Make Me a Monster by Kalynn Bayron
This one had such a moody, gothic vibe and I was here for it.
Meka working as a mortician’s assistant in her family funeral home? Straight away I was intrigued. There’s something so quietly unsettling about someone who is that comfortable with death. It sets the tone instantly.
And then when tragedy strikes? Oh. The shift in atmosphere is so well done. You can feel the ground move under her feet.
What I loved most was the creeping sense of wrongness. The ravens circling. The strangers watching. The mysterious objects left at her door. And then — the dead not staying dead. It’s not loud horror. It’s slow, eerie, tightening-around-you horror.
There’s definite Frankenstein energy running through this — that idea of grief, obsession, pushing against the natural order. But it still feels fresh and modern, especially with the YA voice and the romantic thread woven through it.
The romance adds heart without softening the darkness. You genuinely feel Meka’s loss, confusion and desperation. And I appreciated that it didn’t rush the emotional fallout — grief sits heavy here.
The family secrets element is strong too. That slow realisation that the “family business” might not be as straightforward as it seems? I loved that unravelling.
And honestly? I enjoyed this so much that I’ll absolutely be going back and reading Kalynn Bayron’s back catalogue. When I find an author who nails atmosphere like this, I want to see what else they’ve created.
If you enjoy gothic vibes, paranormal twists, romance with teeth and dark family secrets, this will definitely pull you in.
Eerie, emotional and deliciously unsettling.
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