Hey bookworms, thanks for popping by my stop on the We Shall Be Monsters Tour!
Thank you to Colored Pages Book Tours, Penguin Teen, & Tara Sim for the gifted review copy
About We Shall Be Monsters
Author: Tara Sim
Genre(s): Fantasy, Horror
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books, imprint of Penguin Random House
Format Read: Physical Review Copy
Pub Date: June 25, 2024 – OUT NOW!
Series: We Shall Be Monsters, Book #1
Cover Artist: Amrit Brar
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Kajal and her sister, Laysa are inseparable. When Kajal’s overconfidence accidentally causes Laysa’s death, she vows to resurrect her sister no matter the cost. The catch? Laysa has turned into a bhuta—a violent spirit out for blood and revenge. As the villagers condemn Kajal for witchcraft and lock her in jail, she’s running out of time. When a couple of rebels offer to free her for a favour, Kajal doesn’t think twice before accepting. The favour? To resurrect the kingdom’s crown prince. Easier said than done: Kajal mistakenly resurrects the wrong boy and she must work together with him to hide his identity, resurrect the RIGHT guy this time, and do it all before Laysa’s escalating rampage kills Kajal.
My Review
I was so pleasantly surprised by this book! It’s billed as Frankenstein mixed with Indian Mythology and I think that’s an apt description—I’ve been craving more stories about necromancers. We Shall Be Monsters delivers that with layers of mythology that was a pleasure to dive into. I had not read any Indian mythology-inspired books but now I need to find more! The author takes elements of Hindu and Buddhist mythologies and blends them with deities of her own invention into a richly atmospheric world that sucks you in. Bhutas, Rakshasas, Nagas, Dakinis (Witches), and the cycle of reincarnation all have roles to play in the plot which was engaging and well-paced.
The story is mostly quest-based so it feels like an adventure (or misadventure 😆). However, there are just enough slow moments to allow readers to get to know the characters and feel empathy for them, especially in their darkest moments. I love it when an author makes me root for characters who are flawed or morally grey. Side note, I feel like the term “morally grey” is overused but I think it fits this situation. The way the author explored the theme of good vs evil is what kept me turning the pages. Well, that and the reveals 😉.
While the author foreshadowed certain things quite well, I didn’t see other twists coming at all because I was focused elsewhere! There were enough questions, mysteries, and things I wondered about the world-building (which later got explained) that I thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience. I enjoy theorizing and stopping to recap to myself and this book allowed for that! Not gonna lie, my favourite part was the last 60 pages or so, where we get to spend time…somewhere else. I don’t want to talk specifics to avoid spoilers but suffice it to say that I’ll be keeping my eyes open for book 2 so I can hopefully spend more time in that realm 😈!
Read If You Like…
- Indian Mythology
- Necromancy!
- An Undead Dog Who is the Goodest Boy 🐕
- The Stirrings of a Slow-burn Romance
- Nuanced Explorations of Good and Evil
- Twisty Fantasy/Horror
- Sisterly Love
Purchase Links
⟡ Blackwell’s │Barnes & Noble │Bookshop.org ⟡
About Tara Sim
Tara Sim is the author of The Dark Gods trilogy, the Scavenge the Stars duology, and the Timekeeper trilogy. She can typically be found wandering the wilds of the Bay Area, California. When she’s not chasing cats or lurking in bookstores, she writes books about magic, murder, and mayhem.
Author Socials
Let’s chat in the comments!
Have I convinced you to check this one out? Or, have you read any other books about Indian mythology?
I encourage you to check out the other wonderful bloggers on the tour schedule. #WeShallBeMonstersTour
Indian Mythology and Necromancy, seems like a unique mix. Need to go to my tbr
Yes I thought the mix of themes and vibes was unique but worked well! I hope you enjoy it 😀
I’ve been so curious about this book, and I would probably love it too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts😁
Thanks for checking out my review 🙂 I hope you do enjoy if you pick it up!
Oh wow, this sounds right up my alley! Love adventure-type reads, but even more than that, I love books that make you really get to know the characters. 🙂 I’m so glad this was an enjoyable read for you, Veronica!
Ah that’s great Aimee, I hope you enjoy it if you ever pick it up, I love books where you feel you know the characters well too! Thank you 😀
I’ve been seeing good things about this one!! Great review!
Thank you so much Leslie! 🙂 I have seen other reviewers like this one too so I’m hoping it’ll get a good amount of attention!
I was going to wait to read your review for this until I’d had a chance to read the book but caved and checked it out 😂 I can always discuss it in more detail with you on Instagram after I’ve read it anyway. This does sound fantastic and I’m so happy that you managed to get an early print copy, I just assumed you had a digital arc.
I’ve got to admit that what drew me most towards this book original was the inclusion of the Indian Mythology as like you I don’t think I’ve read any books inspired by it before. And I never can resist a book inspires by mythology of different cultures & places. I love that it contains a mix of deities that the authors created too though.
I love the sound of the characters too and adore a slow burn romance. I’m very intrigued by the end section now too. I hope the second book ends up being just as good for you.
Have you read anything else by the author before?
Ahaha oh my gosh well I hope you’re able to read this soon and I tend to try to keep my reviews as Spoiler Free as I can! Yes absolutely if you ever want to chat books with me on there I’m more than happy to 🙂 It’s literally my first physical review copy so I’m so grateful and excited!
Yeah that’s the same exact thing that drew me to this book. The author is half Indian so I feel like she knows the culture and mythologies well enough to create mythological that feel like they make sense within what already exists, it blends it together so well!
I love a slow burn romance too! & Thank you I hope the second book is great too! No this is my first book by the author but one of their other series is on my tbr too
Yes I did notice that with the ones I’ve read. You cover enough to make readers excited but stay away from anything that can spoil the plot. It’s the perfect balance. Thank you 🥰 and that’s wonderful. It’s definitely a lovely feeling receiving one. Hopefully more will follow 🤞
I always love it when books promise different kinds of mythology. And it’s wonderful that the two blend together so well. Definitely a tricky thing to do.
Ooh which of their other series? I’ve read, and really enjoyed, the first book in the Dark Gods trilogy but still need to get to the sequels.
Thanks, Charlotte! I actually really appreciate you saying that because I do try hard to strike a balance (there are times I just want to gush into specifics 😂). Here’s hoping anyways, though I appreciate the e-ARCs a lot as well because I have limited space in which to keep books hhehe
And cool, Dark Gods is precisely the other book of this author that’s on my TBR! How did you feel about that first book?
I honestly understand that as I tend to feel exactly the same way. Resisting the urge to gush about certain spoilery elements can be so hard at times. That’s very true. And it’s still a lovely, and easily portable, way to gets arcs too. Plus publishers can’t give everything away in print.
I loved it 😍 it’s characters were so dark at times that there were moments when I thought did they really just do that? It can feel a bit confusing at first with the mentions of various places and the people descended from them but it’s definitely worth that initial feeling of being a bit lost. I hope you enjoy it whenever you get to the series.
It wouldn’t let me comment on your older posts so I’ve shared a few thoughts here:
I love what I’ve read by Alix Harrow so far. Doors Of January instantly enthralled me and Once & Future Witches ended up being a surprise favourite for me the year that it came out. That first line of Six Deaths Of The Saint immediately leaves you wanting to know more. I love short story collections but haven’t really picked any singular ones up unless they’re connected to a series I love. I really need to try to get to some more of them and novellas though. And I’m glad you enjoyed the Harrow one so much.
I’ve never read Cogman’s Library series but it’s on my TBR. I thoroughly enjoyed Scarlet though. It was different than I’d expected and one of the surprise elements ended up being a favourite for me. The series sounds fantastic though and the fact that you described it as perfection is so intriguing. I hope you get a chance to read the rest of the books soon.
Aww Cheeto is adorable 😍 looks like he loves being out on adventures too.
I’ve got the mythology books that you mentioned in your TTT Flowery Covers post as well (and still need to read Kaikeyi by one of the authors too despite being instantly intrigued by the premise).
Ooh I’ve added Deaths Obsession to my TBR. Have you read Belladonna? That’s another with death as a character which I enjoyed. It was more fun than I expected but really good. Hopefully I’ll get the sequel read before the third book releases.
I remember adding Snowblooded to my TBR as well. I love that you included books from a variety of genres to your list though. And gave a reason as to why you wanted to read them.
OH yeah that’s something I have to figure out. I think my posts allow messages for up to a certain time and then they close, I don’t know why or how to make it so the commenting doesn’t close but I need to look into it. 🤔
Yes I’m glad you loved Doors of January too, I’m dying to read more by that author! both things I’ve read so far have been resounding successes for me too 😀 !
I actually am the opposite and don’t love short story collections but prefer standalone ones or ones connected to worlds I already know. The collections just kind of leave me stretched in too many directions if that makes any sense lol
Oh my gosh you’ve read Scarlet, nice! and I’m so glad you enjoyed it and that it surprised you. I really want to read that one given how much I love her Invisible Library series.
Thank you haha he does love being part of adventures but sometimes he just prefers to be inside the backpack when he gets tired so it’s perfect! lol
Oh neat!! I’m glad the mythology books I mentioned on there intrigued you and I still have not read anything by Kaikeyi’s author yet either! I have not read Belladonna but sounds like one I’d like. Death as a Character is just a concept I enjoy so much thanks for the recommendation, I didn’t realize Belladonna had that too! & I hope you like the sequels too!
Thank you I’m glad you like that I put different genres in my list. It’s honestly mostly to encourage myself to reach outside of my fantasy bubble! I know there are lots of genres I do and would enjoy but my choices tend to veer towards fantasy haha 🙂
Ah right, I thought I’d mention it in case you didn’t know. But wasn’t sure if I should share my thoughts in case it was intentional. I hope you manage to figure it out sometime.
She has such a wonderful way with words 😍 I’m glad you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read by her too. I’ve ordered Starling House into my library so hopefully it’ll turn up soon and I can read that. Then I’ll just have the shorter few to get to. I hope you get to read more of her books soon too.
I can understand that and know that lots of readers feel the same way. I guess the variety with authors can be jarring. Thankfully I’ve adored most of the ones I’ve read so I’m always on the lookout for more. Although I was majorly let down by one vampire one -_-
I guess I’m better at getting to newer than older books 😂 I’ll definitely have to check out the library series sometime too. And I hope you enjoy Scarlet whenever you read it.
Aww that’s so sweet. The tired part kind of reminds me of my sisters dog, sometimes he wears himself out then wants to be carried 😂 mine loves going different places too. She’s not into things like highstreets with crowded people but she loves castles. It makes me laugh because she actually looks out the windows 😂
I meant on my tbr not owned and realised I’d miss that part off after sending it. Hopefully we’ll both get to check them out soon then. Thank you 🥰 the His Fair Assassins series has Death as a character too although I was kind of underwhelmed by that one. Book one was good but not great, book two I really enjoyed and the third I struggled with. Others have enjoyed it though so I thought it was worth a mention. And I’m pretty sure The Book Thief is told by death although I still need to read that one.
It’s the same for me. And as much as I want to get to other genres I have so many unread high priority fantasy books on my TBR that I rarely seem to get to them 😂
No, I appreciate you bringing that up because it’s something that I’ve noticed and has been bugging me but I’m still new enough to WordPress that I don’t know how a lot of stuff works! lol
Nice, hopefully you enjoy Starling House! Sounds like you’ve made good progress in this author’s backlist 🙂
Yeah jarring is a good way to describe it, that’s not to say there aren’t exceptions but that’s just my experience anyways but I suppose I’ll have to keep an open mind on that. Sorry to hear about the vampire one that let you down 🙁
Lol the shiny books are very attractive, I understand that urge to read the newer ones first! I’m always trying to balance getting to backlist books and grabbing the shinies right away 😛
Yes he’s a cutie and knows how to use it to his advantage, I’m happy to pick him up whenever he’s tired and he knows it 😂 Aw your sister’s dog sounds cute and yours too! She likes castles? That’s so cute and lmao maybe she has the soul of a medieval princess or something!!!
Ah okay that’s ok, I figured you meant tbr 🙂 Oh that’s disappointing I have His Fair Assassins on my tbr but maybe I’ll give it a chance anyways. Yes, I had heard that about the Book Thief, I haven’t read it either.
Yeah it’s tough isn’t it!?
I’ve had an account for ages and I doubt that I understand half of it still too 😂 it does come up with answers if you Google WordPress comments turned off but I don’t know how helpful they are. I tried looking quickly but where I’m on mobile atm I’m not sure if things are harder to find.
Thank you. I read two of her books the same year so there hasn’t been too much catch up to do.
Not every style works for everyone so I do understand. And to be fair to that Vampire one it had a few good stories. But the rest were such a struggle that I felt let down. Which then made me feel bad over the rating when it came to the few stories that were great. Although obviously I mentioned that they were good ones.
Who can resist shiny new books? 😂 I think its also because you can follow the series as it releases and don’t have a lot of catch up to do. It’s definitely hard to get the hang of but I’m glad I’m not alone. Hopefully we’ll both manage to read a mixture of both.
Aww that’s so sweet. He certainly looked happy enough in that backpack. Thank you. Ooh that would be awesome 😂 I think she saw us looking a lot and got curious though 😂😂
Hopefully it’ll work better for you then. I did enjoy the first one, just not as much as I expected. And as I said I really liked the second. Plus I know the series has a lot of fans and I remember seeing some reviews about the third being people’s favourites. So I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you enjoy it 🤞
It is. It’s better than struggling to find options though.
Hi Charlotte, I did manage to fix it now which I’m so glad only now I know I will get more spam. Will take steps to deal with that but anyways thanks for your help and for trying to look it up, I really appreciate it.
Yes for sure, not every style works for everyone but also I find rating short story collections hard so I totally get it.
Absolutely, here’s to reading a mix of old and new!
Ahhah that’s too funny, like “what’s so interesting about that building humans?”
Yeah you never know maybe I’ll like it more, well if I ever get to it I’ll have to let you know either way!
Hi, I’m glad you managed to fix it. Hopefully you don’t get too many issues with spam now. Generally WordPress seems to catch any that are for me. Although I do have to make sure I check the folder sometimes as occasionally it wrongly labels a genuine comment as spam.
It can be tricky. I still generally love the format though.
I suppose that must have been it 😂 she tends to look every time now though.
Thank you. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you get on better than I did.