No God, No Monsters

Wow.

Really, I finished this book and there was so much to feel and think, I was stuck in wow for a bit.

I’ll get this out of the way right up front, yes, monsters are a stand-in for the “others” in our world. BUT Turnbull puts them to good use in addition to that representation.

You may also have noted the info in the parentheses after the title. Yes, this is the beginning of a series. It doesn’t cliff-hanger but it definitely leaves a whole lot undefined and unexplained. So if you can’t stand not knowing, you might want to wait for any other books to come out first. I can tell you I will stand in line to get the next one.

Also, if you decide to read this book, expect to have to stop to process. There are sentences that stopped me in my tracks, and there were also concepts, theories, and the whole picture he built to chew through. It’s not long, at 397 pages, but those pages pack a wallop.

Not since I read my first Laini Taylor book, about a decade ago, have I been so impressed by the creativity in creating a world and how an author slowly reveals the bits and pieces to show you the whole puzzle. And even her books didn’t force me to stop and process as much as this one. Unlike Taylor, who lets you think you understand and then pulls the rug, expect not to know what the heck is going on. Expect not to know if you can trust the narrator. Expect that from the very beginning you will have a mountain of questions, most of which will still exist at the end.

That all being said. This book is a brilliant look at the world as we know it through perspectives that vary and characters the likes of which don’t get a voice in popular fiction very often. Additionally, Turnbull takes a number of academic areas and lets them out to play with each other throughout, so be prepared to pause to google what the heck he’s talking about. From quantum physics to honey bee behavior and the history and functioning of secret societies to social organization theory. He packs a veritable smorgasbord of knowledge into this intricately woven and slowly revealed story.

If after all this, you still want to sit and read this book, do so slowly. Savor it bit by bit. Take the time to research topics and really understand what he is saying. I promise it’ll be worth it when you finally reach the end.

Book summary (per Goodreads):

One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother was shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it.

As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend’s trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters.

At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark?

The world will soon find out.