My Name is Monster

Oh this book! Wow. I loved it. I've always been a fan of survivor stories and this one is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where war and disease have wiped out most of the planet, leaving only a small number of survivors. We only meet two characters, which lends a real intimacy to the text. Even though the book deals with a grand, world event, the story at its heart is about the relationship between the two survivors. It's beautifully written - close and intense, with lovely imagery and well-chosen words. Highly recommend.

Thanks to Canongate and Netgalley for the Advance Review Copy.

“I think it takes a monster to survive when nobody else can”

This novel is about Monster who becomes Mother when she finds another Monster. Got that? Well buckle in for a wild ride.

The novel is largely set in a post apocalyptic Britain. War and Sickness have killed everyone on earth (as far as we know) and a woman called Monster is the last person left alive. She ekes out an existence at an old farmhouse through scavenging and growing vegetables. On one of her scavenging trips to the ‘City’ she comes across a young girl who she names ‘Monster’ and she then becomes ‘Mother’.

The Mother character was a really fascinating ‘heroine’ to me and the insights into her past and her relationship with her parents helped the reader to understand why she is the way she is. The character of the young girl, Monster was less compelling to me but both characters are well written and credible.

The writer has a way of writing that makes the isolation and horrors of the aftermath of the apocalypse easy to imagine and the book is all the more terrifying for it. Mundane things like a clock, cans of food or batteries become matters of life and death e.g. comparing the finding of a locked storage room in a raided shop to Tutankhamun’s tomb, and there is a real sense of what has been lost. The lyrical writing style really works in this novel and the author’s experience as a poet is obvious.

This novel raises questions throughout and the parallels to potential future realities was unflinching and brutal. It’s not an easy read by any means but it’s a novel about the bonds between women, between mothers and children, survival and hope.

Following an Extinction Level Event, which she survived hidden in the earth in the Global Seed Bank, deep in the Arctic in Svalbard, the titular Monster emerges to discover she may well be the last person left on earth.
Her homing instincts kick in and she heads back to her home town on a futile quest for answers that don't exist. She then establishes herself in a farm on the outskirts of a big city, heading in on regular forays for supplies, whilst starting to create her own ecosystem on the farm.
During one of her trips into the city, she discovers a young feral girl who she forges an awkward bond with, discovering in the process that she's somewhat lacking in natural maternal instinct. They form an uneasy double act, with strange co-dependencies, with Monster transferring her name to her younger counterpart and assuming the new name of Mother.
As Jurassic Park taught us, life finds a way, and Monster manages to get herself pregnant through artificial self-insemination at one of the clinics in the city (this is where I removed a star for stretching my imagination a little too far beyond the realms of possibility - the kid could barely speak when Mother found her, let alone figure out how to impregnate herself), setting the reader up for an interesting denouement, along with the additional sighting of smoke rising in the distance from another potential camp.
I'm a huge fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, and this book delivered on a lot of fronts. I felt it brought something new to the genre with its all-female cast. Billed as part-Frankenstein, part-Robinson Crusoe, I'd also add part The Road, without quite so much bleakness and violence, but with all the isolation and desolation. While it's by no means a perfect novel, it does have a huge amount going for it, and is well worth checking out. Highly recommended.

A really interesting exploration of survival, relationships, and the constructs of family in a post-apocalyptic world

I absolutely adore this book! I couldn't put it down! The writing is very poignant and the descriptions of nature, the survival instinct and the inner turbulences of the women is very catching!

I loved this book, it has all the feel of John Christopher's Death of the Grass or Wrinkle in the Skin but without the rapeyness. The first part of the book is narrated by Monster a young woman who is better at fixing things than human relationships. The second part is narrated by a girl that Monster adopts after they find each other in an abandoned city.

This is a great addition to apocalyptic fiction and is a more female take on the genre. The book was just the right length and was gripped enough to read it in less than a day.

I felt extra connected to this book because the location sounds like my home town which is near the Scottish Border, on the East Coast and blessed with a large number of bridges.

I picked this on NetGalley for the sheer reason that it intrigued me in every way - the cover, the Synopsis and the reviews on GoodReads. It sounded so completely different from anything I had ever read before. This is a debut novel by a acclaimed poet and as soon as you start reading you call tell. This is an exceptionally beautifully written book. The language is incredible, and how things are described had me hooked. I could almost feel the world that she built, the cold, the heat, the wet, the emotions.

This was an apocalyptic story of a young woman who thinks she is the only person left in the world after The Sickness takes over. She is called Monster, a nickname given to her by her parents when she was younger. She grows up as a person who shuns humans and human interaction, a loner. After The Sickness she travels on her own across the UK to return to her parents home. She ends up carving a bit of a life for herself just outside a deserted city. On one of her trips into the City she finds a small girl who has been living feral. Monster decides to take her home. She names her Monster and Monster becomes Mother.

The first half of the book is from Monster (Mother)'s point of view and the 2nd half is from Monster's. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I enjoyed Monster (Mother)'s POV better than Monster's but I think this might be because she was a lot closer to my age. She was intriguing and I felt like i understood her. When we moved on to Monster's POV one thing I did really enjoy was the way that he author described her finding the world, almost how a baby discovers the world. Her learning what things are, how things work, even words for things was so captivating. For example, dewy grass was described as 'Still wet from the morning water' and how a fire starts as 'Because wood has heat stored inside it'. Small changes but really makes you think about the words we use for things.

Overall this wasn't a plot driven book as such , there is actually very little that happens, but its how the story is told that is the beauty of it. I gave this 4/5 stars and I will definitely be recommending this to others!

Having believed I’d covered most post-apocalyptic themes in fiction, I was caught off guard by how much I enjoyed this book. Hale wisely focuses on the evolving mother-daughter relationship between the two main characters which in turns is compelling, turbulent and oddly touching in places.

Atmospheric and will stay logged in your memory long after its conclusion.

Highly recommended.

My Name is Monster is divided into two parts in which two women, both with the name Monster, tell their tale. To describe the book, even only a little, will involve some plot spoiling, so if you don’t want to know, don’t read on.

The Monster of Part 1, has the name as a nickname, given to her by her father. She is a woman who prefers things, mechanics, to people. The novel begins with her walking towards her home having been stranded somewhere on the Scottish coastline after the world wars and the sickness have seemingly wiped out all human life.

She walks towards her parents home because it is as good a direction as any.

Slowly, as she walks, our sense of what happened to the world becomes clearer and we see this new world through the eyes of a person who has never really, until now, missed human contact and always sought solitude.

This part of the book begins with a quotation from Robinson Crusoe. Is being alive when everyone else is dead a blessing or not? Like Robinson Crusoe, Monster focuses on survival rather than blessing (in both books this is perhaps an initial focus) and slowly builds a settlement where she farms both vegetable and animal produce.

On one of her trips to the nearby city, she meets a living girl. Her Friday, a person she saves and teaches to speak. Afraid to name herself Monster in front of the terrified girl, she changes the end of the word from M…onster to M…other. Considering the term Monster a signifier of survival, this is the name she gives the girl and so part 2 gives the narrative to the new monster.

There is a sense in which this brave new world is given a monster of Frankenstein’s invention. A sense in which an obsession with language, ownership, morality, make My Name is Monster influenced by both Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein, only in this version the monster can make a new world, can force its maker to set it free.

However, and perhaps strangely, I found the first part much more compelling than the second. The first Monster had a character that felt real, not necessarily empathetic, but graspable, tangible. The new Monster really is something intangible to me. This is both impressive and alienating. I cared less about a world that would develop under her guidance, but I’m not really sure why.

There are lots of clever ideas within the name Monster, from the Latin monstrum, an omen or warning from the gods whose root monere means to warn. These monsters are portends of the new world to come.

It’s a clever book with some fun world play and some beautiful passages. I think I wished it had gone somewhere else, but I can’t really say where. It’s hard when there are quite a lot of novels at the moment that look at what might become of this world us humans are running into the ground. How do you take this in a new direction? What do you imagine for a world in which very few of us survive? I believe in the importance of thinking about what happens when we’ve finished our project of destruction, and I enjoyed reading this imagined version as I’m sure many others will too. I’m left wanting more, however, which is mostly a good thing I think. Roll on Katie Hale’s next novel, but don’t forget to read this one when it comes out in June. My Name is Monster is a novel of ideas that reworks old ideas in new and intriguing ways and will certainly get you thinking about how we live now and how we might live differently if given a chance to start again.

Haunting and ethereal. Reminded me of The Road in its intensity and sparseness of language. I really enjoyed the switch halfway through and the exploration of motherhood and adoption and childhood and survival. Will stay with me for a long time.

This is Katie Hale’s debut novel and I was so intrigue by the post apocalyptic premise and an original sounding blurb.

I found this to be a wonderfully well written book. The descriptive language drew me in to this emotional, cold and dark world.

This is a post apocalyptic story of a young woman who believes she is the only person left alive after The Sickness. Her name is Monster, a nickname given to her by her parents when she was younger and a bit of a loner.

Monster manages to survive by making a life for herself, away from a nearby city, but close enough to visit it to scavenge, on one of these trips she finds a young girl, who like her is practically feral. She takes her home and gives her the name Monster......and she renames herself Mother.

The book is told from two perspectives, firstly from Mother, then from Monster. It shows how they both see things differently and how Monster grows with her own thoughts and descriptive language.

I didn’t feel there was any particular plot to follow, just a story of life, nature and nurture in a decimated world, beautifully told. I can thoroughly recommend it...

I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review

It is always a brave thing to write an entire book from just one or two points of view. No supporting characters, very little supporting action. Just one person and their thoughts. It is particularly brave to make that one central POV character not particularly likable.

The writing itself is simply lovely. Very prettily written and it's so easy to just devour this book in one or two sittings. The atmosphere is fantastic and the psychology is fascinating.

I am a bit of a sucker for post-apocalyptic fiction and this end of the world scenario is particularly juicy. I almost wish we could have seen more of it, rather than just the aftermath. Honestly, this book could have been double the length and I would have been happy for the extra content!

At the end of the book we are left with many unanswered questions and not everything is wrapped up. This is perhaps a little frustrating.

There is one scene in the book that honestly made me feel uncomfortable. There is a rather graphic scene of young Monster masturbating for the first time. We don't know exactly how old Monster is but it's safe to say that she is a child. Although masturbation is absolutely a natural thing, I felt rather uncomfortable reading it from the point of view of a (very innocent) child.

Overall I very much enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down, I just wish there wasn't so many unanswered questions at the end!

Thank you very much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review

I do love an end of the world, will we survive novel. This hit all the buttons and more. Beautifully written, characters that you can relate to and all in all a great read.

An interest and thought provoking read, not always easy at times and quite often thought provoking. The characters are well written and while not always likeable the book keeps you hooked and involved. A great read for something a bit darker and to make you think.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest review

We've all read the premise - an apocalyptic war, an ensuring sickness, a wiped out race. My Name is Monster's plot is no different - Monster, the only survivor in a new world that has been terrorised by sickness and war, begins to rebuild a life, until, one day, she finds a girl: feral, and ready to be taught all that Monster knows. - yet Hale has cleverly reworked old ideas into a compellingly contemporary novel which will leave you thinking long into the silence that follows the ending.

Whilst Hale's writing is beautifully executed, the story itself was generally kept very vague and elusive - a lot of questions were left unanswered and the ending left to the readers own imagination, however personally I found this a clever structural device and ultimately fitting to the context.

When I read that My Name is Monster was inspired by the epic novel Frankenstein (one of my favourite novels of all time) I couldn't wait to read it, and this inspiration clearly shines through. Hale intelligently, yet subtly, explores issues surrounding power, the things that society leaves imprinted on us when the rules no longer apply, and about the strength and the danger of a mother’s love.

Told through two different and dynamic narratives - Mother (the original Monster) who survives and adapts to the post-apocalyptic world, and Monster - a blank sheet, created, taught and grown in this new world - Hale's captivation of the two very different female voices is masterfully done. Like Victor Frankenstein creating his monster, Hale too, explores the contrasting results that language, ownership, morality, and the obsessions that follow, between the relationship between Mother and Monster.

Whilst this probably won't enjoy readers looking for a fast-paced, thrilling read, Hale has undoubtedly written a lyrically intriguing and refreshingly new viewpoint to this overcrowded genre, and offered something timely and unique.

A dark and twisty read that will haunt you long after you’ve finished. It’s well written, if not a little formulaic.

This post apocalyptic read is chilling and eerie. It tells the stories of Mother and Monster and a realistic way. I loved the setting, and felt on edge the whole time I was reading it - it gave me chills and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

The two different point of views were well written and I liked how different Mother and Monster were on the inside. Very little dialogue and alot of inner thoughts, the story was well written and I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for a while.

If you enjoy this type of book then I'd definitely recommend it.

The book is split into two parts, the first narrated by Monster, the second is narrated by a young girl who Monster finds while she is scavenging for food and supplies in the city. Monster is a survivor; she has guts, no fear and extreme emotional resilience, which I couldn’t work out whether was due to nature or nurture. Katie Hale definitely drip-feeds that Monster has always been an outsider and hasn't fit into what the world around her deemed to be "normal". Struggling with social situations and cues, Monster prefers her own company and fixing things instead of sleepovers, parties and the like. We learn that Monster has been treated differently her whole life and this has gone on to have a huge impact on her ability to develop relationships. She has only ever really had one true friend and no real relationships to speak of and the name Monster was given to her by her parents.

In the opening chapter we meet Monster; washed up on a beach, patchy details of "the Sickness" and "the Last Fall" linger in her mind. Monster begins her journey to find shelter, food and potential survivors with just her inner thoughts to keep her company, we then begin to learn a bit more of Monster and the decisions and choices which led her to be where she is today.

Katie Hale definitely drip-feeds that Monster has always been an outsider and hasn't fit into what the world around her deemed to be "normal". Struggling with social situations and queues, Monster prefers her own company and fixing things instead of sleepovers, parties and the like. We learn that Monster has been treated differently her whole life and this has gone on to have a huge impact on her ability to develop relationships. She has only ever really had one true friend and no real relationships to speak of and the name Monster was given to her by her parents.

In the opening chapter we meet Monster; washed up on a beach, patchy details of "the Sickness" and "the Last Fall" linger in her mind. Monster begins her journey to find shelter, food and potential survivors with just her inner thoughts to keep her company, we then begin to learn a bit more of Monster and the decisions and choices which led her to be where she is today.

As she is walking, she revisits her past in both her thoughts and the physical world, before settling at a farm house where she begins to make a life for herself, scavenging in the city, utilising the land around her and beginning to build somewhere she can call home.

It is around half way through the book where Monster encounters the girl; small, fragile, hiding in an abandoned shop, scared and hysterical. Monster makes a decision that goes against her nature and brings the girl back to the farmhouse.

From here on in the book is narrated by the girl. She has hazy flashbacks to her previous life, the soft woman and a bridge. She struggles to understand Monster and the way in which she behaves. Monster teaches her everything she knows about the land, growing food and scavenging, whilst wrestling with her natural instinct to abandon the girl and go out again alone. I enjoyed the change in Monster over this latter part of the book, I felt her soften but this is something that she didn't show outwardly to the girl. There was a real tenderness in Monster as the girl comes into her world. Her perspective shifts from solely thinking of herself to not being able to imagine the world without the girl.

The short chapters really pack a punch and the dual narrative added a further dynamic to the story. I really enjoyed how the girl saw the world, the vulnerability of her and how she tried to make sense of the situation. I also fell for Monster, I loved her character and her growth throughout the book.

I am a completest when it comes to every aspect of my life, so why should books be any different? I did have some questions which I would really like answered; I want to know more about Monster, I can guess what happened to the world but I would love a bit more detail about what led to this catastrophic event and also the girl - so many questions about her. That said, this didn't take away from my enjoyment and reading experience, I think it's a fantastic debut, a tender story about our protective instincts, loneliness and the need for human companionship, it's a book which I devoured and one which I highly recommend.

Sometimes the simplest premise and exquisite execution come together serendipitously and make for a totally absorbing thriller. My Name is Monster is one such powerhouse post-apocalyptic landscape in which humanity is dead. Gone. Extinct. Except for Monster. And Mother. We never quite know how it has come to this although reasons are alluded to throughout we are not given reliable or solid reasoning; I liked these mysterious parts of the book as my imagination ran away with itself and it was rather fun. Whilst Monster scavengers to survive she comes across a girl she names Monster, whilst changing her name to Mother, and foretelling the bond which will grow between the two of them.

The short, snappy chapter structure had something interesting happening in every one of them and helped to keep you turning the pages. I could relate to both Monster and Mother as Ms Hale has put a lot of detail into the personalities of these two girls, their feelings and their perceptions of the shattered world limply hanging around them. I could completely relate to their introverted natures and the enjoyment of being in one's own company. Both the aura surrounding the tale was chillingly atmospheric and the characters so, so enigmatic; this is what kept me up to find out what would happen to the pair.

If you are a reader who must have aspects spelt out to you in terms of what is going on with the plot then this may not be for you; this is because Ms Hale leaves a lot to the imagination. I always find it fascinating as no-one ever reads the same story due to everything being open to interpretation. It's really the story of Motherhood but not the usual innate relationship between mother and daughter but by two people who crave love, attention and tender moments in a world so devoid of love. A simple story about the enduring nature of companionship, respect and love and a touching and poignant debut. Many thanks to Canongate for an ARC.