Leave the Light On, Will You? - The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey



Just the facts:

Overall: 5 stars! (Which is pretty rare from me.)

Addiction Level: I read it every waking moment. (And then couldn’t sleep for being afraid of the dark.)

Believe-ability: I daydream about the created world and wonder how I fit in.

Favorite quote: “Yes, my dear child, monsters are real. I happen to have one hanging in my basement.”

Favorite sentence: "How long had he lain thus paralyzed, I wondered, unable to move neither head nor limb, forced to stare hour after hour, day after day, upon that blank canvas, and what terrible scenes of hell unleashed, unbounded by the dictates of our Victorian sensibilities, had his imagination painted there in the vibrant colors supplied by his merciless memory?"

~~~~~

     Although this is not a book I would typically choose for myself (it’s horror!), I am learning not to second-guess my brother’s choice in titles. Yes, I said MY BROTHER. (Shout out!) And, I am regularly coming to the conclusion that I should devour his suggestions with open hands and open eyes. Thus, this is the case for The Monstrumologist.

     The Monstrumologist is about a young orphaned boy, Will Henry, and his life as apprentice to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a monstrumologist. This particular book focuses on their quest to track down a commune of flesh eating monsters that should not be found in America. Is it as gross as it sounds? Yup. Is it as thrilling as it sounds? You bet.

     The Monstrumologist is written as a series of journals, penned by Will Henry, that Yancey has edited and published. Yancey writes as if he wishes to find Will’s family and that the journals are a work of fiction from a man that has no other significant ties to this life. But, the story does not need this. If Yancey chose to write just the journals as a work of fiction, it would have been perfect. Frankly, when I read The Monstrumologist I forget the present-day back-story entirely.

                                                          

     Yancey writes a very compelling book. The book can be disturbing (in the way a good book is) and frequently gave me the creeps, not to mention keeping me awake for a couple of nights. But as the story continued, I had to find out what exactly happens to Will Henry (whom I adore!) and Dr. Warthrop (whom I have mixed feelings about), and who the eccentric Dr. Kearns really is. Yancey’s use of vocabulary is astonishing and his sentence structure is like nothing I’ve ever laid eyes on.

*sigh* I think I’m in love. 

In the words of Dr. Warthrop, “Snap to!” and read this book!