We Shall Be Monsters
A modern-day fairy tale that takes you back to the whimsical dreams of your childhood. For fans of "Alice" and "The Ocean at the End of the Lane."
Do you remember being a kid, when everything felt magical?
I know I do. I lived on a quiet, secluded property, surrounded by woods. And while I never actually discovered fairies lurking in the trees, I always hoped I would.
But with “We Shall Be Monsters,” the characters don’t need to hope. Because their dreams of a fantastical fairy world are real.
Everything about this book is whimsical, right from the very start. As soon as the book opens, it’s clear that these characters are destined for something greater. The language itself is powerful yet lyrical, and it feels as though you’re traveling to a space beyond the modern world, to a legend borne of the trees and the wind and the stream.
The basic premise of this book — a mother named Virginia and a daughter named Gemma, called to by the magical powers in the woods — is what drew me in. They know magic is real, that the woods are more than just a little patch of trees in their Michigan backyard. But at different points in their lives, they’re both forbidden from entering, because the strikingly magical world is not always what it seems. Danger, ever-present, lurks just beyond the trees. Do they listen? Of course not — or we wouldn’t have a plot!
From this simple premise comes a coming-of-age novel told from two perspectives that shows how magic can shape us into the people we’re meant to become. With great duty set upon us, we can transform into the hero — or the monster.
The latter third of this book spent a good deal of time reflecting on what it means to be a monster, and while I think it provided a good message, I’m not sure it was in line with the rest of the narrative. I think that humanizing the villains in this story doesn’t work because their motivations weren’t based on noble intent. They weren’t good characters who found themselves in a pickle and had to make a bad choice. They’re selfish, willing to do anything to reach their goals — which felt very black and white rather than the gray area the novel would have us believe.
Even so, I don’t think this takes anything away from the tale of self-discovery, of growing up and finding the true power you have inside yourself. This book shows the loving bond between mothers and daughters — stronger than even the most evil of magic — as well as the inseparable closeness between lovers torn apart. It has most of the things I love in a book — adventure, romance, horror, and of course, a hefty dose of fantasy.
On the whole, I give this book four stars. I took a star off because there was a period in the middle where both Gemma and Virginia were exploring the woods in different timelines that felt too similar — it was like they were having the same experiences, and it confused me for a while. This part dragged a bit until we finally started getting into the action, then it was a page-turner.
If you like stories about fantastical worlds like “Alice” or “The Ocean at the End of the Lane,” then I think you’ll like this too.
