What do you think?
Rate this book
Forgotten Monster
Better with numbers than people, Taisce would have been perfectly happy managing the family estate the rest of his life. But when his older brother, Rupert, vanishes on a quest to find a mythical monster, Taisce has no choice but to find him before anyone realizes there's an heir missing.
Sef has learned a thing or two about magic and poor life choices during his centuries of cursed immortality. He's also fresh from a missed appointment with the hangman and looking to get out of town quickly, so he happily volunteers to assist in locating the wayward brother. In return for his services, Sef only wants one for Taisce to break his curse. The fact that it will likely kill Sef (permanently this time) is just a bonus.
But somewhere in the midst of bickering and searching for Rupert, Taisce and Sef start to struggle with keeping business separate from pleasure, leaving both wondering how exactly their quest is going to end.
Sef has learned a thing or two about magic and poor life choices during his centuries of cursed immortality. He's also fresh from a missed appointment with the hangman and looking to get out of town quickly, so he happily volunteers to assist in locating the wayward brother. In return for his services, Sef only wants one for Taisce to break his curse. The fact that it will likely kill Sef (permanently this time) is just a bonus.
But somewhere in the midst of bickering and searching for Rupert, Taisce and Sef start to struggle with keeping business separate from pleasure, leaving both wondering how exactly their quest is going to end.
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 7, 2019
4 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 8, 2019
3.5 stars
This went quite a bit differently than expected, though not unpleasantly so for the most part.
Content warnings include: violence and death, burning, execution, robbery, sex on-page, threats of dismemberment; mentions of plague, death of family.
Getting into the book was a bit of a struggle for me. The exposition of who the characters were, their goals, motives and personalities weren't as clear as the blurb makes it seem. Additionally, the atmosphere was quite bleak at the beginning and none of the characters were particularly happy, instead mostly being in a bad mood and followed by incredibly bad luck, with one unfortunate event happening right after another.
The world-building was sufficient for the story, but I would have liked to have more of it. The exact role of magic was a bit of a mystery to me, as well as several other parts that were mentioned in passing but then never adressed again. The same goes for several side characters and events that I thought would play a role, just to then... not.
This, along with the plot being not entirely clear to me due to lack of exposition, made the book feel very aimless to me for more than half of its length.
I only really got into it later on, when I got more of a feel for the characters and their interactions mellowed somewhat. Not that they were particularly warm or friendly - just not as outright antagonistic anymore. Both Taisce and Sef could be rather abrasive, and I'm still frowning about how Finn, Taisce's servant/chaperone/bodyguard was treated by... well, everyone, to be honest.
Even when the romantic subplot started, it was romantic only in the loosest of senses. I liked the way their relationship developed, but it wasn't really straightfoward and the development didn't always make sense to me.
Overall I did enjoy myself reading this, but I could have done with more explanations and elaborations of... pretty much everything, and a bit less travelling and on-the-road adventures.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
This went quite a bit differently than expected, though not unpleasantly so for the most part.
Content warnings include: violence and death, burning, execution, robbery, sex on-page, threats of dismemberment; mentions of plague, death of family.
Getting into the book was a bit of a struggle for me. The exposition of who the characters were, their goals, motives and personalities weren't as clear as the blurb makes it seem. Additionally, the atmosphere was quite bleak at the beginning and none of the characters were particularly happy, instead mostly being in a bad mood and followed by incredibly bad luck, with one unfortunate event happening right after another.
The world-building was sufficient for the story, but I would have liked to have more of it. The exact role of magic was a bit of a mystery to me, as well as several other parts that were mentioned in passing but then never adressed again. The same goes for several side characters and events that I thought would play a role, just to then... not.
This, along with the plot being not entirely clear to me due to lack of exposition, made the book feel very aimless to me for more than half of its length.
I only really got into it later on, when I got more of a feel for the characters and their interactions mellowed somewhat. Not that they were particularly warm or friendly - just not as outright antagonistic anymore. Both Taisce and Sef could be rather abrasive, and I'm still frowning about how Finn, Taisce's servant/chaperone/bodyguard was treated by... well, everyone, to be honest.
Even when the romantic subplot started, it was romantic only in the loosest of senses. I liked the way their relationship developed, but it wasn't really straightfoward and the development didn't always make sense to me.
Overall I did enjoy myself reading this, but I could have done with more explanations and elaborations of... pretty much everything, and a bit less travelling and on-the-road adventures.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
August 2, 2019
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
This was so good! Absolutely not what I expected (I don't know why?) but very very good.
Forgotten Monster is definitely my jam, because it's set in a fantasy world but focuses on pretty intimate stakes. Taisce wants to find his brother who is running after magic and legends, and away from his responsabilities. Sef, well. Sef wants to die. To be honest, he's been due for a long time, but curses happen, you know.
Anyway. I loved the stakes. I loved the travelling together and the kind-of-forced proximity, and the interactions that led to.
Which leads us to my main point here: I loved the characters so much. And you can't make me love a book if I don't love the characters. I did. I wasn't surprised, though, because having read most of J. Emery's shorter works, I trust them with this.
The main characters are both assholes. Like, this sounded a hell lot of an assholes-to-lovers romance to me. If this is not a thing already, let's make it one. They're both assholes in different ways. Taisce is this noble kid who spent most of his life with books, not a lot of it outside and/or with people. He's a snob, he's entitled, he's not nice. If you're expecting him to start questioning his nobility or how he treats people who aren't the same rank as he is... well, not gonna happen.
Sef is an asshole of a whole another level. I mean, when you're immortal and a professional bad-decisions maker, I guess it can only lead to this. He's a criminal with a shady past and I LOVE HIM ALRIGHT, but technically yes he's very much not a nice guy.
They both don't treat my man Finn super right but once I've accepted the fact they were both complete assholes, it was okay.
The romance and the plot both were a lot of fun. It's hate-to-love and I love this trope when I feel like it's well done, which it was. It's also slow burn, *at least* where feelings are concerned. I loved seeing Taisce and Sef getting closer and more comfortable with each other (there's still a fair deal of yelling at each other, I guess, but, you know. Assholes to lovers).
I was pretty much in love with those last few chapters and discovering all of Sef's past. It was. Fantastic. I love him in all of his bastard of a man glory.
I have One (1) petty comment though: I wanted to like Finn!!! And I did!!! But also I felt like beside Sef and Taisce, the side characters were kinda flat and, I mean. At least Finn could have had more moments/development because he was pretty important/present the whole time and I still felt like he could have been a much cooler character (also yeah they both treat him a bit like shit. But. Entitled Assholes. Learn to love them anyway).
Special mention to: the fantastic chapter titles, the werewolves, and the obsession with fantastic hair.
TW: blood/violence, death, mentions of suicidal ideations, anxiety & PTSD, mention of fatal illness, explicit sex (all TWs are mentionned at the beginning of the book, too)
This was so good! Absolutely not what I expected (I don't know why?) but very very good.
Forgotten Monster is definitely my jam, because it's set in a fantasy world but focuses on pretty intimate stakes. Taisce wants to find his brother who is running after magic and legends, and away from his responsabilities. Sef, well. Sef wants to die. To be honest, he's been due for a long time, but curses happen, you know.
Anyway. I loved the stakes. I loved the travelling together and the kind-of-forced proximity, and the interactions that led to.
Which leads us to my main point here: I loved the characters so much. And you can't make me love a book if I don't love the characters. I did. I wasn't surprised, though, because having read most of J. Emery's shorter works, I trust them with this.
The main characters are both assholes. Like, this sounded a hell lot of an assholes-to-lovers romance to me. If this is not a thing already, let's make it one. They're both assholes in different ways. Taisce is this noble kid who spent most of his life with books, not a lot of it outside and/or with people. He's a snob, he's entitled, he's not nice. If you're expecting him to start questioning his nobility or how he treats people who aren't the same rank as he is... well, not gonna happen.
Sef is an asshole of a whole another level. I mean, when you're immortal and a professional bad-decisions maker, I guess it can only lead to this. He's a criminal with a shady past and I LOVE HIM ALRIGHT, but technically yes he's very much not a nice guy.
They both don't treat my man Finn super right but once I've accepted the fact they were both complete assholes, it was okay.
The romance and the plot both were a lot of fun. It's hate-to-love and I love this trope when I feel like it's well done, which it was. It's also slow burn, *at least* where feelings are concerned. I loved seeing Taisce and Sef getting closer and more comfortable with each other (there's still a fair deal of yelling at each other, I guess, but, you know. Assholes to lovers).
I was pretty much in love with those last few chapters and discovering all of Sef's past. It was. Fantastic. I love him in all of his bastard of a man glory.
I have One (1) petty comment though: I wanted to like Finn!!! And I did!!! But also I felt like beside Sef and Taisce, the side characters were kinda flat and, I mean. At least Finn could have had more moments/development because he was pretty important/present the whole time and I still felt like he could have been a much cooler character (also yeah they both treat him a bit like shit. But. Entitled Assholes. Learn to love them anyway).
Special mention to: the fantastic chapter titles, the werewolves, and the obsession with fantastic hair.
TW: blood/violence, death, mentions of suicidal ideations, anxiety & PTSD, mention of fatal illness, explicit sex (all TWs are mentionned at the beginning of the book, too)
August 14, 2019
I'm not gonna lie; I've loved every single one of this author's shorts that I've been able to get my hands on up till now. The chemistry between the characters, and the sweet gentleness of the story telling has been one of the main stays of anything written by Emery.
This book, perhaps because it was so much longer, didn't have a lot of that sweetness.
It was a slow burn romance, but that was largely because this novel is an enemies to lovers romance instead of something sweeter. It was also very strong on the plot. Neither of these things is a bad thing, just not what I was expecting.
Taisce is on a journey to find his brother, after he ran off with other magic users who Taisce just knows isn't good for him. With his trusted man, he sets off on a journey to find and bring back his brother.
Sef is someone who is centuries old, someone who once was the sole survivor of a plague that killed his home village and was seen as a monster because of it. Although stories of him have faded over the centuries, he still somewhat sees himself as a monster.
And yet, when he sees Taisce for the first time, he knows that he has finally found the one person who can end his seemingly endless immortality. And so he has to tag along on Taisce's journey to find his brother if only so he can find an end to his long life.
This book, perhaps because it was so much longer, didn't have a lot of that sweetness.
It was a slow burn romance, but that was largely because this novel is an enemies to lovers romance instead of something sweeter. It was also very strong on the plot. Neither of these things is a bad thing, just not what I was expecting.
Taisce is on a journey to find his brother, after he ran off with other magic users who Taisce just knows isn't good for him. With his trusted man, he sets off on a journey to find and bring back his brother.
Sef is someone who is centuries old, someone who once was the sole survivor of a plague that killed his home village and was seen as a monster because of it. Although stories of him have faded over the centuries, he still somewhat sees himself as a monster.
And yet, when he sees Taisce for the first time, he knows that he has finally found the one person who can end his seemingly endless immortality. And so he has to tag along on Taisce's journey to find his brother if only so he can find an end to his long life.
September 26, 2024
enjoyable
I’ve always enjoyed the books by this author, and this one was no exception. The only thing I thought was at the ending was kind of a abrupt. I thought they were still some unresolved questions. However, I certainly enjoyed reading it.
I’ve always enjoyed the books by this author, and this one was no exception. The only thing I thought was at the ending was kind of a abrupt. I thought they were still some unresolved questions. However, I certainly enjoyed reading it.
dnf
July 24, 2020Marking DNF 21%, it’s been almost a year so.... yea
Read
November 24, 2021
Trigger & Content Warnings
Plague mentioned
Murder
Fire
Plague mentioned
Murder
Fire
July 11, 2019
I received this book as an ARC from the author. I have the shorter works by J. Emery and was very excited to be able to read a longer work of theirs!
The novel begins with Sef. Cursed to immortality and about to be executed by hanging. Now the parameters of his immortality aren’t super clear this early on, but hanging isn’t usually considered a fun time either way. Fortunately the arrival of Taisce, chasing after his stolen purse gives the distraction necessary for Sef to make his getaway.
As tempting as it is, I’m going to refrain from sitting here and summarizing the whole novel. Read it, I promise it’s worth it! I very much enjoyed the novel.
Forgotten Monster evokes the same feeling of scope as some of the big trawling epic fantasy books I grew up reading, but wrapped up in a neat little package. Not that it’s a short novel by any means, but it isn’t a 150k+ word monstrosity like a lot of epic fantasies turn out to be. As far as reading accessibility goes this is excellent, because getting into a book that long can be daunting, though there is a childish voice in my head yelling “I want more book now!”
Sef is just my sort of character, dark, caustic, and very quick with his words. Taisce, admittedly, not so much. He’s a little too dry and snobbish for my tastes, though he does loosen up a bit throughout the course of the novel. It also makes him an excellent target for Sef’s teasing which makes him much more endearing.
Watching the two of them come together over the course of the novel is excellent. The transition between two people who are travelling together because the other is useful to them and because they actually genuinely like each other is glee-inducing. Be frieeeeeeeeends. :D :D :D
Finally figuring out the meaning of the novel’s title towards the end of the story is a real treat as well.
Forgotten Monster is a lovely novel. The plot is solid and the characterization is fantastic. There is so much more of this world that I want to see (and so much more of Sef that I want to see) that I can only hope for more in the future.
The novel begins with Sef. Cursed to immortality and about to be executed by hanging. Now the parameters of his immortality aren’t super clear this early on, but hanging isn’t usually considered a fun time either way. Fortunately the arrival of Taisce, chasing after his stolen purse gives the distraction necessary for Sef to make his getaway.
As tempting as it is, I’m going to refrain from sitting here and summarizing the whole novel. Read it, I promise it’s worth it! I very much enjoyed the novel.
Forgotten Monster evokes the same feeling of scope as some of the big trawling epic fantasy books I grew up reading, but wrapped up in a neat little package. Not that it’s a short novel by any means, but it isn’t a 150k+ word monstrosity like a lot of epic fantasies turn out to be. As far as reading accessibility goes this is excellent, because getting into a book that long can be daunting, though there is a childish voice in my head yelling “I want more book now!”
Sef is just my sort of character, dark, caustic, and very quick with his words. Taisce, admittedly, not so much. He’s a little too dry and snobbish for my tastes, though he does loosen up a bit throughout the course of the novel. It also makes him an excellent target for Sef’s teasing which makes him much more endearing.
Watching the two of them come together over the course of the novel is excellent. The transition between two people who are travelling together because the other is useful to them and because they actually genuinely like each other is glee-inducing. Be frieeeeeeeeends. :D :D :D
Finally figuring out the meaning of the novel’s title towards the end of the story is a real treat as well.
Forgotten Monster is a lovely novel. The plot is solid and the characterization is fantastic. There is so much more of this world that I want to see (and so much more of Sef that I want to see) that I can only hope for more in the future.
August 14, 2019
A vivid and unique fantasy, great for readers seeking the close, emotionally-intertwined stakes of complicated families and insular communities. The chafe and attraction between Taisce and Sef's personalities added an excellent slow-burn romance with plenty of "hate to love you" goodness for fans for annoyance-to-luv. The gradual reveal of Sef's past ramped up until I was speed-reading to find out the juicy details. All in all, highly recommended for fantasy enthusiasts who (like me) are always on the look-out for something a little different from non-stop action pacing, exploding universes, and Chosen Ones.
March 28, 2021
A good monster
Well, shocking no one, I loved this. I don't think they can write anything I won't love.
Sef and Taisce are such interesting characters, and Erin has a special place in my heart on her own! And the entire story, the big secret, is delivered in such an interesting way. I love it to bits.
Well, shocking no one, I loved this. I don't think they can write anything I won't love.
Sef and Taisce are such interesting characters, and Erin has a special place in my heart on her own! And the entire story, the big secret, is delivered in such an interesting way. I love it to bits.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews