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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1474628.The_Monsters_of_Templeton?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Monsters of Templeton" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1191468146m/1474628.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1474628.The_Monsters_of_Templeton?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Monsters of Templeton</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/690619.Lauren_Groff">Lauren Groff</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19980005?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 3 of 5 stars<br/>I really wanted to like this book, and honestly, I genuinely like several parts. <br/> <br/>Why don't I like about this book you ask? <br/> <br/>So much of it is just down right unbelievable. I felt, in many places, that the author intentionally slacked on dialog and depth of the main character to laugh at the reader and marvel at the money we've spent on it. For instance, who is Willie Upton? I still don't know. She has no depth. She acts only as a gateway to the events of Templeton, Templeton, who is really the main character. The dialog between Vi and Willie are completely forced and ridiculous. I should have counted the amount of times Willie cursed and threw tantrums. She's like those characters in the movies whose sole purpose is to provide the scream track. <br/> <br/>And, what slave, if any, have you heard of who seduces men so that markets can be moved and courthouses can be built? WTF? <br/> <br/>How is it that Willie, after her trauma in the ER, has sex the next day with Zeke? WTF? I think, during this scene, the author truly tried my patience and intelligence. <br/> <br/>Why is her father revealed so quickly with little or no history about his family? <br/> <br/>I, as the author would like, do not believe these moments and more. <br/> <br/>What I do like are the epistolaries and the historical characters. I love the old Templeton. I love the way the monster is weaved into the entire story, although overdone at times since the monster only surfaced every 3-4 months. How did so many people see it again? The metaphorical monster acts as the death of Willie's view of Templeton and the existence of the new monster acts as her new fondness of the historical town. <br/> <br/>It seemed like the historical aspects of the novel were more entertaining than the present. Perhaps that should have been the base of the story. <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1076590?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>