Rick Yancey : THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST

THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST is an awarding winning book (first one in the series) written by American author Rick Yancey. Now, you might remember Mr Yancey from the review of one of his newish novels which blew my mind last year - THE 5TH WAVE.

The Monstrumologist has been recommended by many Vloggers and Bloggers who loves books and good stories as much as I do. So I was expecting great things. Especially after reading one of his book last year.  A lot of reviewers and book critics wrote only good things about this novel.

"Yancey takes the gore and violence of Darren Shan's 'Cirque du Freak' to thrilling new levels in this sophisticated tale." SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Each character is whole and rich... The book is perfect for readers who want their nightmares in a literary package." VOYA

"This is a great story. I loved this book." DOUGLAS CLEGG, author of NEVERLAND

"Weaves a world that processes a Lovecraftian logic and hints at its own deeply satisfying mythos." BOOKLIST

"Will's intelligent diary captures their page turning, nightmarish adventures and the constructs and evolving scientific theories of the time as well as his budding independence." KIRKUS REVIEWS

First impressions... I love the whole package. The design team behind the edition did a wonderful job. The Paperback itself is beautifully animated with some gorgeous pictures and has a feel of a real diary of Will Henry. So far.. so good. 

The story takes us to a sanitarium (old people's home) where the author meets a director who hands him 12 notebooks written by a patient who recently passed away. There is no family who would claim them. And the word is that the patient hasn't spoken to anyone through his whole time being there. He claimed to be over 180 years old. This sparks the author's interest. Not to mentioned that the notebooks holds a story previously unheard of. 

When the author starts to read them, he cannot put them down. We are meeting a twelve year old boy, Will Henry, who lives in the house of Dr Pelinore Warthrop. His parents recently died in a tragic accident and Will Henry doesn't have anyone apart from the doctor. Now Dr Warthrop has a very peculiar profession. He isn't the usual kind of doctor. He is a monstrumologist - the doctor of monsters. And one evening this profession brings an unexpected visitor with very interesting package to their door. And after that Will Henry and The Monstrumologist go on a spiral road of adventure they didn't expect. 

MON-STUM-OL-O-GY n.

1: the story of life forms generally malevolent to humans and not recognised by science as actual organisms, specifically those considered products of myth and folklore

2: the act of hunting such creatures

This supposed to be YA novel. While reading and after reading this novel, there is only one question on my mind: "What child can read this book and doesn't have nightmares afterwards?" It was visual. Bloody. And very, very entertaining. I have fallen under the spell of Will Henry's scary tale and couldn't put it down. The story is so refreshing. Monsters are real. They are a species who hunt us down as we are their food supply. Wow... I have been haunted by this story long after I have read it. It left me with shivers. Yancey's writing is so adventurous. It takes the whole new level of scary for me. 

Not only the story is very individual and unique to the ones I read before, but the writing itself is very inventive. The whole book is written in the style of 1800's authors. What a wonderful idea. Long sentences. Well used english dictionary. What an idea!! It reminded me the style of writing of Jane Austen. LOVED IT!!

Will Henry is such an interesting character. Firstly, you feel sorry for him and then you start to be intrigued by him. He is brave. Braver than he thinks himself. And his big secret is revealed at the end of the story. That made my jaw drop. Even more intriguing and very secretive is the character of The Monstrumologist himself. He is smart. Brave. Rich. And sometimes seems without a heart. But I feel that this character is like an onion. You have to peel off the dry layers before you get to the juice bottom. And of course I cannot forget to mention the character of Dr John Kearns (well at least that is one of his name). He is ruthless and a very adventures hunter who is an expert in hunting the Anthropophagi. He doesn't hesitate to use a human life in order to get what he wants or needs. He is very intelligent and might carry a big secret which gets touched upon at the end of the book. That was a really good secret!!

All in all, I can see why this book is loved by so many book reviewers and readers. There isn't one thing I could say, which would make this book horrible. It's very inventive, full of violence and flesh eating monsters. Sometimes it makes your skin crawl, but it's still brilliant and one of a kind. I cannot wait to read the other books in series: The Curse Of The Wendigo, The Isle of Blood and The Final Descent. Mr Yancey wrote one hell of a book series which you all will love.