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All These Monsters

(Monsters #1)

Amy Tintera (Goodreads Author)

3.92 · Rating details · 510 ratings · 162 reviews

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 s ...more

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Hardcover, 464 pages

Published July 7th 2020 by HMH Books for Young Readers

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· 510 ratings · 162 reviews

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Sep 09, 2020 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library-book, young-adult

Omg!! I didn’t even know about this book!! I loved it so much and ready for the next one. I love Team Seven and EDAN IS EVERYTHING!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

BLOG: https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot.... ...more

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May 03, 2020 Amie Kaufman rated it it was amazing

Amy Tintera is one of my favourite authors, and this is her best book yet. I couldn’t put it down, and I’m desperate for the sequel. From its badass heroine to its heart-stopping action, from its totally immersive world to the deeply-felt personal story at the heart of this book, All These Monsters is something fresh and new, and it kept me up late into the night. I literally had to force myself to go to bed at 1am, because my baby wakes up early (no respect for late night binge reading!) but I ...more

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Jan 04, 2020 megs_bookrack marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2020-releases, ya-fantasy-to-read

I like monsters. I like fighting.

This may work for me.
I'll check it out! ...more

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Jan 22, 2020 Candace Robinson added it

I love Tintera’s other stories more but this one still had her witty dialogue and fun aspects. I just wanted the heart-stopping romantic aspects like her other books have.

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Dec 09, 2020 Elizabeth Aguilar rated it really liked it

I received an eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: family violence, gaslighting, and physical abuse

Representation
- half-Mexican/half-white MC (non-Spanish speaking)
- gay secondary character

Rating: 4.5 stars

Update: 12/12/20. I started the book as an audiobook until around 56%. I got distracted by the new Taylor Swift album and forgot my library hold expired yesterday... but I'm also really hooked and couldn't wait till I could borrow the book again, so I'm conti ...more

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May 15, 2020 Nenia ✨️ Socially Awkward Trash Panda ✨️ Campbell marked it as to-read

I'm such a sucker for books about fighting squads 🥊 ...more

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Aug 30, 2020 Leah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2020, sci-fi, young-adult, listened-on-audio, dystopian-ish

THE DETAILS✎ ❐ MY RATING➯ 2¾ STARS ❐ ALL THESE MONSTERS #1 ❐ ONE POV (CLARA) ❐ DYSTOPIAN-ISH ❐ YOUNG ADULT (HEAVY ON THE YOUNG) ❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 10 HOURS, 34 MINUTES ❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

I've been a fan of Amy Tintera's works in the past, I really liked the Reboot Duo...but maybe I need to be more discerning when it comes to the YA I choose to read...because I wasn't really feeling this...it just felt too YA for me. The dialogue felt rather cheesy and the actions of the cha ...more

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Jun 29, 2020 Caidyn (he/him/his) rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, from-publisher-or-author, sci-fi, arc, mystery-horror-thriller

I received an ARC through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!

CW: themes of violence and fights, child abuse, physical abuse, calling someone a slut and sex-shaming, and an abusive relationship

Well, what a sci-fi book. In some future, monsters (scrabs) invade the world and Clara decides to leave her abusive home to fight them. I don't have much to say about this book, honestly. I enjoyed it a lot and it was a pretty quick read, but I never got super hooked.

It's an action packed book and t ...more

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Jun 27, 2020 Jaime Arkin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: must-review, galley-arc, 2020, houghton-mifflin, series, swoony-boys, read-in-2020, ya, sci-fi

4.5 stars - tons of action, and Tintera’s books just keep getting better and better! I can’t wait for book 2!

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Dec 28, 2019 Lauren James added it

[Gifted]
A globe-trotting dystopian novel about thrill seeking teens hunting down monsters plaguing Europe. Fun and action-packed, with characters I really rooted for.

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Sep 23, 2020 Caroline rated it it was amazing

This had me hooked. Writing: 4. Characters:5. Plot: 5 This book has such a good message about abuse and trauma behind it and people should at least take that away from it. Well done!

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Jun 28, 2020 Andrew (BritBookBoy) rated it did not like it

Shelves: 6-2020

Tragic. This book is about 10 years too late and even then it would have been mediocre. It reads like every other carbon copy of The Hunger Games/Divergent from the early 2010’s. This book has it all: boring and predictable storyline, unimaginative prose, flat and cliche characters, zero world building, cringe dialogue and an unrealistic romance with a love triangle. Just awful. I’m confident that I will never read a book by Tintera again.

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Sep 05, 2019 Amber (The Book Bratz) marked it as dnf · review of another edition

DNF @ 20%

Thoughts to come soon

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Jun 29, 2020 Kym's Open Books rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, ya, arcs-giveaway, theopenbooks-net, sci-fi, favorites

4.5 stars
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 sudd ...more

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Aug 10, 2020 Raven_Blake (dreamy addictions) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, sci-fi, aliens, 2020

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars!
For More Book Reviews Check Out My Blog: Dreamy Addictions

I’m a huge fan of action packed Dystopian reads and this sounded very much promising. Well, this book was okay but it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. The monster hunting aspect reminded me of pacific rim and starship troopers. I enjoyed the action parts but my main issues are that the plot was a bit predictable, and there’s an annoying triangle that stole some of my enjoyment. It would’ve been great if th Actual Rating: 3.5 stars!
For More Book Reviews Check Out My Blog: Dreamy Addictions

I’m a huge fan of action packed Dystopian reads and this sounded very much promising. Well, this book was okay but it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. The monster hunting aspect reminded me of pacific rim and starship troopers. I enjoyed the action parts but my main issues are that the plot was a bit predictable, and there’s an annoying triangle that stole some of my enjoyment. It would’ve been great if there’s unnecessary drama in the plot.

I honestly couldn’t connect with the characters. They felt a bit unrealistic. I really liked Clara’s character at the beginning. She ran away from home to avoid her abusive father and enlists herself into the international monster fighting squad. My interest dwindled when she starts an insta-romance with her young sponsor and later develops feelings for her squad leader. It was an unnecessary drama, but I’m glad that she had at least chosen the right guy in the end. The secondary characters weren’t fleshed out well enough. They’re honestly not memorable enough. I really wished there was a bit more focus on Clara’s relationship with her brother.

The concept was pretty good but the execution of the plot was above average. It would’ve been great if the story focused less on the romance and more on the monster action, friendship, and family relationships. Some of the major twists were predictable. It was easy to predict who’s the bad guy in the team from the start. I mean c’mon It was pretty obvious with how the person was missing every time the monster attacks occurred. It took some time for our mc to finally connect the dots. The writing was good though. I didn’t have any issue with it, but coming to the world building, It doesn’t have much of a dystopian feel to it except for the monster part. They’re a huge creepy things.

Overall, it was an okay-ish read! It’s a little disappointing that it didn’t work out for me. The story really has great potential but it needs some improvement. I hope the next book is much better than this one. ...more

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Jun 08, 2020 Online Eccentric Librarian rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, arc, dystopian

More reviews at the Online Eccentric Librarian http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

I think going into All These Monsters that it is best to have the mindset that this is pure goofy fun. The characters are broadly drawn, fairly unrealistic, but enjoyable to follow. Tintera gives us a motley fighting crew that, for better or worse, will have to come together to get the job done. While there are some disappointing YA tropes here, it's best to just let the story ride and hitch on for the humor and action.

Story: Teen Clara lives in a broken home in Texas - physically abused by her father and not protected by her mother. Failing high school and miserable, she sees a way out when a pair of rich siblings post an advert looking for fighters for the menace known as Scabbers - vicious creatures that live underground and emerge to attack everything around them. Texas doesn't have any but Europe and Asia have been hit extremely hard. Clara sneaks away to join the fighters and gets much more than she bargained for in the process.

So yes, it is a YA dystopian in the mold of the 1990s; this means the world building is not explained and you just have to accept it as it is (and it will likely be revealed in the last book why there are these vicious creatures suddenly but for now, you have to let it ride). And yes, the YA dystopian tropes are here as well. Just take our main character Mary Sue: poor lonely friendless girl who feels she's useless and can't do anything right but turns out to be super powerful and everyone falls in love with her, including the other girls who are secretly jealous of her. Boys will want her and girls who hated her will suddenly become her bestest buddy. But for most of the book, she'll mope about how useless she is and how she isn't good looking or smart.

You won't believe any of the characters could be real people but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the book. Each of the squadmates are quirky enough that you can easily distinguish them among a crowded list of characters. Non squadmates are also caricatures but familiar ones so they seem less silly. Of course, Clara will kick butt and impress everyone despite having no previous skills, experience, or talent in the field of fighting. Pure personality translates to pure strength in this story with Clara.

So yes, this harkens back to the old days of YA dystopian - silly plot and silly characters but lots of goofy fun and action. It will keep you interested through to the end, with very little downtime. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher. ...more

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Jun 29, 2020 Permanently_Booked rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaways-arcs

Between the story, the characters and the Scrabs, I loved everything about this novel! Clara is 17 and running from an abusive home. When her mother takes back her father again it’s the last straw. Clara decides her only way out is to join Grayson St. John’s Scrab killing team.

Scrabs have an unknown origin and depending on the continent can be deadlier, creepier, faster and even smarter. They tunnel underground and erupt without notice slaughtering whoever is in their path. Clara’s life complet ...more

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Sep 16, 2020 Celia McMahon rated it it was amazing

Wow. This book, you guys. I’m FLOORED. DEAD. review to come.

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Aug 24, 2020 Erin Arkin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2020, i-have-a-real-book, series, audio, ala-mw-2020

Full review to come.

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Oct 22, 2020 Samm | Sassenach the Book Wizard rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020, tbr-october-2020

So I didn't love this as much as I loved the Ruined trilogy but I enjoyed it more than Reboot. I wasn't super crazy about the romance to start but as the book went on, I realized it was being used for a purpose and not an "OTP love at first sight." I do wish the author would have extended the timeline because it seemed a little ridiculous all this happened over the course of like 2 weeks. Even if you have to time jump, I could imagine the characters getting more comfortable with each other off c ...more

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Dec 12, 2019 Justin Turczak rated it it was ok

Feels like I re read the 5th wave. A modern world where these monsters run rampade, which comes this girl and joins a make shift fighting group to get away from as description abusive father and mother who doesn’t do anything. So pretty much they train you, then slowly one by one your team dies. The author atleast did well setting up romance start plot to it and what turns to. But back to death parts of the team. One thing atleast this book did better was found ways to make when finally making a ...more

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Oct 21, 2020 Shelley rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-release, borrowed-library, young-adult-science-fiction

*Source* Library
*Genre* Young Adult / Science Fiction
*Rating* 4.0

*Thoughts*

Author Amy Tintera's All These Monsters is the first book in an expected duology featuring a ragtag group of monster fighters and a shocking twist that will leave readers craving for the second book. 17-year old Clara Pratt is the main character. She lives in Dallas, Texas with her mom, brother, and abusive father. After being physically abused by her dad, she decides she’s had enough. After years of her mother and brothe ...more

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Dec 29, 2020 Beth rated it liked it · review of another edition

Will appeal to fans of the Hunger Games and Divergent. Action packed and fast paced, relatable characters with some good back stories, played out some serious relationship issues teens might encounter. Lost a star because there was no section at the end telling teens where to turn if they were experiencing abuse.

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Apr 02, 2020 Nicole (FearYourEx) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arcs-read-in-2020

Thank you to HMH Teen for sending me an early copy.

I went into this book with ZERO expectations. I haven't read anything by Amy Tintera before, but I saw the cover and was intrigued. Read the synopsis and decided to jump in. I started the book and read 20 pages but was in the middle of another book. I read the rest of the over 400 pages in about 24 hours. This book was a wild ride and I CANNOT WAIT for the sequel.

This story has a good amount of fun, a ton of action, and some more serious underto ...more

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Sep 13, 2019 ♠ TABI⁷ ♠ marked it as to-read

Shelves: netgalley, edelweiss

all these monsters and yet only so much of my love to go around

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Aug 07, 2020 TheLesserReader rated it liked it

I was going to give this book a 2.5 but I had to give it a 3.5 because of Edan.
If this book was from his perspective 10/10 would recommend to anyone and everyone. But alas.

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Aug 25, 2020 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-read-2020, fun-and-diverse, girl-power-books, action-and-mystery, arcs-read, latin-america

If Clara Pratt is good at anything, it's taking a hit. She's spent her whole life being abused by her father. Now, she's ready to fight back, and ready to take on Scrabs: hideous six-foot tall monsters with sharp claws and teeth that currently terrorize Europe and Asia, with a few sightings in the Americas. When rich, tech-heir Grayson St. John announces that he--in response to the US Government refusing to send the military to fight Scrabs--is creating his own elite fighting squads to rid the w If Clara Pratt is good at anything, it's taking a hit. She's spent her whole life being abused by her father. Now, she's ready to fight back, and ready to take on Scrabs: hideous six-foot tall monsters with sharp claws and teeth that currently terrorize Europe and Asia, with a few sightings in the Americas. When rich, tech-heir Grayson St. John announces that he--in response to the US Government refusing to send the military to fight Scrabs--is creating his own elite fighting squads to rid the world of Scrabs. It's Clara's ticket out of Texas and out of her father's hands, giving her purpose and freedom. But monster fighting is no joke, and soon the Scrabs seem to be the least of Clara's problems. The biggest, most evil monsters may be hiding in plain sight...

This fantastic first half of a duology is some of Tintera's finest, with truly horrific monsters, phenomenal characters (ranging from 'must protect at all cost' to 'must punch in the face at least once'), and a really cool alternate history/present for our world. And then there's the fight scenes. Amy Tintera is one of the few authors I know who can put a fight scene in just about every chapter and you not feel overwhelmed by the continuous action. It all flows together seamlessly, but also it's kind of like a horror movie. You know they're going to fight Scrabs. They're going to show up. So of course they show up at what is probably the worst possible time. You expect it, but only to a certain extent, so it is still a surprise when they come up out of the ground.

And then there's Tintera's deft handling of two incredibly important but sensitive subjects: parental abuse and abusive relationships. Clara and another character have discussions about breaking the cycle of abuse, and working through the ramifications of her abuse. For Clara particularly, it is having trouble making and keeping friends, trusting people, and feeling a need to keep silent about her past, which also leaves her feeling distant from her teammates. But, slowly, she's making friends, making progress, and living her best life. As she should! I won't get too much into the second topic there to avoid spoilers, however, but it's there and well-written and Clara has an amazing support system to have her back, physically and emotionally. ...more

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Aug 13, 2020 Chelsies Reading Escape rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020-releases

I really enjoyed Claras character development. It all came full circle with her getting a better understanding of her mother situation while still refusing to be like her. I had a feeling that's where her character arc was going and I'm so glad I was right. Clara's home life before she left to join the monster squad made me really connect with her. It gave her the backstory needed to make her feel like a well rounded character. I thought her relationship with her brother was really heartwarming. I really enjoyed Claras character development. It all came full circle with her getting a better understanding of her mother situation while still refusing to be like her. I had a feeling that's where her character arc was going and I'm so glad I was right. Clara's home life before she left to join the monster squad made me really connect with her. It gave her the backstory needed to make her feel like a well rounded character. I thought her relationship with her brother was really heartwarming. As much as I find badass female characters empowering it was a nice change knowing Clara wasnt the best at everything. Although she was stronger than she gave herself credit for.

I knew the romance was going down a slippery slope when Clara started making excuses for Julian being hard on the other team members, but I appreciated the direction it went in and the message behind it. It took a while for Clara to grow close to her team, but once she did it was really nice seeing her be able to lean on them for support. They made a great friend group and showed exactly what it means to pick your own family. One of my favorite parts was seeing Clara and Madison bonding after Madison stands up for her. I thought Patrick was really sweet, but it was definitely Edan who caught my heart. Since he had the most in common with Clara they just clicked on a deeper level.

The plot was a lot of fun and went in a direction I wasnt expecting. Theres some shady corporate scheming going on that might be even more dangerous than the monsters themselves. I just love the idea of a monster fighting squad and all the deadly action that comes with that. We even get a bit of a competitive element with only one out of five applicants being accepted for the squad after the tryouts. This had both a compelling plot and wonderful character development. I couldnt put it down and read the entire thing in two days. I thought Grayson was wearing a camera so that would mean Noah heard his little secret conversation with Clara, but that's never mentioned.

The world was similar to our own except these monster called scrabs have started showing up everywhere and attacking people in packs. They're somewhat human in appearance but instead of nails they have razor sharp claws that can dig tunnels extremely fast and they're skin consist of grey armored plates that make them hard to kill. Since the American scrab infestation is at an all time low and the government isnt doing anything to help countries that are severely affected by the monsters Grayson has decided to put his own teams together. After Clara leaves Texas to go tryout in Atlanta the teams leave to go train in Paris and from there they move onto London. I really enjoyed seeing all these different settings and I cant wait to see where the sequel will take us. I hope we get more information about the origin of the scrabs.

*received for review ...more

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Sep 30, 2020 Cynthia rated it really liked it

Do I really have to wait until July for the conclusion to All These Monsters? That hurts my heart!

Can you imagine seeing combat against deadly monsters as the more appealing route for your life? Seventeen year old Clara can. She sees the opportunity to join a team to fight scrabs as the ideal escape from her abusive home. That’s how bad the abuse she endured was. But Clara already knows that monsters don’t always look the way they’re supposed to. And it’s the ones you don’t recognize who prove t ...more

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Aug 16, 2020 Kari rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, 2020

All These Monsters is the first in new duology. In this reality, monsters that live in the earth are terrorizing the world. Clara, in an effort to escape her abusive father, signs up to become a part of an international group that fights these monsters. I liked the premise of the book, but I'm not sure I loved the execution. What I was hoping would be a good monster fighting story instead ended up being mostly a romance love triangle with some fighting in it.

What I was hoping for was a great mon ...more

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