- Title:
- Green Monsters: A dark and twisted thriller
- Author:
- Nicky Shearsby
- Release:
- September 6, 2022
- Format:
- Paperback
Green Monsters is the gift that keeps on giving. Stacey is unhinged and psychotic. She hates her sister with a passion, has an unhealthy obsession with her brother-in-law, and will stop at nothing to get him. Her self-obsessed ranting is some of the most hilarious shit I’ve ever read. She oscillates between being self-aware and bat shit crazy and it makes for an amusing roller coaster of a ride.
Every time I asked “Where can it go from here?”, the answer was always “Sideways, apparently”. Stacey eventually hooks up with her brother-in-law. ( Not a spoiler, it’s on the cover. I’ll fight you on that.) I thought, damn, that was fast, what now? She starts pestering him to break things off with her sister and I go…. is he going to kill her? Is She? Is her sister going to find out and kill herself? Is the family going to find out? I never knew where it was going, every time it took a path, I was eagerly awaiting the next fork in the road, knowing tension would arise and things would get pulse-pounding.
There’s never a dull moment, every scene is always building up to something or referenced later. The entire story is told in a diary or a spoken confession format. For example, there are times when the sex scenes are steamy and detailed and other times they’re just glossed over as Stacey apparently didn’t feel like providing details at that moment. I kept this in mind as I was reading and the narration was varied in its telling. It benefits the story in that it feels as if Stacey is telling the details of her story, so she’s not wasting time on anything that doesn’t belong
If you’re not familiar with U.K. terminology for words, it might be confusing in some instances. I knew what the characters were referring to when they said “nappie”, “bin”, etc. But I was lost at one point when a character needed a “plastie” or something like that. I had no idea it referred to a bandage. Prior to that, the only time I’d given the terms used a second thought was when Stacey referred to “rewinding time”. I hate that shit with a passion. Tape-based media hasn’t been the format for decades and I wish that shit would die already. Tape-based media aside, why the hell would time be stored on a tape to be rewound? It doesn’t make any logical sense.
I’ve been casually reading it for the last week and a half while at work. I’ve been giggling like a schoolgirl, laughing at scenes from this book, at Stacey’s unbelievable ranting. She takes being a narcissist to a new level. I really can’t recommend this story enough. For the last 2 days, I’ve been dying to know how it ends and ended up reading half the book in 2 sittings. Green Monsters is one of my flavorite reads of 2022. I went into this book excited to read it and it did not disappoint one bit.
Note: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a physical review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.