This was a very dark story, heartbreaking in the sense that Heidi was so lost and struggling to remember the terrible things that happened to her. The reveal was shocking, I did not suspect the character who was revealed to her stalker/anothervictim at all.

It took me longer than I thought to get into this book- the opening chapter didn't work for me. I really enjoyed the chapters with the killers point of view- that is what hooked me. Although some of the execution of the story didn't work for me and I was left with a lot of questions.

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

This is a difficult review to post because I feel the blurb lets this novel down. The story contains explicit references to extremely disturbing events involving children without any kind of warning. The blurb doesn't even mention Heidi's age when the attack happened -if it did, it could at least give a small heads up as to what to expect. I would certainly not have requested this book had I known this.


I gave the four stars because it is well written and you can see that the author has a lot of talent. I think she has a brilliant future in writing, her genre just isn't for me.

This is such an amazing debut novel! I went through an array of emotions whilst reading it!

I absolutely loved Heidi and her relationship with Nina and Anna were so well depicted! the characters are so well built and the emotions are so raw that I found myself really emotional at some points.

The story itself is dark and approaches really hard themes but it was a really great and thrilling read with a lot of shock, drama, sadness and palpable tension.

Although there were plenty of twists throughout I kind of guessed the ending. but in no way had this made the reading less enjoyable. I would have liked to know a little bit more about some characters at the end but overall I really enjoyed this book!


I’m really impressed that this is a debut novel for the author as it was so impressive and a such a great and dark thriller. I’ll look forward to reading more by Rebecca Kelly in the future.


I would like to thank Netgalley and Agora Books for an advanced copy of this great novel in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this, I didn't guess the perpetrator until the page before it was revealed, which is unusual for me

Imagine waking up after a terrible incident and finding you have no memory of what happened and little more of your life. Surely that must be one of your worst nightmares. For Heidi though, the nightmare begins when she starts to remember.

Monstrous Souls is told with three different points of view and in two timeframes - 2001 and 2016. Cleverly, Rebecca Kelly often shows us the actual events in 2001 and then we see how Heidi remembers and handles the memories in 2016. Heidi would prefer to push the rising images away but she knows she has to find justice for her friend Nina and discover what happened to her younger sister, Anna.

One thing I liked in particular in this story was the contrast between the hot summer of 2001 and the cold early winter of 2016. The heat gave the sense of brewing tensions until they reached boiling point. The cold created a chilling atmosphere where a stranger plays 'cat and mouse' with Heidi, ever creeping nearer.

This wasn't always an easy read. As the title suggests, we're dealing with some awful people here. However, Rebecca Kelly has written this with great sensitivity. I had to read on to discover the truth with Heidi. A compelling debut novel.

This was a really clever and compelling police procedural/thriller and I think it really does bridge the two genres.
Told from multiple perspectives and dual timeline we try to piece together what happened to Heidi, Nina and Anna 15 years ago.
Now the subject matter won't be for everyone and I feel that just reading the synopsis would not prepare you for the fact that this delves into <spoiler>child abuse and paedophilia</spoiler> and it did make me feel rather uncomfortable as you can imagine. There are hints and talk of events happening, but nothing is described in detail. Although, if you are sensitive to this subject then this would probably be enough to not read it.
Despite this I did find myself constantly flipping pages trying to work out who was involved and I think the author did a very good job on holding my attention and actually making my heart pound like you would expect from a thriller.

A bit of a slow burner but a solid three star read. It picked up pace about two thirds through and then there was suspense to keep me interested although I guessed the culprit. I would definitely read her next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Started this on Friday night and had finished it by Saturday night. An amazing page-turner, as they say, I just couldn’t put it down. However, there are a couple of reasons why I didn’t give it five stars. Firstly I guessed quite a bit along the way, probably more than I usually do. That’s not to say it was predictable, but I guessed the identity of The Chief almost straight away and also the young man following Heidi. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment. But the main reason is that I feel this story has been told so many times before, particularly at the moment. I keep starting a ‘murder mystery’ and then finding out it’s about child abuse and abduction.

I really loved it and as I said, I couldn’t put it down, but there are so many stories out there that involve child abuse. I think I have read about three this year already. However this differs because it is partly seen through the eyes of Denise, the investigating police officer when Heidi was originally attacked in 2001 who now wants to open the case and also because of the amnesia aspect. In fact the premise is excellent. Heidi can’t remember anything about the attack, the murder of her best friend Nina or the disappearance of her younger sister Anna. Then one day little things start to come back and that is when we find out that Heidi’s life is still in danger. The book swaps between 2001 (the date of the attack) and 2016 (the present).

But don’t let my reservations put you off. It’s probably just that I read a lot of books. It’s beautifully written, well constructed and there are no stones left unturned. The characters are well developed and you really feel their pain. Well I did anyway. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The word, “page turner” is used too often when describing books, but for this book it’s true! Keeps you guessing all the way through. I was happy with the ending as all my questions were answered and it left me satisfied that everything was finished off nicely.
A great read by a great author who knows what she is doing.

A dark and twisty thriller with characters you are truly invested in from the start. You desperately want justice to be served.

Pacy but not rushed... Horrific abuse dealt with brilliantly. I felt exhausted at the end of it but thoroughly brilliant storytelling.

Thank you for the ARC :)

An excellent thriller that keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end.

One died, one survived and one missing.

There’s only known survivor of a horrific crime but she can’t remember what happened. After 15 years memories are coming back and someone doesn’t want the truth to be known.

An easy book to read, the chapters are not too long so the story moves along at just the right speed and keeps you guessing until the last chapter.

Looking forward to Rebecca Kelly’s next book.

I loved this book from the first chapter. The depth of guilt and torment manifested by Heidi bled out from the pages. The two POV helped the story coalesce and feel relevant to the reader, i was invested all the way in her journey to the truth as difficult and hard as it was. Her struggle to remember and the gradual flicker of memories that emerged built up the tension page after page. Dark, tense and twisted the book was devoured in a day as i wanted to know if Heidi ever found out what exactly happened to both herself and her lost sister. A wicked twist towards the end was so spectacular it left me stunned.

What a brilliant debut!

A dark and atmospheric read that had me hooked from the start

This is a really intense and emotional read that at times will wrench your heart with its emotional story. Be warned it does involve disturbing and quite sensitive issues throughout.

This is a real "feel every emotion" book, you'll feel wrung out by the end, its definitely an impactful storyline.

I loved the deep rooted friendships which are written so well, the characterisation is fantastic, you can picture them so well which brings the story to life even more so.

The ending was quite predictable (to me) but that doesn't take away from the brilliance of Rebecca Kelly's writing, captivating is the best word to sum it up!

Solid 4*

Huge thanks to netgalley and Agora Books for the ARC.

A real emotional ride in a fantastically written thriller. This is a book to be read in one sitting - it hooks you in from the very first page. Be prepared to be psychologically tested as you are taken from innocent childhood friendships into some dark places. There are twists and turns to keep you guessing and you will not be disappointed if you are looking to read a cracker of a psychological thriller.

Heidi’s memory is beginning to return.

I can’t in all honesty say I enjoyed reading Monstrous Souls because it has such dark themes that are so authentically and convincingly conveyed by Rebecca Kelly that I feel highly disturbed and affected by my reading. Monstrous Souls is an important book that transcends entertainment into an incisive and uncomfortable commentary on life for so many children.

The plot of Monstrous Souls is an absolute cracker because the reader is able to uncover the truth at the same time as Heidi, making it a very personal narrative. There’s a brilliantly depicted sense of menace and threat so that I felt quite tense as I read. This darkness and atmosphere is enhanced further by the very vivid descriptions of setting, particularly the beautiful natural images that contrast so well with the more restrained descriptions of violence and abuse. What Rebecca Kelly does so well is to suggest rather than provide all the darker details so that the reader’s imagination runs riot. I thought this technique was excellent.

The cover image represents the themes of the book perfectly. People, places and events are altered by refracted memory and duplicity. Characters have their lives and their identities reassembled by others more powerful in the same way the photograph of the cover appears sliced and manipulated. The themes of Monstrous Souls are not easy ones. Emotional and sexual abuse, control, loyalty, friendship and corruption weave like poison ivy through the plot and they are particularly unsettling because Rebecca Kelly presents then so convincingly. I have finished Monstrous Souls feeling real grief for many of the characters because their stories felt so genuine to me.

I may have felt uncomfortable with the content and themes of Monstrous Souls but I am so glad I have read it. It is, one one level, a cracking crime thriller, but I feel Rebecca Kelly has provided such an understanding of the human psyche too that it is more important a book than an entertaining story. I will be thinking about it for a very long time.

This dark, pacy thriller kept me guessing almost all the way to the end, and the final twist worked beautifully - it wasn't just a twist for twists' sake as with so many books in this genre. The difficult subject matter was handled with skill and sensitivity and the sense of trapped hopelessness felt by the victims was truly heartbreaking.

This was a good story, with strong characters, but I struggled to get into it. The book is similar in feel to a lot of books I have read lately, and I just didn't feel the spark that makes me want to sit and read for hours. Possibly my fault and not the book's because the idea behind the book is a good one.

A difficult read, not because of the writing, but because of the content. It’s always hard to say you ‘enjoyed’ reading books of this nature!
I was very emotionally invested in this story as a friend was raped as a teenager and I didn’t really know how to deal with it at the time. As an adult I was mentally screaming at Hannah to tell her mother, her teacher, anyone, but I also recognised my teenage self in the decisions she made not wanting to betray her friends trust.
For me, a believable and realistic story which, while dealing with harrowing issues, was absorbing and emotive, and I didn’t see the twist coming until right before it happened!

I was not taken in by the book at the beginning but I persevered and it was worth it. An excellent read about a difficult subject even by today’s standards. Poor Heidi has lost her memory of events when she was a teenager as she had been attacked. The book moves between 2 periods of time as some memories are revived. A real page turner and an ending not expected.