What do you think?
Rate this book
The Monster Exchange Program #1-16
The Monster Exchange Program (the complete series) eBook version
In The Monster Exchange Program, a short story collection written by Terri Bogard and illustrated by Andi Bogard, the reader is transported to a high school in the near future where witches, robots, sirens and werewolves mingle in the school hallways. The result? Equal parts humor, horror, hormones and high school.
This book contains all 10 issues of the Monster Exchange Program
*PLUS*
Three full stories by special guest authors Andi Bogard, Melody Joseph, and Hope Sullivan McMickle
*PLUS*
Three bonus "shorts"
This book contains all 10 issues of the Monster Exchange Program
*PLUS*
Three full stories by special guest authors Andi Bogard, Melody Joseph, and Hope Sullivan McMickle
*PLUS*
Three bonus "shorts"
- GenresHumor
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 25, 2012
135 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 14, 2012
This book was full of monsters, which i bet you would have guessed that reading the title of the book. It had robots, werewolves, zombies, and humans :). I think the stories were funny. It had a little of everything : romance ♥ , suspense , and action. The only dislike i had about this book was that it had some foul language. But other then that it was a great book. And i wasn't selfish and shared it with my friend's sister :p. And she also enjoyed it. So i give Terri a thumbs up!
March 4, 2013
In full disclosure I received a free eCopy of this book from the author.
I would describe this book as a teen drama with monsters. The characters at the high school get up to the antics that they do on teen T.V. shows, such as having/trying to have sex, getting drunk and general (and at times extreme) mischief.
This edition is a collection of short stories from the Monster Exchange Program series, this did sometimes restrict the character development, but at least if it was a story I wasn’t enjoying it was over quickly. Even though they are short stories, there are set in the same place and time frame, and many of the characters overlap into different stories. The author did a good job of keeping the characters consistent through out the series.
The humour in this book is very juvenile, there is a lot a talk about “boobies” and “groins” and jokes aimed at an immature audience. The author often uses rude sounding words in their clean context as a way to be “funny”. For example a character would ejaculate, as in to exclaim, but it felt like a juvenile “he he they said ejaculate” moment. There were a few moments I found amusing, but these were few and far between and were only worth a small chuckle.
There are a lot of sexual antics in the book, in most of the stories the characters are either, having sex, trying to or obsessing about it. Although it doesn’t go into adult graphic detail, there was a lot of stuff going on for most of the book, and too much for my tastes.
I thought that the descriptions were lacking in detail and it wasn’t easy to imagine the world, visuals are normally very short and sounds and smells are practically non-existent. The exception to this is when describing parts of the female anatomy; the author goes out of their way to provide a lot of detail on this. At times the descriptions were so bad it was really hard to follow what was going on.
It wasn’t just the descriptions, but I thought the writing style was generally weak.
Having said that I did think the author did a good job of bringing the monsters into the “real” world and there were lots of clever ideas of what they would do, for example the werewolf would eat dog food for her lunch.
The characters often use “teen talk” with lots of whatever’s, like’s and loser’s. I found this to be distracting to the dialogue, and made the characters annoying.
Many characters had annoying personalities, and in some of the stories there would be two opposing sides, but because I didn’t care for either group I didn’t care who won in the end.
Characters often acted completely randomly and in ways that didn’t make sense. They would do unbelievably stupid things, one example is during an invasion of body snatchers, it has been established that the aliens take people to the bathroom where they change them. Three of the characters are planning their escape, one of them really needs to “go”, so they leave with the aliens to the bathroom, it is only several minutes later the characters realize that this was a bad idea. Seriously no-one could be that stupid, it is only one of many times when stuff like this happened. It really took me out of the story because I could no longer believe in it.
Sometimes it was hard to tell what type of monster a character was, this was especially bad if the character was in a previous story, we were rarely reminded what they are.
Overall I felt this book was probably aimed at a younger (15-18), mostly male audience. I found the humour to be very juvenile, the writing poor and descriptions weak. The characters were annoying and unbelievable. It should be said that due to the sexual content and swearing it is not suitable for younger audiences.
I will give a short review of each story
1 Bansee v. Maniac: 1-2-3 Debate ** stars. The characters were a little annoying, and would act stupidly; the twist at the end was completely random.
2 Homeschooling Doesn’t Suit Witches *** stars, the main character was a little whiney but I did enjoy how the witch element changed the typical teen/parent environment, for example the mother witch wanted her daughter do act and dress badly.
3 Never Skinny-dip With Mermaids ** stars, one of the adolescent typical sex crazed stories that happened throughout the book. The storyline was very predictable.
4 For A Good Time, Call Unicorn, ** ½ stars, a slightly more interesting and thought out story than most in the series, although the twist at the end was kind of creepy.
5 Werewolf Stays True To Herself, *** stars, the character development is pretty good through this story.
6 How to Win Friends and Influence People with Your Interdimensional Powers by guest author Andi Bogard. 0 stars. The character in this book was utterly unlikeable, and why everyone loved him was unbelievable, fathers were literally begging this guy to have sex with their daughters. It was also another bad sex romp.
7 Blob Fits In, ** stars, pretty average characters, the plot was hard to believe in, and there was an overuse of sex.
8 Who’s Been Pranking the Undead? **1/2 stars, an interesting story with parts that were a little hard to believe, the twist at the end was really predicable.
9 Bigfoot Gets Noticed * star, this was just a silly story that with a weird random twist at the end.
10 But, Ogres Don’t Play Chess! ***, the characters were actually likeable in this story, and the story was okay if a little cliché.
11 How The Invisible Boy Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb by guest author Hope Sullican McMickle ** stars, okay characters but a somewhat forgettable story.
12 Robot Goes to Prom *** stars, I enjoyed how the author wrote the thoughts of the robot and enjoyed his character, the story was okay overall.
13 Long Lie The Queen, by Guest Author Melody Joseph. ** stars, this story had annoying characters and predicable storyline.
14 Detention… of The Bodysnatchers! * star, really annoying and stupid characters, unbelievable characters, the editors note were silly and took me out of the story.
15 Mad Scientist: Candidate For Student Body President **1/2 stars, the characters were annoying, and the story very average, I would have given this book one and a half stars, but the twist at end was very good and deserved an extra star.
16 Vampire Hangs Around ½ Star, very creepy and pervy character, juvenile story.
I would describe this book as a teen drama with monsters. The characters at the high school get up to the antics that they do on teen T.V. shows, such as having/trying to have sex, getting drunk and general (and at times extreme) mischief.
This edition is a collection of short stories from the Monster Exchange Program series, this did sometimes restrict the character development, but at least if it was a story I wasn’t enjoying it was over quickly. Even though they are short stories, there are set in the same place and time frame, and many of the characters overlap into different stories. The author did a good job of keeping the characters consistent through out the series.
The humour in this book is very juvenile, there is a lot a talk about “boobies” and “groins” and jokes aimed at an immature audience. The author often uses rude sounding words in their clean context as a way to be “funny”. For example a character would ejaculate, as in to exclaim, but it felt like a juvenile “he he they said ejaculate” moment. There were a few moments I found amusing, but these were few and far between and were only worth a small chuckle.
There are a lot of sexual antics in the book, in most of the stories the characters are either, having sex, trying to or obsessing about it. Although it doesn’t go into adult graphic detail, there was a lot of stuff going on for most of the book, and too much for my tastes.
I thought that the descriptions were lacking in detail and it wasn’t easy to imagine the world, visuals are normally very short and sounds and smells are practically non-existent. The exception to this is when describing parts of the female anatomy; the author goes out of their way to provide a lot of detail on this. At times the descriptions were so bad it was really hard to follow what was going on.
It wasn’t just the descriptions, but I thought the writing style was generally weak.
Having said that I did think the author did a good job of bringing the monsters into the “real” world and there were lots of clever ideas of what they would do, for example the werewolf would eat dog food for her lunch.
The characters often use “teen talk” with lots of whatever’s, like’s and loser’s. I found this to be distracting to the dialogue, and made the characters annoying.
Many characters had annoying personalities, and in some of the stories there would be two opposing sides, but because I didn’t care for either group I didn’t care who won in the end.
Characters often acted completely randomly and in ways that didn’t make sense. They would do unbelievably stupid things, one example is during an invasion of body snatchers, it has been established that the aliens take people to the bathroom where they change them. Three of the characters are planning their escape, one of them really needs to “go”, so they leave with the aliens to the bathroom, it is only several minutes later the characters realize that this was a bad idea. Seriously no-one could be that stupid, it is only one of many times when stuff like this happened. It really took me out of the story because I could no longer believe in it.
Sometimes it was hard to tell what type of monster a character was, this was especially bad if the character was in a previous story, we were rarely reminded what they are.
Overall I felt this book was probably aimed at a younger (15-18), mostly male audience. I found the humour to be very juvenile, the writing poor and descriptions weak. The characters were annoying and unbelievable. It should be said that due to the sexual content and swearing it is not suitable for younger audiences.
I will give a short review of each story
1 Bansee v. Maniac: 1-2-3 Debate ** stars. The characters were a little annoying, and would act stupidly; the twist at the end was completely random.
2 Homeschooling Doesn’t Suit Witches *** stars, the main character was a little whiney but I did enjoy how the witch element changed the typical teen/parent environment, for example the mother witch wanted her daughter do act and dress badly.
3 Never Skinny-dip With Mermaids ** stars, one of the adolescent typical sex crazed stories that happened throughout the book. The storyline was very predictable.
4 For A Good Time, Call Unicorn, ** ½ stars, a slightly more interesting and thought out story than most in the series, although the twist at the end was kind of creepy.
5 Werewolf Stays True To Herself, *** stars, the character development is pretty good through this story.
6 How to Win Friends and Influence People with Your Interdimensional Powers by guest author Andi Bogard. 0 stars. The character in this book was utterly unlikeable, and why everyone loved him was unbelievable, fathers were literally begging this guy to have sex with their daughters. It was also another bad sex romp.
7 Blob Fits In, ** stars, pretty average characters, the plot was hard to believe in, and there was an overuse of sex.
8 Who’s Been Pranking the Undead? **1/2 stars, an interesting story with parts that were a little hard to believe, the twist at the end was really predicable.
9 Bigfoot Gets Noticed * star, this was just a silly story that with a weird random twist at the end.
10 But, Ogres Don’t Play Chess! ***, the characters were actually likeable in this story, and the story was okay if a little cliché.
11 How The Invisible Boy Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb by guest author Hope Sullican McMickle ** stars, okay characters but a somewhat forgettable story.
12 Robot Goes to Prom *** stars, I enjoyed how the author wrote the thoughts of the robot and enjoyed his character, the story was okay overall.
13 Long Lie The Queen, by Guest Author Melody Joseph. ** stars, this story had annoying characters and predicable storyline.
14 Detention… of The Bodysnatchers! * star, really annoying and stupid characters, unbelievable characters, the editors note were silly and took me out of the story.
15 Mad Scientist: Candidate For Student Body President **1/2 stars, the characters were annoying, and the story very average, I would have given this book one and a half stars, but the twist at end was very good and deserved an extra star.
16 Vampire Hangs Around ½ Star, very creepy and pervy character, juvenile story.
December 19, 2012
Vampires are Perverts and Detention Will Rob You Of Your Mind
The Complete Monster Exchange Program by Terri Bogard is a collection of humorous stories about monsters in an average, human high school. There are sixteen tales in total, ranging from two serial killers debating which one of them should have the rights to a popular teen spot, the lament of the invisible boy or Bigfoot desperately wanting people to notice him, these stories are quirky and full of comedic moments. Terri Bogard seems to especially enjoy turning our views on their sides. An example would be with a witches' mother, whose worried her daughter doesn't dress enough like a "whore of Satan" and that she'll be uncorrupted at a normal high school. Something we can all relate to, right?
There are a lot of sexual references in pretty much every one of these stories, so if that's not for you I'm giving due warning. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I got a little laugh out of the creative names for characters, such as Johnny Heartthrob and Darla Sweetheart- the generic prom king and queen couple, Cleats Longshot as the quarterback or Snaps Viewfinder- the captain of the yearbook committee.
Some of the stories intertwine, while still being consistent and it's fun to see how some of the characters from previous stories turn out in later ones or are viewed by other people. Each tale has its own cover illustration (courtesy of Andi Bogard) and a few stories are written by guest writers (including one by Andi Bogard himself).
This collection is funny, has some interesting alternate takes on reality and goes out of its way to be so stereotypically "high school" that you can't help but enjoy it. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh, likes "slice of life" stories or supernatural/paranormal tales. There are some interesting takes on urban legends that are not to be missed.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100%my own.
The Complete Monster Exchange Program by Terri Bogard is a collection of humorous stories about monsters in an average, human high school. There are sixteen tales in total, ranging from two serial killers debating which one of them should have the rights to a popular teen spot, the lament of the invisible boy or Bigfoot desperately wanting people to notice him, these stories are quirky and full of comedic moments. Terri Bogard seems to especially enjoy turning our views on their sides. An example would be with a witches' mother, whose worried her daughter doesn't dress enough like a "whore of Satan" and that she'll be uncorrupted at a normal high school. Something we can all relate to, right?
There are a lot of sexual references in pretty much every one of these stories, so if that's not for you I'm giving due warning. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I got a little laugh out of the creative names for characters, such as Johnny Heartthrob and Darla Sweetheart- the generic prom king and queen couple, Cleats Longshot as the quarterback or Snaps Viewfinder- the captain of the yearbook committee.
Some of the stories intertwine, while still being consistent and it's fun to see how some of the characters from previous stories turn out in later ones or are viewed by other people. Each tale has its own cover illustration (courtesy of Andi Bogard) and a few stories are written by guest writers (including one by Andi Bogard himself).
This collection is funny, has some interesting alternate takes on reality and goes out of its way to be so stereotypically "high school" that you can't help but enjoy it. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh, likes "slice of life" stories or supernatural/paranormal tales. There are some interesting takes on urban legends that are not to be missed.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100%my own.
March 26, 2013
READ MY REVIEWS AT MY BLOG HERE.
The Monster Exchange Program by Terri Bogard consists of sixteen different stories, about monsters in a high school (a hu-mahn high school!). Each story is peculiarly different than the other.
I liked the stories in general. The characters, the dialogues, and the illustrations- everything is quite different than usual. It portrays the traditional concept of high school with very nontraditional characters doing familiar moves. Sometimes the stories are not complete in them and have links to other stories.
As for the dialogues, I must warn that there are a lot of sexual references in most of the stories. If you are not comfortable or not allowed than please don’t read it until you are. I have no problem regarding this however but still in some places I found myself struggling a bit to get used to the references. Other than that I loved the dialogues. Some of them were simply hilarious according to me!
The book is altogether a funny, comic, enjoyable read. Though I personally think it should have an 18+ rating, I would recommend it to the readers who want a good laugh, nothing too deep or serious.
The Monster Exchange Program by Terri Bogard consists of sixteen different stories, about monsters in a high school (a hu-mahn high school!). Each story is peculiarly different than the other.
I liked the stories in general. The characters, the dialogues, and the illustrations- everything is quite different than usual. It portrays the traditional concept of high school with very nontraditional characters doing familiar moves. Sometimes the stories are not complete in them and have links to other stories.
As for the dialogues, I must warn that there are a lot of sexual references in most of the stories. If you are not comfortable or not allowed than please don’t read it until you are. I have no problem regarding this however but still in some places I found myself struggling a bit to get used to the references. Other than that I loved the dialogues. Some of them were simply hilarious according to me!
“When I see you look this good in your werewolf form, it makes me think that maybe there is room for monster-shaped models in the fashion world! I’m telling my mom tonight that I want to be a runway model!”
“If she can’t accept me for who I am, well, then she’ll just have to kill me, melt me down
with her caustic stomach juices and feed me to my little sisters!”
The book is altogether a funny, comic, enjoyable read. Though I personally think it should have an 18+ rating, I would recommend it to the readers who want a good laugh, nothing too deep or serious.
Read
December 7, 2012The following review is based on the ebook edition of “The Complete Monster Exchange Program” from a librarything.com giveaway.
--
The Complete Monster Exchange program is a comedic anthology of interconnected stories centering around human and "monster" (read: anything vaguely sentient that isn't human) students in a high school with a "monster exchange program." For the most part, the book is hilarious, creative and laughably ridiculous, but there were also times when I found it so outrageous that I had to force myself to keep reading.
I loved the concept and much of the ridiculous humor (it's really a shame that you don't see this kind of funny in most books), but it really was too outrageous at times, and I wasn't particularly keen on the abundance of sex-related dialogue.
I would probably recommend this book to readers in their late teens (16+) who think it might be fun to share a school with a bunch of monsters (I certainly do!) and are interested in a farcical twist on typical high school stories.
--
The Complete Monster Exchange program is a comedic anthology of interconnected stories centering around human and "monster" (read: anything vaguely sentient that isn't human) students in a high school with a "monster exchange program." For the most part, the book is hilarious, creative and laughably ridiculous, but there were also times when I found it so outrageous that I had to force myself to keep reading.
I loved the concept and much of the ridiculous humor (it's really a shame that you don't see this kind of funny in most books), but it really was too outrageous at times, and I wasn't particularly keen on the abundance of sex-related dialogue.
I would probably recommend this book to readers in their late teens (16+) who think it might be fun to share a school with a bunch of monsters (I certainly do!) and are interested in a farcical twist on typical high school stories.
February 12, 2014
I received a Kindle version of this book for free on LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.
This is a very odd set of stories that feature characters that are a cross between various types of mythical creatures and stereotypical high schoolers. This book was a little too far-out and had a bit too much of horny teenager-creatures for my tastes. I also am not so sure about having creatures from so many different myths and legends combined into one “world”. It is somewhat confusing to have the picture with the chapter title a few pages into the chapter instead of at the beginning of the chapter. The writing is well done, but I think that this is one book that may have more appeal to a niche audience. If you think you are part of that niche and are in the mood for outlandish, humorous, absurd, and silly stories, this might be a book for you.
This is a very odd set of stories that feature characters that are a cross between various types of mythical creatures and stereotypical high schoolers. This book was a little too far-out and had a bit too much of horny teenager-creatures for my tastes. I also am not so sure about having creatures from so many different myths and legends combined into one “world”. It is somewhat confusing to have the picture with the chapter title a few pages into the chapter instead of at the beginning of the chapter. The writing is well done, but I think that this is one book that may have more appeal to a niche audience. If you think you are part of that niche and are in the mood for outlandish, humorous, absurd, and silly stories, this might be a book for you.
December 19, 2012
This was on ok read, but certainly nothing special. The premise of "monsters" going to school with humans was brilliant, but unfortunately the writing was not.
There were some comedic moments but not enough and there could have been so much more done with it. Many of the jokes were about body humor and felt very forced and puerile.
There were multiple spelling and grammar errors in the digital copy and that can make things hard to read.
Overall, for a free book it was ok, but I will not be recommending it to anyone.
There were some comedic moments but not enough and there could have been so much more done with it. Many of the jokes were about body humor and felt very forced and puerile.
There were multiple spelling and grammar errors in the digital copy and that can make things hard to read.
Overall, for a free book it was ok, but I will not be recommending it to anyone.
March 8, 2013
An interesting comedy compilation of high school monster misfits. All of the short stories included in this collection are decent, although some outshine the others.
LT Member Giveaways
Terri Bogard
The Monster Exchange Program (the complete series) eBook version
LT Member Giveaways
Terri Bogard
The Monster Exchange Program (the complete series) eBook version
January 20, 2013
what a fun collection of short stories! MEP follows the students in a high school with a unique program--they allow monsters to attend their school, heck even the principal is one! some of the stories have a very "after school monster special" gibe to them while others are true to the breed of monster the main character happens to be. mainly written by Terri Bogard, there are also a few guest writers as well, including the artist.
great read for those who enjoy the paranormal but don't want an epic size read.
great read for those who enjoy the paranormal but don't want an epic size read.
September 10, 2016
Robots, Unicorns and Werewolves! Oh My.
Banshees, gargoyles, inter-dimensional time travelers, mad scientists, to name a few are just trying to get through public school alongside the regular student population. This is a very clever and funny set of short stories that are guaranteed to raise a smile - and in some cases the dead as well. It’s a great read but be warned, it may bring back memories of some of your own horrific teenage experiences!
I received this book for free in exchange for a fair review.
Banshees, gargoyles, inter-dimensional time travelers, mad scientists, to name a few are just trying to get through public school alongside the regular student population. This is a very clever and funny set of short stories that are guaranteed to raise a smile - and in some cases the dead as well. It’s a great read but be warned, it may bring back memories of some of your own horrific teenage experiences!
I received this book for free in exchange for a fair review.
March 12, 2013
I really wanted to love this book. Maybe I would have ten years ago because it was more relatable but overall I thought this book needed to be longer. It needed more details. I found myself wanting to learn more about some of the characters and for some I just wasn't invested enough to really care about their struggles.
August 24, 2012
I wish this was out last March when I started reading the series. I had already bought most of the books, but this one came with a few bonuses, so I went ahead a made the purchase.
February 12, 2013
Won my copy of this in a giveaway here on goodreads, and I guess it was okay. It was an easy read, but not anything I was super excited about.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews