Make Me a Monster

Gr 9 Up–Bayron’s atmospheric Frankenstein retelling strikes the perfect gothic balance between horror and romance. Meka, 17, is used to death, having grown up in her family’s funeral home and now working there as a licensed mortician’s assistant, helping prepare the bodies of the deceased and assist with funerals. She always looks forward to being in her element with the dead bodies waiting for her when she gets home from school, even if most of her peers think it’s weird. But when her loving boyfriend Noah dies suddenly, Meka must grapple with her own grief. It’s a complicated enough emotion without ominous flocks of ravens targeting her, nightmares-turned-memories, or the discovery that Noah has come back to life. When a sinister organization becomes convinced that Meka’s parents can raise the dead, she’ll have to confront everything she knows about death, her family, and herself. Readers of Mary Shelley’s classic will find that Bayron has incorporated many nods to Frankenstein with humor and modern twists, creating a story entirely Bayron’s own while still rewarding fans of horror canon. The romance shines as Meka and Noah find ways to support and love each other while navigating all the hurdles in their relationship. A tightly woven mystery builds chilling stakes as Bayron piles fears big and small onto characters grappling with mortality, grief, and love. The characters are vividly realized and well developed, even as physical appearances are left up to readers’ imaginations.