The Monstrous Kind is a young adult fantasy novel about a seventeen-year-old girl trying to survive in an alternate England plagued by both monsters and the plotting of the elite class.

Merrick is enjoying the social “season” with family friends in New London when she’s called home because her father has died. Her older sister Essie is their father’s heir, and with his death, the title and power will be transferred to her. But only a series of sentries and lanterns hold back the mist that contains deadly phantoms, and the fail-safes around Merrick’s lands are failing. When Essie goes missing, Merrick teams up with the scarred and mysterious sentry Killian to try to find out who took Essie and why the phantoms keep slipping past their security.

The Monstrous Kind had a nice pace and enough mystery and action to keep me interested. I thought the monsters and dystopian aspect of the plot were intriguing, and although I did figure out some of the secrets before Merrick did, I still look forward to finding out more about this world if there is a sequel. I liked Merrick as a character but felt like she needed rescuing more and more as the book went on. She started off as a good shot and the bolder of the two sisters, but by the end, she seemed a little more like a “damsel in distress,” easily fooled and manipulated by others.

As for the writing, the author relied too heavily on similes and metaphors, with almost every page containing one or two. The opening two paragraphs contain four similes right off the bat, and the book has nearly nine hundred uses of the word “like” (yes, I did a word count), most of which were used as part of a simile. I hope if there is a sequel that the author relies on these less, as they bog down the book in unnecessary detail.

Overall, The Monstrous Kind is an enjoyable YA fantasy with some exciting action and a small romantic subplot.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.