I've always known I was a monster, and I don't mean some teenage vampire shit either. My mother abandoned me when I was ten years old because I have a freakish mutant disease that makes me incapable of feeling pain. I bounced from one foster family to another because too many people like to test my medical condition in a game of "Try To Make Ollie Scream." At sixteen, I killed a man for taking that game too far. Two years later, I'm still on the run in Kodiak, Alaska. Here, I'm the most dangerous person around, until I come face to face with a creature that should only exist in folklore. The monster is an aswang, and I, with my medical anomaly, am uniquely qualified to hunt the beast that haunts the night. At least, that's what the two scarred, mostly crazy 'swang hunters tell me when they kidnap me and take me to Fear University, a school where young students learn to hunt and kill aswangs. I arrive at the university a prisoner, but I stay because I finally find my freedom. For once in my life, I belong. I'm needed. I make a home for myself inside the university masquerading as an old Alaskan prison. Something close to happiness warms my icy heart when I'm with my scarred, still mostly crazy tutor, Luke Aultstriver. For a murdering runaway like me, Fear University is a haven where I can put my skills to good use hunting monsters in the night. But when certain truths come to light and even more lies are exposed, I fear that I, Ollie Andrews, am the worst kind of monster of all. And, maybe, they should be hunting me.
Release Date: Out Now
If you have read the likes of Vampire Academy, House of Night and The Coventant series I would say you are going to enjoy this little gem by Meg Collett. Featuring our haunted, psychologically interesting and fierce female lead in Ollie Andrews. She has depth as a character and an interesting quirk in that she cannot feel pain. Mixed with the Filipino aswangs (think hellhounds but worse) and going back to school this book just keeps on giving.
What made me enjoy this series was that it was obvious Meg had put alot of research into the mythical beings she is writing about. This allows her to write them in a bloody and fearful tone that adds a sense of trepidation for our characters. These emotions aren't flat but three-dimensional. We are given time to care and love the characters, and how they interact. We see Sunny as someone who should be and is treasured but as insecure as she may be, we know that she can be a danger to the monsters around her. Luke is dangerous, he is dark and brooding too - lets face it we all knew that Luke and Ollie will match up from the blurb.
So what makes this book different than those in the market? Well for me it was the incorporation of a different kind of mythical being. We are saturated with vampires and gods, so lets open our arms to aswangs - well maybe not. Meg's writing is immersive and keeps you hooked. With an interesting plot and a mystery underlying theme it keeps you guessing and reading onward. Overall this book is a clear 4.5 Stars.
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