All These Monsters (Monsters #1)

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My Opinion

(4.5 / 5) I loved it. I was hooked from page one. There was nothing specific that drew me to it, it just grabbed my attention and held on.  A motley crew of teens fight scrabs, which are monsters that are killing everyone in sight. 

Clara comes from an abusive home and runs away from home and school to fight the scrabs. She has little training and know-how, but ends up being a super tough chick who can hold her own. It was easy for me to get lost in the story and not care why Clara is all of a sudden amazing or that I needed more answers. The characters are easy to like and I loved the scrab scenes. Short or long, I liked the fighting and mystery of them.

I needed a bit more info on the scrabs and why they came to be. I imagine that will come in the next book, but for now, it’s a contemporary world that is being taken over by these monsters and people are coming together to fight them. I feel like there’s more to them, something deeper is lurking in their development or existence. I can’t wait to see where the story goes. This is my first Tintera novel and I will be looking into more!

Trigger warnings: physical abuse of a minor, alcoholism.

Thank you to Amy Tintera, HMH Books for Young Readers through NetGalley for the copy in exchange for my review. This book comes out July 7, 2020.

All These Monsters (Monsters #1)

Amy Tintera

Seventeen-year-old Clara is ready to fight back. Fight back against her abusive father, fight back against the only life she’s ever known, and most of all, fight back against scrabs, the earth-dwelling monsters that are currently ravaging the world. So when an opportunity arises for Clara to join an international monster-fighting squad, she jumps at the chance.

When Clara starts training with her teammates, however, she realizes what fighting monsters really means: sore muscles, exhaustion, and worst of all, death. Scrabs are unpredictable, violent, and terrifying. But as Clara gains confidence in her battle skills, she starts to realize scrabs might not be the biggest evil. The true monsters are the ones you least expect.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings. 

Detailed Content Review

Language 

F***- 16

H***- 15

S***- 32

A**- 37

B****- 4

D***- 18

Bas****- 1

Religious Cursing

J****- 12

Chr***- 1

G**- 35

L***-

Derogatory terms etc-

Whore

Moron

Stupid

Flipping off

Dick

Slut 

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

A man smokes a cigarette.

A group of guys drank what was probably alcohol. 

People picnic with wine. 

A group of teens bring beer and drink at a park. 

A teen complains he’s low on cigarettes.

Two teens smoke cigarettes.

A young man smokes a cigarette.

A bar serves teens alcohol. 

A young man’s parents are both alcoholics. 

Two teens smoke cigarettes. 

A young woman takes a Xanax for anxiety and offers a friend one. 

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

*Minor LGBTQ+ aspects included*  

An 18yo man talks about his ex-boyfriend. He tells of coming out to his parents.

“That shirt makes you look like a whore.”

A man kisses a young woman. They smile and kiss more. They later sneak away for a few kisses in a closet. Later they kiss briefly. Again they kiss later multiple times. 

An uniform issued bra doesn’t fit a young woman and she claims her boobs are trying to escape. Her friend laughs. 

A young woman briefly kisses a young man.

A young man kisses a young woman twice. 

A boyfriend gets mad that his new girlfriend isn’t a virgin. He isn’t one either. 

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

A father calls his daughter a moron and “put (her) head through a wall” leaving a hole. She fell unconscious and got a concussion. He regularly punches holes in the wall and throws things. He’s very abusive.

A father grabs his daughters arm hard then throws her against the wall and calls her stupid. He throws her in her room and ties her door closed. Her brother fights the dad, getting a bloody nose. 

A young woman chases a young man who stole a wallet. She knocks him down, straddles him and pushes her forearm into his neck. 

There is a scrab attack, many are screaming. Two people see a trail of blood. A scrab pins a young man to the wall with its claws, a young woman stabs it in the neck and blood sprays. A young man stabs it again and it screams and dies. They stab another and another. A young woman carries a bloody machete and walks around dead scrab bodies. She accidentally smears blood across her face. She kills another by slicing its throat. Many more come, a group fights them off, one covered completely in scrab blood. A scrab stabs it’s claws into a young woman’s chest, blood spills out as she falls, dead. Someone shoots but the bullets ping off and hit others. Many are injured and bloody. 

There is a huge scrab attack. They attack from under the ground, one person goes flying and lands motionless. A lady bleeds from claw marks on her chest. One scrab spits out half eaten body parts of a human. People use machetes and spears, tasers, clubs and guns and there is a lot of fighting and blood. One human body is missing arms and legs. Many are injured or dead. Blood is seeping onto the street. 

Another scrab attack causes a young woman to stab one deep, blood seeping out. She attacks another, slicing its throat and it sprays blood on her. A scrab bites a young woman’s ankle.

Two teens are blindfolded and taken captive.

May scrabs attack and teenagers fight them off with weapons, blood spraying. A man points a gun at a man’s chest. 

A young man and young woman kill 2 scrabs, they’re bodies falling, bloody.

Two young women fight scrabs with a sword and machete, one gets clawed in the leg and is bleeding.

A man shoots a man with a taser.

Two teens chase and kill a scrab, one getting blood all over her. 

A man punches a young man in the face. Blood spurts from his nose. 

A boyfriend grabs his girlfriend and won’t let her go. He scratches her. 

A young woman slashes a scrab across the stomach and blood pours out. 

A boyfriend grabs his girlfriend and when she stumbles, he drags her by the shirt, somewhat choking her. 

The bodies of four police officers are found who had been attacked by scrabs. 

Many fight off scrabs. A young woman slits a throat, a man shoots them. Blood streaks down a young man’s arms from fighting a scrab. One man is killed by two scrabs. A young man punches a scrab with spiked knuckles, it stabs 10 claws into his chest. A young woman hacks one with a machete then slices its throat. One bites a young woman’s throat instantly killing her. A young man punches a young man, knocking him off his feet. A scrab grabs the young man and drags him. A man tackles a young man, the young man kicks him in the gut. A young man has bloody, cut up legs. A young man shoots a man and tries to shoot another. A young man punches a young woman knocking her off her feet. A young woman punches a young man. A young man pulls the body of his friend out from under a scrab. He has a huge, bloody gash on his cheek. 

Potentially Intense Themes

Scrabs are creatures that dig tunnels and spring out into cities and destroy all living things. They attack multiple times throughout the book and have very intense and bloody scenes. 

A father is very physically and verbally abusive. 

A young woman worries that her father will hurt her mother and possibly kill her someday. 

Many people have scars and such from fighting scrabs; a missing eye, missing fingers, claw marks on their skin etc.

A young woman is starving. She has no access to food for days.

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.