We call it Monster by Lachlan Walter

tumblr_n6hno2qixr1sfxmouo1_500 We Call It Monster

My Rating: 4/5 stars

About this book:

We Call It Monster is a story of forces beyond our control, of immense and impossible creatures that make plain how small we really are. It is the story of our fight for survival and our discovery of that which truly matters: community and compassion, love and family, hope and faith.

My Review:

We call it Monster is the most humane monster book I have read. I remember reading This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab and getting fascinated by the world of monsters. Not by their size, appearance or abilities of mass destruction but simply the fact that the existence of monsters can make humans behave more humane than they generally do.

In this book, there is a complete dystopian setting where suddenly monsters have started appearing out of the ocean and are destroying countries until they lay waste to the entire world. But the one thing I liked about this book was that, unlike its title and cover, in the book, the monsters are not in the spotlight.

They lay the framework for the theme and plot of this book but when I talk of the essence, I saw only the characters. Now going on to the characterization, I loved how varied the characters were. Their personalities, their stories came off as quite strong. I was also amazed by the writing style of Lachlan because chapter transition is not easy. The way the author made it look so smooth, effortless and linked was mind-blowing. With monsters roaming around, survival is everyone’s first instinct but I also saw that this book had a lot of emotion in it. Most dystopian novels overlook that. When it becomes a race for survival, no one considers the characters as humans. Even their monstrous side is shown. But this book was quite unique in that aspect. I liked that the book wasn’t a huge one so I could easily read it in one sitting and enjoy.

The imagery of the monsters reminded me of the movie world and so if you like Godzilla, Jurassic Park and monstrous things, then this book is for you. But even if you do not, the story of this book will keep you engaged anyway.

About the Author:

Lachlan Walter is a writer, science-fiction critic and nursery-hand (the garden kind, not the baby kind), and is the author of two books: the deeply Australian post-apocalyptic tale The Rain Never Came, and the giant-monster story-cycle We Call It Monster. He also writes science fiction criticism for Aurealis magazine and reviews for the independent ‘weird music’ website Cyclic Defrost, his short fiction can be found floating around online, and he has completed a PhD that critically and creatively explored the relationship between Australian post-apocalyptic fiction and Australian notions of national identity.

Untitled