Series: –
Published: 25 July 2017
Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 336
Language read: English
Format read: eArc, ebook
Rating: weak 3 stars 
Little Monsters Synopsis: For fans of Pretty Little Liars, Little Monsters is a new psychological thriller, from the author of The Darkest Corners, about appearances versus reality and the power of manipulation amongst teenage girls.
Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister.
Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.
Which is why it’s so odd when they start acting distant. And when they don’t invite her to the biggest party of the year, it doesn’t exactly feel like an accident.
But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers.
Kacey is about to learn some very important lessons: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes when you’re the new girl, you shouldn’t trust anyone. –Goodreads
I wanted to read this book because I have been in the mood for thrillers this summer. The synopsis sounded intriguing, and anything that says for fans of Pretty Little Liars and psychological thriller really peaks my interests.
I struggled with this book in the beginning. It took me awhile to get into, since I found it a bit slow. I had mixed feelings towards the beginning. I was so eager to jump right into the mystery, but the book took its time with building up the story, the world and the characters. At this point I didn’t even care that much for the characters. I later on appreciated that the book took its time with the character development, because it is very important for the rest of the story. I also had some problems with telling the characters apart in the beginning. I especially got confused when the book jumped into the diary. I thought it was the main character’s for a while. I’m not sure if this was intentional, or if I am really dumb and it went over my head? All of this got better as the book went on though.
This was just some minor problems and not necessary a big reason for disliking the book. Now I’m going to talk about why my feelings for the book really soured. 7% and 13% into the story I found some things I thought was problematic and harmful, especially for younger readers. Now I’m going to talk a bit about what I found.
I hated how the book tried to make fun of people with allergy or intolerance to gluten. It is, and can be, very dangerous for some people to eat gluten. Even just a little bit can be fatal. Eating gluten free food for health reasons are already stigmatized, and a lot of people thinks that it is just some bogus thing that people are making up. The comment in this book enhances that problem. The comment can especially be hurtful for younger readers that are eating a gluten free diet. People who eat gluten free should be taken serious and be believed, especially by sales personnel and cafe waiters.
The other thing I found to be problematic in this could also be harmful to young readers. I wasn’t sure if I overreacted to this so I asked my boyfriend what he thought, and he agrees with me.
In writing that a person can be the town gossip because they struggle with an eating disorder, can be very dangerous for a young person that struggles with the same to hear. It can strike fear of getting sent away if someone finds out into readers with similar problems. The paragraph also insinuates that it is wrong to get professional help, or if the parents are making the child get help. A good parent will help their child with eating disorders, or other problems, this is not something that should be talked down on. The whole page just made me feel sick. Please let me know what you think?
The version of the book I read was an eArc and not the final copy. If anything has changed in the final release, and the things I’m mentioning are gone or changed, please let me know.
The sad thing about this is that these two paragraphs wasn’t necessary for the book at all. I would have liked that the author didn’t include them, because the book would be so much better without.
Two thirds into the story the book flipped 180° and went from meh to I CAN’T PUT IT DOWN. The mystery got real intense and addictive. It wasn’t just the story that grew on me, but I also started liking the characters a bit more.
The book’s strongest feature was the last part. It got real intense and addictive. Plot twists after plot twists shocked me because I didn’t see any of it coming. All in all the mystery was very interesting. I actually ended up liking the book at the end.
Would I recommend this book? Hmm, I’m not sure. I liked the mystery, It was addictive and intense. But the book took its time before it became interesting. Plus it’s the whole problem with the things I found in the beginning that I didn’t like. I don’t want younger readers, or other readers that can be hurt from it, to read anything like that. I was planning to give this book 2 stars, but the ending was so good that I gave it a weak 3 stars.
I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley, Random House Children’s & Kara Thomas for giving me a copy of this book.
❤ -Rakel
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On Tuesday my mom and I went to visit a friend in town. She just opened her own store and of course we had to take a look at it. After the visit we went and got a coffee together at Starbucks. Starbucks came to my city just a few years ago, so I haven’t tried everything on the menu. This time we went out of our comfort zone and ordered a frappuccino with caramel syrup. It was delicious, but oh so sweet and unhealthy. How can people drink this every day? I will definitely have one again, but only in the summer.
