4 out of 4 stars
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What lengths would you go to to have a child? People pay thousands of dollars (if not more) for IVF treatments. But what if those were unsuccessful? Would you, perhaps, participate in something illegal?
Fortunate Monsters follows Roslyn and Jacob Kemp. This husband and wife have tried everything to conceive, but it hasn't worked. Finally, they decide to fly to a remote island where a “fertility clinic” is set up. The doctor promises that they will leave the clinic pregnant, and they do. But not all is as it seems.
This book is a psychological thriller, and I enjoyed how realistic it was. It's sometimes hard to understand why people do what they do, but authors like Nancy Fulton help us to understand the motivations behind actions. Jacob and Roslyn are a normal (albeit wealthy) couple. While I don't think I would do what they have done, I can better understand it because of this book. Not only that, but we also get an insight into the mind of someone who isn't quite so normal. Someone who lacks the empathy that others have. I enjoyed trying to understand the mind of a criminal.
The book is relatively short at around 130 pages. The plot was fast-paced which made for a quick and easy read. Right from the start I wanted to know what was going to happen to Jacob and Roslyn; what decisions they were going to make. I was hooked and had to keep reading until the end.
Another thing that I enjoyed about this book was the fact that it was not overly graphic with no sexual situations and very little language. It's often difficult to find a clean book like this in the thriller genre. This book really didn't need any gore or cussing to keep its readers invested. Therefore, I can fully recommend this to teenagers as well as adults.
One more positive to mention was the fact that you don't walk away from this book feeling completely depressed as you sometimes do with any crime novels. Without giving too much away, I will just say that I was satisfied at the ending. At the same time, I thought it was very realistic as justice is not always served exactly as you think it should be.
The one thing that was a little bit odd was the pictures located at the end of chapters. Some of the main characters were depicted in life-like drawings. I'm not sure this was really necessary to the plot of the book, but it didn't really bother me. At least they were good drawings.
I applaud Ms. Fulton on a job well done here. I enjoyed reading the novel immensely, and I would highly recommend it for everyone from teenagers up. Thus, I rate Fortunate Monsters 4 out of 4 stars. This would make a great rainy day read as it is easy to finish in a short time.
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Fortunate Monsters
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