Hidden Monster (The Monsters Among Us Book 1)

Amanda's passion for writing shines through in her books. The characters are well thought out and the book never leaves you disappointed . Hidden Monster brings all of the Anticipation and excitement that you would hope for in a great book. Well done!

In the paranormal trope, I've seen most everything, but I haven't seen this. The author takes us on what seems like a normal "hidden identity" story, but ends up being something completely new. I even thought I had the big bad guy figured out by the end. Nope. Huge thanks to the author for the unexpected bit, and the new creature aspects. This was a fun read.

Content warning: Minor cussing. Some violence.

I found this story compelling. It drew me in completely. Samantha is kidnapped and imprisoned by a man she calls the Monster. He injects her with drugs over and over and promises that she will love him. I liked Samantha and I was really interested in what was happening to her. Why she is changing and into what. The book is fast paced and reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode. A good story. I liked it. I was liking the beginning of the book better then the second half. The book took a turn that was a little strange for me. 3 stars.

In the paranormal trope, I've seen most everything, but I haven't seen this. The author takes us on what seems like a normal "hidden identity" story, but ends up being something completely new. I even thought I had the big bad guy figured out by the end. Nope. Huge thanks to the author for the unexpected bit, and the new creature aspects. This was a fun read.

Content warning: Minor cussing. Some violence.

I found this story compelling. It drew me in completely. Samantha is kidnapped and imprisoned by a man she calls the Monster. He injects her with drugs over and over and promises that she will love him. I liked Samantha and I was really interested in what was happening to her. Why she is changing and into what. The book is fast paced and reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode. A good story. I liked it. I was liking the beginning of the book better then the second half. The book took a turn that was a little strange for me. 3 stars.

The first few chapters were beautifully written and had me riveted, but the story slowly declined until I was reading just because I was near the end. I thought I had a winner story in my hands with the breathtaking exciting start. Poor world building and insipid characters, combined with a slow storyline lost the plot - This was a very disappointing read.
@crushingcinders

What started out as an interesting abduction story turned into a surprising fantasy story with some similarities to the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer, but replacing vampires and wolves with dragonflies.

I didn’t like the main character Samantha, she seemed to cope extraordinarily well with firstly being abducted for several weeks and then suddenly finding out she had wings one day and was actually a female dragonfly. I didn’t really like Blake much, who was Samantha’s love interest, his personality seemed to change on and off during the book, and the other minor characters weren’t that interesting either.

I guessed early on who Samantha’s abductor was, and there was a twist at the very end which I wasn’t expecting, but it did feel like there was a load of information dumped right at the end to explain everything.

Overall, an original idea but flat characters and a plot that goes all over the place.

Published: November 4th 2014!

➟ My first novel by Amanda Strong. How could I have not read this authors' work before, I don't know!

Hidden Monster started off (for me) great!
I didn't read the blurb, so I dove into this one without knowing what to expect.

There are more than a few surprises hidden in this story.

Samantha was kidnapped, held against her will in a secluded cabin in the woods, only to be set free after three weeks, in which she was drugged most of the time.

She is struggling to come to terms what happened and suddenly experiences black-outs...waking in a different location each time.

She meets Blake. Sexy, hunky, boy-next-door. She is instantly attracted to him and he makes no mistake into letting her know that he feels the same.

After making a horrific discovery, she starts to question Blake's feeling for her. Feeling betrayed, she begins to shut him out, not wanting to confront him with what she knows he did.

This is a rollercoaster ride! With many twists and turns. I am not a fantasy fan, but this one kept me hooked. Each and every interaction between characters left you wanting more.

A great start to a new genre for me: Psychological suspense fantasy.

Brilliantly written!

***A big thank you to Amanda Strong, via Netgalley, for my advance reader copy of Hidden Monster (Monsters Among Us #1) for a fair and honest review.

This was such an enjoyable and surprising book! I did not know what to expect when I started it and it turned out to be so much fun. Strong's forte is in creating complex, imaginative plot lines and Hidden Monster takes you on a roller coaster ride from the very first scene. Her characters are wonderful, as well. Samantha is a strong protagonist and I was rooting for her until the very end. Blake is a truly swoon-worthy book boyfriend and I look forward to seeing how life turns out for them in the rest of the series, which I hope Ms. Strong will hurry up and write. Hint. Hint.

If you enjoy YA fantasy with more than a touch of romance, this book is definitely for you.

This is an outstanding book with a unique plot. I stayed up till midnight on work night to read it. I immediately went and downloaded the second in the series and am on edge of my seat waiting for third one. This is book that kept me engrossed with constant twists and turns that kept me constantly guessing. Read it you will love it.

Hidden Monster by Amanda Strong is a surprising YA read. We begin with a horrific kidnapping that reminds you of Silence of the Lambs and end up with a surprising paranormal with a twist.

Strong does a great job detailing the aftermath of the victim of kidnapping and abuse, Samantha. I must applaud her for that.

So, if you are looking for something completely different, this is a book to oick up.

Samantha's day started out not so bad because she was out running and then it turned bad because she was taking by someone she does not know but by they know about her and is holding her in a place with noting around her. He is drugging her to make her love him.

The story begins with Samantha being held against her will in a cabin.....She awakes to someone yelling, "She's over here!"......"I promise we won't tie you down on the gurney. " Time passes. At home she wears sloppy clothes....cuts her hair.....wakes up outside. Many good and important things happen between the....and the next.... I want you to have the fun of discovery.
Her doorbell rings at home to find Blake (he's one of the...things in between) and her mother asks him in. Blake's mother would like her family to come for dinner. He would also like to talk with Blake. It was a, Hi how you doin, get to know you talk. Also a, have pity on me and go to the dance with me talk.
Does she say yes? Does she go with someone else? And by the way, what happens in the rest of the book? I received this book for an honest review.

Terrible just because it's fantasy doesn't mean you can just throw any trite crap into the plot or characters' personalities and expect your reader to go along c I struggled to finish this. It was really awful and none of the characters behaved like real people. You could tell they only did things to further the plot rather than being true to who the author wrote them to be. It was awful