BOOK REVIEW | ONLY MONSTERS REMAIN | WILLIAM DONAHUE

 

Jillian Futch relocates to the peculiar coastal town of Pell, Rhode Island, to pursue her work as a mortician's apprentice. Having spent most of her life as a misfit, she believes she has finally found a home where she can blend in among her fellow "freaks." Her peaceful existence turns to chaos when a horde of tentacled monsters descends from the clouds and destroys the civilized world. As the invaders retreat, Jillian emerges from the rubble intent on rebuilding her life. She helps her fellow survivors heal from unimaginable loss by hosting primitive funerals for loved ones killed in the months-long apocalypse. When a cadaver enters her embalming room bearing an impossible surprise, Jillian realizes the otherworldly horrors have only just begun.

Title: Only Mosters Remain

Author: William Donaghue

Publisher: Journal Stone

Pages : 251 pages,

Published August 25, 2023

Only Monsters Remain is a touching tale of a girl and her Cephalopod. Oh, and cosmic horrors that destroy the world.

In Only Monsters Remain, the world as we know it gets destroyed by giant octopi from space. In the midst of this, Jillian is a mortician who shows compassion to the families of those that have died in the ensuing mayhem that is life on earth. That is until the real monsters make themselves known, nick her generator, enslave her, attempt to eat her and finally rain holy hell on the town that she lives in. And when she makes a friend of one of the invading aliens, things go from shit to worse.

I have to say that Only Monsters Remain was one of the barmiest books that I have read in a long time. In between talking octopuses, cannibal priests and delusional leaders, there’s an army of sasquatches roaming the countryside. I mean, go figure… it happens everyday where I live.

I am going to be honest with you, I have no idea about how to talk about this book, it’s just crackers. It goes to places I didn’t expect and don’t expect that I will ever read again.

Was it good? Yeah, on the whole it was. There were points where I thought this is getting too much now, which usually occurred when the human antagonists entered the fray. However, as soon as I thought that this has gone into the land of yawnsville, up pops some itinerant wackiness that shook me out of my reverie.

Sometimes, when I go into a book blind, I can usually get a feel for a book and know how its going to turn out. However, with this one, I had no clue. There was always something to send my head in the direction I was not expecting.

To be quite frank, when writing reviews for books, I often think about who I would recommend it to, but with Only Monsters Remain, I have no clue. If you like books that have gone a bit way out west, followed the signs for a bit and then decided to completely disregard all of that and then made their own undulating way back to the path, then this book is for you.