Book Review: M IS FOR MONSTER

Title: M is for Monster
Author: Talia Dutton
Genre/s and tags: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, SFF, Retelling, LGBTQ+
Publisher: Abrams Books
Publication date: June 28th 2022

Synopsis

When Doctor Frances Ai’s younger sister Maura died in a tragic accident six months ago, Frances swore she would bring her back to life. However, the creature that rises from the slab is clearly not Maura.

This girl, who chooses the name “M,” doesn’t remember anything about Maura’s life and just wants to be her own person.

However, Frances expects M to pursue the same path that Maura had been on—applying to college to become a scientist—and continue the plans she and Maura shared. Hoping to trigger Maura’s memories, Frances surrounds M with the trappings of Maura’s past, but M wants nothing to do with Frances’ attempts to change her into something she’s not.

In order to face the future, both Frances and M need to learn to listen and let go of Maura once and for all. Talia Dutton’s debut graphic novel, M Is for Monster, takes a hard look at what it means to live up to other people’s expectations—as well as our own.

Review

“This isn’t my body. I just live here.”

Well this debut graphic novel has Talia Dutton solidly on my “authors to watch” list! Grief, identity, family, are all major themes within this Frankenstein retelling and the art style really ties everything together.

The world has stylistic similarities to the classic Frankenstein movie, opting for more of a teal-and-white tone rather than the grayscale typically seen in monster stories. This gives the book a bit of a lighter feel which works so well as M is for Monster is more of an emotionally driven story than one of horror. I love the way the characters looked! Frances in especially acted as a constant reminder of the implied time period with her particular style of lab wear and gloves.

I do wish some of the world-building had been better explained. The time period is implied but never stated which gives the story a timeless feel, but magic is mentioned several times without really being explored. It was just vague enough that all mention of it could have been removed and the story would not have changed.

M is for Monster is, on a base level, a Frankenstein retelling. In reality, those similarities stop early on and we’re left with Dutton’s original take on a very old question, “How can we know who we are when the world insists we are something else?”

The story has some LGBTQ+ side characters, and while they aren’t the main focus of the story many readers will recognize how M’s journey mirrors the struggles many in the community face. Particularly dealing with the expectations of others and assumptions about you based on your physical body. Not to mention keeping your identity a secret for reasons of literal survival and fear of being without family.

M is for Monster is one of those stories I’m so glad to have read. I think it’s a story that will resonate with a lot of readers. This is the story Victor’s creature deserved (you know if Victor wasn’t a wimp and took responsibility as a father), it’s the story all of us deserve.