MADreads

A famous chef and restaurateur in failing health decides to pit his children against one another in order for one of them to achieve the rights to his successful empire.  All of the children (12 boys!) and one daughter, Brianna Jakobsson, must start a new restaurant.  The child with the most successful restaurant wins the inheritance.  Each restaurant must be in a different town and all of the children must open their restaurant without any assistance from their father.  Brianna is at a major disadvantage because she is the youngest in the family and has only recently graduated from culinar

Teenage girls across the world begin to develop the ability to shoot electricity out of their hands.

Peter Diamond may wince at being called the ‘veteran superintendent’ of the Bath, England police force, but it will prove impossible to escape historical comparisons with the city’s newest crime scene. Or maybe it’s the oldest crime scene? The recent demolition of eighteenth century row houses reveals a literal skeleton in the attic of one of the condemned buildings—and this one happens to be unmistakably dressed as Beau Nash, one of Bath’s most famous denizens, in authentic 1760s-era clothing.

I have run out of superlatives when describing this book to friends. There is so much to love, such rich artwork and storytelling. Alison Bechdel calls it virtuosic; I would say mind-blowing. The story is as complex, nuanced, and dark as the art. Perhaps dark times call for dark stories, but ultimately Monsters comes down to girl power and Ferris’ timing is just right.