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The Rise and Fall of the Zevren Empire
Unquestionably Monstrous
Monsters are everywhere. From gruesome serial killers to mysterious mermaids and unstoppable, ruthless werewolf warriors. But monsters also need love. Monsters go through lousy break-ups. All Medusa wants in the world is to work from home. Cupid needs to pay rent and takes a job at an appliance store to make ends meet. A vampire gets lonely and lures Instagram influencers into her castle. Sometimes, she eats them. Being a monster is hard.
Unquestionably Monstrous is a collection of 17 short stories that explore the life and times of succubus, dragons, mermaids, vampires, leprechauns, and many more supernatural creatures. Prepare to see the soft (or at least less murderous) sides of monsters you thought you knew.
Book club questions are included at the end of the collection.
Unquestionably Monstrous is a collection of 17 short stories that explore the life and times of succubus, dragons, mermaids, vampires, leprechauns, and many more supernatural creatures. Prepare to see the soft (or at least less murderous) sides of monsters you thought you knew.
Book club questions are included at the end of the collection.
167 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2022
6 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
did-not-finish
June 4, 2023DNF @ 7%
This is absolutely, positively, without the vaguest hint of a shadow of a doubt, not a serious book. I suspected that going into it, considering the blurb talks about monsters in domestic situations, but I still wasn't prepared for just how much the writing style leans on being casual and "edgy."
I certainly didn't expect for a link placed in the first story to lead to an itch.io game page with a picture of a generator as its icon that, when clicked, would put my browser into full screen and guide me through a conversational, somewhat humorous story 'creator.' And when I used that game to create a horror story set in the woods, I didn't expect it to weave a tale of three axe-murderers fighting for territory... narrated by one of them. Then, when it asked for a rating after the story, I didn't anticipate that every rating attempted would lead to a slightly amusing, sassy insistence that the rating wasn't right.
But that's exactly what happened, and it certainly set a specific tone for this book. A tone which, surprisingly, was not upheld.
Instead of remaining silly and fourth-wall-break-y (that's a word now), things got gross in the worst ways and stayed that way until I couldn't stand another moment enduring this author's writing style or abhorrent characters.
Here's a review of the stories I read, so you can watch my descent into exasperation.
Here There Be Monsters - 1 Star
ZBBV-23, a suspiciously familiar-adjacent virus, has swept the world and created an outbreak of zombies. But fret not, for podcast hosts swear the outbreak isn't as bad as the news makes it seem! (Man, I'm feeling deja vu...)
In this reality, monsters exist among humans and they actively disown zombies for being mindless killers. However, monsters are still monsters and a group of werewolves recently killed several people at a furry convention in what the wolves swear is an unfortunate misunderstanding.
We join a man named Harold who is learning these things through a podcast which uses more suspiciously familiar-adjacent language to speak about acceptance and positivity toward monsters. Harold feels sickened by this mentality - he thinks all monsters are evil things waiting for a chance to kill innocent people - and swaps to a "better" podcast that doesn't preach inclusivity.
He's setting up seating for an assembly while listening to his podcasts. He debates whether to include less seating due to the zombie outbreak, then remembers people are far more concerned with living their lives than public safety. 👀
Feeling a sick pit of dread and looming unease yet? I know I did when I read this one. But not for the good reasons typically associated with horror stories.
Death of A Mermaid - 1 Star
Two unpleasant creeps discuss a situation in a purely-dialogue story. One man is a lawyer. The other is someone who swears his missing girlfriend - whom he worries may have killed herself - was a mermaid. So, naturally, they objectify her and talk about her sex life and are just overall disgusting pieces of trash.
I feel sick, and it's not from bad sushi. (Which, for some reason, one of the characters thinks all white women like sushi??? Am I missing something, here?)
Sex Demon - DNF
The characters written by this author all have the same voice, and I'm officially sick of reading about gross guys. This particular story is about a pair of college dudes trying to summon a succubus and I just could not possibly care less... especially after spotting three major typos within a span of four paragraphs.
No, thanks. I'm tapping out. On this whole book.
So, yeah. That's this drivel in a nutshell. I don't really want to read about the kind of characters this book provides, and frankly there's nothing entertaining or even normal levels of domestic about any of the stories I read. The only good thing I can say is that the title doesn't lie: these stories definitely contain characters who are unquestionably monstrous... just not in any way I care to consume.
I'm glad this was obtained during a free Kindle promotion. Otherwise, I'd be pissed I missed the refund window.
This is absolutely, positively, without the vaguest hint of a shadow of a doubt, not a serious book. I suspected that going into it, considering the blurb talks about monsters in domestic situations, but I still wasn't prepared for just how much the writing style leans on being casual and "edgy."
I certainly didn't expect for a link placed in the first story to lead to an itch.io game page with a picture of a generator as its icon that, when clicked, would put my browser into full screen and guide me through a conversational, somewhat humorous story 'creator.' And when I used that game to create a horror story set in the woods, I didn't expect it to weave a tale of three axe-murderers fighting for territory... narrated by one of them. Then, when it asked for a rating after the story, I didn't anticipate that every rating attempted would lead to a slightly amusing, sassy insistence that the rating wasn't right.
But that's exactly what happened, and it certainly set a specific tone for this book. A tone which, surprisingly, was not upheld.
Instead of remaining silly and fourth-wall-break-y (that's a word now), things got gross in the worst ways and stayed that way until I couldn't stand another moment enduring this author's writing style or abhorrent characters.
Here's a review of the stories I read, so you can watch my descent into exasperation.
Here There Be Monsters - 1 Star
ZBBV-23, a suspiciously familiar-adjacent virus, has swept the world and created an outbreak of zombies. But fret not, for podcast hosts swear the outbreak isn't as bad as the news makes it seem! (Man, I'm feeling deja vu...)
In this reality, monsters exist among humans and they actively disown zombies for being mindless killers. However, monsters are still monsters and a group of werewolves recently killed several people at a furry convention in what the wolves swear is an unfortunate misunderstanding.
We join a man named Harold who is learning these things through a podcast which uses more suspiciously familiar-adjacent language to speak about acceptance and positivity toward monsters. Harold feels sickened by this mentality - he thinks all monsters are evil things waiting for a chance to kill innocent people - and swaps to a "better" podcast that doesn't preach inclusivity.
He's setting up seating for an assembly while listening to his podcasts. He debates whether to include less seating due to the zombie outbreak, then remembers people are far more concerned with living their lives than public safety. 👀
Feeling a sick pit of dread and looming unease yet? I know I did when I read this one. But not for the good reasons typically associated with horror stories.
Death of A Mermaid - 1 Star
Two unpleasant creeps discuss a situation in a purely-dialogue story. One man is a lawyer. The other is someone who swears his missing girlfriend - whom he worries may have killed herself - was a mermaid. So, naturally, they objectify her and talk about her sex life and are just overall disgusting pieces of trash.
I feel sick, and it's not from bad sushi. (Which, for some reason, one of the characters thinks all white women like sushi??? Am I missing something, here?)
Sex Demon - DNF
The characters written by this author all have the same voice, and I'm officially sick of reading about gross guys. This particular story is about a pair of college dudes trying to summon a succubus and I just could not possibly care less... especially after spotting three major typos within a span of four paragraphs.
No, thanks. I'm tapping out. On this whole book.
So, yeah. That's this drivel in a nutshell. I don't really want to read about the kind of characters this book provides, and frankly there's nothing entertaining or even normal levels of domestic about any of the stories I read. The only good thing I can say is that the title doesn't lie: these stories definitely contain characters who are unquestionably monstrous... just not in any way I care to consume.
I'm glad this was obtained during a free Kindle promotion. Otherwise, I'd be pissed I missed the refund window.
September 8, 2022
I tend to enjoy these types of books so I always look forward to finding more of this type. It was a great horror collection about Monsters. Each short story was really well done and there really wasn't any weak parts in it.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 4, 2022
A very entertaining read from start to finish. Made me rethink everything I ever imagined about mermaids, werewolves and Medusa. Plus there's so much commentary in there, it was great fun picking all that apart as I went along. A first-class read for anyone who loves monsters and mayhem.
September 14, 2022
This book is really fun. All the stories are connected, but each one is a different monster story. This is a great collection of short stories and is perfect for #shortstoryseptember.
My personal favorites are the stories "I Hate Instant Mashed Potatoes" and "Matchmaker". However, there is not one bad story in the bunch. This is the second book in what the author calls "The Unhinged Trilogy". The first book is called "The Intellectual Barbarian". If you like monster type short stories and a quick read, then this is the book for you. I received this book free from Booksirens for an honest review.
My personal favorites are the stories "I Hate Instant Mashed Potatoes" and "Matchmaker". However, there is not one bad story in the bunch. This is the second book in what the author calls "The Unhinged Trilogy". The first book is called "The Intellectual Barbarian". If you like monster type short stories and a quick read, then this is the book for you. I received this book free from Booksirens for an honest review.
September 22, 2022
I really enjoyed this book of short stories. All the stories are connected and involve people that encounter some type of monster or supernatural creature, from werewolves, mermaids, vamps, medusa, etc. The characters meet at a monster support club to talk about their monster/creature encounters. It isn't a scary read at all, I found some of the stories funny. I think it was well written. Of course, the stories end with you wondering what happens, but that is what short stories are about. This is a very fast read and I recommend it to anyone wanting to read about some funny and strange occurrences with the supernatural. I received this from book sirens for an honest review.
September 26, 2022
These are short monster stories that are connected but tell a different story. In a Monster Support group, different people tell their stories of their monstrous encounters. I didn't find them scary, but they're about vampires, werewolves, cupids etc. They're quick to read and some endings are open to imagination. No spice, but a few stories are funny. I don't have a particular favorite or one that I hate, but it was a good read.
I received an ARC for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an ARC for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 25, 2022
As a fan of reimaginings of monsters of myths and legend, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short stories exploring how some of these creatures would fit in to our current society. The style and wit reminded me of some of the memorable characters from Christopher Moore's books, like Practical Demonkeeping and Dirty Jobs. I laughed out loud many times reading about the modern-day lives of cupids, Medusa, Climate Change Barbarians and the mortals they meet along the way.
December 4, 2022
What have I just read?! This book was weird, annoying, thought-provoking but it just made perfect sense.
There are 17 short stories that are (somehow) connected to each other so it felt like one ‘big’ story, it’s well-structured, it has an ending, I really enjoyed reading it.
This book was sent to me in exchange for my honest review.
There are 17 short stories that are (somehow) connected to each other so it felt like one ‘big’ story, it’s well-structured, it has an ending, I really enjoyed reading it.
This book was sent to me in exchange for my honest review.
September 29, 2022
I read Alex Colvin's first short story anthology and loved it; this second piece doesn't miss a beat. Alex has some of the funniest and most clever ideas for stories, but in addition to this, he's also just a great writer. I'm always excited to see what he'll come up with next!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews