“Monster Hunting For Beginners” is the debut novel from Irish author Ian Mark. The book is about a boy named Jack who falls into the role of Monster Hunter. He has to save his aunt from an ogre, and the story unfolds from there. This review is about the audiobook in particular, which was narrated by Nigel Pilkington.
There are no descriptions of the characters beyond the fact that Jack has glasses. Whether you are listening to the audiobook or using your eyes to read, it is important to have descriptions of characters as well as places so that readers can be taken into the story. The characters are pictured on the cover, but for those with impaired vision, this is not enough.
About three-quarters of the way through the book, the author
said that long descriptions of characters are not important so long as there are
pictures. This is extremely ableist at worst and lazy writing at best. The book
has an audiobook version, so if people choose to listen to the audiobook,
whether or not they have physical reasons for doing so, they are missing out on
what the characters look like.
The dialogue of the book carries the story. There are so
many moments when the banter had me laughing out loud. However, this might be
because the audiobook narrator was so good and could accurately portray the
delivery of the humor. Those not used to Irish and British humor may struggle
to pick up on it, especially those reading with their eyes.
On the audiobook version, the titles of the chapters are
read quickly at the end of one chapter, seemingly in the same breath. There is
then a break between the title and the first words of the chapter. It would be
helpful to have a breath break between the end of the chapter and the new
chapter title as well, to help break it up.
Upon reading reviews, it appears that there are asterisks
throughout the book. These are brought into the audiobook seamlessly, but this
broke up the flow of the story, as it did for the readers who read the book “traditionally.”
Overall, the book is silly and full of adventure. Its plot
twist is a bit surprising, but it made sense looking back at everything that
occurred before that point. Older people will find it humorous and engaging,
but it is geared toward younger readers. It is a book filled with allusions and
metaphors that bring the story to life.