The Monster of Elendhaven - Review

Series: Stand Alone

Genre: Gothic/ Horror

Format: e-Book

Pages: 160

Monster. The word started with a kiss and ended in a hiss.

This is a story of the end of the world, and the man who orchestrated it. It's a story of how a sociopath falls in a love with psychotic. Of how to men with zero morals get back at all the men who had wronged them, forgotten them, and cast them aside.  It's he story of a Thing, a monster, found his name. This books can be described in three easy words: that escalated quickly.

I'm pretty sure this book broke me in all the best ways. Because I love a story about a villain. About characters who do bad things because they can. But, this book took that too a whole new level. I was barely thirteen pages in and I had no idea what I got myself into with Johann, but I was pretty much game to read about him kill be from the next hundred odd pages.

Then came Florian, and slowly I started to realize what was going on. I started putting the pieces together of how these two fit together, of who they really where to each other. I was glued to my screen the entire afternoon. I couldn't put it down. It was brilliant from start to finish.

Despite knowing how wrong their relationship is, I couldn't help but ship the two of them. Both of them are amoral, murders in their own rights, but no two creatures seemed more perfect for each other than Florian and Joann.

Monster of Eldenhaven does live it up to is Dark Fantasy tag. There is a lot of violence in this book and mention of sensitive themes. So it's definitely not a book for everyone. Jennifer Giesbrecht hold no punches and comes out swinging from the get go. 

It's honestly been a while since a book has floored me quite like The Monster of Eldenhaven has. For such a small book so much happens between its pages, and none of it good. It took me the whole afternoon to read because I had to put it down from time-to-time just to breath. To clear my head of all the muck this book dredges up. Because you shouldn't like either of these characters, you shouldn't be enthralled by them. They are terrible men, doing terrible things. 

But, the whole thing draws you in. The isolated and dying city of Eldenhave, its dark and twisted history, the stories they tell of their gods, and all of that shaped the men Joann and Florian turned into. How Giesbrecht connected their two histories, and how she ended the story. Because if you aren't paying attention you might not see what she did there.

The Monster of Eldenhaven is a story that could have gone wrong at some points throughout the story. At any point the violence and pur amoral nature of the story could have gotten boring and stiff. Only id doesn't, because Jennifer Geisbrecht somehow tells this brutal story with beautiful prose. Despite how desolate Eldenhaven is, and broken and vile these characters are. Her writing draws you in and doesn't let  you go. 

The end of the world really did start in Eldenhaven.

Buy, Borrow, Skip: While I read this through my local library, I'll be adding this book to my collection very soon. Because it is definitely one I'll be reading again, and I'll also be looking out for any new books by Jennifer Giesbrecht.

HAPPY READING!!