Monstrous Beauty

This was an interesting book, original plot and characters.

First of all, the audiobook was an Oydssey honor, and I think I'm probably awarding an extra star here for that. The audio version is really great, with lots of cool accents and voices and stuff. I'd definitely recommend this on audio if you have access to it.

The story itself is... kiiiind of bonkers? It was great for a long drive because I was never bored. There were a lot of twists I didn't see coming (and some I did see coming).

Also I was a little annoyed by the modern-day protagonist's decision that since her family is cursed that the mothers always die after giving birth to their first child, she's not going to ever date because it will automatically end in babies and DEATH. (She briefly mentions that birth control isn't 100%, but like... really?? It's in the 2010s and we're still on dating = babies? I get that it's important to the narrative, but I was pretty annoyed by it.

Content warning for rape! Not recommended for younger teens. Or anyone who doesn't want to read about rape. If you want to read about mermaids AND ghosts AND curses AND witches AND murder, this is a book for you. If you are wondering how many things are all stuck into one book... well, me too, but it mostly worked.