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Book Review: Their Monstrous Hearts: A Gothic Horror Novel with a Dual Timeline and a Suspenseful Mystery by Yigit Turan

Cover art for Their Monstrous Hearts

Their Monstrous Hearts: A Gothic Horror Novel with a Dual Timeline and a Suspenseful Mystery by Yigit Turan

MIRA, 2025

ISBN-13: 978-0778368274<

Available: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

Buy:   Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

 

A feeling of impending doom hangs over the characters of Their Monstrous Hearts emanating from, of all things, beauty. The narrator tells us: “Beauty had a threshold, and beyond it, it became a captivating terror.” This terrible beauty finds its expression in the overwhelming presence of living and preserved butterflies and the cloying smell of tuberoses connected with the elegant, sinister Perihan, grandmother of Ricardo, who wields a secret power over the elite of Milan.

 

When Riccardo, a struggling writer, leaves Paris to attend his Turkish grandmother’s funeral, he has mixed feelings about returning to Milan. When he finally reaches Perihan’s home, he discovers her once beautiful garden has been left untended, and there is a cloud of butterflies hovering over her house. He also finds that Perihan’s employees, familiar to him from childhood, are still there, but they are acting very oddly.

 

As he prepares for the funeral, Ricardo discovers a manuscript written by his grandmother, with his name on it, and immediately begins reading what seems to be a very strange horror myth. He finds himself wondering whether she has left him a phantasmagoric novel or a shocking memoir. The answer to that question will determine how much danger Ricardo is in and whether he will be able to face the terrors Perihan has prepared for him.

 

Their Monstrous Hearts is notable for its originality of plot, its complicated juxtaposition of magical goodness and mythic horror in the characters’ motivations, and its European locations infused with a Turkish sensibility. At times, Riccardo’s constant reading of the manuscript is an unwelcome distraction, until the final scenes in the book. But there is also a luxurious languor, ironically, in the mesmerizing prose that leads to the best part of the tale. That is when Turhan answers his own question: what would happen if you extracted something from a fairytale and placed it outside its original context, dragging it back into the center of reality?

 

Reviewed by Nova Hadley

Posted on July 27, 2025 by , Reply

Book Review: They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe

Cover art for They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe

They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe

Poisoned Pen Press, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1728248202

Available: Paperback, audiobook, audio CD, Kindle edition

Buy:  Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com

 

 

The women of Cape Disappointment, descended from Regina Holm, all meet a singular fate: drowning. In 1881, Regina, hoping to prevent her husband from leaving, was placing a charm when she was interrupted by her 14 year old niece Liza, who realized it was witchcraft and threatened to tell Regina’s husband. In the resulting conflict, Liza was killed, and Regina rolled her up in a rug and dumped her in the nearby ocean. Regina’s daughter Marina witnessed it, and followed Liza into the water, where she drowned. Mothers and daughters in every generation since have been affected by this trauma, tempted into the water where they are drowned by a malevolent ghost girl.

 

Meredith has been long absent, but is now returning with her 7 year old daughter Alice to live with her  estranged mother, Judith, as Meredith finalizes a separation with her wife. Meredith left Cape Disappointment not just because of her difficult relationship with her mother, but to escape the way she was drawn to the water. Now that she’s returned, she feels the pull again, and Alice does, too. Judith and Meredith must decide how far they are willing to go to protect Alice and end the curse. The novel is thoughtful about motherhood, and the way it depicts mothers’ choices and sacrifices.

 

This atmospheric, haunting tale brims with historical detail and vividly depicts the waters and environment of Cape Disappointment, and the fear the women experience, especially the fear of drowning. Highly recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

 

Posted on August 8, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting (Serwa Boateng #1) by Roseanne A. Brown

Cover art for Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting by Roseanne A. Brown

Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting (Serwa Boatang #1) by Roseanne A. Brown

Rick Riordan Presents, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1368066365

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

 

This is a wild ride of a book. Serwa Boateng is a Ghanaian-American (born in Ghana) 12 year old, the daughter of Slayers of vampires called adze, who look like fireflies and can possess people, and obaifyo, witches who use black magic. She has always been homeschooled, but after a supernatural attack on her home, her parents are sent on a mission she can’t be a part of and she is sent to live with her Aunt Latricia and cousin Roxy in Rocky Gorge, Maryland, a supernatural dead zone, where she will have to attend middle school and deal with microaggressions, hostility, racism, and an adze who has crossed into the dead zone, without help from her parents or the council that directs their missions.

 

When Serwa accidentally starts a food fight in home ec, she and four other students end up with detention, picking up trash in and around the school. While picking trash in the woods, they are attacked by an adze, and when Serwa explains what’s happening, they want to help. Eujun used to be friends with Roxy but when forced to pick between friends picked popular mean girl Ashley. Gavin is Black and a jokester. Mateo is Guatemalan and a model student, who stutters. Roxy’s father has been deported to Ghana. Their teacher, Mrs. Dean, has it out for Serwa, who she calls Sarah Boating, and Serwa thinks she is the adze.

 

The kids are terrible fighters and have no magic. Serwa calls on the earth goddess with a request to bless them with divine wisdom. They are sent to the underworld to retrieve her sword, which never stops fighting. Their mission is successful, and also incredibly funny. The goddess gives the kids divine wisdom and an elemental blessing that will let them draw on the power of their element.

 

The art teacher, Mr. Riley. reveals that the origin of the dead zone is unique because his ancestor, who had divine wisdom, and Roxy’s, who had black magic, combined them to protect enslaved people during a rebellion.

 

Ghanaian mythology is not something I was familiar with, so this was a fresh approach to the “chosen one” storyline. Serwa has a distinct voice and point of view that make her stand out from the current crop. While the story is sometimes predictable, I was wowed by the energy and rage at the end. Never underestimate a teenager in an emotional storm. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on July 28, 2024 by , Reply
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