Book: This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara
Reviewed by Ashley M
Rating: 4/5
Overview
Dates read: June 26 – July 27, 2026
Shalini Abeysekara does not ease you into her world, and she certainly does not pull her punches when it comes to corrupt institutions and lethal magic. The story drops us right beside Sarai of Arsamea as she stumbles into the ruthless machinery of Candidate trials, mysterious disappearances, and a city where the law feels less like protection and more like a carefully orchestrated lie. Where Justice has failed, Wrath steps in to rectify what the law lacks the courage to do.
Instead of a typical heroic quest, Sarai gets dragged into a web of vanished healers, dead vigiles, and cheap iron dust scandals. The narrative moves at a relentless pace, balancing procedural murder investigations with the creeping realization that the city’s highest towers are hiding dark secrets.
What I Loved
Kadra. Lethal, intimidating, and delightfully sharp-edged — he carries the title of Wrath like a loaded weapon while secretly nursing plans to tear the system apart from the inside. Behind the terrifying facade is a quiet defender who shields Sarai when she stands alone.
The friction between them. His feral, calculated power clashing with Sarai’s sharp intellect is the absolute heart of the story — especially when her nervous slips turn a solemn moment into a hilarious mess of accidental double entendres, and his wine-rough voice only makes it filthier.
Lived-in magic. Runes like herar pressed into wrists with dots of blood to plunge into minds, alongside grisly crime-scene details. Gruesome, raw, and thoroughly immersive.
The investigation. Sanitized legal filings set against the bloody reality beneath, the Metals Guildmaster buying up land, mysterious falls from the Academiae’s towers — a chilling trail of foreshadowing that kept me turning pages late into the night.
The vigiles running a literal betting pool on when their brooding leader will finally break.
What Didn’t Work
Not a flaw in the book so much as a character I could not stand: Cisuré. Her blind, frustrating worship of Aelius is equal parts infuriating and tragic — she eats up whatever narrative she’s fed while ignoring the rot right in front of her. When she tells Sarai the gods probably punished her at fourteen just so she wouldn’t turn out the way she did, it hits like a slap to the face.
Verdict
★★★★☆ (4/5) — cold magic, feral loyalty, and a high-stakes chess game where every choice carries a deadly cost. If you love a world where every truth comes with a sharp, bloody price tag, drop everything and read this one.
Read next:
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab — ancient bargains, dark immortals, and power that comes at a devastating cost.
Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer — corrupt medicine sparking rebellion, and a clash with a lethal, misunderstood royal.
The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen — a pragmatic heroine, blood magic, and characters forced together by survival.
Full review on Medium