Among Monsters: A Red Hill Novella

**My review contains spoilers if you have not read Red Hill.**

One of the three povs in Red Hill was Scarlet's. She was one tough momma. Nothing was going to stop her from reuniting with her two daughters - Jenna and Halle. And when Scarlet couldn't get to them she made sure the girls were well prepared to get to her.

Told from Jenna's pov, Among Monsters is the story of Jenna and Halle's journey to get to their mother.

Jenna is no ordinary thirteen year old. She's strong and brave. She's smart and clever. She's not afraid to have her voice heard in a group of grown ups and she's fiercely protective of her little sister. It's no wonder Scarlet was confident she would see them again.

The girls have a tumultuous relationship with their father, Andrew, but they're stuck with him through the outbreak and panic and staying alive thereafter.

From the end of Red Hill we know Andrew didn't make it. So I thought it was cruel of McGuire to have us get to know Andrew, like him, and watch him slowly repair his relationship with his daughters just to rip him away...and to not know exactly when it was going to happen added to my anxiety. Heartbreaking.

I thought McGuire did a great job with the details. The timeline matched perfectly and I kept yelling at my kindle when I knew Scarlet, Jenna, and Halle just missed each other.

Among Monsters was an excellent companion to Red Hill. I just loved it.

5 GET TO YOUR MOM STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I just loved 'Red Hill'. It was a very thought provoking and character driven story. It wasn't all about the romance, and the writing was just phenomenal.
If you haven't read 'Red Hill' I suggest you read it now, and read it first before you read 'Among Monsters'.

'Among Monsters' is one very emotional book. As a mom, it really worked my heartstrings. This was written in wonderful Jamie McGuire fashion and again this was a very thought provoking book.

I knew going in that Jenna and Halle get to Red Hill. I knew they would be reunited with their mom. But almost the entire book I kept getting anxious and worried about their journey. I was on sensory overload, but in a good way. And even though Jamie managed to weave parts of Red Hill into this book it was a completely different story and not at all a retelling.

Among Monsters is a novella following the story of the novel Red Hill by Jamie McGuire. I highly recommend to whoever is reading this post and has NOT read Red Hill should do so immediately; even though Among Monsters could be read as a stand-alone. It's not your regular apocalyptic story. It's more than that. It's breath taking and amazing. So is Among Monsters which tells you the story of Scarlet's kids. Red Hill had many POV's, including Scarlet.
This Novella tells the story that we didn't get to experience in Red Hill. Having an entire book for just Jenna and Halle had me all excited! I loved Red Hill. I loved Among Monsters even more.

One of my favorite things about both, Red Hill and Among Monsters, is that all these characters crossed paths at one point and another. The world is so big but yet so small.

With the zombies, teds, shufflers - whichever you personally prefer - everything changed in Jenna and Halle's life. Everyone's life changed from the moment the virus spread out of Germany. Yeah, us bad Germans always start everything - KIDDING. Well, maybe. Anyways, my heart broke throughout Red Hill, where the characters continuously lost their loved ones. At last Jenna and Halle reunite with their mother at the end of Red Hill. This is a major spoiled plot point for Among Monsters, nonetheless you learn so many new, interesting and shocking truths.

"Don't tell me we might not make it to Red Hill. I won't accept that."

While knowing what will happen at the end of the novella, Among Monsters was still a whole new set of shock. My eyes wear sweating all the way through. At about 75% in I couldn't control the sweating anymore. My heart broke into a million pieces. I'm in desperate need of some bandages to fix this mess. More like a lot of bandages because I'm one big mess. I've read quite a lot of emotional stories over the years, but Among Monsters is one of the worst (best) books I've stumbled across. It's a definite must read. It will break your heart, but it will also mend it again. Jamie McGuire knows exactly what she is doing; her fingers are like magic wands, filling our lives with beauty, love and pain. Even with the pain, the words still have a lot of meaning and shouldn't be ignored.

"She's my mom.
If I scrape my knee, I call for her.
If I'm sick, I ask for her.
If I'm scared, I cry for her. If there's an apocalypse, I'm going to the ends of the earth for her."

Among Monsters is full of intense and emotional moments. It teaches the reader some lessons on family and love. DO NOT MISS OUT.

Among Monsters was fabulous!!!! I absolutely loved Red Hill so I was excited when I heard this novella was coming out and we would get to read Jenna and Halle's story. Their journey to the Red Hill Ranch was was enjoyable and thrilling. I loved how Jamie made connections with the characters between the two stories. To know that Scarlet and the girls journey where somewhat intertwined and the characters they met and experiences they had along the way were connected in some ways was awesome. It really felt like even during the zombie apocalypse the world was still small. It was an amazing story filled with action, love, family, strength, growing up and survival. I loved it!!!

I loved this novella! Its crazy that I just found out about this book since I loved Red Hill. It was so sad. I was skeptical of how two little girls could make it to Red Hill on their own but this really explained a lot. I felt bad for their dad. He was scared and trying to protect his daughters but all they wanted was to get to their mom. I loved how even tho he wasn't close to his kids since the divorce he really stepped up and put them first while still trying to survive. I cried when he died bc he really did do his best. He may not have been the best dad but he did everything he could to get them to Red Hill. I liked the overlap between the two books. It makes sense that they would come across the same people. I loved how strong Jenna was and I felt really bad for her. I wonder if they ever found Tavia, Tobin and the others. I know they weren't mentioned in the epilogue of Red Hill, I'm going to believe they made it. I'm glad I found this novella. Great companion to Red Hill.

So unfortunately I didn't really enjoy this book. I wasn't really a fan of Red Hill to begin with but figured I needed to read this always. I get Jenna was only 13 and wanted to be with her mother but she seemed selfish to me. Her dad was kinda a jerk and pig. Who is in the middle of a zombie apocalypse with there kids and thinks about having sex with a strange women who just lost her husband and who's children are in the same house. Just wrong. But he was trying to protect his kids and it was an extremely stressful situation and she just kept pushing and pushing him. I kind of felt bad for him. He was trying to do what he thought was right and Jenna just kept going and going. In the end her pushing him to keep moving ending up costing her their father. And so many other people died for these 2 girls. Geez. Only good think was a happy ending for the girls. Well as happy as a zombie apocalypse goes.

There's no denying that the zombie apocalypse theme is really overplayed. We've seen every movie, show and game practically beat this scenario back into the ground from whence it came. That being said, I was super surprised to be reading from the perspective of a 13 year old girl instead of the typical 30 something rugged male. The characters and their actions feel real. The story universe acknowledges zombie culture and reacts to the outbreak in a genuine way. Societal breakdown is slow from the first news of a pandemic overseas to the first case to reach the U.S. No one's out running and gunning down hoards of undead immediately after the outbreak begins. No large groups of people teaming up trying to survive. It all feels very natural. There's enough drama and action to keep you turning pages without straying away from the focus of the plot: reuniting the two kids to their mother. I'm reminded of TellTale Game's The Walking Dead minus a lot of the extra fluff. In my opinion, this is a definite read for anyone looking for a different take on a zombie apocalypse story.

I loved Red Hill and could wait to consultants happened with Jenna and Hallie for all that time in between and this definitely satisfied my need!! such a great story so suspenseful and amazing!! A must read for EVERYONE!!

After reading Red Hill, I purchased this and read it in one sitting. It pulled at my heartstrings and a tear or two escaped, no joke. Jamie McGuire is an amazing storyteller. The characters seem real and you put yourself in their shoes. It begs the question, What would you do in a Zombie apocalypse?? This is the 5th book I've read from her and am looking forward to more of her intense writing. Thank you Jamie- keep em' coming!!!

Jenna is so smart and has great instincts just like her momma. I loved Red Hill and Among Monsters filled in a few holes to make the story even more amazing!! I highly recommend these books they made me smile and cry and I was on the edge of me seat the whole time!!

I was so excited when Jamie released this book, I had been very curious about Jenna and Halle's adventure and really wanted to see how it went for them.

Once I stared reading this I couldn't put it down. It was raw, action-packed, heartbreaking and amazing. The two girls blew me away with their strength and determination.

A perfect companion novella to Red Hill. This really completed Red Hill for me.
A fantastic read even for the non-zombie lovers!

Read this in an afternoon. It makes things hit home for me thinking about my children and disasters. I read Red Hill first and it was the first zombie book I have ever read, due to the fact that zombies scare me. Once this came out I knew I had to read it. I love Jamie McGuire's books I knew this one would be good too.