We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim (review)

Reviewed by: We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim Fiona Hartley-Kroeger Sim, Tara We Shall Be Monsters. Paulsen/Penguin 2024 400p Trade ed. ISBN 9780593407424 19. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593407431 10. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 7-10 Desperate to rectify a terrible accident and bring her beloved sister Lasya back to life, seventeen-year-old Kajal succeeds where generations of scholars have failed in figuring out how to resurrect the dead. Before she can revive her sister—whose spirit, in the meantime, is rapidly becoming a powerful and murderous bhuta—a group of rebels against the usurper king steals Kajal's research and blackmails her into resurrecting the former crown prince. Except the body she revives isn't the crown prince, but rather his secret twin brother, Tav, whose existence alters everything commonly believed about the past and present state of the blighted country. Kajal and Tav grow closer as they seek to unravel the mystery of Tav's death and find his brother's missing corpse; underneath the banter is a gradually growing trust, forged by the pain of individually figuring out who they are without the person who's been beside them all their life. There are literally divine and demonic implications to the answers they find: the high-stakes plot draws on an inventive, richly worked world inspired by Hindu mythology. Kajal's a complex, snarky protagonist, an impulsive troublemaker whose potential has been suppressed by poverty and social stigma, and her unreliable narration is used to good effect throughout the beautifully paced plot. Queer and nonbinary identities are present but in the background; side characters, revelations, and unanswered questions offer much scope for development in the sequel. By turns epic, funny, gory, and heartbreaking, this is the complete package, easily winning a spot on the shelf next to the books of Nafiza Azad, Judy Lin, and Laini Taylor. End Page 375 Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois