Monster Whisperer Review! Spoiler-Free, Spoilers, Chapter-by-Chapter

Monster Whisperer by JB Trepganier Spoiler-Free Review:

This review is part of a five-book book review project I have for my 2020 NaNoWriMo project. Check out the novel writing playlist for more information.

Monster Whisperer by JB Trepagnier is a fun, lighthearted book that, while readable, would have been much better if it had seen some more development. I can understand that the author publishes books quickly, which does actually add to the appeal. It’s still a well-thought-out story, considering the amount of series and other books the author publishes.

The main character, River, can talk to monsters, as is evident by the title. She’s basically brought to Hell to talk to these monsters — a kraken, a minotaur, a spider, and phoenix — because they’re trapped in their monster form and pitted against each other in this Gladiator-type ring orchestrated by Greek gods and goddesses.

On that note, there’s actually a grammar tip that I want to discuss. It’s something that ultimately led to me taking a full star off my final rating, and --

That is the capitalization of "God" as opposed to "gods and goddesses."

This is a grammar vent, sorry, but I feel like self-published authors need to educate themselves just as much as a traditionally published author would. I think self-publishing has a bad rep for a reason sometimes.

So, with “God.” “God” is a name, and obviously most often referred to as, you know, “God.”

It is only ever capitalized when it is being used as an actual name.

Like Thor: God of Thunder, the God would be capitalized there.

But if you’re just saying “I’m a god,” or “I’m a goddess,” neither of those are capitalized.

She reversed it in here, and it just bugs me.

It’s not a religious thing, it’s a grammatical thing. It’s the same as how I pointed out the British versus American spellings in The Queen’s Executioner review.

As I said, it bothered me so much by the end that I actually knocked off an entire star rating because of it. 

On to some good stuff!

The establishment of the different characters and their roles based on actual mythology is my favorite thing about this book. It's something that’s led me to find out a lot more about the book I’m writing for this channel.

You can see more about this book in the plot development post, but needless to say, the mythology in this book really inspired me.

I also really liked the characters themselves. Whenever the point of view changed to somebody else, I could clearly define and understand the character taking over. Everyone who took hold of the story in some way had a distinct voice that differentiated them from everybody else.

The plot itself also came across as really well-thought-out.

I also loved the snark and quirkiness behind our main character, River.

However.

I know I just said it, but I really think that this book suffers from some underdevelopment.

It’s difficult because, like I said, everything is really well-thought-out. The problem is — this book is probably about 80% dialogue.

It reads very much like, “Let’s do this.”

And then, “Let’s go do this.”

And then, “Hey, can you tell me everything about this?”

Followed by three pages of a character simply telling the story of whatever answer to the question asked.

There’s also a huge lack of title tags used with the dialogue.

The italicization of all the monster speech also made it harder to differentiate characters.

I also wrote in my notes that I had a personal challenge to myself to write a book that was only dialogue. Dialogue is actually my favorite part of writing. That being said, there’s so much you can “show” through your dialogue. I think dialogue is something that runs just as much of a risk as “telling” the story, obviously. I think some of the prose in here could have just been, I guess, a little more developed or poetic.

Even though it moved quickly and I liked that, I do wish it had slowed down a little bit. It’s hard to say that, though, because I also bought it due to its short length. If it had received the development I think this story deserves, then I may not have picked it up.

That being said, I didn't realize the shortness of Piranesi until I had bought it. That was a short book that really packed a punch and certainly saw a lot more development put into it.

Again, this brings me back to kind of a pro and a con with the argument of self-publishing.

If self-published authors want to make money and a career — enough of each to actually survive and be able to write for a living — then statistically, they have to pump out books quick. Each book release is basically just a bonus check.

Sales tend to decrease after the book is released. Then it just gets lost in the sea of the other billions of books out there.

The flip side, though, is that, if more time and effort is put into the actual text, it’s more likely that it will sell long past release date.

But the issue always comes down to — where’s the money going to come from in the meantime?

We’re not going to get too into that side tangent today. I’ve already said too much about it here, but I just think it pertains to this book because I feel for the author.

I’ve said it in the reading vlog about this book and it’s a reason that I’ve kind of steered clear and been unable to make a living out of my books, myself.

I spend way too much time perfecting my text and producing something like Piranesi.

And that author’s basically gone fifteen years between publications, so do the math.

I don’t know if I’ll carry on with this series or read any other books by this author. I’m conflicted.

I did like this book. With wanting it to be fast and succinct, I can’t be mad that it delivered that.

It gave me basically exactly what I expected. I just wish there was either less dialogue, or that the dialogue was a little more rich and less info-dumpy.

If I do carry on with any of her books, whether in this series or otherwise, I doubt I’ll just take any time to write out a chapter-by-chapter reaction or a review.

It takes a lot of extra time reading books and doing stuff like that. All that extra detail was definitely only worth it for the once.

So be sure to check out the reading vlogs — although I’m still unsure which YouTube channel I ultimately want to continue those. This one, in particular, is over on my personal channel.

I’m about to move into some spoilers. Come back after you’ve read this book to see the discussion.

Either way, be sure to leave a comment as to whether you’ve read this, intend to read it, or any other thoughts you have.

**BEGIN SPOILERS AND CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER ANALYSIS FOR MONSTER WHISPERER BY JB TREPAGNIER**

EVERYBODY LOVES RIVER

So… everybody loves River.

Like…

Everybody in the book is “River, River, River. She’s so beautiful, she’s so sexy, I want her to be mine.”

It was kind of cute at first, but really annoying by the end.

A lot of characteristics in this book are physical. A lot of what these characters care about is also based on physical attraction.

I think it would have been fine if it was just Pavlina and Kimon. Everybody wanting River separately was a little too much.

Especially Demos, who’s the most verbally silent about his feelings. He cares about her differently. That should have actually been more established as the friendship element. Everyone is just hyper-sexualized and just wants to get into her pants.

I get that they’re all human at heart. They’re caged, and she’s this “beautiful human” who can not only come into their domain but also understand and communicate with them. It’s just — cute at first, overdone by the end.

RIVER/KIMON — RIVER SHALLOW

Especially because River and Kimon are the best, I think.

It would have been better if it was built maybe more around the love triangle between River, Kimon, and Pavlina, with Pavlina wishing she could convert her over and give her the love of a woman when she wasn’t trapped as a Black Widow.

Even then, I kind of felt upset at the with River and Kimon.

The whole time, the reason I had liked them was because of how they got on with each other while he was in his monster form — very Beauty and the Beast-eque. As soon as she got his collar off, the first thing she starts to focus on is all of his muscles, all of his bodily features, all of that kind of stuff that’s, just… 

It really shouldn’t be that important?

There’s also a big debate and discussion about the use of physical characteristics to depict people in books. In times like what I’m specifically referring to right now, it can come across as vain and shallow. Like the only thing she really cared about at the end was who was the cutest.

She had her pick of the litter and it read like she just wanted to see the “hottest human” before she “made her choice.”

And I didn’t like that.

Especially because of how the relationship started and formed throughout the entire plot, with them actually getting to know each other and with him, I think, having the most genuine feelings for her, apart from just wanting to bone her.

RIVER IS A DEMON/RIVER’S POWER

Okay, so, let’s talk about River’s little power here for a minute.

I’ll be honest, as can be seen in my chapter by chapter notes, that I accidentally read the last sentence when I went to the back of the book to check the print date. Even without knowing she was a demon — and also not knowing the full extent of that until I actually got to the end — that particular storyline drew out a lot for such a short book.

Especially with how kind of overdramatic everybody’s reaction was to her and her fire summoning power. It was something that all developed so rapidly and then was just “a secret” for the rest.

But it was like…

Well, duh.

Of course she has a secret power.

She’s the only person who’s able to communicate with both animals and monsters, and she can create a green fire.

That in and of itself is something I think will obviously see more development in future books. The whole “mystery” around who her father was — although well played by the end — just dragged.

And, again, with the text being so short and quick, that was a let down.

TWIST ENDING

That being said, however, even though I had glanced across the “I’m half-demon” words when I checked the publication date, I did not see that her father was Barbatos, Duke of Hell. Nor that she was demon royalty.

So, I do think that added a good element in the end. That acted as something I’d want to see blossom if I carried forward into the other books.

I just don’t know if I can really be bothered to do that. If I do, I’m certainly not spending the money on the hard copies, either. The format inside the books is pretty average as well.

But A+ on the cover.

In the end, those of you looking for something that you don’t really have to connect to at all and can probably finish in the duration of a short flight, this book is worth the read.

It’s just a pretty average read, either way you look at it.

The length of my review and chapter-by-chapter notes is probably equivalent to six or seven chapters in this book. Of the 40 that take up 221 pages.

But if you have read it, or this review has helped or hindered your opinion of it, please let me know down in the comments.

Again, this particular book was one of five chosen for the book I am currently developing on this channel to write alongside you during National Novel Writing Month in November 2020.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been a book I’d have chosen if not for this project. I’m grateful for it giving me the idea of looking more into mythology, although mine is more Hindu.

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

Chapter 1:

I like the tone and the style of this book so far. I think River I going to be a really solid main character. From what I saw on this author’s profile, it seems like she pumps out a lot of books, and really quickly. I was nervous about that and I can see how maybe sections of this book might be rushed. I’m a little leery about that but still hopeful all the same. It had a good start, and I’m already more invested than I was during The Queen’s Executioner.

Chapter 2:

Even though I think Hades is a bit cheesy, I still like the style of this book. It almost seems like dark humor fantasy, and I’m really into that. I like River. I don’t know why, but for some reason I already feel like I see the author in her. As for this being a shorter book and looking to it for inspiration because of that, I like how quick we get to the story. At the same time, I also like how I feel connected to everybody already, in the short, what, thirteen pages I’ve read so far? I also read the last sentence of the book (oops) so I already know what’s going to happen, but I’m excited to see it getting there.

A note on formatting — this book reminds me why most self-published books are usually just bought on the Kindle. I thought the same about one of the other books I ended up buying on the kindle instead of the hard copy, because I just didn’t like the way it looked. Even Pyresouls. It is what it is, but, if I self publish another book, the same as I did with my first experience, the interior is just as important to me as the words that make it up. I like visually stunning books just as much on the inside, but I guess I’m just weird like that.

Chapter 3:

I like the elements of Greek mythology placed into here so far. It almost makes me kind of wish the generator had chosen a mythologically inspired tale for me. That being said, I also definitely want to discuss the whole “God” and “god” thing, because God is only ever capitalized when it’s in use as a proper name describing someone, but how she’s using it here like “Hades is a God” isn’t correct, because then the “god” thing becomes more of a trait and an identity than their name.

“God of the Underworld” — Title

“Hades is a God” — not a title

Chapter 4:

Calling it now: I think River and Hades end up as a thing. Also, I think Hades is either directly or coincidentally modeled after Tom Ellis’s Lucifer, and I’m not mad at that. There’s a very light-hearted and humorous style to this writing. Even though there isn’t an insane amount of “depth” so far to either the characters or the plot, neither of those are really suffering at this point, in my opinion. Especially because I really do like the way River is presented. She just feels like a character that’s fun to kick it with.

Chapter 5:

Just a chapter of Hades giving backstory, nothing too much else to put.

Chapter 6:

The last couple of chapters have been basically just dialogue. Just saying.

Chapter 7:

I like her approach to Greek mythology. What started as cute though has kind of turned into moving too fast. She’s getting to the point, but it’s almost just too to the point. Especially since the last few chapters have been predominately dialogue. “I want to tell you this, but after this.” “I’m going to go do this now, so I’ll see you.” It’s almost like that story is only being told through the dialogue, and not through the actions and setting.

There also hasn’t been much setting description, but I feel you there, girl. I hate that, too. What’s interesting to me at the moment, though, especially with all this dialogue, is that I was actually thinking of writing a story that was only dialogue. No action text whatsoever. This is kind of an interesting look, I guess, into how that might look if it were something I chose to pursue.

Chapter 8:

I guess I appreciate how to-the-point this story is, but I do also feel like so many of the major things are just told through dialogue… not really in a bad way, I’m just starting to understand why this book isn’t very long, and perhaps how the author is able to pump them out so quickly.

Chapter 9:

“Oh god, no.” Back to the “God” thing.

I just wish there was some more action between the dialogue. Or at least more character title tags for who’s who. This is a lighthearted and fun story, but I guess I do still feel a bit like it’s being “told” to me instead of shown. Good example of that, I suppose.

Chapter 10:

This was a better chapter with action and such, not just relying on dialogue to get her through. I like the tone of the book, don’t get me wrong. I like that it’s a quick and easy read, because it feels like it’s supposed to be. If it’s not supposed to be quick and easy, she totally failed. But I like her approach and the thought she has for the storyline itself. I really do like the way she’s tied in the Greek mythology into something of her own “retelling” story, or at least “this is what happened after” kinda thing.

I also have this feeling that the author is pretty young herself — almost want to say either late teens or early twenties — but I can’t find any information on her age and her author photos aren’t very clear.

Chapter 11:

I liked getting into the mind of one of the monsters, I’m sure it will happen again. It was just interesting to get into Kimon’s mind and hear how he felt about killing his friends. We already knew they didn’t like it, of course, but it was interesting to actually get into his head and hear him tell us. I also like the use of first person in this book.

Chapter 12:

Nothing much to say, positive or negative.

Chapter 13:

I liked getting into the mind of Demos, especially having his opinion on River and allowing her to be seen through an outside perspective. Like I said earlier, I read the last sentence, so I kind of already know where this is going. But whether I did or not, I still think this was a good chapter to start really driving home how “different” River is. Now even the monsters are getting uncomfortable around her power.

Chapter 14:

Oh, okay, River and Kimon, I see you. I was over here calling out River and Hades, but now I’d be more invested in this love triangle than I was in the last book I read. And, I also really do like River, and the way she’s written. I just think she’s funny. I still feel like I see the author channeling herself through this character, especially considering what she’s written on the back of the book for her bio.

Chapter 15:

Well, damn, everybody’s just in love with River, aren’t they? I liked this perspective from Pavlina. I also really like how each of the different POV chapters have felt like they’re coming from a different character. Sometimes it’s easy to forget who’s taken over (even if their name is on the chapter) because the author’s style stays the same. I like the embellishment of these monster characters through their chances at a POV.

Chapter 16:

Even if I didn’t know where this ended, I would still say it was now starting to become a little obvious that River’s “other half” is a demon. It just kind of makes sense. I’m also, though, thinking that, instead of her and Hades falling in love and the love triangle being between Hades, River, and… is it Persephone he’s married to?… that Hades might actually be River’s father, which would be another reason he didn’t want to hurt her from the start. I’m also now thinking River’s going to have her choice of the monsters. So far she’s just been interested in Kimon, but I have a feeling that if she ever gets to see Tryphon in his human form, she’ll be conflicted.

Chapter 17:

Typhon hella trying to get into River’s pants. I guess maybe her father isn’t Hades, I don’t even know. But we’ll see where this goes from here. Although Typhon just seconded what I said from Chapter 16 about how she just “had to be” some type of “monster” herself.

Chapter 18:

I like the unity that is starting to form with all of the monsters, and the ways it seems like they’re trying to figure out how to settle their differences. Especially with River’s thoughts about getting closer to Demos through learning how to control fire. It’s just a good little subplot, I think, to have characters so different coming together if nothing more than to prove it can be done.

Chapter 19:

I like the rapidity of the pace of this book. I also just wonder why it would have been like if things were actually more fleshed out. Blessing and curse of the self-publishing industry. But the whole her doing green fire and Demos freaking out would have been much more fulfilling with more details.

Chapter 20:

Couldn’t find the location of the author, but the “towards” is just like what I was talking about from The Queen’s Executioner. And again, I do like this book. I am starting to feel like most of it is just being told and relying on the conversation and dialogue to move things forward. Dialogue, POV character reacting to the dialogue by having the same reaction as what was said in the dialogue and then questions going around and around about the same thing when we know her dad was a demon so… now we know she is too?

Chapter 21:

Moving forward… don’t have too much to say here.

Chapter 22:

Texting demons in the Underworld complaining about taco emojis…? Okay?

And everyone’s still in love with River — perhaps because they see the demon in her?

Chapter 23:

I know it’s kind of a small and minuscule thing, but I really wish the author would’ve familiarized herself with the proper God/god thing. Now, as often as she uses it and adding in Goddess, it just… I don’t know. It’s going to end up knocking off a whole star rating for me. It’s just a grammatical thing that I feel should’ve been addressed and sorted before publication. Sorry.

Chapter 24:

I like River’s chapters the best. I’m also just starting to feel like so much has happened but so much has not happened at the same time. It’s weird. I’m only on page 147 but I feel like it’s been closer to 300. I feel like this book is twice the size that it actually is.

Chapter 25:

I feel like I finally figured out what I think about this book: It feels like a Greek mythology fan fiction. Maybe that’s what it is.

Chapter 26:

I’m supportive of Kimon and River’s relationship. I’m just not sure the sexual stuff from this chapter was all the way necessary? Plus, I guess I’m going back to my thoughts of feeling like this story is moving faster than it should. I’m conflicted in my thoughts on that. I wanted this to be a short and quick story, but now that I’m reading it, I’m almost finding myself wishing there actually was more to it than this.

Chapter 27:

I like Demos, as well. And I liked how this chapter was just in his head and it wasn’t reliant on the spoken word to carry it as much.

Chapter 28:

I remain entertained, not blown away, by this story.

Chapter 29:

Poor Pavlina and her now-deceased former lover. This, again, though, just makes me kind of wish there was more to this story. Even though I wanted it to be fun and quick or whatever, I’m now finding it harder to stay attached as the story continues. It’s like I blink and 50 things have happened.

Chapter 30:

Pavlina’s story could have just been so much more than two paragraphs repeating what we’ve already learned.

Chapter 31:

Another quick chapter.

Chapter 32:

Of all the people obsessed with River, I still hoped she and Kimon are the ones that end up together. I think his POV chapters are my favorite behind hers. Again, it’s not that I’m disliking this story as much as it is that it’s just going too quick. Even though I wanted a quick and fast read, with the 40 pages left, I’m actually just feeling like it’s moving too fast. I’d rather spend some time in certain places and with certain people than feeling like the author is just snapping her fingers like “let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

Chapter 33:

Neutral move of the plot forward.

Chapter 34:

Same sentence.

Chapter 35:

I again like some of the Greek mythology placed into here, because that’s the only bit of information I feel is kind of okay to be “told” to me. That being said, with how pivotal it all is to the story and how frequently it’s mentioned and the characters molded after the mythology and such, I’m once again just feeling like the story is moving too fast. Basic is the best word I can think of for this book.

Only got a few chapters left. I’m relatively sure nothing’s going to happen that will “blow me away” or “shock me” or anything, but it still is entertaining enough to carry forward. Currently have no interest in moving on, though.

Chapter 36:

I like the introduction of Hephaestus. Once again, however, the “God/god” misspellings have actually ruined a solid portion of this book for me. I get it, if you don’t believe in God how you might not want to capitalize it in that fashion. I’m sorry, grammar is still grammar, and the times God and Goddess are capitalized in here just aren’t correct. It really deters me from the story.

All that said, this was a good chapter that is leading toward the final pages well. Still don’t know if I’ll ever continue on with the series. I doubt it, but it’s not the worst thing in the world.

Chapter 37:

Ugh.

I have a feeling the rescue of the monsters will not actually occur in this book, which would make sense as a device to keep the reader moving on to the next one, but — it’s almost similar to the ending of The Queen’s Executioner, where, having barely held my interest as it was, do I want to carry on to see the end of the one plot line I think is interesting among all the others?

Then again, I still have 3 chapters (but only 12 pages) left. Seeing as how this author relies so heavily on dialogue and quick descriptions to get her through everything, I could honestly very well be wrong.

Chapter 38:

Title tags is another thing I think is severely lacking in this book. Especially with how dialogue-heavy everything is. When six characters are all talking and there’s no tag to identify who’s who, it definitely gets a little challenging and difficult to keep it all straight. At least, however, there aren’t too many characters to try and keep track of as it is. But oh well.

Chapter 39:

Okay, cool, well, River freed the monsters, which is great — she’s also a bit shallow, I think. Everyone is “sculpted” and “looks like a supermodel” or whatever. It’s those types of physicality’s she seems to be most drawn to. It is what it is, but it takes away from some of the potential depth of her character by just making her shallow and superficial. Like with Kimon, she’s suddenly interested in the cuddles because of how “gorgeous” he is and his “ripped body,” but they’ve had actually personality flirtation going on the whole book that, if executed correctly, could have just been more about the physical “adding to” what she already liked or something, not so much as a defining reason as to why she feels okay with liking him. She already knew he was a human outside of his minotaur body.

Chapter 40:

Oh, well, shit — demon royalty, eh? I didn’t foresee Barbatos, Duke of Hell being River’s father, but that is a nice little end twist there.

Still not sure if it’s enough to make me want to carry forward, especially since she did free the monsters. Of course, I’m sure the next book (and the one after, there’s a third one coming out soon and the second one was just published right before I bought this one) will see the monsters coming together to stand up to Demeter. I just don’t really know if I can be bothered to carry on.

Again, not a terrible read, quick and to the point like I had wanted, but at the same time, it just made me feel a little lacking in certain areas, is all.