"Yes, my dear child, monsters are real. I happen to have one hanging in my basement." 
 In The Monstrumologist we follow our intrepid protagonist Will Henry (a boy of 12) as he works as the apprentice to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop set against the backdrop of Victorian New England. This is a macabre tale of hunting monsters most foul, in this case the anthropophagi. Here's a picture for frame of reference: 
 If you're like me, you went into The Monstrumologist thinking it would be a lighter hearted middle grade read (a la Percy Jackson) and would have some monsters and laughs along the way. Well... there are monsters and laughs but this is anything but light hearted. I don't understand how is this marketed as a YA or middle grade novel. Is the sole reason that the protagonist is a 12 year old boy? As you can probably guess from the picture above, this was one of the most horrifically violent books I've ever read. And I'm an adult saying that! I mean... I know Rick Yancey can write some dark stuff (The 5th Wave series for example) but this is ridiculously dark. I'm not trying to say that like it's a bad thing. Rick Yancey often writes his most beautiful prose while his characters are in bleak moments. But wow... the carnage level in this one is off the charts. I wasn't necessarily scared by The Monstrumologist but I did cringe at some of the gorier moments. If this was a movie, there would be no possible way for it to be rated anything under R just due to the violence level. So for that reason alone, I would classify this as an adult book. 
 While most of the story does revolve around hunting the anthropophagi the spirit of the book revolves more around the question of morality and the human desire to connect. At its heart The Monstrumologist is a father / son story. Dr. Warthrop takes in Will (whose father was the doctor's previous assistant) after Will's parents die in a fire. Dr. Warthrop has no idea how to be a father or how to treat a son since his own father was pretty much absent his whole life. What he does know is how to have an assistant. Hence, he doesn't treat Will so much as a son but as an employee. However, it's clear that Dr. Warthrop does have some fatherly affection for Will. He just has literally no idea how to express it other than to treat him like an assistant. His way of letting Will know he cares is by telling him that his services are indispensable to him. Will usually takes this as the doctor being self-centered but I don't think he sees the bigger picture being the services are indispensable to him because they are provided by Will in particular. 
 "But monsters, I now know, come in all shapes and sizes, and only their appetite for human flesh defines them." 
 As for morality, we see the darker side of humanity in Dr. Kearns. He is a man devoid of any definable moral compass. He does things as he sees fit regardless of the circumstances. At the same time he's also impossibly charming. I think it's the charming artifice that makes him a truly scary man. He's ever only truly loyal to himself and as long as you happen to want the same things as him you will get along fine. The second your desires deviate from his he will be your enemy. He's a true sociopath and he is an example of how human beings can also be considered monsters. 
 While the carnage was truly gruesome at some points there is a lot more that The Monstrumologist has to offer. Yes, it's a macabre tale about blood thirsty monsters but it also has a deep emotional core that resonates with the reader regardless of their age. I usually hate books that take place in the Victorian era but in this circumstance I think it was the perfect setting for the bloody rampage the monsters wreak on humanity. I can't exactly describe it but the time period just perfectly suited the themes and content of the story. I'm a big Rick Yancey fan and I love his writing style so that may have also contributed to my adoration for The Monstrumologist. However, I think if I wasn't already a fan I would have still loved this and would definitely recommend it to others. Just not to kids... this is an adults only book for me.