Tara Sim

We Shall Be Monsters is a Frankenstein retelling integrated into an Indian mythology inspired YA fantasy. Devastated after her sister Lasya’s sudden death, Kajal is determined to do whatever it takes to bring her back. She must hurry to resurrect Lasya before her trapped soul warps into a bhuta—a violent, wraith-like spirit intent on murdering those who have done her wrong. When Kajal is locked away as a witch, she is offered freedom by two strangers who are rebels against the kingdom’s usurper. Their offer of help comes with a request. She must resurrect the kingdom’s fallen crown prince. She agrees but when she resurrects the prince, things don’t go as planned.
The world building in We Shall Be Monsters is unique, fascinating, rich and detailed. I loved the interesting cast of characters and mythological beings which included a resurrected dog. Overall, We Shall Be Monsters is a well written dark, sinister and serious novel with some moments of humor and lightness. I enjoyed all the plot twists. There was a section toward the end where the pacing slowed down for a long flashback. This section ended up being necessary to understand the story, which then ended in a cliffhanger. I look forward to reading the sequel which will hopefully be released soon.… (more)

3.5 rounded up.

me, every time Taesia commits a crime:


• The City of Dusk is the beginning of a high fantasy trilogy set in a world where Gods once ruled, but have since all but disappeared after creating the “Sealing” which separated all the different magical realms. There are four houses in Vaega (a country in the realm of Vitae) and each house is descended from one of the Gods.

• The story gave me heavy Game of Thrones vibes, but in a slightly easier to read format. We follow the four heirs to the houses and their families (large cast of characters). The King of Vaega is believed to be choosing one of the God-blooded heirs to rule after him, resulting in a bit of a competitive feel from the house heirs. Also a bit similar, there is a zombie-ish threat looming behind the scenes of the court politics, where the heirs would be smarter to work together to save their world instead of competing for a throne.

• Unfortunately, the story is so DENSE it makes it difficult to enjoy the ride. It is also a little confusing, just with the amount of world building and characters involved. Also things like there being two DIFFERENT places but one is called Nexus and the other is Noctum. That was brutal for my brain. The last 25/50% of the book was SUPER fun. It got bloody, you saw old romances die, and new ones get some groundwork laid out, and you learned more about what the gods have been scheming about for 500 years. I think this book would have been more successful if it had cut out a LOT of the beginning chapters and started to focus in on Godsnight way sooner because my GOODNESS did this story have potential. Or even cut some of the events out for the second book. I think if we were given the opportunity to grow attached to a smaller, core group of characters and focus on a smaller disaster, it would have been a much more enjoyable experience. Also, maybe made the different POVs a little more organized - like giving each character their own chapter instead of jumping from person to person at random.

• I borrowed the audio book for this but also have a physical copy, so I was switching between the two. I think the audio book helped make the first half of the book easier to stomach, but TBH I still don’t feel super clear on the ending. I do suspect that it’s something that we are meant to get more information about in book 2, but it doesn’t make for a very satisfying ending.

• I’m hoping that now that everything is established in terms of world building, the second and third books will be more fun-fantasy-adventure vibes the whole way through.

• Picking a favorite character was also brutal. Risha was my favorite in the first half of the book, but later on, the more unhinged behavior we got from Taesia, the more she turned into my favorite character.

Things I liked:
• I liked getting to know the main cast of characters. Taesia was so funny and genuinely fun to read about, even when she could be a little “too much” at times, but honestly I feel like that makes her a better character - no one likes a character with 0 flaws.
• I appreciate that while Tara Sim named one of her characters Angelica, she also gave them an attitude/personality to match.


Things I didn’t like:
• TOO LONG. I felt like the first half is really infodump-y and not necessarily in a good way. There was information that I felt like I missed or didn’t receive at all (explanation of what dons/donas are and what they do, or even what color Angelica’s hair is?? I tried to figure it out and I must have skipped over it but I couldn’t find it) and then there’s information that gets dumped more than once that doesn’t really seem very important to the big picture.

All in all, this was dense but full of promise so I am excited to get into the second book.… (more)

plot: ★★★★★
yes. just yes. I am not sure that I will ever understand why Tara Sim DRAGGED the Godsnight plot in The City Of Dusk when she had ALL OF THIS -gestures broadly at The Midnight Kingdom- in the rafters. this story was one million times more enjoyable and engaging than the previous book. the plot was clear this time around—with most of the heirs trapped in different realms, and those still in Vitae trying to rescue them, while also dealing with the mess that Godsnight left behind. there are 6 different POVs to cycle through (Taesia, Julian, Nik, Risha, Angelica, and occasionally, Rian) and when there are many POVs, I am prone to STRONGLY disliking at least one of them, which sets me up to be completely unmotivated when their chapters arrive. I was surprisingly happy to read about all of the characters, which helped me keep my steady pace. I will say though, Nik was my least favorite POV.
writing: ★★★☆☆
this was better than The City of Dusk, in that I held on to that familiarity so it made the story of The Midnight Kingdom easier to digest. but it still got a little heavy from time to time. I personally will never forgive Tara Sim for having Noctus/Noctans, Nox, Nyx, Nexus, Vaega, Vitae, Astrum, Astralum, Lunari, Lumin, all used in this story and all meaning various things. It makes me think of the Coco Chanel quote— “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off”— but in this case it should be “remove one high fantasy element”. Between the EXPANSIVE multi-realm world, we also have specific houses within one city, then several countries within the main realm, and several fantasy languages, many fantasy creatures, ANDDDDDD a wide variety of races, both fantasy and real world races, it is just so hard to follow at times.
prose: ★★★☆☆
this wasn’t really a prose-y book, as it leaned more towards the action/adventure elements of the plot and less the poetic types of moments. however, we did get a lot of really sweet moments between all of the couples involved, and I was definitely giggling and kicking my feet at some of them.
pacing: ★★★★★
this was so much better than The City of Dusk—how many times will I say that? The Midnight Kingdom begins immediately where The City of Dusk ended, and it is literally non-stop from there. I am so thankful for it, because if it had the same pace as The City of Dusk, I’m not sure I would have been able to force myself to complete the trilogy.
humor: ★★★★☆
Taesia saves the day for humor once again. she always seems to make me laugh outloud. besides Taesia, we also got amazing comic relief from Cosima and Val/Valentin (talking disembodied heads are inherently funny without trying, but when you give it a snarky attitude on top of it... -chefs kiss-).
characters: ★★★★★
I love them. another reason that I am so thankful for the pacing being so much stronger this time, is it actually helped me enjoy the characters more. for example, I hated Angelica’s POV in The City of Dusk, but now I was actually having a lot of fun with her chapters, and seeing her character growth allowing her to come out of her shell and be more of a real person instead of just ice bitch was a lot of fun. Risha and Jas and Taesia and Julian are 100% what keeps me reading though. just let them be happy, please. (but Cosima has always been amazing, and now that Angelica is less awful, I am really enjoying the Cosima/Angelica scenes as well).
spice:… (more)

A story that keeps you hanging till the end! I could not wait to see the outcome for Danny and his clock. The legend of the creation of time is also very nicely created. I do believe this is a story that well deserves at least 4 stars – in my humble opinion. The narration was great as well. I could feel Danny ’s hesitations, his fears, his guilt throughout Gary Furlong’s voice.

The story is quite captivating, as it combines bits of history, with legends and an unconventional love. While Danny is doing his best to fill in for his father and carry the guilt of his captivity in a city beyond time, he falls for the subject of his work – the clock tower spirit. There are twists and turns, there are decisions that need to be taken, there are emotional struggles. So from plot perspective, I believe it has all that can be requested. Though I must admit I would have wanted a more spectacular ending.

Danny and Colton develop a relationship beyond friendship. However, I had the impression that maybe he takes advantage of Colton’s naivety, taking into account he has not had many visitors and does not know much about love. While one learns how to take advantage of his skills as a mechanic, the other learns about the world, life, love.

Not only our main characters are well developed, but as well the other figures present in the book. All have complex issues and daemons to face, but in the same time, all act to the best of their abilities. Here we can clearly see the weaker side of humanity, but as well the strengths.

The bits and pieces of legend, about time creation and gods have captured me as well. They have flaws and demons of their own, which brings them closer to humanity.

As I was mentioning, the narration was great! I loved the calm voice, the accent, the way Gary Furlong expressed even the exasperation that the characters feel at times. I cannot imagine a better voice for Danny, really! With a clear pronunciation, this audiobook can be listen to very easily. And did I mention the English accent?

All in all, I did enjoy it very much and I cannot wait for the next book in the series! Hopefully, also narrated by the same person!
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