Book Review: “Monster Club” by Darren Aronofsky & Ari Handel

“Monster Club” by Darren Aronofsky & Ari Handel (2022)

Genre: Middle-Grade, Fiction, Fantasy

Page Length: 352 pages (hardcover edition)

Synopsis:

Like almost everything in eleven-year-old Eric “Doodles” King’s life, King’s Wonderland—the amusement park his great-great grandfather founded—was seriously damaged when a hurricane hit his beloved Coney Island neighborhood. Now hungry property developers are circling the wreckage of the once-awesome King’s Wonderland, and Eric’s family is falling apart from the threat of losing it all.

If it weren’t for Monster Club—the epic roleplaying game that Eric and his friends created—Eric’s life would be pretty terrible. Drawing his favorite monster battling with his best friends’ creations is the one thing that still gets Eric excited. So when his friends start to think of Monster Club as a kid’s game and get more interested in other things, Eric just can’t deal. But then Eric happens across a long-lost vial of magic ink that brings their monster drawings to life, and suddenly, Monster Club isn’t just for fun anymore.

The monsters Eric and his friends created are wreaking havoc across Coney, and it’s on the Monster Club to save their city, the amusement park, and maybe, just maybe, Eric’s family, too.

Review:

Have you ever wished your drawings could come to life? Well, Monster Club brings that very same idea to the pages of its novel. I enjoyed the concept of the club with Eric as its leader along with his rag-tag group of friends. Though they are passionate about their own skills they are brought together by the club which creates a special kind of friendship. The story is whimsical, action-packed chaos (in the best way), and pure fun!

As a person who loves art, this novel really captures the beauty of imagination and creating something that is uniquely yours. It’s a story that will surely appeal to its intended audience and adults as well. Many of the novel’s fantasy elements definitely brought out my inner child. The illustrations help to bring the characters and monsters (which have some amazing design concepts) to life which helped to visually enhance the story for the reader.

Besides the entertaining action battle scenes of trying to stop rogue monsters from running amok in the city, I appreciated the focus on the theme of handling change and growing up. Eric is faced with some harsh realities and friendship dynamic changes that he has to navigate on his own. It reminds readers that growing up is never easy but that change must happen in order to evolve.

Final Verdict: