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A Taste for Monsters
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
30 posts | 23 read | 46 to read
London 1888, and Jack the Ripper is terrorizing the people of the city. Evelyn, a young woman disfigured by her dangerous work in a matchstick factory with nowhere to go, does not know what to make of her new position as a maid to the Elephant Man in London Hospital. Evelyn wanted to be locked away from the world, like he is, shut away from the filth and dangers of the streets. But in Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man, she finds a gentle kindred, who does not recoil from her, and who understands her pain. When the murders begin, however, Joseph and Evelyn are haunted nightly by the ghosts of the Ripper's dead, setting Evelyn on a path to facing her fears and uncovering humanity's worst nightmares, in which the real monsters are men. A terrifying and haunting tale from the Edgar and PEN Award-winning author of Icefall, Matthew J. Kirby.
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TieDyeDude
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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#scarathlon Photo Challenge Catch Up: #witch #night #monster #moon

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TieDyeDude
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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Pickpick

A strong YA story that combines a radium girl, the Elephant Man and Jack the Ripper. A young girl with phosphorus jaw is tasked with caring for Joseph Merrick, but their relationship is strained when the ghosts of the Ripper's victims start to haunt them. Good historical fiction with a killer ending!

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CindyMyLifeIsLit
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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Pickpick

This is a great spooky Victorian YA! I liked the incorporation of The Elephant Man. This story has him, Jack the Ripper, and multiple ghosts, so something for everyone!

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Grrlbrarian
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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Finished up my May #Bookspin with this cracking yarn. It wasn‘t a good reading month - too busy - but I managed to eke out my #Bookspin #Doublespin and a couple of #BookspinBingo lines. On to June! 🌞

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! Fabulous month!! 3y
24 likes1 comment
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Addison_Reads
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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Pickpick

Another book finished for #screamathon 👻 @4thhouseontheleft

Historic fiction mixed with a bit of mystery and a closer look at human nature in regards to people who are different.

Jack the Ripper is terrorizing the streets and poor Evelyn finds herself dealing with the ghosts of his victims while also caring for the Elephant Man.

It was a bit slow at first, but it does pick up. Great spooky read. 👻

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julesG
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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LibraryCin
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
Mehso-so

I wondered part-way through if there had been people who really thought they could live without eating, and in fact, there were. I might have rated it higher, but the story was pretty slow-going. For the last third of the book or so, I thought it picked up quite a bit, but decided that I‘d keep my rating at “ok”, which is where it fell for me for most of the book. I guess I shouldn‘t have been surprised at the crazy religious people.

LibraryCin Oh, I prefer “so-so“ for words rather than “meh“ to go with my sideways thumb. 5y
3 likes1 comment
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Jgotham
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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Liking the book so far. It‘s a historical YA (I think) I found in my library. A young girl with her own deformities is assigned to be a personal maid to the Elephant Man during the murders of Jack the Ripper. Along the way she begins to see the Elephant Man as more than just a monster.

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Jgotham
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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It‘s been snowing all day and now I‘m gonna have homemade chili and try reading a new book

5 likes1 comment
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JamieLou
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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I love it when my school library gets read and starts putting up displays. All of these look like books I want to read, but that last one “A Taste For Monsters” is screaming to me.

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Patrella
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby

I'm reading A Taste for Monsters and in it the characters start reading Northanger Abbey. Now I'm conflicted, because I want to pause on this book and go read Miss Austen's novel! I both love it and hate it when a book mentions other books. I get book reader jealous! Does this happen to anyone else?

LiteraryinLawrence Yes! In this case, I've read Northanger Abbey and it is super different from Austen's other books. It's a play on a Gothic novel, basically. But I haven't read the book you're reading, so I can't really help with your decision. :/ 7y
4 likes1 stack add1 comment
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bookdrunkard78
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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Pickpick

Evelyn Fallow is a young woman whose parents died young. She found work at a matchstick company, but a tragic accident leaves her disfigured. Unsure if she will ever be accepted, she tries to find a way off the streets. She gains employment as a maid for John Merrick, aka The Elephant Man. However, there is violence afoot in the streets of London and soon the pair are haunted by something more sinister than they could ever imagine.

bookdrunkard78 This also marks 'T' off the #LitsyAtoZ challenge and is the first book I've read for it! @BookishMarginalia 7y
BookishMarginalia 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 7y
19 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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HarleyQuinn
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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bookdrunkard78
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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Plan on finishing this book today and hanging with my #oldladies . #purrinstereo #PennyLane #Nimbus #catsoflitsy

JoeStalksBeck Awww kittehs!❤️❤️❤️ 7y
Emiller 😻😻😻😻 7y
Desha Awww so cute! 🐾🐾 7y
bookdrunkard78 I usually have one or the other as a reading companion, but recently, I've had both! 7y
BeckyD They are so pretty. 7y
34 likes5 comments
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bookdrunkard78
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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I chose first in my book club with @patrella . I'll pick 6 and she'll pick 6 and we'll alternate months! #upfirst is A Taste for Monsters by Matthew J. Kirby! Starting this on my lunch break today!

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PaperbackReader
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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"I don't know what the future holds for me. All I know is what's right now."

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PaperbackReader
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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"I want to know what happens when we die."
Dr. Treves chortled. "Associate we all, I should think. Mortality is our collective obsession."

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Garabrandtreviews
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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Another top 10 for 2016. This was nothing like I expected, much to my delight. A disfigured woman gets a job in the safety of the hospital during the time of Jack the Ripper. Her charge, The Elephant Man, is greeted by the ghosts of the victims, weakening and saddening him. To protect John, she must help them all find peace. How far is she willing to go? Loved this one, it was a bit spooky but more sweet. That was unexpected.

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kp825
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby

"I thought I could guess what he was thinking then about his own attractiveness, but he said nothing more and I let go of the matter, for I knew very well there was a degree of ugliness against which no amount of kindness or virtue could balance the scale."

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allureofbeauty
Taste for Monsters | Matthew J Kirby
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DiruVamp
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
Pickpick

What a wonderful story. A young disfigured girl escapes a life on the streets to become a maid for Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man and they inadvertently become entangled in the crimes of Jack the Ripper. The bond and friendship they form is touching. It was different and interesting and very enjoyable.

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Fortsofpaper
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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Very excited for this read for #booktober

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DiruVamp
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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I love Sunday book mail!

callunakeep Oooh!! I wonder if mine came! I won't be home til tomorrow to check! 7y
30 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Garabrandtreviews
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
Pickpick

I love this book! It looked at the Ripper killings in a really unique way. Evelyn, disfigured from her time working in a match factory, lands a job as maid to "The Elephant Man". Outside the safe haven of the hospital, a murderer is on the loose and the souls of the departed are coming to them for help. It IS suspenseful and sometimes gruesome; but also sweet and charming. I loved how this book came together.

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Garabrandtreviews
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby

“Dreadful business, to be sure,” Beatrice said. “There be a demon at work in Whitechapel, and mark me, the police won‘t do nothing about it.”

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Garabrandtreviews
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby

...'before my mother died I spent many evenings with my cheek against her knee as she read aloud to me. I understood little of it, of course, and I believe my mother knew that, but she read the books to me nevertheless, perhaps believing the words would simply soak into me as milk and honey soak into bread.'

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Garabrandtreviews
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby

It's out! I am so excited! I opened my eBook already!

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misswendyd
A Taste for Monsters | Matthew J. Kirby
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I glanced at the synopsis and saw "Victorian London" and "Jack the Ripper," and I thought, "Great!" But this story is so much more than that. Evelyn has been gravely disfigured by phosphorous necrosis, so she takes a job as a maid to The Elephant Man. Their plight and uncertain friendship is fascinating, and the world the author creates is thoroughly engrossing.

100 pages in, I already know it's going on my list of 2016 favorites. Out 9/27/16.

Heideschrampf Sounds interesting. Is it well researched or are the characters heavily fictionalized? 8y
DiruVamp Oh wow this sounds awesome!! @callunakeep here's ANOTHER one! 😝 Jack the Ripper, the Elephant Man and it's a YA - sounds so good!!! 8y
callunakeep @DiruVamp Heck yes!! I am totally in! Another one straight to the top of the TBR! 8y
See All 11 Comments
ForestAvenuePress Oh! A bookseller friend of mine was just telling me to watch for this one. 8y
misswendyd @DiruVamp @callunakeep I finished it yesterday, and it's incredibly poignant. The writing is fantastic, it really creates a definitive sense of time and place. Hope you enjoy it! 8y
misswendyd @ForestAvenuePress With good reason! It's terrific. I'm glad people are talking about it, I hadn't heard of it at all until it showed up on my doorstep. 8y
misswendyd @Heideschrampf It is incredibly well-researched, and the historical figures and details are seamlessly integrated. I was looking up things online at 2 in the morning as I read because I was enjoying it so much! Evelyn's character and arc are fiction, but the majority of The Elephant Man's arc is grounded in fact. 8y
DiruVamp @misswendyd your comments have me even more excited! 8y
Heideschrampf @misswendyd awesome! This is the answer i was hoping for. On my list, at the forefront! 8y
misswendyd @DiruVamp I'm so glad! Let me know what you think of it if you remember. 8y
misswendyd @Heideschrampf Yeah, I'm always suspicious of historical novels, too--I actually have a "costume fiction" shelf on GoodReads to differentiate the ones where it's just a setting. This one even keeps true to the characters telling us what they believe to be true, vs what we know from history. One of the best historical YAs in recent memory. 8y
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