The Monster of Elendhaven
- Downloads：5517
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-10 13:57:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jennifer Giesbrecht
- ISBN：125022568X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
The city of Elendhaven sulks on the edge of the ocean。 Wracked by plague， abandoned by the South， stripped of industry and left to die。 But not everything dies so easily。 A thing without a name stalks the city， a thing shaped like a man， with a dark heart and long pale fingers yearning to wrap around throats。 A monster who cannot die。 His frail master sends him out on errands， twisting him with magic， crafting a plan too cruel to name， while the monster’s heart grows fonder and colder and more cunning。
These monsters of Elendhaven will have their revenge on everyone who wronged the city， even if they have to burn the world to do it。
These monsters of Elendhaven will have their revenge on everyone who wronged the city， even if they have to burn the world to do it。
Reviews
Linh
，
A beautifully written gothic horror story featuring an MM couple！！ I love this book so much。 Haunting， sinister， and chilling to the bone。 I borrowed it via my library but may have to purchase a physical copy， since that cover looks gorgeous。
Carrie
，
AudiobookThis was a strange little book。 It is like a sordid and graphic fairy tale of woe。 If you are squeamish， this is not the book for you because there are pretty graphic descriptions of the plague and murder。 But if you like weird books with morally atrocious characters who have strangely mystical origins， go for it。
Dana
，
Between a 3 & 4 star？ My personal （bad） description of "Monster of Elendhaven": 50 shades of grey if it was a mildly dystopian fantasy novella about two gay villains**Disclaimer: review written by someone who has never read or watched 50 shades of grey and tends to skip most sex scenesDisjointed thoughts:Did NOT expect this to be a queer story 👀I normally prefer my fictional violence to come from women rather than men but I mean， if it's still morbidly satisfying， I'll take it。Florian and Johann Between a 3 & 4 star？ My personal （bad） description of "Monster of Elendhaven": 50 shades of grey if it was a mildly dystopian fantasy novella about two gay villains**Disclaimer: review written by someone who has never read or watched 50 shades of grey and tends to skip most sex scenesDisjointed thoughts:Did NOT expect this to be a queer story 👀I normally prefer my fictional violence to come from women rather than men but I mean， if it's still morbidly satisfying， I'll take it。Florian and Johann literally act like they're part of their own private sex cult。 The masochism > arousal cycle thing they got going on is 🤭 The ending was FUCKED。 I mean with this kind of book I wouldn't expect a happily ever after and I wasn't so invested in the characters that I felt any way crushed （probably because it was so short） but still。。。A quote I liked:"Unwise to dream of death in a world where someone has the power to make those dreams come true。" （chapter 9） 。。。more
Yaredi Pizano
，
Una novela muy interesante， me gustaron todos sus personajes porque son oscuros， desde el principio empieza fuerte; ojalá hubiera sido más larga。
Chloe
，
This was a truly horrible， gruesome， obscene and nasty book with some gorgeous writing。 4。5？ Maybe？
Tyler
，
An interesting tale about arcane forces and the hidden figures that go bump in the long nights of winter。 A very well written novelette that I would recommend to anyone！
Babs Hartsock
，
This was a nice read， pretty dark thematically， and written well。 I'd recommend it for sure; though I wish it was longer。 This was a nice read， pretty dark thematically， and written well。 I'd recommend it for sure; though I wish it was longer。 。。。more
Scarletta
，
159ish pages。 This is why this gets a 2 star-her world seems so interesting， yet she never flushes it out， or flushes out the characters。 She had plenty of room to do so-she could have easily done that， still been under 300 pages， and it would have been way better。 The plot was bare bones， the whole book was。 Write a full novel with this world。 A fantasy novel with this kind of setting needs more than 159 pages for it to work。
Candice Jones
，
A dark gem of a story。 Knife sharp imagery， dark plots and sickening characters that will linger like shadows long after you read it。
Ana
，
3 stars *may changeI kept reading this on-and-off while at school and。。。it was definitely something！ I'm not a horror person but i do like sick and twisted characters。 3 stars *may changeI kept reading this on-and-off while at school and。。。it was definitely something！ I'm not a horror person but i do like sick and twisted characters。 。。。more
Lute
，
In the end， this book just wasn't for me。 Like other readers， I thought it had a promising beginning。 The first couple chapters manage to hit a really nice balance of gritty nastiness and the sort of elevated， dreamy prose I associate with fantasy。 I had a hard time telling the businessmen/nobles apart， and honestly， I just。。。 really， really didn't care for either of the main characters。 I liked Johann considerably more than Florian， but even he was a hard sell。I usually like thorny relationship In the end， this book just wasn't for me。 Like other readers， I thought it had a promising beginning。 The first couple chapters manage to hit a really nice balance of gritty nastiness and the sort of elevated， dreamy prose I associate with fantasy。 I had a hard time telling the businessmen/nobles apart， and honestly， I just。。。 really， really didn't care for either of the main characters。 I liked Johann considerably more than Florian， but even he was a hard sell。I usually like thorny relationships and dark， fucked up narratives。 This was certainly that！ It just didn't hit the right beats for me personally。 I'm also not terribly sure I actually understood the end， which is a rare feeling。 。。。more
Isaiah
，
just not my style to be honest， especially not the audiobook。 might give it another try if i can find the ebook somewhere。
Becky Boudreau
，
Rating: 3。5This book has been on my TBR for a couple of years now。 Overall， I thought it was an interesting story with some interesting characters， however， I felt like I wanted a bit more， especially from the atmosphere。
Nazlı
，
talented， brilliant， incredible， amazing， show stopping， spectacular， never the same， totally unique， completely not ever been done before。。。This book has my favorite type of characters， morally questionable ones （tbh they may be a little bit close to the evil side）。 If characters are more important to you than the plot you will enjoy this book。 Although i don't think plot was that bad it was definitely confusing at some points。 I also loved the writing i hope author publishes more work。 talented， brilliant， incredible， amazing， show stopping， spectacular， never the same， totally unique， completely not ever been done before。。。This book has my favorite type of characters， morally questionable ones （tbh they may be a little bit close to the evil side）。 If characters are more important to you than the plot you will enjoy this book。 Although i don't think plot was that bad it was definitely confusing at some points。 I also loved the writing i hope author publishes more work。 。。。more
Sonja
，
This is one odd horror story。 When I first started the book it really held a lot of promise， but I was left looking for a deeper meaning towards the end。 Perhaps there isn't one， beyond the beginning of an apocalypse in the body of a man （or monster）。 Still， I hadn't connected with the characters or immersed myself in the story enough for that familiar spine-tingling sensation to occur。 This is one odd horror story。 When I first started the book it really held a lot of promise， but I was left looking for a deeper meaning towards the end。 Perhaps there isn't one， beyond the beginning of an apocalypse in the body of a man （or monster）。 Still， I hadn't connected with the characters or immersed myself in the story enough for that familiar spine-tingling sensation to occur。 。。。more
Misha
，
It’s been a while since a story had me hooked from the literal first sentence。 This specific combination of eerie， violent atmosphere + unexpectedly charming characters is my favorite。 It reminds me of Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame and McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men。 The ridiculously nonchalant approach to extreme gore and body horror here was perfection。 I love when a book is campy-dark， it’s so much fun。 Giesbrecht’s writing was so lush and atmospheric and poetic， I could practically feel the It’s been a while since a story had me hooked from the literal first sentence。 This specific combination of eerie， violent atmosphere + unexpectedly charming characters is my favorite。 It reminds me of Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame and McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men。 The ridiculously nonchalant approach to extreme gore and body horror here was perfection。 I love when a book is campy-dark， it’s so much fun。 Giesbrecht’s writing was so lush and atmospheric and poetic， I could practically feel the world of Elendhaven seeping out of the pages。 Johann and Florian were such distinct and complex characters and I love that it was never quite clear what we were doing or who we were supposed to be rooting for。 I love the bizarre and fleeting sexual tension between the two- I love that their romantic encounters were subtle and unobtrusive。 Every aspect of this book read as intentional and refined to me。I don’t disagree with the reviews that claim that the story didn’t progress much and left them unsatisfied and wanting more- I feel the same way， it just didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story。 I like that there wasn’t some big， climactic resolution or even a clear outline of where we were headed。 It felt like being dropped into someone else’s fever dream for a few hours and then being yanked out。 What a special debut novel。 。。。more
Kalyna Terelya
，
Didn't even finish it。 Didn't even finish it。 。。。more
Elizabeth King
，
The Monster of Elendhaven is a very unique little novella。 It’s a horror story， but it’s told entirely from the viewpoint of the monster， delving into his psyche and his motivations and experiences。 A spooky little tale about a dour little town where monsters prowl the streets and sinister sorcerers plot the demise of the inhabitants， this is a beautifully written and extremely provocative piece that explores where obsession meets love， where violence meets revenge and where life meets death。
Marla
，
3。5 Stars
Elizabeth Ruiz
，
I opened this book and simply did not put it down until I was finished。 Despite the complete satisfaction I had in reading it， I wanted more。 Giesbrecht used every word to their fullest potential and the prose in this novel is poetic without being pretentious。 There's not a wasted word in the whole book， and the quick pacing sucked me in and put me right in the middle of dreary， horrible Elendhaven。God， the characters in this book are so fucked up and compelling。 Johann and Florian are two halve I opened this book and simply did not put it down until I was finished。 Despite the complete satisfaction I had in reading it， I wanted more。 Giesbrecht used every word to their fullest potential and the prose in this novel is poetic without being pretentious。 There's not a wasted word in the whole book， and the quick pacing sucked me in and put me right in the middle of dreary， horrible Elendhaven。God， the characters in this book are so fucked up and compelling。 Johann and Florian are two halves of the same darkened coin- their motivations and desires are laid bare to each other and the reader。 Driven by boredom， revenge， and monsterhood， these two characters navigate their strange relationship while simultaneously plotting to destroy their cursed little world。 Honest to god， I can't wait to read this again。 。。。more
India McLeod Kay
，
I so wanted to love this book。 It promised me things I love， particularly a sinister， gothic atmosphere， but I just did not feel it delivered。 There were some examples of absolutely beautiful writing with gothic imagery but I didn't feel the book kept a good consistent atmosphere throughout。 I enjoyed the ideas of what it means to be a "monster" and discussion of revenge but， again， there were just glimmers of this， not a fully-fledged idea。 The plot itself was also lacking in my opinion， with n I so wanted to love this book。 It promised me things I love， particularly a sinister， gothic atmosphere， but I just did not feel it delivered。 There were some examples of absolutely beautiful writing with gothic imagery but I didn't feel the book kept a good consistent atmosphere throughout。 I enjoyed the ideas of what it means to be a "monster" and discussion of revenge but， again， there were just glimmers of this， not a fully-fledged idea。 The plot itself was also lacking in my opinion， with nothing really happening throughout the novella （which would have been fine if the ideas and atmosphere within were developed well）。My main takeaway from this book was that it had great potential but the execution just wasn't there for me。 。。。more
Kayla
，
Definitely dark。 A tad twisted。 But I enjoyed every bit of it。 I wish it was longer。
Kat Ellis
，
Monstrously brilliant！
Edwin Vázquez
，
This book had everything to be great but it disappointed me。 Very short， the plot seemed very rickety and unexplored at the end。 It would've benefitted from a hundred more pages or so。 This book had everything to be great but it disappointed me。 Very short， the plot seemed very rickety and unexplored at the end。 It would've benefitted from a hundred more pages or so。 。。。more
Mel Usack
，
3。5
Lisa
，
4。5I loved almost everything about this book except the length。 It would have been perfect if only you were allowed to know the characters just a little bit more。 Still， I highly recommend this one。
Brody
，
To say I loved this book would be an understatement， the writing for this book was amazing。 The only thing I wish was for the book to be a bit longer， just to explore more of the characters and their choices better， and maybe give us more background on information。 There are scenes that go by so fast you kind of have to read it over again to catch what was depicted。 Overall I thought this novella was great in helping with my reading slump。
Francielli
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Jack the Ripper but gayO incesto arruinou a história pq não me surpreendi e nem serviu pra nada？？？？Única coisa que salvou foi a mitologia
Sharon
，
CW: Uhhh。。。 You know what， don't read this book if you're squeamish。 Lots of gore， lots of corpses， etc。Actual rating: 3。5 starsI read this for my March 2021 challenge of only reading books by women writers for Women's History month！ You can read more about my experience here！What a weird time。 I'm excited for Giesbrecht to publish another novel or novella。 CW: Uhhh。。。 You know what， don't read this book if you're squeamish。 Lots of gore， lots of corpses， etc。Actual rating: 3。5 starsI read this for my March 2021 challenge of only reading books by women writers for Women's History month！ You can read more about my experience here！What a weird time。 I'm excited for Giesbrecht to publish another novel or novella。 。。。more
Laïs
，