Review: Monster Haven book 1
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 14, 2014
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading Monster in My Closet, this is the first book in what is set to be an incredibly fun series and I can't wait to read more from R.L. Naquin. The main character Zoey is just your average girl, she lives a fairly normal life and enjoys working alongside her best friend Sara as a wedding planner. Zoey hasn't believed in monsters since she was a child and thought she saw one hiding in her closet but of course she grew out of that fear, until she comes downstairs one morning only to be confronted by that exact same monster sitting at her kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper! Zoey quickly comes to realise that monsters are real but they aren't always the bad guys and before long she has a house full of closet monsters, brownies and all manner of other creatures that she didn't even know existed.Considering she is thrown in at the deep end Zoey copes quite well with her uninvited guests and she quickly becomes friends with closet monster Maurice and her other visitors. I had so much fun watching Zoey try to come to terms with her new reality, at first she thinks she is losing her mind but with her empathic abilities she quickly adapts to a new way of life. Zoey's mother disappeared when she was a child but it turns out that she used to help supernatural creatures who had nowhere else to turn. Their problems are often very human but where else does a closet monster go when he finds out his wife has been cheating on him and he needs a place to stay? How many refuges do you know of for brownies who are suffering from domestic violence?Zoey is largely untrained on how to use her empathic abilities, she finds it difficult to be around crowds of people because she has no idea how to shield herself from the onslaught of emotions and her power makes her aura shine brightly which soon attracts the attention of a passing incubus. Zoey is now a target and with the help of her friends she is going to have to put a stop to the incubus before he can kill more innocent women. Without a doubt it is the characters that made this book so much fun to read, I loved Zoey but I also enjoyed getting to know the supernatural creatures who come into her life. Maurice is definitely a favourite and I hope we're going to be seeing a lot more of him as the series continues.Monster in My Closet is a light hearted and very amusing story that I devoured in one sitting. It has action, comedy and a hint of romance that I'm hoping will be expanded upon in the next book. Zoey is the kind of woman you can easily picture yourself being friends with, she isn't kickass, and she doesn't really have any special powers apart from her empathy but she has some great friends who are there to support her. She also happens to have a fantastic shoe collection and how can you not like a woman who owns a pair of Iron Fist Zombie stiletto heels?