The Children on the Hill

This was an interesting idea, a tribute to Frankenstein combined with a story about kids trying to solve a mystery at a mental institution where their beloved grandmother works as a doctor. It was unfortunately combined with a less compelling story about two of the kids as adults, one as a podcaster/monster hunter and the other as a “monster.”

I did like the bit with the kids at first; I love stories where young people have to be self-reliant and get themselves into and out of trouble. That part did feel like a YA novel though, and that's not how this is marketed.

A big problem is that most of the story is built on twists—entirely predictable twists—and melodrama. Dear lord, the melodrama. Showing people having temper tantrums and crying fits leaves the reader out of the emotional moment; it doesn't pull them into it.

There are way too many things packed into the book and none of them are done well. There's a missing persons mystery, evils of eugenics, feminist empowerment, romantic attraction (out of nowhere I might add), memory and identity issues, the entire who's-your-Monster theme, and so on. All of this in a loosely strung, gimmicky plot. I would have liked a little more storytelling, a little less concept.