"Devil’s Bane by Ken MacGregor

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

At age 9, most children are enjoying new sports or hobbies, spending time with friends, and going to the movies. Josh Campbell is not “most�� 9 year olds. While his dad fights monsters, Josh is training to be a monster hunter as well. When tragedy strikes, Josh is faced with the decision to become a monster hunter or pay the ultimate sacrifice for his family.

This book was phenomenal and I finished it in one sitting. I could not put it down at all. This book was geared more towards a YA audience, however, if you love a good monster fighting story, any age will be beyond satisfied in reading the story.

I loved how the story pulled me in immediately. The explaining of the different monsters, to the details of how to train to be a monster fighter, and the character building were amazing. I was so impressed with the research the author did about different monsters (I am a little bias of the Hodag being my favorite as I am from Wisconsin 😊). Beginning, middle, and end of the book flowed together perfectly. The friends, foes, and everyone throughout the story were entwined perfectly together and I was genuinely very impressed at it all. The ending of the book was amazing and I am so happy that I was able to review this book.

I honestly don’t think I have read a YA focused book and enjoyed it as much as I did for this book. I really hope there are more books made surrounding this story because I would be getting them all in a heartbeat.

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"A collection of 22 short stories by different authors, with "monsters" as a shared theme. Some very imaginative concepts within, with the genres ranging from supernatural horror to science fiction to apocalyptic cautionary tales. Some of the stories are creepy, others funny, and there is a good deal of violence and gore. The authors were all new to me, and include one friend who is published for the first time! I was engrossed by every story and thoroughly enjoyed this book."

"I do have a story in this anthology, so my opinion might not be fully trustworthy, but I thourougly enjoyed this book. Like the title suggests, it's full of new, original monsters. The stories range from creepy to genuinely upsetting to charming, and there's absolutely something here for any reader.

Some favorites -
"God Damn You to Hell, John Glenn!" by Frank Oreto - Such an amazing, well-realized main character and an ending that will stick with you.
"The Sea-Witch of the World's Fair" by Gwendolyn Kiste - Loved the setting and pretty much everything else about this story.
"Sight Unseen" by Amanda M. Blake - Loved how weird this one was, and also how sweet.
"Catfish" by R. A. Busby - Possibly my favorite monster in this book of monsters.
"Bloomer" by E.C. Dorgan - Another excellent monster, both sad and terrifying. "