Reviews for The Nature of Monsters

The average rating for The Nature of Monsters based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-12-15 00:00:00 Ralph Johansen C is for Clark 3.5 stars This book really really was a doozy. When I first began reading, I thought for sure it would be a 2 star, or possibly a low 3. I actually contemplated giving this one a 4, but the slow beginning made me round down. This is a fascinating, but at times very dry, piece of historical fiction that delves into the dark space that exists between medicine and science and mythology and superstition that existed in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Grayson Black is an apothecary who was born disfigured with an ugly red birthmark that has marked him as a "monster" and has caused severe psychological distress. His mother was a young woman who was pregnant with him during the Great Fire of London. She was almost killed as she became transfixed, almost enchanted, as she gazed into the burning flames. This act has led Grayson on an almost lifelong quest to pursue "scientific" answers to how "monsters" are created as he believes the fire his mother gazed upon burned the birthmark onto him, her unborn fetus. Our narrator is sixteen year old Eliza Tally who comes to work for Grayson as a maid along with Mary, a young woman who is stricken with what I took to be Down's Syndrome (though in those times she was referred to as a "half-wit" or an "idiot"). Eliza is the unfortunate product of a mother who manipulated her marriage to a rich merchant for political and monetary means. Unfortunately, when Eliza becomes pregnant, her mother and husband abandon her. She comes to work for Grayson, his cold fish of a wife, and his drunken bastard of an apprentice. She goes about her duties, but as her meetings with Grayson become more frequent and increasingly more macabre, she begins to suspect that he has extremely dark and twisted plans for her, for Mary, and for her unborn baby. My master was no apothecary. He was a fiend, a demon, the faceless agent of the Devil himself. The premise of this book is fascinating and the writing could be quite beautiful at times. Unfortunately, at least for the first half, the style overtook the story, and not much happened. I also really didn't like Eliza or any of the other characters for that matter. In fact, I hated Eliza. I thought she was self-centered and petty and didn't respect anybody or anything. Her voice annoyed the hell out of me, and all I wanted to do was get finished. However, something happened a little after the halfway point. Clare Clark wrote an INCREDIBLY moving scene between Eliza and a baby. The scene lasts maybe half a page but it is one that had a lasting impression on me and changed Eliza's character irrevocably. After that moment, I sensed Eliza's change of character and heart and began to become more invested in her story. She uncovers secrets surrounding Grayson and his experiments, and she tries harder and harder to get herself and Mary out of his clutches. From here on out, I loved this story and came to the end wishing that the first 200 pages were more compelling. I loved the gothic mystique of it, the blend of science and superstition, and the mythos of monsters living among us. There were some hints of some classics such as Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and even The Hunchback of Notre Dame within these pages, and while I was reading it reminded me so much of this other book I read that I need to mention it here. Mostly because that book was better and more obscure and I want to point more people in its direction. With all that being said, I know that this book is not for everyone. I understand that not everyone who reads it will understand it, or will be forgiving of the dry first 200 pages. However, I highly recommend it for those of you are like a little something different, historical, and enjoy the subject matter of these so-called "monsters," the lonely, alienated and often misunderstood creatures that are born into a cruel and unforgiving world.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-05-22 00:00:00 Alvaro Gutierrez The exact words that came out of my mouth after reading this were "Well, that was a waste" as I put the book down, dismayed at what it was I just read. Believe me, the description on the back cover was a much better read then the actual book itself. It seemed at first that this could be an interesting concept, something intriguing. A young girl finds herself pregnant and later forced under the subjugation of a mad scientist during 18th century England. What's not to like, right? Well, from the moment I read the first chapter and was faced with an absolutely unnecessary smut scene, I was tempted to just stop right there. It seemed that had unwittingly picked up one of those trashy romance novels. After that interesting beginning, it seemed to drag on and on. Yet, with a change of heart, I figured that some books simply start out slow; it had to get better right? Wrong. Not only did I find the book poorly written but NONE of the characters were at all engaging, in fact the secondary characters I found pointless and there was no effort with character development, and the plot itself was completely mind-numbing. The horrible scheme of the evil apothecary that began to unravel was plain absurd, laughable even. I couldn't even truly hate any of the antagonists of the novel because none of them were compelling enough to feel anything towards. It's never a good sign when I'm overcome with sheer indifference with character deaths, triumphs, and adversities. I can not recommend this book to anyone; I did get an ounce of pleasure when reading this book. It was utterly disappointing, and one should certainly stay clear of Nature of Monsters.