appreciated what those revelations offered them: someone who could understand the burden of what the other had survived and help carry it.
Dawson packs queer desire, female rage, body horror, and catharsis into a remarkably small space without making the story feel slight. It's gruesome and sensual, but beneath all that horror is something unexpectedly tender: two women discovering what can happen when the things they've been taught to hide no longer have to be carried alone.
Dawson is an author whose work I've wanted to love for a long time, and continuing to give her books a chance has paid off with these romance-horror novellas. Lucy's circumstances make this one especially effective. Her life under her controlling grandfather is difficult to read, and escaping him only to find herself dealing with a landlord who surveils her, enters her home without permission, and repeatedly violates her boundaries gives the story an insidious kind of horror. There is nothing supernatural about men like Lucy's grandfather or Roger, and that reality makes what follows all the more cathartic.
And then there's Saskia. She had me at hello... or, more accurately, at her name. For reasons I can't entirely explain, I immediately pictured Gina Gershon's Corky in Bound, and once Saskia began revealing just how unusual she was, I was as mesmerized by the enigmatic downstairs neighbor as Lucy. The botanical horror made her even more fascinating, and I eagerly awaited every encounter between them.
What made the novella work so well for me, though, was the connection between these two women. Their attraction is part of it, but so are the secrets and shame each has been carrying alone. I didn't need their backstories explained to one another for their relationship to work, yet I appreciated what those revelations offered them: someone who could understand the burden of what the other had survived and help carry it.
Dawson packs queer desire, female rage, body horror, and catharsis into a remarkably small space without making the story feel slight. It's gruesome and sensual, but beneath all that horror is something unexpectedly tender: two women discovering what can happen when the things they've been taught to hide no longer have to be carried alone.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
⭐️2.5⭐️
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝐴 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝐴 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦-𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦. 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒.
When I got approved for this book, I screamed. Bloom is one of my all-time favorite horror novels, and since this was pitched as a similar sapphic eco-horror, I knew I had to dive in the moment I received my approval!
For the first half of the book, I really enjoyed Lucy as a character. Watching her work through her trauma and step into adulthood after such a difficult past was interesting. I also enjoyed Saskia. She had an air of mystery that kept me invested, and I really enjoyed the relationship that developed between the two of them. The themes of feminine rage and the characters' personal growth were definite highlights for me.
Unfortunately, that's where my enjoyment pretty much ended. As the story progressed, I couldn't help but feel like the plot started to vanish. I found the motivations of the male characters to be a bit over the top, and the ending honestly left me confused. Nothing was explained and it felt like the author just decided to stop writing. While I'm all for supporting women's wrongs alongside an ambiguous ending, the conclusion felt so lackluster to me.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed by this one. I had been hoping for more body horror and stronger eco-horror elements, but what I got instead felt like a very surface-level horrormance that left me wanting more.
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝐴 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝐴 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦-𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦. 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒.
When I got approved for this book, I screamed. Bloom is one of my all-time favorite horror novels, and since this was pitched as a similar sapphic eco-horror, I knew I had to dive in the moment I received my approval!
For the first half of the book, I really enjoyed Lucy as a character. Watching her work through her trauma and step into adulthood after such a difficult past was interesting. I also enjoyed Saskia. She had an air of mystery that kept me invested, and I really enjoyed the relationship that developed between the two of them. The themes of feminine rage and the characters' personal growth were definite highlights for me.
Unfortunately, that's where my enjoyment pretty much ended. As the story progressed, I couldn't help but feel like the plot started to vanish. I found the motivations of the male characters to be a bit over the top, and the ending honestly left me confused. Nothing was explained and it felt like the author just decided to stop writing. While I'm all for supporting women's wrongs alongside an ambiguous ending, the conclusion felt so lackluster to me.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed by this one. I had been hoping for more body horror and stronger eco-horror elements, but what I got instead felt like a very surface-level horrormance that left me wanting more.
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.
I flew through this book, reading the whole thing in one sitting. I already knew I liked this author and this was another success.
It’s a horror love story. It’s a smart blending of a sapphic growing relationship peppered with a sense that something really weird is going on. I really want to talk about the ending because I have theories! But I will try to avoid spoilers.
We have two women who are renting different levels of a house from a pretty gnarly landlord. He’s a creep. Why do they put up with it? Because they have specific needs. Lucy we meet first and she’s escaping her old life, a life that has had her locked in a house for ten years by her grandfather. Unable to watch TV, pulled from school. She wants to start forging a little life of her own, though she finds people overwhelming at times. She glimpses her downstairs neighbour, a weight lifter who values her privacy, her home shared with dozens of plants.
We see their burgeoning relationship, but we also see one of them holding back, a botanical secret hindering her ability to connect. Sleepwalking and nightmares leaving them feeling out of control. And of course, we have the creepy landlord to contend with.
I wanted this to go in a certain direction. When it didn’t I was a little disappointed but the more I pondered the ending after I finished reading, the more I could understand why the author chose to go the way they did.
Riveting, characters you can root for (pun intended), a story of connection and growth. I really liked this.
I flew through this book, reading the whole thing in one sitting. I already knew I liked this author and this was another success.
It’s a horror love story. It’s a smart blending of a sapphic growing relationship peppered with a sense that something really weird is going on. I really want to talk about the ending because I have theories! But I will try to avoid spoilers.
We have two women who are renting different levels of a house from a pretty gnarly landlord. He’s a creep. Why do they put up with it? Because they have specific needs. Lucy we meet first and she’s escaping her old life, a life that has had her locked in a house for ten years by her grandfather. Unable to watch TV, pulled from school. She wants to start forging a little life of her own, though she finds people overwhelming at times. She glimpses her downstairs neighbour, a weight lifter who values her privacy, her home shared with dozens of plants.
We see their burgeoning relationship, but we also see one of them holding back, a botanical secret hindering her ability to connect. Sleepwalking and nightmares leaving them feeling out of control. And of course, we have the creepy landlord to contend with.
I wanted this to go in a certain direction. When it didn’t I was a little disappointed but the more I pondered the ending after I finished reading, the more I could understand why the author chose to go the way they did.
Riveting, characters you can root for (pun intended), a story of connection and growth. I really liked this.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Monstera is described as a botanical horror, but I would categorise it as a romance with hints of horror, only part of which is botanical. There’s not a lot I can say plot-wise without spoilers, but I will say I did enjoy what the novella seemed to be building up to particularly regarding Lucy and Saskia’s pasts. The ending however more or less fizzled out and felt a bit lacklustre to me.
The botanical horror aspects were so promising when they were introduced but were completely wasted and definitely took a back seat to the alternate route the novella went down. The romance was just okay, but I would have liked to see the beginnings of a deeper connection between Lucy and Saskia though. Instead it felt like their bond was underpinned mainly by Lucy’s past trauma so the foundation felt shaky to me.
What I did love was the theme of overcoming adversity and clawing back some agency after spending so long being powerless. I liked the symbolism linking Lucy and her life after trauma with the monstera plant that Saskia rescued from her office as COVID hit and working from home became a thing. This plant that was forgotten about and neglected, but which Saskia nurtured and enabled to thrive. Some of my favourite scenes involved Lucy learning about herself once she had the space to explore her identity and what she liked.
Overall I think Monstera overpromised on the botanical horror and subsequently underdelivered, instead favouring the romance elements. It’s such a short read though that it’s inoffensive and the scenes of Lucy discovering her identity were well done.
I received an eARC from NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving this review.
The botanical horror aspects were so promising when they were introduced but were completely wasted and definitely took a back seat to the alternate route the novella went down. The romance was just okay, but I would have liked to see the beginnings of a deeper connection between Lucy and Saskia though. Instead it felt like their bond was underpinned mainly by Lucy’s past trauma so the foundation felt shaky to me.
What I did love was the theme of overcoming adversity and clawing back some agency after spending so long being powerless. I liked the symbolism linking Lucy and her life after trauma with the monstera plant that Saskia rescued from her office as COVID hit and working from home became a thing. This plant that was forgotten about and neglected, but which Saskia nurtured and enabled to thrive. Some of my favourite scenes involved Lucy learning about herself once she had the space to explore her identity and what she liked.
Overall I think Monstera overpromised on the botanical horror and subsequently underdelivered, instead favouring the romance elements. It’s such a short read though that it’s inoffensive and the scenes of Lucy discovering her identity were well done.
I received an eARC from NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving this review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Delilah S. Dawson and Titan Books for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Monstera follows Lucy, a 24-year-old woman determined to escape her controlling grandfather and finally build a life of her own. After moving into her first apartment, she quickly realizes something is wrong—from her unsettling landlord to the strange occurrences surrounding her mysterious neighbor, Saskia. As the two women grow closer, secrets begin to unravel, revealing a dark connection between them and the apartment they now call home.
I really enjoyed this novella. While it’s marketed as horror, I found it leaned more toward thriller territory, though that didn’t lessen my enjoyment at all. The suspenseful atmosphere, creepy landlord, and steadily escalating mysteries kept me completely invested, and I had a great time uncovering the truth alongside Lucy. I loved how both Lucy and Saskia were searching for freedom in their own ways while struggling to break free from the people who sought to control them. They were both incredibly likeable characters, and their chemistry was one of my favorite parts of the story. The shocking reveals, especially those surrounding Saskia’s garden and Lucy’s past, were dark, unexpected, and deeply satisfying. Equal parts unsettling, compelling, and heartfelt, Monstera was a quick, engaging read that kept me hooked from beginning to end.
Monstera follows Lucy, a 24-year-old woman determined to escape her controlling grandfather and finally build a life of her own. After moving into her first apartment, she quickly realizes something is wrong—from her unsettling landlord to the strange occurrences surrounding her mysterious neighbor, Saskia. As the two women grow closer, secrets begin to unravel, revealing a dark connection between them and the apartment they now call home.
I really enjoyed this novella. While it’s marketed as horror, I found it leaned more toward thriller territory, though that didn’t lessen my enjoyment at all. The suspenseful atmosphere, creepy landlord, and steadily escalating mysteries kept me completely invested, and I had a great time uncovering the truth alongside Lucy. I loved how both Lucy and Saskia were searching for freedom in their own ways while struggling to break free from the people who sought to control them. They were both incredibly likeable characters, and their chemistry was one of my favorite parts of the story. The shocking reveals, especially those surrounding Saskia’s garden and Lucy’s past, were dark, unexpected, and deeply satisfying. Equal parts unsettling, compelling, and heartfelt, Monstera was a quick, engaging read that kept me hooked from beginning to end.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of Monstera by Delilah S Dawson.
After reading Bloom earlier this year, I was a little hesitant going into Monstera. While I enjoyed the atmosphere in Bloom, my biggest issue was how long it took for the story to reveal its sinister side. For much of the book, not a lot seemed to happen, and I never really connected with the main character.
Thankfully, Monstera worked much better for me.
This felt darker, more unsettling, and noticeably more horror-leaning than Bloom. The stakes felt higher, the tension built more effectively, and most importantly, I genuinely cared about the characters and what happened to them. That emotional investment made the story far more engaging from start to finish.
Delilah S. Dawson’s writing remains one of the book’s greatest strengths. Her prose is accessible and immersive, and the descriptions of the garden, the plants, and the apartment were incredibly vivid. The setting felt tangible enough that I could easily picture myself there, which only added to the sense of unease.
My only complaint is that I wanted more. This is a relatively short novella, and I would have loved additional time with both the characters and the story. I wasn’t ready to leave this world when it ended.
Overall, this was an unsettling, atmospheric, and thoroughly enjoyable read that improved on many of the aspects I struggled with in Bloom.
⭐ 3.95/5
After reading Bloom earlier this year, I was a little hesitant going into Monstera. While I enjoyed the atmosphere in Bloom, my biggest issue was how long it took for the story to reveal its sinister side. For much of the book, not a lot seemed to happen, and I never really connected with the main character.
Thankfully, Monstera worked much better for me.
This felt darker, more unsettling, and noticeably more horror-leaning than Bloom. The stakes felt higher, the tension built more effectively, and most importantly, I genuinely cared about the characters and what happened to them. That emotional investment made the story far more engaging from start to finish.
Delilah S. Dawson’s writing remains one of the book’s greatest strengths. Her prose is accessible and immersive, and the descriptions of the garden, the plants, and the apartment were incredibly vivid. The setting felt tangible enough that I could easily picture myself there, which only added to the sense of unease.
My only complaint is that I wanted more. This is a relatively short novella, and I would have loved additional time with both the characters and the story. I wasn’t ready to leave this world when it ended.
Overall, this was an unsettling, atmospheric, and thoroughly enjoyable read that improved on many of the aspects I struggled with in Bloom.
⭐ 3.95/5
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
2.75
Arc received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
i badly wanted to love this, but this novella was not what was promised. there are aspects of it i liked — i enjoyed the romance between lucy and saskia, and the writing itself is beautiful and magnetic, but this is being marketed as a sensual, sapphic, botanical, horror novella. it was sensual and sapphic, and that part i enjoyed, but is it so bad for me to want the entire cake and eat it???? the botanical and horror aspect could not be found at all. at first i didn't mind, because i was enjoying lucy and saskia's relationship and how they were getting to know each other better. but then...nothing happens. there's little seads of horror and suspense dropped that keeps hooking you on, but nothing really comes of it, and i'm not really sure how that part tied with the ending and the grand reveal of it all. the botanical part was underutilized, and there wasn't anything horror about this novella — it was suspenseful and thrilling, but i kinda feel robbed with the botanical horror aspect, and it makes me really sad because that was the reason why i requested the arc in the first place. i'm also conflicted with the ending...maybe because i was so bored already that i couldn't really care about it. i will say, this novella has a great story in it that perhaps would have had greater potential as a full-length book.
Arc received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
i badly wanted to love this, but this novella was not what was promised. there are aspects of it i liked — i enjoyed the romance between lucy and saskia, and the writing itself is beautiful and magnetic, but this is being marketed as a sensual, sapphic, botanical, horror novella. it was sensual and sapphic, and that part i enjoyed, but is it so bad for me to want the entire cake and eat it???? the botanical and horror aspect could not be found at all. at first i didn't mind, because i was enjoying lucy and saskia's relationship and how they were getting to know each other better. but then...nothing happens. there's little seads of horror and suspense dropped that keeps hooking you on, but nothing really comes of it, and i'm not really sure how that part tied with the ending and the grand reveal of it all. the botanical part was underutilized, and there wasn't anything horror about this novella — it was suspenseful and thrilling, but i kinda feel robbed with the botanical horror aspect, and it makes me really sad because that was the reason why i requested the arc in the first place. i'm also conflicted with the ending...maybe because i was so bored already that i couldn't really care about it. i will say, this novella has a great story in it that perhaps would have had greater potential as a full-length book.
July 25, 2026
4.5 stars, rounded up
I can't decide if I liked this one more than Bloom or not. Bloom had a slower start with a horrific (yet incredible) ending while Monstera hit the ground running from the start but had a slower more predictable ending. Then again, I also predicted the ending of Bloom and I still rated both highly because Dawson just knows how to write sapphic horror.
Honestly, I'd never read botanical horror before this year and now this is my third maybe even fourth book in the genre. Safe to say it's officially become one of my favorite horror tropes. There's just something so unsettling about nature being used as the source of horror. It's eerie, atmospheric and feels so different from the typical haunted house or serial killer storylines. Safe to say botanical horror has become a trope I will be looking out for more and more now!
I also loved the uneasy vibes throughout this book. There was this constant sense that something wasn't quite right and it kept me turning the pages because I needed to know what was really going on. Even when I had a pretty good idea of where the story was headed, I was still completely invested in seeing how everything would unfold.
Do I still have questions? Absolutely. Did I love it anyway? Also absolutely. I mean, i read this book in two sittings so of course I was liking it!
I definitely need to go back and read more of this author's books because I'm completely sold.
I can't decide if I liked this one more than Bloom or not. Bloom had a slower start with a horrific (yet incredible) ending while Monstera hit the ground running from the start but had a slower more predictable ending. Then again, I also predicted the ending of Bloom and I still rated both highly because Dawson just knows how to write sapphic horror.
Honestly, I'd never read botanical horror before this year and now this is my third maybe even fourth book in the genre. Safe to say it's officially become one of my favorite horror tropes. There's just something so unsettling about nature being used as the source of horror. It's eerie, atmospheric and feels so different from the typical haunted house or serial killer storylines. Safe to say botanical horror has become a trope I will be looking out for more and more now!
I also loved the uneasy vibes throughout this book. There was this constant sense that something wasn't quite right and it kept me turning the pages because I needed to know what was really going on. Even when I had a pretty good idea of where the story was headed, I was still completely invested in seeing how everything would unfold.
Do I still have questions? Absolutely. Did I love it anyway? Also absolutely. I mean, i read this book in two sittings so of course I was liking it!
I definitely need to go back and read more of this author's books because I'm completely sold.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Summary: Lucy moves to her own apartment after her overly strict grandfather dies. She learns to navigate life, her creepy landlord, and her sapphic feelings for her buff downstairs neighbour.
I feel so conflicted about how to rate this. It's not a bad book, but I would definitely not class it as horror... It's more of a Sapphic romance with some very, very mild body horror and some slight thriller-ish bits.
The writing style was okay. It was very easy to read and was written in a very "fluffy romance" way. It's definitely a good book to read if you just want to let your brain switch off, but if you want something complex then look elsewhere. The characters were very flat and stereotypical. Nothing really happens for most of the book, and when things do happen they're just not exciting enough to make the book memorable. I know I'll have likely forgotten about it completely in a few weeks... And I'm making it sound like I didn't enjoy it, but I did, and I'll definitely read more by this author, I just wish that I had been more prepared for what this book actually is rather than expecting a horror novella as it's described.
Despite my rambling, somewhat negative review, I would still recommend this book to anyone who wants their horror books to be somewhat "cosy", and more focused on romance and day to day living than non stop creepiness and gore.
I feel so conflicted about how to rate this. It's not a bad book, but I would definitely not class it as horror... It's more of a Sapphic romance with some very, very mild body horror and some slight thriller-ish bits.
The writing style was okay. It was very easy to read and was written in a very "fluffy romance" way. It's definitely a good book to read if you just want to let your brain switch off, but if you want something complex then look elsewhere. The characters were very flat and stereotypical. Nothing really happens for most of the book, and when things do happen they're just not exciting enough to make the book memorable. I know I'll have likely forgotten about it completely in a few weeks... And I'm making it sound like I didn't enjoy it, but I did, and I'll definitely read more by this author, I just wish that I had been more prepared for what this book actually is rather than expecting a horror novella as it's described.
Despite my rambling, somewhat negative review, I would still recommend this book to anyone who wants their horror books to be somewhat "cosy", and more focused on romance and day to day living than non stop creepiness and gore.
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