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NO BEAUTIES OR MONSTERS

Tara Goedjen

For fans of Rory Power and Stranger Things comes an all-new, hair-raising mystery about a girl whose family secrets are as threatening as the desert that surrounds herbut whose quest to expose the truth may tear apart reality itself.
Rylie hasn't been back to Twentynine Palms since her dad died. She left a lot of memories out there, buried in the sand of the Mojave Desert. Memories about her dad, her old friends Nathan and Lily, and most of all, her enigmatic grandfather, a man who cut ties with Rylie's family before he passed away. But her mom's new work assignment means their family has to move, and now Rylie's in the one place she never wanted to return to, living in the house of a grandfather she barely knew. At least her old friends are happy to welcome her home. Well, some of them, anyway. Lily is gone, vanished into the desert. And Twentynine Palms is so much stranger than Rylie remembers. There are whispers around town of a mysterious killer on the loose, but it isn't just Twentynine Palms that feels off - there's something wrong with Rylie, too. She's seeing things she can't explain. Visions of monstrous creatures that stalk the night. Somehow, it all seems to be tied to her grandfather and the family cabin he left behind. Rylie wants the truth, but she doesn't know if she can trust herself. Are the monsters in her head really out there? Or could it be that the deadliest thing in the desert... is Rylie herself? Tara Goedjen has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama and grew up in the South. She is the author of The Breathless and No Beauties or Monsters. To find out more about Tara and her novel, follow @TaraGoedjen on Twitter.
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Published 2021-12-07 by Delacorte

Comments

Readers who enjoyed the twists and turns as well as the emotional heft of Griffin's Other Words for Smoke will find this disorienting trek into the desert similarly satisfying.

No Beauties or Monsters is brilliantly plotted, atmospheric and taut. Goedjen keeps you turning pages, along for the ride with the beautifully-drawn Rylie, as she searches for answers just out of grasp.

Mind-bending and wholly engrossing - I couldn't read it fast enough!

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If the ending feels slightly abrupt, Goedjen (The Breathless) effectively plays with expectations in this unsettling genre-bender, slowly peeling away layers of ambiguity while skillfully keeping readers off-balance. Rylie's attempts to discern reality from nightmare are engaging, as is her genuine effort to emotionally reconnect with the people around her. Read more...

A feast of mystery and intrigue, No Beauties Or Monsters explores the way in which our lives twine around infinite possibilities. To read it is to be caught between a dream and a nightmare.

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